The day Tom and Desiree Altemus purchased their Howell
Mountain property, Tom opened the door of his family’s new home on ten acres
and looked up to the clear, dark Napa Valley sky overlooking his future
vineyard site. Just as he glanced up, a
huge meteor streaked across the sky. The
fireball seemed so huge that Tom was sure he was going to see it burst into
flames as it hit the ground a hillside over from his new acreage. Though the meteor wasn’t as big as it appeared,
Tom sensed it was a sign, a symbol.
First, he knew he and his growing family were supposed to be in this
place, this setting. He also knew that the
success of his planned vineyard and wine were going to come only after his own
walk through the fire of multiple obstacles.
The first obstacle Tom faced was Napa itself. In the middle of a moratorium of allowing new
vineyards to be planted, Tom waited for the okay to plant his vines. He waited, and he waited. He waited so long that he had to take
action. He brought a lawsuit against the
county of Napa to move the development of his vineyard forward. Many others who were also waiting for the
approval from the county for their own vineyards watched Tom’s lawsuit with
great interest. If he could get the
powers that be to begin approving the planting of new vineyards on Howell
Mountain, not only could Tom and Desiree advance, but many others could too.
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| The beauty of and beautiful view from Howell Mountain. |
The lawsuit worked.
The backlog of permits to plant on Howell Mountain started to move. Tom and Desiree began planting
after three years of waiting, and so did others. This was the second boom on Howell Mountain,
following early pioneers like Randy Dunn in the 1970s.
Tom became one of multiple new faces growing mountain fruit from the
unique Napa AVA.
Tom’s plans progressed, and his vines and grapes grew
beautifully on the six and a half planted acres. The first test vintage from which Tom and his
winemaker, Rudy Zuidema, made wine was 2005.
Tom and Rudy were impressed with the juice from the “practice” vintage
and looked forward to 2006, the first full vintage. (See my story of the 2006 Red Cap
Cabernet.) This was a great
first vintage. The 2007 was an excellent
vintage year in general, also producing what Tom deemed would be an excellent wine. He and
Rudy released the inaugural 2006 wines in 2008 as planned…and then the next
obstacle hit: the worst of the deep
recession.
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| Tom's vines on Howell Mountain, planted in the red, Aiken loam. |
Selling a high-end Howell Mountain cabernet in a time when
everyone was cutting back spending was not an easy path. Especially with a wine from a little-known
grape grower and a young wine maker. But
Tom, Desiree, and Rudy trudged forward, making stellar wine and promoting their
AVA.
The wines began to sell, slowly at first, but steadily none
the less. More solid vintages came in
from Tom’s beautiful red dirt. His
children grew. His wife continued to
work her day job. Red Cap Vineyards’ popularity
and prestige increased, as did the reputation of the Howell Mountain area itself.
Tom believes Howell Mountain fruit is the key to the success
of his wines; it is what allowed him to weather the stress and strain of
releasing a first vintage in some of the worst economic times the country had seen
in decades. It is also what allowed him
to build a reputation of excellent wines.
The soil, almost as fire red as that move-in-day meteor,
gives a great mineral characteristic to the wines. The red dirt filled with oxidized iron and
mineral characteristics is called Aiken loam and is like no other. In addition to the soil, the climate also
adds to the character of the wines. The
mountain area of Tom’s planted acres has a much smaller range of daily
temperatures throughout the year: the
temps do not get as cold at night, nor do they get as hot during the day. This leads to a long, steady growing
season. The fruit ripens more slowly, allowing
the seeds and their tannins to ripen more fully. Tom
actually doesn’t pick based on brix (the level of sugar in the grapes) like
many growers and wine makers do; he harvests based on seed ripeness. The seed tannins ripen much slower than the
skin tannins; they are also the tannins that, when not developed, give the “green”
flavor to wines. Tom picks when the seed
tannins are nutty and soft, and these softer tannins show themselves in his
wines--wines with big, bold fruit; deep, dark color; peppy, perfect acid; and
silky, soft tannins. Really, a perfect
combination for cabernet sauvignon wines.
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| Roscoe and the vines showing the Aiken loam, unique soil of Howell Mountain. |
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| Grapes just reaching veraison--fruit set. |
Tasting at Red Cap is as unique as the wines and soil. There is no tasting room, and there are no tasting
room hours. Tom invites fans up
periodically for a relaxed tasting similar to ones he had experienced at other
wineries. A welcoming picnic table sits
with views of the vineyards and forest.
Roscoe, the Altemus family dog, greets wine lovers who sit and visit
with Tom (and Desiree if she is home) while sampling Red Cap vino.
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| A "tasting room" like no other at Red Cap Vineyards. |
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| Sipping and chatting with Tom during our tasting. |
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| Yes, that is Roscoe relaxing on my foot--the sweetest wine dog ever! |
Next we had the Red Cap 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, a year
that, at the time, was known for less-than-stellar growing conditions. However, after careful wine making techniques
and a few years in bottle, it has matured into a great example of mineral and
metallic rust (think the red Aiken loam) on the nose with full fruit and tannin
on the palate.
We finished with the Red Cap 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, the
harvest known as nearly perfect. This
wine is still quite young in the bottle, yet shows bold cherry with silky
tannins on the palate. It is already a
show stopper and should age well for years to come.
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| Amazing Red Cap wines. |
While Tom chats about these wines and his other vintages, he
is like a proud parent; he is not able to choose an absolute favorite, but he
speaks almost lovingly about the fine qualities of each vintage so far: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The 2013 and 2014 vintages are still in production,
still yet to show the world what they will be.
He also talks with pride of his property and where all the
effort has taken it and his family. His
children—now 20, 17, and 11—all have small jobs and vineyard chores for which
they are responsible. However, his
oldest only spends summers at home now since she is in college. His middle son is excitedly looking forward
to his busy senior year. It’s the
Altemuses’ youngest child that seems to relish in the vineyard work. He will run and play in the vineyard or come
home from school and eat handful after handful of grapes, all while feeding
many to Roscoe as well. Boy and dog are definitely
grooming themselves for future vineyard work by first-hand knowledge of the vines.
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| Forests surround the vines, a great place to raise a family. |
Red Cap Vineyards is a perfect example of great wines that
come from having vision and perseverance, of letting no obstacles stand in the
way. After the fateful symbol of the
meteor streaking across the sky, Tom and Desiree have been able to build a comfortable,
rural lifestyle through their hard work, a lifestyle they love sharing with
their children, family, and friends. Tom
put it best when he honestly stated, “This place is badass.” Frankly, after one morning with him at Red Cap,
I would agree.
