Ever since we signed our first vineyard lease for Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper in 2008, Carte Blanche has made a point of locking in “A+” vineyard sources. We want to know these terroirs intimately, and watch how they develop, not just for years—but over decades of harvests.
Our long-term contracts come with the same kind of control that estate wineries have. We work in tandem with the vineyard teams to get our hands dirty, making consequential decisions like when to prune (and how hard), and when to green harvest, plus decisions like canopy management, irrigation, and of course, when to start picking those beautiful blue bunches.
In short, being tenant farmers in the same blocks, with the same clones, soils, and exposures for over 15 years in the same vineyards is essential to our story.
At the southern tip of Oakville AVA, south of Vine Hill Ranch and north of Dominus Estate, lies Andy Beckstoffer’s 36-acre Missouri Hopper Vineyard. In 1996, Beckstoffer acquired this vineyard from the Kelham family, who had owned it since 1960. Today the vines are approaching 30 years of age.
The soil here is stony Bale clay loam, and the three blocks we’ve farmed for over 15 years are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon clone 337 and the legendary Clone 4, so treasured by growers up the road in Rutherford for many decades for its quality. Missouri Hopper is a trusted source for many elite Napa Valley wineries. Recently a notable wine critic named Missouri Hopper the “most improved” vineyard in the Napa Valley, and we couldn’t help but notice whose bottle he held, front and center.
