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Sill Family Acquires Atlas Peak's Ardente Estate Winery

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Published
11/01/2016 by

St. Helena, California-based Sill Family Vineyards has completed the purchase of the Ardente Estate Winery, an Atlas Peak AVA Napa winery whose consistently high-ranking Cabernet Sauvignon has achieved notable accolades and top awards among California's finest premier Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The property consists of 24.4 acres of natural splendor set within the fabled Atlas Peak Appellation. 

"The complex influences that result in this vineyard's unique characteristics are embodied in the concept of 'terroir,' a term that aptly captures the elements of soil, slopes, climate, placement of vines, environmental and cultural influences in producing wine. We are thrilled to have secured this truly magical vineyard. It's the domain of some incredibly great Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards," said Igor Sill, vintner and winemaker at Sill Family Vineyards.

Sill Family Acquires Atlas Peak's Ardente Estate Winery

"These mountain vineyards are much more difficult to farm, harder to establish and they provide lower grape yield.  These hillsides are steeper, rockier with better water drainage than those on the valley floor. Mountain vineyards tend to produce smaller grapes with relatively less juice, but with greater skin tannins.  A wine's color, its tannin and flavors comes from the skin, so mountain vineyards tend to produce more intense, deeply colored and more complex, balanced wines,"  Sill said.

"Our growing season tends to be considerably longer than Valley floor vineyards.  Though the mountains are slightly cooler during the day, we receive more early sun because we're above the fog.  In the afternoon, the Valley floor heat begins to drift up the hillsides. We get more structure, more notes, more balance, more depth and complexity that you can taste from these mountain grapes.  There's intensity to the fruit as they mature more slowly and age much more gracefully than valley floor wines."

"Our purchase of Ardente Estate Winery, with its great mountain wines and incredible history, will provide our customers with old world style, exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux style wines," Sill said.

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