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 Our goal is to produce estate red wines that are full-flavored and expressive, yet velvety smooth and elegant. Our winemaker, Celia Welch Masyczek, has a track record based on over 20 years experience making wine for fine estates in Napa Valley: Silverado Vineyards, Staglin Family, Hartwell, Cornerstone, D. R. Stephens and others. Celia observes, “eighty percent of winemaking is in the vineyard—it takes a great site and balanced vines to make great wine. It can’t be done any other way.” For Rocca Family Wines, we farm for highest fruit quality, and Celia is integrally involved in the management of the vineyard to achieve that aim. She continues, “For me, winemaking has become an intuitive process. I constantly walk through the vineyards near harvest, tasting for flavor development and tannin maturity. I rarely bring my refractometer into the vineyard anymore.” Under her guidance, the fully ripened fruit is transformed into wine, with long, slow fermentations, frequent punchdowns, gentle pressing, and extended barrel ageing. The wines are bottled without fining and with minimal filtration. It’s a tightrope walk between gentle handling to avoid harshness, while vigorously extracting all the rich varietal character of the fruit. The Rocca Family Vineyard wines are a selection of the best fruit from our property every year. The H. Gray wines—named for Eric’s father and grandfather, Henry Gray Grigsby—are a selection from our estate vineyards of lots from younger vines, and from more fruit-forward, early maturing lots. All our wines are made with the same care and commitment to excellence. |
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