Lail vineyards

LEGACY

TERROIR

EXCELLENCE

Lail Vineyards

Robin Daniel Lail, Founding Partner, 1995

Heidi Peterson Barrett, Ann Colgin, Cathy Corison, Celia Welsh, Nakao Dalle Valle and Robin Daniel Lail were featured in LE PAN’s September issue in “The Women Who Rule Napa.”

I grew up at the fabled Inglenook Vineyards, home to four generations of my family and their legendary wines.


 When the winery was sold in 1964, I thought this beautiful family tradition had ended. My father, John Daniel, Jr. placed the legacy in my hands shortly before his death in 1970, with my sister and I retaining the Napanook Vineyard in Yountville.

FOURTH GENERATION VINTNER

ROBIN DANIEL LAIL

During the 1970’s I worked with my mentor, Robert Mondavi, who encouraged me every day to honor my legacy and my father by carrying forward his work.

Lail Vineyards

Founding Partner with Erin and Shannon Lail -1995

(L-R) Shannon and Erin Lail

Merryvale

Founding Partner with Bill Harlan - 1983 President

Dominus Founding Partner with Christian Moueix - 1982

(L-R) Christian Moueix, Robin Daniel Lail and Marcia Daniel Smith.

WINEMAKER

PhilipPe melka

One of the most respected and successful of the French-born, Bordeaux-educated oenologists working in California.

“My recent naming as one of the top 9 wine consultants in the world by Robert Parker has been truly humbling, and a terrific honor. But my pursuit of excellence in this field I’m so passionate about has only just begun.” - Philippe Melka

It is always a fine line to craft wines with that special elegance and softness ready to be consumed now, while at the same time ensuring the wine has the acidity, fruit and structure to be aged.

This is a line that Philippe walks well – the hallmark of Lail’s wines are clearly their elegance and balance upon release.

GUSTAV niebaum

Having already amassed a fortune, Gustav Niebaum was looking for a new business adventure when he and his wife were drawn to Napa Valley and its potential as a great wine-producing region.

After purchasing the Inglenook property in 1879, Niebaum built an imposing stone winery and produced the first estate-bottled, Bordeaux-style wine in California.

Using demanding methods of temperature control and stringent sanitation techniques, he was one of the first winegrowers to establish the reputation of the Napa Valley as producing fine wines equal to the great wine regions of France.

His motto of "Quality, not quantity" inspired new standards of excellence in California winemaking, for his generation and generations to come. Niebaum was one of the inaugural inductees into the Vintners Hall of Fame.

john daniel, jr.

“He taught not by words alone,

but by example – the mark of a truly knowledgeable man.”

-Robert Mondavi

Great-nephew to Inglenook's founder Gustav Niebaum, John Daniel, Jr. was part of a dynamic group of vintners who helped raise the standards of fine winemaking in Napa Valley after Prohibition.

An inductee into the Vintners Hall of Fame, Daniel played a key role in rebuilding the wine business in Napa Valley and California after the Repeal of Prohibition in 1933. He was extensively involved in the leadership of the Wine Institute of California and the Wine Advisory Board and was one of the founders of the Napa Valley Vintners.

(L-R) Robert Mondavi, Charles Forni, Madame Depins, John Daniel, Jr. and Al Hunsinger

He was the first to put Napa Valley as an appellation on his wine, and pioneered vintage-dating and varietal labeling. His vineyards were his pride and joy and were kept in pristine condition.

While restoring Inglenook's fame, Daniel made what many considered to be some of not only California's, but the world's best Cabernet Sauvignons from the mid 1930s to the 1960s, creating a legacy of excellence for Cabernet Sauvignons for future generations of California winemakers.

2014 BLUEPRINT sauvignon Blanc

100% SAUVIGNON BLANC

CROCKER VINEYARD, ST. HELENA

FARELLA VINEYARD COOMBSVILLE

REWA VINEYARD, COOMBSVILLE

FERMENTED IN FRENCH OAK; 65% NEW AGED IN STAINLESS STEEL

2013 GEORGIA SAUVIGNON BLANC

100% SAUVIGNON BLANC

TOTEM VINEYARD, YOUNTVILLE ESTATE

18 MONTHS IN 100% NEW FRENCH OAK

“...possibly the most singular and distinctive Sauvignon Blanc made in Northern California...”

–Robert Parker, Jr.

“The name Blueprint is a salute to Robin’s husband, Jon Lail, a noted wine country architectural designer who has designed many of Napa Valley’s iconic winery buildings and caves. Our Blueprint wines focus on early enjoyment in a delicious, crowd-pleasing style, yet have the sophistication and timelessness of Jon Lail’s many architectural achievements.” .”

Robin daniel Lail

2013 BLUEPRINT CABERNET SAUVIGNON 95% CABERNET SAUVIGNON 5% PETIT VERDOT MOLE HILL ESTATE VINEYARD HOWELL MOUNTAIN VINE HILL RANCH VINEYARD OAKVILLE HEIMARK VINEYARD CALISTOGA EVANS VINEYARD COOMBSVILLE LAMBERT VINEYARD COOMBSVILLE SAN SAVINO VINEYARD YOUNTVILLE 17 MONTHS IN FRENCH OAK; 64% NEW

2012 J. Daniel Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon

97% CABERNET SAUVIGNON 3% PETIT VERDOT HEIMARK VINEYARD CALISTOGA MOLE HILL ESTATE VINEYARD HOWELL MOUNTAIN VINE HILL RANCH VINEYARD OAKVILLE

18 MONTHS IN FRENCH OAK BARRELS, 75% NEW

“The 2012 J. Daniel Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon is…

Absolutely Perfect.” 100 Points –ROBERT PARKER, JR. WINE ADVOCATE, OCTOBER 2014

mole hill Cabernet Sauvignon

100% CABERNET SAUVIGNON MOLE HILL ESTATE VINEYARD HOWELL MOUNTAIN

18 MONTHS IN FRENCH OAK BARRELS, 83% NEW

Mole Hill was named in homage to a wine created by Robin’s father, John Daniel, Jr.

The story goes that when Daniel’s great friend, Louis Martini Sr., made a wine in the 1950s, the irony of him labeling it Mountain Red was not lost on Daniel since Martini’s wine was from a rolling hillside vineyard versus the precipitous mountain vineyards of Europe.

A brilliant man with a celebrated sense of humor and a particular love of puns, Daniel responded with Inglenook Mole Hill Red, whose whimsical label featured a very cute mole with a magnifying glass checking a small pile of dirt.

The overtly flowery back label concluded with “…and this is a wine you will truly GO FER!” We now make a Mole Hill out of a mountain!

“Each new vintage is both a challenge and an inspiration.

Every year we strive to learn how to take better care of the land and our vineyards and produce wines that are just a little bit better than the year before.�

Robin daniel lail

Yountville Totem VineyarD

Totem was part of the first vineyard planted in Napa Valley by George Yount in 1839. Our family has worked this vineyard for generations. We are custodians of more than land at Totem, we are caretakers of a piece of history, a soul, a style of winemaking.

Robin held ownership of this vineyard upon founding Lail Vineyards, and began t-budding the existing Merlot vines to Sauvignon Blanc.

Today these 3 acres in Yountville produce the fruit for our highly lauded Georgia Sauvignon Blanc.

Only 300 cases are produced each year.

howell mountain mole hill VineyarD

In 1996, the Lail family acquired a special vineyard site high atop Howell Mountain, and named it Mole Hill.

The vineyard’s west-facing gentle slope has shallow soils with rocks that rise to the surface like cream in coffee, creating a spartan home for the vines and generating a concentration of flavors in the grapes.

These thin, rocky and dry soil conditions create Cabernet Sauvignon with firm structure, incredible varietal intensity, and excellent aging properties.

Each year, we harvest Mole Hill multiple times to capture the unique flavors expressed in each part of the vineyard.

June 20, 2015

The 20th Anniversary Celebration at Mole Hill

For the enthusiast a wine can be a work of art. Unlike a painting, a fine wine only exists for that brief instant in time after the cork gets pulled. It’s a transient moment, but it can leave an indelible impression. Lail Vineyards is honored to share that moment with you today.

31