Terra Valentine

Winemaker Sam Baxter, has always had a keen focus on the grapes in the vineyard to achieve ideal ripeness and flavor development, leading to a winemaking style marked by minimal intervention. The yield of this approach is evident in our Terra Valentine wines that reflect a sense of place while showing the intensity of mountain grown fruit and balanced elegance.

Sam Baxter stands tall among an esteemed few, of the next generation of Napa Valley winemakers. Baxter literally grew up in the grapevines, trailing father Phil, whose winemaking made a legendary mark in the late '60s when the Napa Valley first experienced international notoriety as a respected winegrowing region.

After graduating from University of California, Davis with a degree in fermentation science in 1998, Sam extended his experience with a pivotal internship position at Sterling Vineyards and stints abroad in Australia. His first encounters with Terra Valentine were cultivated during the early years at the winery, dubbed the "cowboy" era (1999-2001) due to the rough-and-tumble condition of the winery and its vineyard land, which allowed for barely enough energy to run the lights, but no hot water. Working under these off-the-grid conditions went a long way in building Baxter's strong winemaking foundation.

Moderate temperatures in early summer set the stage for a great harvest in 2016. The 2016 growing seasons was ideal in many ways and mother nature was a rock star. There were many warm, dry days throughout allowing for exceptional phenolic maturity in the skins, seed and juice. When we decided to pick, flavors were fully developed and the sugars were relatively low. We feel that the 2016 wines from Fountaingrove District already have the backbone to age amazingly well.

Hand-harvested, picked at night

Aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 66% new