Wine and music shine at Cliff Lede Vineyards
In speaking with second generation General Manager Jason Lede, it is clear that while wine is the family’s focus, music plays an important supporting role. On a recent visit to the winery, Jason clearly pointed out, “Both music and wine are art forms. Each, in their own way, presents subjective expressions from classic to modern. In this spirit, our goal is ‘remastering’ a wine’s classic impressions from vintage-to-vintage as has been creatively done with music throughout its rich history.”
After hearing the story and tasting a range of their wines with Jason – surrounded by the gentle sounds of classic rock in the background – I must say they are on the right track and I compliment the Ledes (Jason and his father/winery founder Cliff) on realizing a dream.
The family resided in Alberta, Canada where Cliff’s mother loved wine and made fruit wine in the family’s basement. A modest introduction as Cliff moved on to world-class wines and began exploring different selections. Along the way, a local merchant sampled him on a Bordeaux, and “the lightbulb turned on” as this became his wine epiphany. He then launched his path to learning and appreciating wine with Bordeaux being his first love and benchmark while age-ability become a principal criteria in his search.
In the mid-1990s, Cliff traveled to Bordeaux and another epiphany surfaced. He realized that growing and making wine would be a treasured experience and “a great way to live.” However, Bordeaux presented many challenges in his desire to move from a collector and ardent fan to a grower and producer. Land was expensive, the culture favored Bordelais family history and language differences were some of the challenges.
While still residing in Alberta and deeply immersed in his construction business, Cliff made a trip to Napa Valley in the late 1990s where Bordeaux varieties were grown, world-class wines were being produced, language was no longer a problem and his dream could be realized. After several more trips to Napa Valley, in 2002 Cliff was able to purchase the treasured S. Anderson Vineyard property in the Stags Leap District (SLD).
Today, two main vineyards exist on the estate separated by the Silverado Trail with each presenting its own soil types and exposure. In addition, Clif Lede Vineyards now also owns estate vineyards in Calistoga and Carneros to better balance their portfolio of Napa Valley wines.
The Rhythm Vineyard (just the beginning of the music connection) surrounds the winery on the west side of the Trail. It encompasses 37 planted acres on an undulating topography with mixed soil-types of clay to gravelly loam as you move from west to east.
Across the Trail, the hillside Poetry Vineyard ranges from 100 feet elevation to the limits of the Stags Leap District’s elevation of 400 feet. It boasts 16 steep planted acres on shallow, extremely rocky volcanic soils and western exposure. Yields are low as the vines take far longer to establish themselves in this harsh terroir and then struggle to ripen.
Two vineyards, separated only by Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail, vividly express their unique terroirs through the personalities of their wines. Rhythm wines are stylistically more approachable with an emphasis on breadth across the palate. While Poetry emphasizes depth with firm tannins and restrained fruit in its youth.
Both are well structured and offer a complementary appeal differentiated only by their individual terroir. Expressing this sense of place speaks directly to the Ledes’ commitment in producing classic wines in the Bordeaux model stemming from Cliff’s first epiphany and bolstered by his momentous trip to Bordeaux.
But, how does this all relate to music?
Of course, we can appreciate that Rhythm is a direct connection to music but what about Poetry? According to Jason, “Rhythm drives the song with substance while poetry drives the lyrics. And this analogy clearly represents itself in the character of our wines produced from these two neighboring vineyards.”
Throughout his youth and adult years, Cliff always had a passion for music and enjoyed listening to his favorites when reading, relaxing or enjoying a glass of wine. When entering the tasting room, or visiting the outdoor tasting area, you will find yourself surrounded by a gentle whisper of classic rock setting the atmosphere to enjoy the wines and hearing the Cliff Lede Vineyards story.
The two vineyards (Rhythm and Poetry) are divided into 46 individual blocs based on soil composition, exposure, variety and clone. Cliff was not interested in naming these blocks in the traditional alpha-numeric system (A-1, B-2, etc.), and wanted something more representative of his two loves – music and wine. Thus, each block was named after a favorite song or album. Perhaps a bit confusing at first, but quite representative of Cliff’s philosophy and lifestyle as a way to, “Relate to people with comfort and without pretention.”
Just a few examples: “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd; “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen; “Rocket Man” by Elton John; “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin; “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana; and “Intergalactic” by Beastie Boys.” This stylistic range represents examples from classic rock to 1990s grunge and hip hop. And the “beat goes on” when reviewing the carefully selected names of the other 40 blocks.
In all, about 12 different wines are produced each year. They range from varietal bottlings to blends and all are reflective of their specific vintage and chosen cuvée components representative of that year. Included in the annual offerings, there are also three Cabernet Sauvignon “Platinum Wines” in the portfolio. “Poetry” is from selected blocks of the Poetry Vineyard, “Beck Stoffer To Kalon” from that treasured Oakville property and “Song Book” from two of renowned viticulturist David Abreu’s personally-farmed estates.
While growing up, his wine loving father would from time-to-time give Jason a sip of wine to spark his interest. But, he never really liked them until his epiphany came in the early aughts when Cliff offered a sip of a Napa Valley Cabernet. With his first taste, Jason’s senses were awakened and vinous appreciation began. By design, it turned out to be one of the first wines of the estate under his family’s ownership.
From Alberta, Jason would visit his Dad in summer and did odd jobs around the winery and vineyard until 2007 when he stayed through harvest. Like his father before him, Jason decided he wanted to be involved with wine at some level and share this passion with others. He began working in different facets of the industry including with an importer/distributor where he could be a “story teller” to the trade on the wines he was representing. In 2015 Jason earned an MBA and decided to work full time at the winery.
He is now the General Manager and responsible for all Cliff Lede functions from vineyard to winery along with hospitality, sales and overall management. He was also just elected to the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) Board of Directors. According to Jason, the winery’s history is divided along two time frames.
From Cliff’s purchase in 2002 through 2012 he was devoted to establishing the core components and set the path for future development. The vineyards were upgraded and a new winery and tasting room opened in 2005. Several prestigious consulting winemakers and vineyard managers each lent a hand in this developmental stage.
In 2012 the focus morphed from relying on consulting roles to a dedicated in-house staff. Christopher Tynan became the head winemaker and an in-house vineyard crew was established. Chris is now the Director of Winemaking overseeing a fully trained and compatible team. Long-time Director of Vineyard Operations Eric Gallegos, along with his dedicated staff, care for all aspects of the vineyards and their diverse blocks.
Bringing all facets of the business in-house, Cliff Lede Vineyards has recognized the opportunity to, “Prioritize crafting wines of extraordinary quality with authenticity and sustainability in mind.” When meeting with Jason, I was able to taste through a selection of the portfolio and will say the Lede vision is on display in each bottle.
We began with the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc which contains 23% Sémillon. This blend balances the freshness, acidity, structure and tropical fruits of the Sauvignon with the texture, mouthfeel and notes of white pitted fruit from the Sémillon. It is strikingly reminiscent of the Bordelais fashion of Graves in which it was created.
We next moved on to the 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in its premier vintage to replace the prior SLD bottling as it also contains fruit from the estate Calistoga vineyard. While Cabernet driven (86%) we also find Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc in the blend. A beautiful introduction to the Cabernet collection with black fruit and cassis on the entry and ripe tannins to suit a broad audience of Cabernet fans.
The 2021 “Diamond Sky” Red Wine SLD from the “Rock Block Series” was a departure from the more Cabernet centric wines featuring generous additions of Malbec and Petite Verdot for added complexity. As Jason and Chris said, “This blend has more of a ‘rock and roll’ signature.” It is fruit forward on the nose and palate and the polar opposite of the Napa Cabernet bottling. This will give a boost to your charred medium-rare steak.
Continuing on, we tasted the 2021 “Rhythm” Cabernet Sauvignon SLD. A single vineyard Cabernet from selected blocks of the Rhythm Vineyard. An elegant richness with red and black fruits were displayed on the palate enhanced by an integrated tannin structure that amplified the breath and rich mouthfeel, so typical of the vineyard’s character.
The Flagship 2021 “Poetry” Cabernet Sauvignon SLD rounded out the tasting with elegance, charm and deeply integrated structure. In its youth, the nose and palate are somewhat restrained, but all the necessary components for a long aging cycle are apparent in complex background notes. It is very reminiscent of young Napa Valley Cabernets of the 1970s and 1980s and represents the twentieth vintage of Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon from this vineyard. One to watch and enjoy as it develops in the bottle.
During my visit, the Cliff Lede mission was on full display and summed up by Jason: “In our concept of ‘remastering’ we are driving the art of winemaking forward by improving on the expression of our wines and not resting on laurels. We look to capture in each release an authentic example of vintage, variety and terroir with some modest modifications from year-to-year, but no radical changes.”