Camalie Vineyards

Camalie Vineyards is a family owned retreat on Mt. Veeder, six miles northwest of Napa. Purchased as a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the peninsula it has become an adventure in grape growing, winemaking and sustainable living. The name Camalie which rhymes with "family" comes from the names of our children Cameron and Natalie.

What's Up October 25th, 2008 --- Harvest and Crush

We have now pressed the Merlot and half of the Cab. Great intensity but, a little high on the alcohol.

On Saturday, 9/13, bright and early, we harvested the Merlot and were done with crush by lunch. The yield was off 35% from last year but, there was probably as much sugar as last year with the grapes coming in at 30.5 Brix. The Rusty Memorial Merlot is already wine. On October 4th we harvested the Cabernet for our home winemaking. You can monitor its progress in real time at Fermentations . Some great Winemaking Photos of all the fun. Most of the Cab was picked on October 2nd and the remainder on Oct. 11th along with the Carmenere. Yields are off 44% this year relative to last year which was a banner year.

This year we have had some wild weather, rainless April(very dry spring), cold May(frost), perfect conditions for mildew for the whole month of June and two days of 100 degree weather in the first weeks of July. Since then smooth sailing except for a very dry and hot week the first week of September.

We passed final inspection and have moved into the new house after 3 years of construction. Its complete except for some cosmetic items and landscaping. We held our first big party there on the Labor day weekend to celebrate our daughter Anjanette's 30th birthday and have had 3 crush events since then as well.

Our Grapes and Wine

Most of our grapes, 90%, go to our great winery customers at Sherwin Family Vineyards and Charter Oak Winery. They received their first grapes from us in 2006 which means you should begin seeing Camalie Vineyards' grapes in their wines released in 2009 and after.

Our home made wine is mostly 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but as of 2007 we have started making some blends with Carmenere and Merlot all grown on the Camalie Vineyards estate. One block of 200 original Cabernet Sauvignon vines is now 32 years old with their St. George rootstock going down 6 feet into the deep clay soil. Camalie wines are vinted and aged on the estate.

Our Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in the Spring of 2003 are the best ENTAV French clones, types 337,338 and 191. See the Cultivar Map for their locations. The total vine count is now 4200 vines including the 200 "old gentlemen" vines. At this point we have decided not to go into the commercial winemaking business. Grape growing and informal home winemaking with some of our friends is as far as we plan to go. The scale of our home winemaking is ~200 gallons/year -- about 80 cases.

The quality of the grapes from Camalie Vineyards is world class based on numerous blind tastings we have done in the process of making our first 7 vintages. See my Winemaker's Reports on the vintages 2008N, 2007N, 2006, 2005, 2005N 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 . Some pictures of Winemaking 2007, 2008. The Bacchus Cave was completed in April 2008 and is currently aging the 2005 and 2007 vintages.

The Vineyards

The vineyards cover 4.4 acres while native oak/madrone/redwood forest covers the remaining 18 acres.

Camalie Networks LLC

Camalie Networks LLC is the wireless sensor networking enterprise of Camalie Vineyards. Its mission is to provide grape growers with advanced irrigation information technology to help them optimize grape quality and yield while minimizing water use, pumping energy and risks like irrigation system failure and frost. The Wireless Sensing system we sell and support was developed at Camalie Vineyards. It provides us with detailed real time soil moisture data and irrigation system status which enables us to optimize our water and energy use to improve yields and fruit quality. Below are a number of links to live data being acquired by the three wireless networks currently active at Camalie Vineyards and neighboring vineyards.

Miscellaneous Stuff

If you are interested in learning more or in getting a taste send me some e-mail at mholler@pacbell.net or give me a call at 650-799-6571. I and my wife Cindy own Camalie Vineyards. Expert Grower Ramon Pulido manages the vineyard for us. I am the lead winemaker but, I do get a lot of help from my family and friends. Camalie Vineyards is a private estate with winemaking still at the home winemaking scale. It is not open to the general public.