Chiarello Family Vineyards, Biography
------------Newsflash! Chiarello Family Vineyards SCORES! The Wine Spectator gave the 04 Eileen Cabernet 93 points, the 04 Bambino Zinfandel 91 points, and the 04 Giana Zinfandel 88 points! BRAVO! (MAY 2007)------------
Michael Chiarello, Napa Valley chef, TV personality and author, founder of restaurant, Tra Vigne, has taken his personal flair for layering flavors to a new challenge—making small productions of handcrafted wines. His small winery, Chiarello Family Vineyards, makes five single-vineyard, estate grown wines from 20-acres around his home in St. Helena, in Napa Valley California.
Chiarello is a passionate advocate for great wines surrounding a great meal and he has always sought perfect wines to complement his own culinary style. Little did he suspect that he'd find a gem of a vineyard in his own backyard. As he tended his property, he found long neglected 90-year old vines, waiting to once again produce great wines.
To create these wines, Chiarello enlisted one of the top "old vine"
winemakers in Napa Valley, a master at creating rich, dynamic wines from the ultra-ripe fruit of older vines. The 90-year-old Petite Sirah and Zinfandel vines were revived by Michael and Thomas Brown (formerly of Turley Wine Cellars) using head pruning and dry farming. These two time-honored methods historically used for both Zin and Petite Sirah in California allow the vines to ripen grapes evenly and flourish in the absence of water.
In its first two years of releases, Chiarello Family Vineyards have been named Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Sirah (Wine Spectator) with a 92 Rating; Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Zinfandel (Wine Spectator) with a 90 Rating; Top Ten Bottle From Napa (Food & Wine Magazine) and In Napa, Zinfandels Show Off Their Grace, (New York Times, Frank Prial, 11/13/02)
Thomas Brown, Winemaker
Thomas Brown was the assistant winemaker at Turley Wine Cellars from 1997 until February of 2001. He is currently the consulting winemaker for several projects in the Napa Valley including Chiarello Family Vineyards, Schrader Cellars, Outpost and Nicholson Ranch. Since his graduation from the University of Virginia in 1994, Thomas' clients also include Tor and Tamber Bey Winery. In addition, he is part owner and managing partner for Ridgetop Partners, a new Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir project.
