Stolen Owl Wines began when our friend, Jim Slusser, offered us a ton of his wonderful malbec grapes from his vineyard on the valley floor in Knights Valley in 2017. While we ultimately did not produce the malbec in 2017 because the Tubbs fire threatened the vineyard and raised the potential for smoke-tainted grapes, we hired our winemaker, Chuck McKahn, as the key member of our team to produce premium wines from Napa and Sonoma counties. With Chuck on board, we acquired cabernet sauvignon grapes from one of Napa’s oldest wineries and produce our first vintage of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Additionally, we planted our small vineyard on the west side of Howell Mountain with 3309 root stock and clone 4 vines. In 2021, we enjoyed our first harvest and are patiently waiting as the wine matures in the barrel.
What, you say, is a “stolen owl”? When we purchased our little project in St. Helena, the property was substantially overgrown and early visitors had a difficult time seeing our driveway. So, whenever we were expecting a visitor, we hung an owl flag at the street level. One weekend, we forgot to take the flag down at night and unfortunately, someone stole our flag. We have since replaced our favorite flag but the original lives on in our wine brand.
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