School House Vineyard Pinot Noir Spring Mountain District Napa Valley 2021

Add 3 bottles to the cart and receive an additional 34% off!

The end of the school year is ‘round the corner, so what better way to kick off (almost) summer than with some School House?! Yes, Napa’s most legendary and spectacular Pinot Noir (in our not-so-humble opinion) is here today, with the miraculously fresh 2021 release, no less! School House is a Napa legend, with a story second to none. To have this Spring Mountain wonder at over 50% off is a treat – but one that won’t last for long!

Tucked up in the northern reaches of Napa Valley, deep into the western hillsides of Spring Mountain along the Mayacamas mountain range stands one of the great anomalies of Napa’s wine industry. School House – so named for the ancient single room building that graced the property until it was consumed by a fire in the 1980s – has become a bit of a legendary property, and one of the more unique characters of Napa’s history.

These wines were cult before cult was cool, as the founder, John Gantner worked out a deal to salvage clippings of Pinot Noir from Gustave Niebaum’s iconic Inglenook property in the 1950s. Those clippings had actually been selected from the vines of the revered Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vineyards in Burgundy prior – making this small planting of Pinot Noir arguably the most pedigreed parcel of Pinot grapes grown in California! Today, the winemaking is all carried out at Pride Mountain vineyards, but John M. Gantner (the second generation), alongside his wife, Nancy Walker, still tend to these precious vines.

Dry farmed, old-vine, heritage clone Pinot Noir from one of the most prominent Cabernet Sauvignon regions in the world – it simply must be experienced to be understood. This vintage is as spectacular as ever – the consistency and ageability demonstrated over the decades by this vineyard is like nothing we’ve ever seen – in any grape. Old school Burgundy is the model – with plenty of woodsy, sous-bois notes that range from black trumpet mushrooms to pine, and cedar wood, uplifted by a core of red raspberry and tart plums, plus a twinge of zippy blood orange citrus, and a deeply mineral edge of iron shavings, and graphite, with the tension and structure to age gracefully over the decades. Less than 200 cases were made of this wine – as collectible as any creature from the Napa Valley that you can find anywhere! Under $35 a bottle makes this a stunning and sensational deal – while it lasts, at least!

PAIRING IDEAS: Crispy carnitas tacos are the move here – after all, summer IS nearly upon us! Make sure you broil your carnitas on a sheet pan to get them nice and crisp, and serve over fresh corn tortillas with pickled red onion and cilantro!