With an eye for majesty, Artemis Domaines, whose holdings include Chateau Latour, Chateau Grillet, and Clos de Tart, recognize that “at the heart of every great wine is a piece of land like no other.” When the Pinault family, through Artemis Domaines, acquired Araujo Estate in 2013, forty vintages had already carried the Eisele Vineyard designation, dating back to the 1970s and the original stewards of this fabled, iconic land. Furthermore, the wines have long been a paragon of quality and timelessness in the Napa Valley, decorating wine cellars and finding passionate fans worldwide for decades. ACME remains truly honored to be chosen as a specialty retailer for Eisele Vineyard during our 18+ years in this fascinating business.
Fusing old-world, hands-off winemaking with the undeniable glory of Napa Valley fruit, the historic Eisele Vineyard remains a cornerstone of California’s wine industry.
The 2018 Altagracia is sourced exclusively from clay-rich parcels on the eastern slopes of the 38-acre Eisele Vineyard in Calistoga. Altagracia is an all-estate blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. After a brief decant, the wine opens with a stunning bouquet of wild blueberries, mocha, dried violets, tobacco, and graphite. A powerful core of dense black and blue fruit is surrounded by espresso, sweet earth, dark chocolate, fresh fig, and black licorice. Only rivaled by the following 2019 vintage, 2018’s near-perfect growing conditions allowed for a slow, even maturation with intense color extraction and finely chiseled yet firm tannins. Inviting in its youth the wine is vibrant, taught, and structured, allowing for a decade or two of evolution in the cellar.
