In the vineyard
Schrader works with some of Napa’s finest and oldest vineyards. It has parcels in To Kalon, Georges III and Las Piedras. In particular Beckstoffer To Kalon – planted in 1868 – is undoubtedly considered a “Grand Cru” of the region, producing ripe, elegant and powerful wines.
Schrader works specifically with three clones of Caberenet. Clone 4 produces wine of immense structure, with volume and depth. Clone 6 forms looser bunches that tend to ripen more, producing richly fruited wines. Clone 337 is the most elegant of the three, while still opulent in style.
Work in the vineyard is focused on maximum ripeness, with green harvesting and leaf stripping in the summer to reduce yield and open the canopy to the Napa sunshine. Once the fruit is perfectly ripe, it’s harvested in the cool of night or early morning.
In the winery
Thomas Rivers Brown started his winemaking career at Turley, but it was while working in a local wine shop that he met Fred Schrader.
Schrader trusted his gut and hired him, despite Rivers Brown’s lack of experience. Although he’d never made Cabernet before, Rivers Brown was soon making wines that earned perfect scores from the world’s foremost wine critics.
“No holds barred” is the style at Schrader: intense wines that are plush and structured Napa Cabs. To achieve this style, the fruit is picked at maximum ripeness, then sorted both at bunch and berry level. The fruit is de-stemmed and undergoes a cold soak to extract colour and flavour. The wines are fermented in tank and aged in new French oak.
