Levensohn Vineyards was a wine producer based in the Saint Helena AVA of Napa Valley. This small estate, a stone’s throw from some of Napa’s most famous vineyards including Beckstoffer’s Dr. Crane vineyard, was always focused on small-production, high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery produced just one cuvée – the Levensohn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. The last vintage under the Levensohn label was 2016 and the winery was sold in 2020.
Owned by Pascal and Melanie Levensohn, the estate was established in 2000. This small, 3.5-acre vineyard site was completely replanted in 2001 with Cabernet Sauvignon following a phylloxera outbreak. The first vintage was produced in 2004.
Production was miniscule in the earlier vintages. Just one barrel (less than 25 cases) was produced each year from 2004 to 2010. As the vineyard matured, production reached around 200 cases a year.
From 2017, the vineyards were farmed and bottled by Realm Cellars under the management of celebrated winemaker Benoît Touquette. Prior to Touquette, the wine was made by Philippe Melka (Haut-Brion, Pétrus, Melka) in 2004 and Keith Emerson (Vineyard 29) from 2005 to 2016. The 2018 and 2019 vintages were released as a single-vineyard bottling under the Realm Cellars label. The 2017 and 2020 vintages were lost entirely to wildfires.
Naturally rich, concentrated juice meant extraction was limited and fermentations kept cool. After a 30-day maceration the wine was basket-pressed and gravity-fed into Taransaud barrels, typically between 75 and 100% new oak, and matured for 18 to 24 months.
The estate was one of the first to use anti-counterfeiting technology on their labels.
