Elan Vineyards

Elan Vineyards, not to be confused with Elan Vineyard in Balnarring, Victoria Australia is run by the husband wife team of Patrick and Linda Elliot-Smith with supporting help at times from their children, Monique and Nicolas. In French, élan refers to someone doing something in an energetic and confident manner – someone who is enthusiast and or having a vigorous spirit. And or someone with style. Patrick is one of the modern-day pioneers of the Atlas Peak Appellation in Napa and was one of the original founders of this AVA. He first moved to Napa Valley in 1975, choosing to live on Atlas Peak. His original intent was to breed Arabian horses in partnership with his brother Dennis (a sculpturist). For several years they sold herbs, vegetables and goat cheese to various restaurants in Napa Valley.

While living in a tepee for the first year on his 40-acre property without electricity he remembers moving rocks easily the size of cars. Atlas Peak is a mountain appellation generally characterized by very rocky volcanic soil. Incidentally, it is also one of the few places where from select viewpoints on a very clear day, offers views of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east. From the Elan Vineyards property one can easily see numerous Sierra Nevada snow covered peaks in the distance on a clear winter or early spring day. For reference, if one were to drive this line of site distance it would take about 3.5 hours.

Patrick was born in the U.S., attended high school in France and then returned to the U.S. where he majored in philosophy and completed his B.A. at the University of Oregon. Innately talented, following graduation, he became a chef and then later a vineyard manager and a winemaker; in terms of his wine knowledge, he is entirely self-taught. In 1975 he started working as a chef at the long since gone Rutherford Square Restaurant, known for their patio dining, located in Rutherford Square on the corner of Highway 29 and 128 in Rutherford. The square was the concept of and developed by Mary Tilden Morton, part of the Morton’s salt family and also the designer and developer of the next door still operating Rancho Caymus Inn. Patrick recalls his job interview was conducted entirely in French.

For reference, El Real Restaurant opened here in the late 1940s and operated until it burned down in 1971. The Rutherford Spirits Shop used to features both California and select international wines. The Rutherford Post Office is still located here along with Rutherford Grill. And the square was known for its summer music concerts, hosted in the 1970s under the auspices of the Rutherford Square Theatre.

In an article in the St. Helena Star dated Thursday February 12, 1976 Patrick is quoted as, “As a chef, I feel it very important to control all aspects of the meal. I do my own shopping very much the same way I shopped in France, making sure my raw materials are excellent. I may buy parsley in one shop and lettuce in another. I also have my eye on how the meal is served”.

In 1977 Patrick was working as a chef at the also long since closed Oakville Public House located at the corner of Highway 29 and Oakville Cross Road in Oakville. It was previously known as the Oakrail Bar & Grill and later as the Ugly Corner Cafe. And for decades until permanently closing in 2001, Pometta Deli was also located here. The old restaurant building is still standing as of 2025, but is in fairly run down shape.

What is fairly rare in contemporary Napa Valley is someone who is both their own vineyard manager, winemaker and owner of their own winery. Patrick operated a successful vineyard management company for many years and helped developed prime vineyard land in the valley for several Napa notables such as Beaulieu Vineyards, Dominus & Hess Collection. Today he no longer operates a vineyard management company but still manages all his own vineyards himself with the help of an employee who has been working here more than 2 decades.

In 1979 he cleared and planted Elan’s first vineyards and has since planted a number of additional acres all growing the primary Bordeaux varieties. Today he farms approximately 13 acres of vines on the 40+ acre site. The property sits at about 2100 feet above sea level and well above the Napa Valley floor. The property typically receives some snow several times each winter although in February 2023 the property received up to 14 inches of snow, with similar snow depths found at other mountain sites in Napa Valley during that time.

This is one of the highest elevation sites on Atlas Peak, but for reference, the highest vineyard on Atlas Peak and the third highest in Napa Valley, Kongsgaard Vineyard located about 3/4 of a mile away has vines topping out at 2,447 feet. GPS coordinates of the highest vines: 38.43934, -122.25227.

The highest vineyard in Napa County is the Harris Blue Ridge Vineyard planted to Zinfandel, this ridge is easily seen from Elan Vineyards to the southeast; their highest vines are at an elevation of 2,742 feet and are located on the Napa/Solano County line. It takes about an hour to reach this property from downtown Napa. The views from this ridge are stunning in all directions; this is truly a special site. GPS coordinates of the highest vines: 38.4121411, -122.1149301. The vast majority of this vineyard is in Napa County with a very small section crossing the county line into Solano. This property got hit hard in the LNU Lightning Complex fires of 2020. Much of this vineyard is head pruned and remarkably dry farmed.

The second highest vineyard in Napa Valley is Altezia, owned by Merryvale (formerly Lampyridae Vineyard) with vines topping out at 2,625 feet near the summit of Mt. Veeder with the majority of their blocks above 2,500 feet. GPS coordinates of the highest vines: 38.37474, -122.44605.

The highest vineyard on Howell Mountain and perhaps the 4th highest vineyard in Napa Valley is Black Sears Vineyard which tops out at 2,396 feet. GPS coordinates of the highest vines: 38.60157, -122.47217.

The highest vineyards on Diamond Mountain are around 2,200 feet. And the highest vineyards on Spring Mountain are under 2,200 feet. We have personally visited each of these vineyards. We pulled the above numbers by hovering over all parts of these high elevation vineyards until we located the highest vines – using CalTopo.com

The top of Atlas Peak (2,663 feet) is nearby and can be easily seen from the property with its two antennas on the summit but no grapevines. This is a very temperate growing climate as they are entirely above the fog line and during summer heat spikes, temperatures up here are usually more moderate than up valley. As a result, hang time is rather long; the grapes tend to ripen slower.

Much of Atlas Peak features extremely rocky and shallow soils; the Elan Vineyards property is no different in that regard. The vines here in a good year produce about 2.3 tons per acre.

Starting in 1989 and for several years the original vineyard block on the property produced grapes for Caymus Winery. However, after tasting a number of their wines using his Atlas Peak grown grapes, Patrick decided to hold back some of the fruit and make his own wine. His first non commercial vintage was in 1991. The quality merited more than ‘home wine’, so the next year he made the first wine bottled commercially under Elan Vineyards, a 1992 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. And before the wine was made on site, early vintages were produced at Monticello Vineyards.

The winery is almost entirely self-contained which is convenient based on its somewhat remote location and the fact that Atlas Peak Road becomes very narrow and windy towards the end. This is one of the finer ‘garagiste’ wineries in Napa Valley – located directly below their home. The only outside help for their production is a mobile bottling truck; there are only 1 or 2 mobile bottling companies in Napa that will make this drive.

At face value Elan’s wines speak for themselves but just tasting the wine doesn’t tell the story of 40+ years of hard work developing the vineyards and learning the nuances of the various locations on the property. Patrick helped to develop many of the vineyards located within the Atlas Peak appellation as well as beyond.

Their vineyards are farmed organically and are certified organic (CCOF). Elan is a big believer in dropping grapes and does so several times at strategic points after blossoming up until right before harvest. With very rocky hill side soils they already have low yields, but by removing all but the highest quality fruit their yields are even lower. Elan’s vineyards are very much hand managed by Patrick. He employs the Jules Guyot method of trellising which is uncommon in Napa Valley but common in Bordeaux. This type of trellising is very labor intensive and more complicated than conventional trellising but helps keeps the fruit production low. Essentially one cane is preserved each year (indicated by the more woody/weathered look to the wood); the shoots or fruiting canes are then allowed to grow.

While the vineyard provides the grapes for Elan’s own wines, some of the grapes are sold including to Bell Wine Cellars, used in their Atlas Peak bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tasting Elan’s wines can be an eye opener if you have a pre-conceived notion that the hillside rocky volcanic soils of Atlas Peak only produce big chewy tannic wines. Initially, in fact Patrick even planted more Merlot vines with the thought of using these for increased blending – to help soften the Cabernet Sauvignon. Their terroir makes this a moot point. Elan’s wines are remarkably elegant, soft, focused and balanced. These are the type of Napa wines we love to drink.

Select Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Elan Cabernet Sauvignon is 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is a triple union of darker fruits, savory and herbal. Its smells fresh with aromas of raspberries, red cherries, dark fig, rose petals, sweaty baseball mitt leather, dried sage, dried bay leaf and old cigar box. This wine tastes like Santa Rosa plum, dark raspberry, boysenberry and red cherry and lingers with a light note of dried tobacco leaf. Remarkably balanced and a comfortable expression of mountain grown grapes, the finish lingers with a supple and rounded textural profile. The oak is a gentle complement here. Perhaps a slightly riper expression than usually produced by Elan, representative of this particular vintage in Napa Valley. Still, despite the challenges of the vintage, this bottling offers bright acidity.

The 2019 Elan Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; for reference, we needled and nosed this 6 years post vintage. Open knitted and forward fruited, the bouquet is a generous offering of sweet ripe fruits including blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, Persian mulberry and Santa Rosa plums. And as the wine continues to evolve, it opens to notes of mocha, dark cocoa powder and roasted coffee beans. Its flavors range from red to black and include dark raspberry, cherry, plum, blackberry, dark mulberry and boysenberry. The focus here, both on the bouquet and the palate is on its core fruit, with the oak offering a complementary supporting role. This wine finishes very primary, with loads of fresh fruit, running in parallel with lightly gravelling tannins felt more on the front of the palate. This is one of our favorite of the Elan wines we have tried over the years.

The 2013 Elan Cabernet Sauvignon is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot. This wine is deep ruby and opaque with an evolution of color due to its time in bottle to more brickish hues. At 12 years post vintage the bouquet is transitioning to more mature fruits and layers of tertiary aromatics. These include cherry pie, blackberry jam, baked plums and dried berries. And its non fruited scents include sweet tobacco spice, dark chocolate, Graham cracker, mocha and dark cocoa powder. Dark fruited, intensely flavored and layered this wine tastes like blackberry pie, dark plum, boysenberry, cherry, dark chocolate and pipe tobacco. The palate still shows loads of primary dark fruits; it becomes even more expressive as the wine evolves. The tannins are tumbled but still exert a moderate to firm gravelly, grainy and dusty grip. This wine is showing in a sweet spot right now. We would love to pair this with a well marbled tri-tip covered in assorted herbs and a BBQ.

The 2015 Elan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is medium to dark ruby in color; the bouquet immediately offers a captivating bouquet of sweet blackberry, hints of dust, espresso, dried herbs and a darker spice. The aromatics are elegant and are focused on fruit rather than secondary characteristics from the oak; the oak adds a complementary influence rather than a detracting one. The palate reveals flavors of plum and blackberry. Very fine-grained chalk-like tannins persist, creating a supple texture across the palate while lingering on the finish; the supple texture is a noteworthy characteristic of this wine. A darker spice nuance lingers on the finish. This wine was aged in French oak barrels for 25 months. A sophisticated showing.

The 2005 Elan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is smooth and seamless from start to finish and is an elegant wine that shows extremely well even without food. In fact, early on in our work for Napa Wine Project, this was one of the nicer sans food Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons we enjoyed. The perfume filling bouquet holds a hint of vanilla followed by a palate containing concentrated flavors including notes of raspberry and blackberry. The finish is lively and features broad sweet tannins. Elan’s wines tend to age very well; once a year they showcase their older vintages for wine club members only.

Proprietary Blend
The 2006 Elan Vineyards Proprietary Blend incorporates only three of their finest barrels from each vintage (based on blind tasting) and as a result is available in very limited production only to wine club members. After bottling, this wine always ages for at least another year before being released. We tried the ’06 vintage while still in barrel. It was already an elegant wine with a very balanced palate for still being approximately 18 months away from release.

NOTE: we will update tasting notes here as time and budget allow.

Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon
Every so often a vintage is perfect for letting some of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes hang on the vine until later in November – and during these select years (only 6 years to date), Elan makes a Cabernet Sauvignon late harvest wine. We are aware of only 1 other vintner in Napa Valley who used to make this type of wine every year (Van der Heyden) and another producer who has only made it within the past few years. Needless to say, it is a very rare wine in Napa.

The 2014 Elan Vineyards Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon is 18% alcohol by volume and has a residual sugar of 11% by weight. Offers sweet aromatics of ripe fruit yet also offers notes of baking spices, Graham cracker and toasted oak. Noticeably sweet, yet it retains its balance and finesse due to its brighter acidity. The palate sports flavors of fig newton, ripe plum and blackberry. There is no harshness on the finish and lingers with plenty of flavor and hints of chocolate and lasting notes of caramel and vanilla. And at 11 years post vintage, the tannins are still very much present, lingering with a persistent light gravelly character. Let this wine sit out for a few days and it will become better.

The 2006 Elan Vineyards Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon is inky dark with a pleasing very aromatic nose. This wine is sweet but not cloyingly so; it shows very ripe dark fruit (blackberry, blueberry), but is prune-like or jammy. This is a sweet wine that straddles the line between sweetness, acidity and alcohol. The finish offers present structure, lingering with a light smoked cedar character. This wine is only available to club members. And for reference, their first vintage of this wine was in 2003 and the 2015 vintage is their latest bottling of this wine.

Patrick’s brother Dennis painted the label artwork for their Cabernet Sauvignon; this piece is titled, Space for a Thought. A number of olive trees are planted on the property, and they produce a very limited amount of olive oil. And with over three hundred lavandin plants growing on site, every year they harvest and dry the flowers and put them into small packets, one of which they include with every wine club shipment.

Fires on Atlas Peak in October 2017 destroyed numerous homes and one winery on Atlas Peak Road. Elan Vineyards dodged a bullet – the fires raged around their property but miraculously spared their home, winery and vineyards.

Elan maintains a mailing list and a wine club called Wine Society which offers three tier membership levels. As of our latest update to this review, there is still availability in the wine club. For the limited production and high quality of wines, Elan keeps their prices quite reasonable by area standards. For many years they had retail outlets – today they sell nearly all their wine direct to consumer through their mailing list/wine club. The lone remaining retail outlet is at the restaurant at Auberge du Soleil in St. Helena. A typical vintage is a production of around 500 cases. For more information and or to join their mailing list, visit: www.elanvineyards.com