Fotinos Vineyard. A vineyard under at least fifty years of family ownership is fairly rare in Napa Valley; two brothers, George and Tom Fotinos purchased a former prune orchard in Carneros in 1969, and soon after planted their property to grapes. In the early 1970s Carneros was not known for its grapes rather it was home to a number of sheep and cattle ranching operations (dairy cattle). Several factors long discouraged farmers from growing grapes in this part of Napa Valley – often making generalizations for all Carneros: i.e., it’s too cold here to ripen grapes, soils are thin and composed of clay, they do not retain moisture and the groundwater is salty from the nearby San Pablo Bay. Over the years perceptions have changed, hurdles overcome and now the Carneros region is home to some of Napa Valley’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. And this sub appellation is one of only two in the Napa Valley to cross county lines (Sonoma), the other being Wild Horse Valley crossing into Solano County.
This site is 26 acres of which 20 are planted entirely to multiple clones of Pinot Noir including Pomard, Calera, Dijon and a UC Davis released clone, number 23 which is now known as the Mariafeld clone known for its darkness of color, texture and tannins. The property is organized into 7 separate blocks based on the clone types. For a time in the 1980s a small section of the property was planted to Chardonnay. Over the years they have sold to a variety of Napa Valley producers including Robert Mondavi Winery, Saintsbury and Domain Carneros. Today they sell their Pinot Noir to Mumm Napa Valley for use in their sparkling wine program. The vineyard is managed by Jesus Romero Jr, who along with his father, Jesus Romero Sr. operates a small vineyard management company (Romero Vineyard Management) providing management services in both Napa and Sonoma counties, primarily in Carneros and Coombsville.
The Fotinos family heritage traces back to Lefkada, Greece where George and Tom’s father, Christos was born. He made home wine for friends and family in Greece. He came to California and operated a small grocery store in the Mission Dolores neighborhood in San Francisco and eventually acquired a home in Sonoma with a small vineyard. He made wine with the involvement of both of his sons.
George graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Civil Engineering and early in his career served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He later graduated with a Masters degree in Civil Engineering from U. C. Berkeley. His career was spent working building bridges and other water related structures both in the San Francisco Bay Area and a number of international projects. Locally, he worked on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and the Benicia-Martinez Bridge.
Tom passed at age 59 in 1983; a long time local educator in Napa Valley he worked at Napa High from 1957 until 1978, ultimately becoming principal of the school. He also served as president of the Napa Kiwanas club.
George helped lay out the vineyards, put in a small reservoir which supplies all the water for the vines from rainwater, and was often working in the vineyard. He died in 2014; up until that point two parcels of the property were under dual family ownership: Tom’s sons Tom and Chris operated their own wine brand before selling their portion of the family property in 2014. Today Fotinos Vineyard is led by three sisters in partnership with their husbands, Ted & Angela Koros, Margaret Fotinos & Mike Morearty and Elaine & Jim Burrell and George’s wife Vivian.
All play an integral role in their operations; the oldest daughter Angela and Ted coordinate the winemaking, Margaret oversees the vineyard operations and her husband helps with any technical needs while the youngest sister Elaine works on their website and her husband helps maintain the farm equipment. Margaret recalls she and her sisters grew up working and playing among the vines. And today their children have been introduced to the vineyard and help out during harvest (the 4th generation). This property is the definition of family owned and operated.
The soils are fairly uniform across the property – sandy loam. A defining characteristic of Carneros are the breezes and this property is no exception. Margaret often tells people they could never hold weddings here – everything would simply blow away! Over the years a number of neighboring vineyards have been developed including nearby vineyards owned by Beaulieu Vineyards, Far Niente and Robert Sinskey. Despite being located close to the often busy Old Sonoma Road, a short drive into their vineyard brings one’s heartbeat down several octaves.
Their label is simple yet reflects their Greek heritage and their land. A coin dating back to 480 B.C depicts Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo and the Greek goddess of forests and the moon – representing the natural world.
Stylistically, wines from this vineyard feature smooth silky texture with excellent acidity. A special vintage is their 2018 Pinot Noir; this was the 50th anniversary of when the family acquired the property in 1969. The grapes for this wine were harvested on September 18, 2018, and then fermented in small open top tanks followed by aging in French oak barrels for about 10 months. Only 160 cases of this beauty were produced. And it won gold in the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Other vintages have earned awards at this same competition as well as at the Sunset Magazine International Wine Competition and the California State Fair.
And their Chardonnay comes from Vivian’s Vineyard, located on a one acre property off of North Castle Road. From a viticultural perspective, this is located among an extremely historical part of Sonoma with nearby neighbors including Bartholomew Estate Winery and California’s oldest still operating winery, Buena Vista.
Select Wines
Chardonnay
The 2024 Fotinos Chardonnay, Vivian’s Vineyard Sonoma Valley is medium to deep gold in color; ripe on both the bouquet and the palate, this is a full expression of California sunshine, expressing all the attractive characteristics of the variety. The delightful and generous nose reveals scents of yellow peach, yellow nectarine, butterscotch, golden plums, yellow apples, ripe pineapple, lemon curd, honeysuckle, honeycomb, citrus blossom, and an undertone of vanilla that becomes more noticeable as the wine evolves. Richly fruited and layered this wine tastes like stone fruits including nectarine and peach, accompanied by ripe pear, golden delicious apples, golden kiwi, Alphonso mango and a lingering note of mandarin orange. The mouth feel is fleshy, oily and creamy with and appreciable and fully coating grip. This texture however, is lifted by its rich acidity so its ‘weight’ never feels heavy. Best enjoyed with a large gathering of friends and family. The label this year features an image of Vivian and her daughters at Fotinos Vineyard taken by her husband George. Its listed ABV is 13.7%.
The 2022 Fotinos Vivian’s Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Valley is medium to deep gold in color; the bouquet offers a diverse expression of aromas including pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, butter and vanilla along with stone fruits (yellow nectarines, and yellow peaches). We wrote minerally as our first impression of the palate, followed by flavors of honeydew melon, apricot and similar other stone fruit characteristics as the bouquet. The finish is richly flavored with an accompanying supple and rounded textural feel and a light but persistence dryness. This wine was whole cluster pressed and then fermented in barrel for both primary and malolactic fermentation. The wine spent 11 months aging in French oak barrels; battonage was conducted twice a week. This bottling was made in homage to Vivian’s 85th birthday; a photograph as the front label depicts she and George on their honeymoon in 1962. This wine was awarded a gold medal at the 2024 San Francisco Wine Competition. Only 70 cases were produced.
Pinot Noir
The 2023 Fotinos Pinot Noir, Maria Vivian Carneros Napa Valley was harvested exclusively from their Pommard clone of this variety. And its named in homage to Maria Vivian Morearty, one of the granddaughters who incidentally celebrated her 21st birthday on the day the grapes for this wine were harvested. This wine is pale ruby in color; immediatley open in terms of its red fruits, its scents include cherry cola, raspberry, strawberry jam, cranberry, root beer, dried rose petals, red licorice and red cherries. Its nose is so focused on the purity of the fruit, that its hard to notice the other more subtle layers. These additional aromas include dried thyme, all-spice and a kiss of nutmeg. On the palate this wine tastes like cherry cola, raspberry jam, strawberries at the peak of ripeness, red licorice, boysenberry and a light note of baking spices on the finish. The tannins are rounded with a gentle profile; their texture is lightly felt more on the front of the palate than the back. This wine was aged for 11 months in French oak barrels. Drinking this bottling made us to defrost the pork shoulder in our freezer, find someone with a BBQ and pop open another bottle of this Pinot Noir. But from personal experience, it also goes well with spicy Italian meatballs in a tomato based sauce.
The 2022 Fotinos Pinot Noir, The Wedding Vintage Carneros Napa Valley is pale ruby in the glass; this wine smells like the variety. We always consider that one of the best compliments one can bestow upon wines made from Pinot Noir. The bouquet offers both fruit and spices including raspberries, cranberry, currant and red cherry along with white pepper, sage and other assorted dried herbs and a gamey character. This wine needs time especially to open and as it breathes its core of fruit becomes more expressive. Bright, lively and bursting with flavor, the palate offers notes of red cherry, black currant, and darker spices including clove. Mouth watering. Crunchy. The tannins are lightly grainy and persist beyond the fruit on the finish. This wine spent 4 days cold soaking prior to fermentation in an open-top tank. Once fermentation finish the wine was left for 5 more days before being pressed to French oak barrels where it was aged for 11 months before being bottled. This wine was also awarded a gold medal at the 2024 San Francisco Wine Competition.
In 2020 due to the resulting smoke from the fires in the region, only half of their grapes were harvested. Pinot Noir is a thin skinned grape, regardless of clone and is a variety that is particularly susceptible to smoke taint.
The 2018 Fotinos Vineyard Pinot Noir is light ruby color in the glass; aromas redolent of wild strawberries and raspberries immediately show with very subtle nuances in the background of toasted oak, mocha and vanilla. As the wine breathes reveals additional notes of mint/wintergreen/pine branch. These specific aromatics bring us back to times hiking in the Sierra Nevada at about 4,000 feet and pinching off young pine needles to smell, although the aromatics in this wine are not as pronounced. A textural lightness if you will flows across the palate from start to finish without any harsh edges – a seamless feel of fruit, acid and texture. Offers flavors of strawberry, cherry and cranberry with a slight tartness. Very balanced already, especially in its youth.
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The first commercial release of Fotinos Vineyard was in 2003. For a number of years, they produced their wines at Saintsbury; today their wines are made at the Wine Foundry in the city of Napa overseen by winemaker Patrick Saboe. They produce wines every other year, while production is extremely limited, usually between 100 and 300 cases. Most of their wines are sold direct to consumer through their website and select wine release events. However, they do have limited distribution in parts of southern California.
Fotinos hosts two events for customers each year at their property within the beautifully decorated Artemis Barn: a harvest pick-up party in the fall and an ‘evening in Carneros’ gathering in June. At each of these events, customers can taste and purchase current release wines.
Fotinos is a member of both the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers.
For more information, to purchase wine, to schedule a vineyard our or to join their mailing list, visit: www.fotinos.com
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