Aum Cellars is owned and operated by Peter Hoffman, a fellow Cal Poly, SLO graduate who also shares the same somewhat esoteric major as us, a Bachelor of Science, Ecology, Systemic Biology. Peter grew up in and around what was at the time one of California’s largest vineyards in Rancho Cucamonga (Southern California). His family has been involved in agriculture or outdoor pursuits for generations; his father grew avocados and citrus, his grandfather worked in the timber industry and his great grandfather raised horses.
Peter remembers a next door neighbor made wine in his garage; Peter’s father was a ‘wine geek’ and also made wine in their garage. Peter’s first experience making wine was with his father at age 11. That same year (1979) his father invited Peter on a road trip to Napa Valley. They both stopped at Inglenook where his father purchased a number of cases of Inglenook wines from the 1970s.
Fast forward a number of years; knowing that he wanted to do something with agriculture he attended Cal Poly which was before they even offered their wine and viticulture program. Today the state-of-the-art J. Lohr sponsored teaching winery is located on campus. During his time in college, he started becoming interested in wine, especially Syrah and made his first wine while at Cal Poly.
Peter’s father still had the cases of wine from Inglenook. He gifted four cases to Peter, encouraging him to sell them to to help raise money for college. So while driving up to San Luis Obispo from Rancho Cucamonga, Peter stopped at a wine shop in Santa Barbara and walked asked the owner if he wanted to purchase some wines from Inglenook. The owner asked what the sale price was for wines; Peter said $700 with the intention to sell a case for that price. The owner said, I’ll take 3 bottles of the 1974 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon. And he returned with a check for $2,100.
While living on the Central Coast, he discovered Alban (makers of fine Central Coast Rhone based wines including Syrah). Peter fell in love with this variety and found himself planting Syrah vineyards for a local vintner. This turned into additional vineyard management work and soon he was managing high end vineyards that were producing fruit for some premium area wineries including Santa Barbara based Sine Qua Non.
As Peter told us, he took a ten-year detour to actually start making commercial wine. However, with prior management of large-scale vineyards, his experience was in demand and was hired to come to Napa to oversee famed grower Beckstoffer’s vineyard holdings in 1997. In 1999, 30 years after his first trip to Napa Valley, he took a job at Stag’s Leap Cellars as a vineyard manager. Later he taught viticulture classes at Napa Valley College; today he is a Grower Relations Representative for Treasury Wine Estates.
In 2000 Peter started making home wine and released his first commercial vintage in 2003. Today he devotes his time to winemaking as well as consulting for a variety of wine related projects. He bonded his home and makes the wine there. All wine as of our latest review are bottled under the Aum Cellars label (look for the Aum Sanskrit symbol on the label). Peter produces his wines organically and biodynamically and became officially certified in 2010. Due to personal allergies his wines always contain low amounts of sulfites.
Peter takes a minimalist approach to winemaking, rather letting the variety and vineyard characteristics show. His wines are unfined and unfiltered (vegan style according to Peter) and indigenous yeasts are used for fermentation. The winemaking is as gentle as possible with manual punch-downs and no pump-overs during fermentation. In addition, he has long term leases on vineyards to ensure fruit sources remain fairly consistent. Peter also sources fruit from outside of Napa Valley, for other varieties that tend to grow better in different growing regions. And the wines are primarily released very young.
NOTE: this review is currently undergoing a *major* update.
The wines of AUM Cellars are always balanced with the focus on the varietal characteristics rather than oak. Peter compares a heavy use of oak to a woman who is already beautiful but uses heavy makeup. His wines are about expressing the beauty of both the site and the variety. These are distinctive and inspired wines, each bottling with its own personality. And that is uniquely refreshing in contemporary Napa Valley where distinctiveness is often bred out by over ripeness.
Select Wines
Aum Cellars used to produce a proprietary blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Muscat and Pinot Blanc but has since transitioned into producing a single varietal, Sauvignon Blanc.
Pinot Noir
The 2018 Aum Cellars Pinot Noir, Russian River Sonoma County (Sonoma) Calera clone is medium ruby in color; the bouquet offers a appealing union of both spice and fruit characters. These include scents of red cherries, Santa Rosa plum, strawberry and currant accompanied by white pepper, dried sage and creosote. Easy drinking and showing very well 6 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. In a blind tasting, we would list this as a ‘crowd favorite’. On the palate there are flavors of cherry, raspberry, red licorice and strawberry and lingers with a light note of darker baking spices. Peter bottle ages this particular clone for a number of years in bottle because this clone in particular needs a few years for it really integrate. The tannins are resolved, rounded and perfectly integrated into the supple but brightly lit finish. We would enjoy drinking this on a mid fall evening in one of our favorite parts of California, Death Valley.
Cabernet/Malbec
The 2022 Aum Cellars Cabernet/Malbec blend 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 75% Malbec; this wine is deep ruby in color. The nose reveals aromas of cherry, plum, dark raspberry, along with notes of vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and Graham cracker. The palate sports energetic acidity, crunchy, juice and mouth watering. Red fruited, the palate reveals flavors of currant, cranberry, sour cherry, and under ripe plum. Lingers savory with a light herbal character, a red-fruited tartness and light grainy tannins which persist beyond the fruit. The alcohol is 13.8%. This wine has loads of life ahead of it.
Charbono
Peter tried his first Charbono in 2015 from a small producer in Sonoma County; intrigued by its profile he reached out to Jim Frediani of Frediani Vineyards in Calistoga in June 2015. Jim informed him that he had a wait list for the old-vine Charbono and he would add Aum Cellars to it. Years went by and Peter forgot all about his request. Then in 2023 Frediani called and informed him he now had Charbono from the 100+ year old vines.
The 2023 Aum Cellars Charbono is from the 110 year old vines at the Frediani Vineyard. This is his inaugural vintage of this variety. This wine is medium to dark ruby in color. Higher toned but sweetly fruited red fruit aromatics include cherry, plum, currant and a savory component including damp potting soil, forest floor and sweet tobacco and a note of dried sage. From aromatics alone, we might have guessed this to be a slightly older bottling. The focus here is on the varietal typicity rather than oak and the reason for this is he uses one two year old barrels and for this wine in particular, its time on oak is short. The palate is brightly lit, juicy and mouth watering. Like the bouquet, the palate is also red fruited. It offers flavors of Santa Rosa plum, raspberry, currant, red cherry and assorted herbs including sage. This wine drinks surprisingly well for such a young wine; the tannins are rounded with a light grainy texture. These old vines are diseased, but disease is not always a reason to not make wine.
Malbec
The 2023 Aum Cellars Malbec Napa Valley (Coombsville) F-ing Fabulous is appropriately named once you smell and try this wine. It is deep ruby with an amaranthine rim; the beautiful bouquet is immediately wide open and highlight . Berries include boysenberry, blueberry, blackberry, dark raspberry with some light baking spices including cinnamon stick, a note of honeycomb. From the aromatics one would think the palate would be ripe but that is not the case. Higher toned, the palate reveals flavors of raspberry, red plum, cherry cola and strawberry. And while Malbec expresses well in warmer climates, this wine showcases plenty of freshness – as it is from a warm site within cooler Coombsville, a sub appellation that is cooler than up valley. The tannins are rounded and linger with a light chalky/dusty character.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Aum Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak F-Me is 100% with clone 7 and Concannon clone from vines 35ish; this wine is deep ruby in color. The bouquet smells elegant with aromas of currant, cranberry, red cherry, red licorice and red plums with an accompanying minerally and chalky character. Vivacious, the palate sings brightly in terms of both acidity and red fruits. Its flavors include currant, red cherry, plum and cranberry. The chalkiness we picked up on the bouquet is even more evident on the palate. Lingers with grainy and gravelly tannins and a chalky dusty character which outpaces the fruit on the finish. This wine is a refreshing 13.4% alcohol. The mouthwatering finish asks for another sip.
One of his clients from Texas tasted one of his wines and said “f*** me” after drinking it; this inspired Peter to name this bottle F-Me. This wine was only made in 2022 and 2023.
The 2005 Aum Cellars, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard in St. Helena. Peter has had extensive experience with specific types of clones and this wine is all clone 7 (good up-front fruit with manageable tannins).This wine is definitely made in the French style with the alcohol around 13%. Peter likes to keep it at this or even lower. It is rare to find a Napa Valley grown and produced Cabernet these days at these alcohol levels. This is the type of style wine that Peter is passionate about; it is a great food wine. You need the higher acidity to cut through certain types of food and the flavors really come alive with a meal. One sommelier called the nose on this a chocolate cake – there are definitely chocolate aromas with other spices and nuances of pepper. The palate features pretty fruit including flavors of raspberry, plum and red cherry. This wine has a rounded mouth feel with soft delicate tannins. This is a very age worthy wine.
The 2006 Aum Cellars Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of different clones each of which brings a specific contribution to the wine. As Peter says, you want a clone which “brings a hint of corruption to a good Cabernet Sauvignon”! We’ve had some muscular Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon wines with robust tannins, which when consumed by themselves in their youth are almost like a meal. This is not one of these bottlings, rather this wine style features rich fruit forward characteristics without the ‘muscle’. However, this wine will be able to carry itself longer due to its higher acidity. It is decidedly darker than the St. Helena Cabernet and sees more new oak during the aging. Nuances of chocolate on the nose lead to a palate rich in dark fruit including blackberry and blueberry. The structured tannins are well balanced, are soft and delicate.
Sexy Series, Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Aum Cellars Sexy Bitch Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) is from the 1.75 acre Smoking Man Vineyard on Mt. George. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the initial aromatic hit is moody, dark and savory and takes some time to evolve. But as it opens the fruit starts showing including scents of plum, sage, shishito pepper and currant. On the palate there are flavors of bright berries including ligonberry, cranberry along with red currant. Fresh, this wine sings brightly from the entry through the finish. The tannins are rounded, and linger with a light dusty character. Very much a food friendly bottling. Lamb please. Peter calls this the, “friendly Cab” and we see why.
Caned pruned vines – gives big berries and large clusters so higher pulp to skin ratio. 13.9%.
The 2022 Aum Cellars Sexy Bastard Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) is deep ruby in color; despite the alcohol slightly lower in this vintage than the Sexy Bitch the bouquet appears a little riper. It offers scents of blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and dark chocolate. On the palate there are flavors of red plum, cherry, boysenberry and blackberry. Sexy bastard is spur pruned, lots more shoots and tiny clusters and small berries with more skin to juice ratio. And you can feel that texturally in a big way. The firmly gripping, pixelated and edgy tannins in their youth, persist on the extended finish, far outlasting the fruit. The energetic acidity whirls like a spinning top. 13.7% alcohol. This is Peter’s steak wine. Yes. BBQ please.
The 2021 Aum Cellars Sexy MF Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. George is deep ruby and opaque; dark fruited and well-layered the bouquet offers aromas of dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry, and Persian an mulberry with a hint of cinnamon stick. The focus here is clearly on the fruit with the oak providing a light and supporting character. As dark fruited on the palate the bouquet, offers dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry. The brambly fruit persists with firmly gripping, grainy and still edgy textured tannins at this age. Lingers with a persistent dusty and chalky character and assorted dried herbs. A big boy but with a simultaneous freshness. Texas lovers steak wine. Often with masculine Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, a generous helping of oak is expected. But be surprised.
The nomenclatural roots of this wine resulted from a tasting with clients. An elderly gentleman who Peter estimated to be in his late 80s tried this Cabernet Sauvignons. At the time Peter referred to this wine as Sandy’s, paying homage to the owner of the vineyard. But when the man tried the wine, he immediately blurted, “this is a sexy mother f@#$#r”. Peter liked the man’s gut reaction description and ultimately used his description for the name of the wine.
The beautiful and colorful label was designed by Napa local and tattoo artist, Rob Struven, the owner of
The Caves at Soda Canyon
The Caves at Soda Canyon is a premium underground winery that offers both production and hospitality space for a limited number of small wineries. The property is located in Atlas Peak; while only around a 20-minute drive from downtown Napa, the feel here is definitely hillside remote. We first visited many years ago when it was just under the initial stages of construction. Our early visit was with visionary for The Caves at Soda Canyon, vintner Ryan Waugh who was accompanied by winemaker Craig MaClean.
It opened in late 2013 and initially its focus was a production space with limited hospitality available for wines produced by the original four founding winery members: Waugh, Lobo, Patland and Buoncristiani Family Winery. In 2020 a wing of the cave finally opened for hospitality; over the years the cave is now used for both production and hospitality by additional small family-owned brands. One can make an appointment directly with these brands to taste only their wines, including AUM Cellars, or one can make an appointment directly with The Caves at Soda Canyon (where a tasting will highlight select wines from some of the producers).
In the face of natural disasters, this winery has two strong advantages, and it has already been tested twice since opening. Advantage number one is its underground location and advantage number two is it is built into what essentially looks like a giant rock pile. The winery survived the Napa earthquake of 2014 without loss of product (despite significant damage to the relatively nearby city of Napa) and during the Atlas Peak fire of October 2017, again the interior was safe as the fire did not enter the cave, yet it burned all the landscape around the winery and even partially melted some of their outside tanks and the asphalt of their parking lot.
This winery offers a luxurious and well lighted interior alcove for tastings (one of our pet peeves is always caves with bad lighting – one will not find that here), as well as a beautiful space on an outdoor terrace overlooking much of the central to southern part of the valley including the San Francisco skyline seen in the distance on an exceptionally clear day. An upper outdoor space can also be used for tastings and offers expansive vistas of the southern part of Napa Valley. The wines of AUM Cellars are available for tastings at the Caves at Soda Canyon and are hosted private for your party.
Guests looking for a unique tasting experience, can inquire about booking a several hour wine + food experience, featuring the wines of Aum Cellars while enjoyed cruising around the Napa River on a 50-foot Catamaran Yacht (a minimum of 6 guests, a maximum of 12).
The early vintages saw a total production of just several hundred cases. Today production is usually between 700 and 1000 cases. And in the beginning, the wines were primarily sold through wine stops and other retail outlets. Around 2008, during the economic downturn Peter transitioned his sales model into primarily direct to consumer and started a wine club. One prominent retail outlet that still carries his wines is DCanter – A Wine Boutique, located in Washington DC.
For more information and or to join the wait list, visit: www.aumcellars.com
Chris Baker says
Peter, we met your father and aunt in Joshua Tree this evening. The place was packed so we offered to share our table. So glad we did- they were energetic and fun and easy to talk with. Heard about their US tour and your wine project, so I thought I’d look you up.
Congratulations and I hope you weren’t too affected by those crazy fires.
Jay L Snyder says
Peter, thanks again for the fantastic tour this week. Can you verify for us which club membership we signed up for? Was thinking it was 6 bottles twice per year. Can you verify?
Jay, Karen, Melanie and Mitchell Snyder
Jesse and Mandy Hughes says
Hi Peter! Thank you again for the fantastic wine tasting and tour of your place. We had the BEST time ever! Looking forward to seeing you again in April!
deborah p preste says
Hi Peter, I love your wines. The best I have ever had and I have been to 30 countries so I think I know. Thank you for your hard work that makes me so Happy to drink your wines.