Cavalli e Vigne is the estate wine label for Carneros based 80-acre Toyan Farm, two contiguous parcels housing both a vineyard and a working horse farm. Toyon Farm was purchased in 2019 by Chelsea and Rob Bonavito after their daughter Natalia spotted it for sale from a listing on Facebook. Nearby vineyard neighbors include Cakebread, Laird, Hyde and Truchard. Cavalli e Vigne is only a 10-minute drive from Napa and a short drive from Stanley Ranch Auberge Resort and Carneros Resort and Spa. Natalia and her sister Danielle are the proprietors of Cavalli e Vigne.
In getting to know the family, one will quickly discover their passion for horses. Natalia remembers watching the film The Black Stallion as a child, the movie that first inspired her life long love of horses. Incidentally, this film was directed by Napa vintner Carroll Ballard (Luscher Ballard Wines). And Rob has been fascinated by horses since an early age, in his youth he remembers catching rides to Golden Gate Fields to assist in the horse stalls.
In 2020, Natalia pivoted from working at a financial capital management company in San Francisco to taking classes at UC Davis in enology and viticulture. She took three years of classes and now assists their consulting winemaker Ken Bernards with the winemaking for Cavalli e Vigne. Becoming their consulting winemaker was a natural fit for Bernards, as he was intimately familiar with this vineyard and had been purchasing grapes from the site for several decades for his own wine brand, Ancien. He still does.
The first vintage of Cavalli e Vigne was the 2020 Pinot Noir; their first Chardonnay was in 2023 and their first rosé of Pinot Noir was from 2024.
Honoring both heritage and property, the name Cavalli e Vigne is Italian for “horses and vines”; part of Chelsea’s heritage is from Piemonte and part of Rob’s heritage is from Apulia. Chelsea remembers her grandfather used to make wine at their home in Los Altos. That was her first introduction to the beverage, but it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience. She recalls the wines were never very good.
Natalia designed the lovely image on their wine label; a likeness of her with their Lusitano Stallion, named Flash, both horse and rider in perfect union with one another.
This property was originally part of a larger dairy farm; previous ownership partitioned part of the ranch. The property was for sale in 1993 after it went to bankruptcy and was then purchased by Edward Penhoet and his wife Camille, one of a number of properties they owned in northern California. Penhoet grew up in Oakland, graduated from Stanford University and later was an assistant professor and then professor at UC Berkely for 13 years. In 1981, he co-founded Chiron, a biotechnology company headquarter in Emeryville and was later their CEO and President. Chiron was instrumental in the treatments of AIDS, hepatitis (they developed the hepatitis B vaccine), multiple sclerosis, and kidney disease. In 1988 the Emperor of Japan was the first person to receive blood screened for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) from a Chiron developed test.
Ed enjoyed wine and Camille enjoyed horses. Both their passions are still deeply rooted into the fabric of this property. The Penhoet’s hired noted Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta (1931-2011) to design the horse facilities, their house, and added a well insulated building for wine storage. Legorreta designed many private homes and public buildings both in Mexico and the U.S. Some of his most well-known buildings include the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City and the IBM Factory in Guadalajara.
Ed took cuttings from a vineyard on his own property in Carmel Valley to establish the early vines at this property. The clone they first planted was originally from Cuvaison Winery who had brought over cuttings in a suitcase from a very prominent vineyard in Burgundy. The vines that Ed had were highly deceased at the time. So he gave cuttings to UC Davis where over a span of seven years; they isolated the virus and gave Ed virus free cuttings.
The couple oversaw the planting of their first Chardonnay vines in 1996 and Pinot Noir in 1998. Ed and Camille never made wine commercially from the property, rather they sold the grapes to other wineries. Ancien Wines, Saintsbury Vineyard, Cakebread Cellars, Duckhorn, Alpha Omega and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars have all purchased grapes from the property over the years. The vineyard is currently planted to approximately 20-acres of Chardonnay and 9-acres of Pinot Noir with plans to add an additional 10 acres of vines in the future.
Morgan horses were raised on the property, a breed commonly used as calvary mounts in the Civil War. The horse facilities include nearly 40,000 square feet of covered space with boarding barns, grooming areas, several tack rooms and an impressive covered arena complete with a second level viewing lounge. And other amenities include an outdoor dressage arena, an oval jumping ring and a covered square pen.
The property features two reservoirs; a 120-foot well is located where the dairy barn once stood. A water analysist tested this water and said its original source is mostly from an aquifer in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Geologists have called their property part of the ‘banana belt’ of Carneros – referring not to it being a frost free zone but to its rich loamy soils with smaller pockets of volcanic tufa and gravel beds. Not all of Carneros features densely packed adobe-like soils which form large cracks during the dry season.
Rather than outsource to a vineyard management company, the Bonavito’s employ several vineyard workers to manage the vineyard. And like other properties in Carneros, Toyan Farm is planted to old and an extremely healthy grove of eucalyptus trees, dating from the 1870s. They still serve their original purpose – as fast growing wind breaks. But none of their leaves or flowers fall into the vineyard as they are located far enough from each of their vineyard blocks.
This property produces balanced, inspired and lively wines, straddling the freshness of Carneros with California ripeness. Their winemaking showcases the varietal characteristics with oak always providing support, but never dominating.
Select Wines
The 2024 Cavalli e Vigne Rosé of Pinot Noir, Carneros Napa is medium copper in color; this is a bright and vivid expression of the variety, its minerally aromatics are weighted towards citrus attributes including orange blossom, lemon zest, kaffir lime fruit and not fully ripe raspberry. Brightly lit across the palate, its flavors include lime, raspberry, red currant and ruby grapefruit. We love the texture here, it is satiny, supple and gracefully slides across the palate like running one’s fingers across a thick cashmere sweater. Balanced. A crowd favorite and highly enjoyable by itself. Lingers clean, crisp and refreshing and even when this wine warms up it remains fresh and invigorating. A beautiful expression.
The 2023 Cavalli e Vigne Chardonnay, Carneros Napa Valley is medium gold in color; the aromatics are immediately compelling, with aromas of apricot, ripe pineapple, yellow nectarines, papaya, golden apples, honeycomb and Alphonso mango. And some sweet barrel influences including vanilla. Ripe but equally as bright on the palate. Balanced with loads of ripe orchard flavors including apricot, yellow peach, yellow nectarine and ripe pineapple and apples. Its texture is fleshy but not heavy, lifted nicely by its generous but balanced acidity. This wine features a long, rich and satisfying finish. This is a California expression of the variety but without the accompanying often associated ‘baggage’, by this we mean its not oaky, nor flabby nor buttery. Balanced and easy drinking but with plenty of complexity, this wine drinks shows well in its youth but should be able to age for several more years. And it is a Chardonnay that will sway non Chardonnay drinkers.
Prior to producing Chardonnay, Rob and Chelsea took a trip to Burgundy and over a span of 4 days tasted over 300 Burgundian Chardonnays. They identified the bottles they most enjoyed and sent them back to the states. And then had both Natalia and Ken try them.
The 2020 Cavalli e Vigne Pinot Noir, Carneros Napa Valley; this wine is pale to medium ruby in color. Its aromatics are very much Pinot-esque with scents focused on the ripeness of fruit. These scents include raspberry and red plum with some accompanying spice notes including of white pepper, white sage, and old cedar box, damp potting soil and darker baking spices. And some floral notes including of lavender and lilac. Texturally soft, the tannins are perfectly rounded spheres which linger seamlessly and are flawlessly fused into the finish. Balanced. On the palate there are flavors of raspberry, red plum, red cherry and a lingering note of smoked cedar. This wine was made from Dijon clone number 115 planted on 3309 rootstock. This clone in particular is known for its fragrant character but not necessarily its structure. This is a riper expression as compared to the 2023.
The 2023 Cavalli e Vigne Pinot Noir, Carneros Napa Valley is a combination of clone 115 and the Burgundian suitcase clone planted by the Penhoets, sourced from their River Ranch block. This wine is medium ruby in color; well layered, the elegant and bright bouquet offers scents of red plum, dark raspberry, red cherry and red licorice, rose petals, pipe tobacco and old cedar box. This is a beautiful aromatic expression of the variety. Its palate is focused on its fruit with savory darker spices offering a complementary layer. Its flavors include raspberry, strawberry, red cherries, red licorice and blueberry. And its acidity is a supporting attribute here with its balance and brightness. This wine offers a bit more structure than the 2020 vintage; the lightly gravelly tannins persist in tandem with the fruit along with a subtle drying character.
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Visit to the property are by appointment, hosted privately, are unscripted and are either held either outdoors in the courtyard or upstairs in a private room within the horse arena.
Total production is around 3,000 cases annually. The wines are available locally in Napa Valley at Press Restaurant and have limited distribution in parts of Florida. For more information, to schedule a visit to the property or to join one of their allocation lists, visit: www.cavallievigne.com or for more information about Toyan Farms, see: www.toyonfarm.com
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