Terra Valentine

Terra Valentine was founded in 1999 by Christopher Angus (died 2017) & Margaret Wurtele. Christopher was always known by his middle name of Angus. In 1996 they purchased 75 acres of land including existing vineyards in the Mayacamas mountains above the town of St. Helena. The named their vineyard Wurtele Vineyard. In 1999 they purchased the nearby Yverdon Winery. The Wurteles had always enjoyed visiting Napa Valley and were interested in permanently “retiring” here, which never happened as their primary home was in Minnesota.

The original site of Terra Valentine on Spring Mountain was purchased by Switzerland born Fred Aves in 1965; he was an engineer who invented and manufactured airplane and automobile accessories, including remote controlled mirrors on vehicles and a light bulb tester for lightbulbs in airplane instrument panels. He founded his first company, Aves Electric Company (AECO), in 1934 in Beverly Hills. He also was very successful in the self-storage business. We never met Fred, but he sounds exactly like the quintessential brilliant southern California engineer who could make anything out of any material. We were first introduced to these types of individuals, primarily from Los Angeles, during our years attending Cal Poly in Luis Obispo and through our work helping build a solar car.

According to an article published by the Venice High School Alumni, the high school from which Fred graduated from and the beneficiary of a sizable amount of money donated upon his death, his interest in winemaking began before he moved to Napa Valley. The article mentions that he took a winemaking class at UCLA, later traveled to northern California and purchased grapes for making home wine. And then he purchased land in Beverly Hills and planted a few wine grapes and built a small wine cave to store his home wines.

He called this special slice of Napa Valley, Yverdon, named after his mother’s hometown in Switzerland, located along the shoreline of Lac de Neuchatel. Fred initially planted grape varieties found in Switzerland, but these were not successful. Winemaker Cathy Corison of Corison Winery worked with Fred for two full vintages including in 1979 and 1980. Fred (died 1997) and his son Russell (died in 2019) built a small ‘castle’ of out of local stone quarried from Napa Valley and completed construction in the early 1970s. Their first harvest here was in 1971. According to an article in the The Napa Valley Register dated August 31, 1973 Yverdon’s Johannisberg Riesling was listed in wine writer Robert Balthazar’s list of top 50 wines from California that year. And an ad for Vallergas Market in the city of Napa in the The Napa Valley Register dated August 13, 1983 listed a 750ml bottle of Yverdon Cabernet Sauvignon for $5.29.

Fred Aves closed the winery operations in 1986.

Angus Wurtele earned his MBA from Stanford University in 1961 and the following year became president of Minnesota Paints Inc. Over the decades he built the company into what became Valspar Corporation; for reference, Minnesota Paints merged with Valspar in 1970. Eventually he was chairman of the company; today it is one of the largest painting and coatings companies in the world. Eventually he sold the company to Sherwin-Williams and retired as CEO in 1995. The Wurtele’s were generous philanthropists in Minnesota. The Wurtle Center for Leadership at Smith College in Northampton, MA is named in honor of their financial contribution to the college. And Angus generously donated both time and money to his alma mater, Stanford University.

Margaret is an author having published several personal memoirs after her son Phil, a student ranger died climbing Mt. Rainier at age 22 in 1995 on a rescue mission. These books are: Taking Root: A Spiritual Memoir (1998) and Touching the Edge, A Mother’s Spiritual Path from Loss to Life (2002). Following his tragic death, Margaret and Angus created the Philip Otis Environmental Authors Program at The Blake School in Minneapolis. This program is still active; and the student courtyard at the Upper Campus (one of four campuses) is named in his honor.

Another Napa Valley vintner who wrote two books on the subject of losing children was Arlene Bernstein, the co-founder of Mt. Veeder Vineyards. Margaret wrote her first fictional novel in 2012 called: The Golden Hour.

The winery is named after his Angus’s father whose first name was Valentine. Like his son Angus, Valentine spent a long career in the paint and coatings business in Minnesota. He became director of Minnesota Paints, Inc., in 1923 and from 1931 until he retired in 1952 he was the president of the company. After his ‘retirement’ he became chairman of the board.

During his career, Valentine Wurtle served on a number of boards and executive committees directly related to paints and grain products. He died at age 86 in 1972 and is buried in the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. We will pay a visit to his grave, hopefully in 2025. When you combine retirement with starting a new winery, the word “retirement” loses its meaning rather quickly. When they purchased the physical winery on Spring Mountain, it needed much work; they completely remodeled and added a state-of-the-art wine making facility.

In 1999 the Wurtle’s partnered with winemaker Dennis Fife (died in 2016), who used to be married to wine writer Karen MacNeil. Fife also used to own Fife Vineyards with two sites, one on Spring Mountain and the Redhead Vineyard in Mendocino County; we visited his production and hospitality operations in Mendocino County years ago.

The Wurtele’s later hired Phillip Baxter as their consulting winemaker who also used to help make wine at Fife Vineyards. Phillip moved to Napa Valley in 1969 and worked at Charles Krug Winery; later he became the head winemaker at Rutherford Hill Winery. His son Phillip Jr and his wife Claire currently own and operate BAXTER, a hillside located winery about a 20-minute drive from Elk on the coastline which focuses on wines from Anderson Valley and other parts of Mendocino County. They also operate a small tasting room next to Highway 128 in Philo (Anderson Valley) which is about a 30-minute drive from the winery.

It was through his father’s role at Terra Valentine that his son Sam Baxter was hired as cellarmaster in 1999 a year after he graduated from the University of California Davis with a degree in enology. Later Sam became head winemaker and ultimately General Manger of Terra Valentine. In additional to operating Terra Valentine, he also consults for several small wine brands.

In late 2013 the Wurteles sold the physical winery and one of their two vineyards, the Yverdon Vineyard to Jackson Family Estates (Kendall Jackson). The original home of Terra Valentine is now the home of Lokoya Winery. In 2014 while looking to take an additional step closer to really retiring the Wurteles also sold their Terra Valentine brand to their longtime winemaker Sam Baxter. With the Wurteles living in Minnesota, for many years Sam was the face of the winery and was synonymous with the brand. It made perfect sense for him to take over the ownership.

When ownership changed, Terra Valentine was no longer tied to the estate model of vineyard ownership. Because of this change, Sam relished the new opportunities including being able to source grapes from select vineyards throughout the valley. However, the desire to own his own vineyard piece of Napa Valley came to fruition in late 2015 when he purchased a 112-acre property called Spring Summit Ranch located at 2200 feet in elevation. A tiny house is also located on the property which replaced the previous structure which burned along with nearly the entire property in the Glass Fire of 2020.

Their immediate neighbor Paloma is the highest vineyard property on Spring Mountain. This site was not planted to vines at the time of their purchase although they have since planted several small blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon. Approximately 90% of the property is in Sonoma County within the Fountaingrove Appellation, which extends almost all the way to the northern city limits of Santa Rosa. Ten percent of this property is in Napa Valley within the Spring Mountain Appellation.

And unlike some Fountaingrove based producers or vineyards who do not promote the Fountaingrove District, or even worse, associate themselves with the Spring Mountain District, Terra Valentine champions and is an advocate for the district. And this is reflected in a number of their beautiful Fountain Grove District bottlings.

Regardless, the views from the top are spectacular taking in the hilly landscape looking west in Sonoma County all the way to a gap leading to the Russian River in the distance – with also excellent views of Mt. St. Helena and a tiny sliver of the northernmost part of Napa Valley floor. From here, one can also look down into the canyon that contains the headwaters of Santa Rosa Creek – the same creek the runs through downtown Santa Rosa.

They currently make a wide variety of limited production wines. Sam continues to focus on these wines that they have made for years but has also added several other small production wines to their portfolio. Unusual by Napa standards is a dry Riesling from Spring Mountain and a Blanc de Noir, a sparkling wine sourced from grapes grown in Sonoma County. They also make a rosé – with 2013 being their first rosé of Sangiovese and Pinot Noir; usually Cabernet Sauvignon is part of their rosé program.

Sam debuted an exciting label in early 2015, Foretell which focuses on small production (around 100 cases) Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. The name of this wine is based around the idea of a winemaker trying to “foretell” or predict the characteristics of a wine and how it will age – starting from the vineyard, through the wine making process through its aging.

Select Wines
Whites Terra Valentine
The 2019 Terra Valentine Sauvignon Blanc, Kick Ranch (Rincon Valley, Santa Rosa) Sonoma County Fountaingrove District is 100% varietal, a blend of stainless steel fermented Musque clone + barrel fermented 317 clone. We tasted this wine 5 years post vintage; it is medium gold in color. The bouquet immediately offers a honeycomb/beeswax character accompanied by additional aromas of pineapple, vanilla, toffee, candied walnuts, honeydew melon, dried mango and papaya. This is a nose we highly enjoy sniffing. On the palate there are flavors of pineapple, mandarin orange, honeydew melon, white peaches and white nectarines. Perfectly saddled between flavor, acidity and texture, this wine is showing in a sweet spot at this age. It is delicate, yet flavorful while simultaneously showing plenty of California sunshine. In terms of pairing, we would enjoy drinking this on the beach in Thailand (one of our favorite Thai islands, Koh Mak would be just fine for the occasion) with a freshly caught and prepared Pla Neung Manao (steamed fish in lime sauce).

Reds Terra Valentine
The 2019 Terra Valentine Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley Spring Mountain District is 100% varietal from clone 214. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet reveals aromas of dark and ripe fruited berry and cherries including blackberry and mulberry. No varietal greenness here either on the bouquet or the palate. And there are loads of barrel influences at play here including of mocha, espresso, milk chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon stick and Graham cracker. Approachable with plenty of complexity this wine drinks well 5 years post vintage. The palate features flavors of dark cherry, ripe plum, blackberry, mocha and crushed rocks (here we are referring to a minerality component). And this character reminds us of when we were finishing up a tasting with friends at Jarvis Winery and we all headed down to the nearby dry creek to lick rocks after one too many tasting note descriptors listing “dry creek bed”. The tannins on this bottling are lightly grainy but well integrated into the finish.

The 2019 Terra Valentine Petite Sirah, Napa Valley Spring Mountain District. Sometimes you wonder where in the world certain grapes come from; take this Petite Sirah for example. For starters, there is very little of this variety growing on Spring Mountain. And these vines are from its mid to upper reaches (high elevation Petite Sirah – also unusual in Napa Valley) and are all head trained. The vineyard is Bales Creek, located next to Keenan Winery. This wine is deep ruby, inky, dark and opaque in color. The bouquet smells brooding, moody and perhaps disheveled, like it just woke up from a long winter nap, with its hair out of place, needing time to ‘get made up’. But that is what we so like about this variety, it has character and it should always be distinctive in its aromatic approach. Its scents include forest floor, damp potting soil, dried mushroom, crushed peppercorn, mocha, smoked sage and creosote. But give it time in the glass – its core of dark fruit will become much more expressive. Well-layered across the palate in terms of both flavor and texture, this wine offers notes of blackberry, plum, Persian mulberry, boysenberry and dark cherry. The gritty and gravelly tannins are firmly structured and persist for quite some time with a lasting dusty/earthy character. As someone once told us, a well grown and made Petite Sirah does well with any sort of char. Bingo.

The 2009 Terra Valentine Syrah (100 cases) is 94% varietal with 6% Mourvèdre; it is noticeably dark in the glass. The bouquet shows dark fruit, some toasted oak and hints of cedar along with a blackberry note – almost briar like. It features a powerful and an inviting nose. The palate is juicy, mouthwatering with plenty of flavor. The finish is long with layers of fruit but without huge tannins. Rather the tannins are polished very well integrated and show delicately more on the front of the palate rather than the back.

For many years they have made two Cabernet Sauvignon wines from what were their two estate vineyards: Yverdon and the Wurtele Vineyard. With the sale of the Yverdon Vineyard they no longer produce wines from here but for upcoming vintages Sam made arrangements to source fruit from the vineyard that directly borders Yverdon. After the sale of the winery and Yverdon Vineyard the Wurtele’s decided to keep the Wurtele Vineyard and today they lease the grapes from this vineyard to Terra Valentine. They tend to hold back their red wines longer than the average winery, with current releases typically 5 years old.

The 2018 Terra Valentine Fountaingrove District Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in color. This wine is a ripe union of both fruit and barrel influence. These scents include blackberries, boysenberry and Pakistani mulberry accompanied by caramel, milk chocolate, Graham cracker and cocoa powder. On the palate there are flavors of dark raspberry, cherry, boysenberry, currant and blackberry. The finish is energetic and red-fruited. The grainy tannins persist with a light persistent dusty character outlasting the fruit on the finish. We love the tension here, the interplay between texture, flavor and acidity.

Reds Foretell
The 2019 Foretell Pinot Noir is 100% varietal from clones 828 and 777. This wine is medium ruby in color; the bouquet offers aromas of raspberry, chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla and mocha. Balanced, bright and very Pinot-esque, the palate sports flavors of currant, cherry, cranberry and red plum. The tannins are grainy, broadly coating and linger along with dried herbs and an exciting freshness. While tasting this wine, we noticed more barrel influence on the bouquet than on the palate. The Terra Valentine Pinot Noir’s age remarkably well. We tried this bottling 5 years post vintage; it has loads of life ahead of it still. This Pinot Noir was sourced from a vineyard at 1,500 feet in elevation, four miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Fort Ross-Seaview appellation in the far western reaches of Sonoma County. It was aged sur lie for 12 months in French oak barrels and then racked one time three months prior to bottling.

The 2019 Foretell One Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 100% varietal with the grapes coming from both Fountaingrove District and the Spring Mountain District. This wine is deep ruby in color; the bouquet is ripe and dark fruited with aromas of blackberry, black cherry, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and nutmeg. The palate reveals flavors of dark cherry, blackberry, dark licorice, dark plum and black olive. The pixelated and chewy tannins broadly coat the palate and continue to persist on the extended finish with a drying character. A note of dried herbs is also at play on the finish. Bright acidity. This wine is built to age and still shows highly youthful 5 years post vintage.

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After the sale of the Terra Valentine property, they temporarily opened for tastings by appointment at what was G Cook Winery (now the home of Reverie II Winery) and leased that production space. That winery was sold and Terra Valentine moved their operations to a winery in St. Helena. As of the latest update to this review, Terra Valentine produces their wines at a winery in the city of Napa. Plans eventually call for drilling a wine cave at Spring Summit Ranch and moving their production operations there.

Tastings are hosted by appointment at Spring Summit Ranch.

For more information, to purchase wine including a limited number of library wines, to schedule a visit or to join one of their three wine clubs including a magnum only offering, visit: www.terravalentine.com