Appellation · United States
Spring Mountain District
A cool, wet, wooded stretch of the Mayacamas above St Helena, and the wettest AVA in Napa.
Medium-to-full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with red and black fruit, herbs and firm, fine tannin. Fresher and more aromatic than valley-floor Napa.
About Spring Mountain District
Spring Mountain occupies the western hills above St Helena and takes its name from the springs that run through it — it receives roughly twice the rainfall of the valley floor.
It is cooler and more heavily wooded than Napa’s other mountain AVAs, and vineyards are scattered in clearings rather than continuous.
The wines are aromatic and structured, with a herbal, forest-floor edge unusual in Napa.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Spring Mountain District AVA
- Type
- American Viticultural Area (AVA)
- Set by
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
- Recognised
- 1993
- Regulates
- Origin only. It sets no rules about varieties, yields, ageing or winemaking.
Only where the grapes were grown, plus the percentage that must come from the named area. An AVA sets no varietal, yield, ageing or winemaking rules whatsoever — the single most commonly misunderstood fact about US wine labels.
Grapes
Wines from here
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).
Try with steak, ribeye steak or roast chicken.
Where to go next
Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.
- Mount Veeder — Steep, cool, sedimentary slopes on Napa’s western ridge, and the coolest of the valley’s mountain AVAs.
- Howell Mountain — Napa’s first sub-AVA, above the fog line on the eastern ridge, making the valley’s most tannic Cabernet.
- Napa Valley — California’s most prestigious AVA, and the reference point for New World Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sources
Sources consulted
- American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) — Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), US Department of the Treasury
- Napa Valley Vintners — Napa Valley Vintners