Mount Peak Wines

Built in 1886, Mount Peak was a marvel of innovation. It quickly emerged as one of California's top ten producers, but the start of Prohibition in 1920 forced the winery to shutter its doors. Like many of California's pioneering wineries, Mount Peak was abandoned to the elements, a true ghost winery never to reopen. For decades the winery lays silent, as wild vines and towering fig trees seek to reclaim it stone by stone.

Over 130 years later only the ruins of the winery remain, yet the vineyard's still-thriving vines have persisted—standing silent above the fog line, occupying the space between earth and sky. The ghost winery and the world-class Monte Rosso Vineyard are perched at nearly 1,300 feet along the spine of the Mayacamas Mountains, just straddling Napa and Sonoma valleys. Monte Rosso's steep hillsides, robed in bright red, iron-rich soils, are set against a dramatic backdrop of manzanita and madrone, under the expanse of piercing blue skies.

Today, Mount Peak wines display the focus and finesse that are the hallmarks of this remarkable place with three distinct wines. Sentinel™ Cabernet Sauvignon, named after the shield-shaped block that marks the entrance to the vineyard. Rattlesnake™ Zinfandel pays homage to Monte Rosso's Rattlesnake Hill, a place known for the snakes that sun themselves at the highest point in the vineyard. Gravity® Red Blend, so named for a remote, hard-to-reach block where the vines cling to a steep slope that terminates at the mouth of a canyon. Inspired by this storied vineyard, our portfolio of wines are a tribute to California's fabled winemaking history.

Rattlesnake™ Zinfandel is a tribute to the crest called Rattlesnake Hill, the highest point of the Monte Rosso Vineyard and a site known for rattlesnakes living among the vines. During the day, the snakes seek the abundant sunshine and in the evening, they coil inside and around the vines.

A rich, textured and inky-dark Zinfandel with an alluring juicy quality. Layered ripe fruits tones of plum, black cherry and blueberry tie together with black pepper, licorice and cocoa dust. The lasting finish adds spices and vanilla to frame the fruit. 91 pts - The Wine Advocate

Gravity® Red Blend is named for a remote, hard-to-reach block on one of the lowest slopes of the Monte Rosso Vineyard.

Five varietals—Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache—lend power and depth to this red blend. The wine is layered with concentrated notes of black cherry plum, black cherry, plum, blackberry and hints of cocoa powder and coffee. Woven together are layers of black truffle, caramel and toasty oak with assertive tannins and a long, concentrated finish. 91 pts - The Wine Advocate