At Rocca Family Vineyards, we believe deeply that all great wines are made in the vineyard. Our winemaker, Paul Colantuoni, and vineyard manager Sergio Melgoza work very closely together, taking tremendous care to ensure that our estate vineyards produce grapes of the highest possible quality. In 2008, their dedicated efforts met with growing conditions that definitely promoted quality over quantity. In the early spring, Napa Valley experienced its coldest and longest frost events in decades, which significantly reduced vineyard yields. Furthermore, for the second year in a row, rainfall was little more than 60% of average. As a result, grape clusters were far fewer and smaller than normal, with unusually tiny berries. Fortunately the rest of the growing season brought essentially picture-perfect ripening conditions, allowing these naturally concentrated grapes to mature slowly and fully, developing remarkably profound flavors and lush tannins. The resulting wines from the 2008 vintage are exceptionally dense, richly fruit-forward and extroverted, with great charm and elegance. For the inaugural Vespera vintage, we utilized 72% of the fruit came from the Collinetta Vineyard in Coombsville and 22% from our Grigsby Vineyard in Yountville.