Chateau Woltner's Howell Mountain vineyard was considered from the very beginning to be a little piece of France, and was named Nouveau Medoc Vineyard by the men who founded it. Jean Brun, a native of Bordeaux, and W.J. Chaix, whom he met in Napa, first planted 20 acres of Medoc grapes on Howell Mountain in 1877- among the first to plant vineyards up on Howell Mountain instead of on the Napa Valley floor. In 1886 Brun & Chaix completed a three-story winery building with thirty-inch thick stone walls, which received this notice in the October 15, 1886 issue of the St. Helena Star: "The grape growing and the manufacture of wine of a superior quality is no further an experiment in this mountainous district, as evidenced by the fact of the substantial and costly character of the improvements that are gradually being carried on in connection with this industry…Now all doubts are removed on that score and they are the men to reap the reward which they justly deserve." One of those rewards was a Bronze Medal in the 1889 Paris World Competition. This, coupled with chardonnay from vineyards in the highly acclaimed Russian River Appellation, makes for the style and finesse that you will enjoy with every bottle of Woltner wine.
