'Tattoo' takes its name from the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The term comes from an early 17th century phrase doe den tap toe ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks. Generally we likt to keep the taps flowing, but we like the contrast of both strength and grace, power and finesse, that we find inthe Tattoos of both Edinburgh and Napa Valley.

This vineyard is hidden in the woods up on Spring Mountain above St. Helena. The soils are rocky, silty loam and are well drained. The vines are planted on 110R rootstock which is well suited for mountain soils and terrain. These vines are drought tolerant and produce small clusters with robust tannins and deep, intense color. There are three clones (337, 7, See) of Cabernet Sauvignon and two rows of Cabernet Franc. We farm this vineyard in an organic and sustainable manner.

We do all of the hand work on this vineyard ourselves, including pruning, training and harvesting. We pick the grapes at night, and delvier to the crush pad early in the morning for sorting and crushing. The small batches from multiple sections on the mountain are fermented separately. The sections are named This, That, The Other, and One. Although it is a single vineyard wine, our internal blends sometimes include Six of One & Half a Dozen of The Other, or This, That & The Other. These wines are fermented in small batch bins, punched down by hand, and aged in French Oak barrels for 30 months prior to bottling.

12 Barrels / 288 Cases.