In the Vineyard
Shypoke is a family owned and operated vineyard and winery. We make hand crafted wines—and only a few hundred cases at that.Our family has farmed this same piece of land for over a hundred years. You might say we are old friends; a lot of history, some wild stories. In fact, our stories are intertwined. We take pride in our land and are pleased to see it flourishing. Just as we strive for balance in our lives, we encourage it at Shypoke. Nature in balance is everywhere at hand: a resident great horned owl in the oak tree by the house and red tail hawks that strategize from atop the wind machine. Farming simply allows us to watch nature in balance.
We start with vines that are hand tended. Thinning shoots, dropping slow poke bunches, aiming for uniform berry size, a healthy canopy that will propel our fruit to greatness. We patiently wait for full ripe flavors to develop. We hand select the fruit as we pick it from the vine. Using traditional fermentation techniques, we carefully craft the wines. When we barrel down our vintages we carefully select barrels from artisan coopers who have mastered the craft of creating barrels of elegance and subtlety. It is these barrels which will strike a balance with the wines we place into them. Our goal is to carry the balance in the field through to the glass.
The wonderful union of Calistoga’s climate and geology produce unique wines with ripe tannins and an intriguing spiciness.
The Geography:
Bounded on both sides by mountains, the Napa Valley stretches approximately 30 miles in a northwesterly direction, its width ranging from five miles at the widest point near the city of Napa to just a mile where the valley narrows near the town of Calistoga. Flowing the length of the valley is the Napa River, which is little more than a creek at its northern beginnings. The valley’s topography changes with its length, from flat gentle hills near Napa to the sheer walls of the palisades at the foot of Mount St. Helena to the east and the forested Mayacamas Mountains to the west.
The Soil:
The precise contributions made by soil to wine quality are not completely understood. However, one factor that clearly influences wine quality is the relationship between the size and shape of soil particles, the space around each particle and the soil’s water-holding capacity. Porous soils with lower water-holding capacity such as those in the upper valley generally yield riper, firmer, more structured wines.
The valley has a wealth of distinctive soil types, unusual for such a small area. Volcanic eruptions over the course of millions of years distributed minerals and ash over the region. The Napa River, and probably the Russian River before it, meandered over the valley floor, moving and mixing and sorting sediments carried from upstream, along with local alluvial deposits of varying ages. There are many alluvial fans in the valley, each with its own mineralogy, chemistry, texture and structure. Small variations in climate affect soil weathering almost as much as they affect vine growth, so that the same general mix of rock types can make distinctly different soils from place to place, hence the presence of the more than 140 different soil types found in Napa Valley.
The Climate:
An amazing combination of climatic conditions makes top notch wine production possible in the Napa Valley. As cold offshore waters chill the air above it, the sun super-heats California’s Central Valley. This hot air then rises, creating low pressure that the cold coastal air rushes to fill, this cool air enters the Napa Valley. Heating and cooling alternate in a cycle that repeats all summer long-a few days of heat, a few days of equilibrium, followed by a few days of cooler temperatures. The average length and rhythm of that cycle throughout the growing season is one of the factors that determine vintage character. Similar patterns during the winter and spring affect rainfall, which is very important to soil moisture during the summer, as well as to the timing of bud break, flowering and fruit formation.
The Napa Valley is located at a climatic sweet spot, and Calistoga experiences an amazing daytime / nighttime temperature differential. The valley’s climate changes subtly but significantly from end to end. Calistoga’s daily temperatures during the growing season generally exceed Napa’s by 10 degrees or more. That affects flavor development, acid balance and the quality of tannins. Frequent overnight fog incursions from the Russian River Valley via the Chalk Hill gap affect the differential between daytime and nighttime temperatures. The characteristics of the grapes at the end of the season reflect every little variation in the vine’s environment during the growing season.
