Aloft Wine – NAPA GALA

ALOFT WINE

There’s an unmistakable quality to the Cabernet you can grow on this mountain. Situated 1,660 feet above Napa Valley, the location, soil profiles and elevation of our Cold Springs Vineyard are enough to make even the most stoic wine geek swoon. The topography is so varied, there’s no single vantage point that gives you a sense of the whole, but rather, it offers little secrets to be discovered around every bend.

It’s hard to explain what it’s like standing here, in a vineyard surrounded by forests, seemingly worlds away… it’s just one of those special places that needs to be experienced firsthand.

Above the fog line, the south-westerly slopes of our favored blocks see cool morning sun, but are protected from the intense afternoon heat. Outcroppings of white tufa and rhyolitic rocks are interspersed with knolls of red and brown loam and iron-rich volcanic ash, which add complexity and amineral character to our grapes.

What started out as pristine forest – home to a family of mountain lions and more rattlers than you can shake a stick at; is now 21 acres of planted vines with five clonal selections of Cabernet Sauvignon. Surrounded by fir, pine and Madrone trees, we’ve kept all the native rock and added raptor and bluebird boxes to maintain the biodiversity and sustainability of this land’s wild side. As Peter Sr. says, “Take care of the land and it will take care of you.”

WWW.ALOFTWINE.COM

ALYCIA MONDAVI

It is no exaggeration to say Alycia Mondavi and her three sisters were introduced to the wine industry at birth: they were born into one of Napa Valley’s prominent wine families that has owned and operated C. Mondavi & Family since 1943. Just like her father and her sisters, Alycia received her first paycheck at age 10, working for $0.25 an hour as an apprentice doing odd jobs at the winery, from the laboratory to the hospitality center. In 2007, she graduated from the University of San Diego with business degrees in Marketing and Management and in 2008 she earned her paralegal certificate.

For four years following her graduation, Alycia worked as a paralegal in a law firm located in Napa Valley and also as an assistant marketing consultant for numerous ultra-premium wines. Her experiences as a paralegal combined with life lessons in the wine business enabled her to study various avenues in the wine industry, including but not limited to, launching new wine brands, wine labeling and advertising laws, and grape contracts. In 2012, she joined her sister Riana as fourth generation family member working for C. Mondavi & Family managing the family’s high-end brand Aloft, a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon made by Thomas Brown. Aloft was first launched by her father in 2008 and under his guidance, Alycia and her sisters acquired the brand fall 2016.

In addition to her full-time job with her family, she focuses on the joint-venture, Dark Matter Wines, with her three sisters. With the help and brainstorming of her sisters, Alycia oversees the marketing and customer relations for Dark Matter Wines for both the Zinfandel and the Limitless Cabernet Sauvignon.