Impensata Las Posadas Vineyard Red Wine Howell Mountain 2019

Festina Lente, meaning make haste slowly, is a time-honored adage uttered by emperors, kings, and dukes, who valued a job well done over a job quickly completed.  A befitting motto for the Impensata team, whose vintner family is of proud Italian heritage.  For the owners, Impensata is their beacon to the wine world, shining a light on Italy’s longstanding wine traditions that the often-admired French customs of winemaking can overshadow.  By not only seeking to emphasize the under-reputed Italian gems, like those of Tuscany’s Maremma region, but planting and stewarding new vineyard sites across Napa Valley, Impensata is committing to the “slow and steady” mindset necessary in developing a wine estate worthy of a legacy.  To guide them in establishing their family’s wine estate, the owners procured a select team of wine experts whose track records speak for themselves.

David Abreu, Michel Rolland, and Nigel Kinsman are the trifecta of vineyard management, winemaking, and master blending.  Among his prized personal parcels, David manages the most elite vineyards in Napa and has worked with the best, including Screaming Eagle, Colgin Cellars, Harlan Estate, and Staglin Family Vineyards.  His knowledge of farming vineyards in Napa Valley is unparalleled.  Since starting his management company in 1980, he has been the “go-to guy” for informed, articulate, and terroir-driven vineyard planting and oversight.  Nigel Kinsman, although out of the limelight until recent vintages, is no newcomer to Napa Valley or Italian winemaking.  After studying and making wine in his native Australia, Nigel learned under the tutelage of his future colleague, Michel Rolland, in Tuscany at Tolaini. Once settled in Napa, Nigel worked for Krupp Brothers and, eventually, with the Araujo Family at Araujo Estate and now Wheeler Farms.  Despite numerous “day jobs,” he might best be known for his highly sought-after personal label, Kinsman-Eades.  Finally, Michel Rolland acts as the consulting winemaker for Impensata, bringing a unique and revered perspective.  His experience working in Alta Maremma, Tuscany at Massetto, and with other California top producers such as Harlan, Bryant Family, Staglin Family Vineyards, and Araujo made him the prime candidate for this undertaking.

When you work with the natural world as the primary contributor to your business, you are dutifully marching a path of patience at the whim of time.  For most vintners at the onset of this grand adventure, sourcing impeccable fruit to use while establishing your estate vineyard is one of the first steps.  In 2019, as the Ciminelli Vineyard (which would one day become the family’s crown jewel parcel) was taking root, Nigel proclaimed the desire to craft a Howell Mountain wine ahead of the Ciminelli Vineyard coming online.  Having never worked with grapes from this historic AVA, it was an essential piece of the puzzle in shaping his technique and choices for the eventual Ciminelli Vineyard wines.  Lucky for Nigel, his colleague David’s vineyard, Las Posadas, is known valley-wide as one of the premier Howell Mountain sites and is exceptionally similar to the Ciminelli site in terms of elevation, soil composition, and microclimate. 

This grand experiment and journey of discovery returned an exceptional Howell Mountain wine.  Nigel selected a barrel regimen of 70% new French oak for the 22-month aging, and Michel crafted the final blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Cabernet Franc with small touches of 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec.  Impensata’s Estate Director Angela Stem describes the wine as “hedonistically captivating and wildly luxurious, and possesses the classic characteristics this site has become known for:  personality, opulence, complexity, and longevity.”  279 cases were produced of this “R&D” project, which on the surface may seem a happy accident but truly is an expression of the raw talent and impeccable abilities of the Impensata crew.