Fortress Vineyards

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www.fortressvineyards.com

Gary and Barbara Snider’s passion for grape growing began early in their relationship while both were pursuing degrees at UC Davis. In the intervening years between college, marriage, raising two children, and purchasing their first vineyard property in 1988, Gary pursued a corporate career in San Francisco while Barbara taught at the college level and later completed law school. They both continued to manage full time careers while developing their hillside vineyard in Knights Valley. Their son, Tim, also learned the business “from the ground up” while working on the vineyard during the summers while finishing high school and college. After 10 years of growing and selling grapes from the Knights Valley vineyard to various Napa Valley wineries, the Sniders began looking for new possibilities in Lake County in the area that is now known as the Red Hills Lake County AVA. They saw great potential for growing high premium grapes on a mountain vineyard. They purchased several contiguous parcels of land on a ridge on Mt. Konocti overlooking Clear Lake and in 1998, and using their years of research and experience, began development of the high-altitude mountain vineyard. They later named the vineyard the Fortress Vineyard for the many rocks cleared and pushed along the side of the mountain forming medieval-like rock walls throughout the property. After evaluating the first few crops from the Fortress Vineyard, the Sniders realized that the fruit from this vineyard had distinctive qualities and with the 2004 harvest, made their first wine under the Fortress Vineyards label – a Sauvignon Blanc made 100% from the Musque Clone. Nils Venge who is well known as an outstanding Napa winemaker began consulting for Fortress Vineyards in 2007. With this change, the Sniders moved their winemaking to Napa. 2009 has proven to be a year of development as the Sniders have recently introduced three new wines made from the 2007 harvest. In addition to the Sauvignon Blanc wine they have been making, they offer Novateur, an off-dry contemporary wine made from a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, Finale, a late harvest 100% Semillon made in the traditional Sauternes style, and a Petite Sirah – all made from grapes grown on the Fortress Vineyard. – Description from JasminaDragoljevic (hide)

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Fortress Vineyards Red Hills Lake Petite Sirah (2007)

Winery:	Fortress Vineyards
Varietal:	Petite Sirah
Color:	Red Wines

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Gregory Dal Piaz

Lots of wood on the nose over chunky, earthy, plummy Petite Sirah fruit with notes of allspice and charcoal. A bit of orange juice concentrate right up front is joined by licorice and black pepper on the mid-palate. This shows plenty of ripe tannin and...

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Varietals Produced by Fortress Vineyards View all

Cabernet Sauvignon

“King of the Red Wine Grapes.” The colonizer of the vineyards, pushing native wine grapes into its shadows. The Caber...
Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is widely grown in California -- at over 15,000 acres, it’s now the third most planted variety -- and...
Petite Sirah

History of the grape: Petite Syrah is often confused with its parent grape, Syrah, but it has been identified as a se...
Syrah

The irony here is that Syrah’s origins could give Carmen Sandiego a run for her international wallet. Syrah’s deepest...
Sémillon

History of the grape: Little is documented about the early years of this grape, which is surprising due to its distin...
Chardonnay

British wine writer and critic, Jancis Robinson, once noted that throughout the 80’s and 90’s in the United States, C...

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Fortress Vineyards on Snooth

March 2017

Fortress Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Snoothrank:

No written review

Wine review by gmb468
December 2016

Fortress Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Snoothrank:

Deep and rich red and black fruit aromas of raspberry, strawberry and blackberry preserves, a whiff of something herbal, somewhere between earthy mushroom and green pepper. Tart and sticky on the mouth, gripping tannins and full of blackberry fruit, this turns towards bright red fruit towards the finish and mellows out with sweet spice. Read More

Wine review by Snooth Editorial
December 2010

Dessert wines rarely seem to get their due. The idea of finishing one’s ... ... 89ptsFind out more.2007 Fortress Vineyards Finale Red Hills Lake County Semillon 12.5%Semillon, along with Sauvignon Blanc, forms the backbone of the greatest dessert wines of them all: the Sauternes and Barsacs of Bordeaux. In this example you’ll find the typical... Read More

From the article 7 Sweet Dessert Wines
December 2010

Fortress Finale Semillon Desert 2007

Snoothrank:

Creamy, buttery aromas of apple and pear. Very sweet wine with a bit of baked apple, molasses and caramel. Mostly I taste a lot of sugar. Nice if you like this style. Read More

Wine review by mark
October 2010

Fortress Petite Sirah Red Hills Lake County 2008

Snoothrank:

Rich, earthy, bold. Fantastic with any earthy rich red protein dinner. Fantastic Read More

Wine review by jbattaglia2
July 2010

Hello all -My wife and I will be going on our first visit to Italy in this coming September. We'll be staying in Venice, Cinque Terre, Pienza (half-way between Montalcino and Montepulciano), and of course, Rome.Neither of us have much experience with Italian wines, but would like to learn as much as possible before going on our trip. Can anyon... Read More

Forum post in the topic First visit to Italy
July 2010

Fortress Vineyards Red Hills Lake Petite Sirah 2007

Snoothrank:

Smoked oak and cherry on the nose, with a sweet acidic body and a dry finish. Mostly oak-centric flavors. Read More

Wine review by Chris Carpita
July 2010

Fortress Vineyards Red Hills Lake Petite Sirah 2007

Snoothrank:

Oaky with a light finish, a hint of cherry and orange, sweet Read More

Wine review by amn2110
July 2010

Fortress Vineyards Red Hills Lake Petite Sirah 2007

Snoothrank:

Lots of wood on the nose over chunky, earthy, plummy Petite Sirah fruit with notes of allspice and charcoal. A bit of orange juice concentrate right up front is joined by licorice and black pepper on the mid-palate. This shows plenty of ripe tannin and balanced acidity but is less about fruit and more about chocolate, slight herb, and wood spice... Read More

Wine review by Gregory Dal Piaz
July 2010

Traveling across the Catalan border into Southern France, we encounter Rousillon. One of the most unique wines of this region is Maury, a type of sweet vins doux naturels that reflects the winemaking tradition that sets Rousillon apart from the more northern regions of France. Maury wines are produced from the Grenache grape variety, ranging in... Read More

Forum post in the topic Maury Wine, the New Face of...
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