Flora Springs, `Soliloquy` Napa Valley White Blend

Flora Springs in Napa’s St. Helena was founded by the Komes Garvey family in 1978. The estate was named in honour of Flora Komes, the family matriarch, who lived to 101 and whose simple philosophy “the land returns the love you give it” shaped the winery’s sustainable approach to vineyard management. This resonated with Gina Gallo-Boisset, a champion of both sustainability and women in wine. When Flora Springs came up for sale in 2024, she and her husband Jean-Charles Boisset jumped at the chance to build on the family legacy with their twin daughters, who grew up among the vineyards of Napa.

Gina, a California native, with over 30 years of winemaking experience in her family business, now leads the winemaking at Flora Springs. She is happiest in the vineyards, and her meticulous work extends into the cellar, where she vinifies the complex patchwork of different vineyard plots from across the Napa Valley. With long-term grower contracts spanning the length of the Napa Valley, Gina and Jean-Charles can source fruit from exemplary Napa AVAs including Rutherford, St. Helena and Oakville. Many of the vineyards are farmed organically with a focus on soil health, water conservation and various initiatives to enhance biodiversity, including owl nesting boxes and raptor perches.

The Sauvignon, which has a dash of Semillon and Malvasia in the blend, comes from a vineyard in the Rutherford AVA on classic ‘Rutherford Dust’ soils of gravel, sand and loam. Fermented and aged in used French oak barrels, it has bright aromas of melon, passionfruit and citrus and a lovely creamy texture on the palate.

The ‘Soliloquy’ is named after a Sauvignon Blanc clone discovered in the ‘Crossroads Ranch’ vineyard in Oakville which forms the base of the blend with Malvasia and Vermentino. Whole-cluster fermented with indigenous yeasts, then aged for six months in a combination of stainless steel, concrete eggs, used oak casks and new Francois Frères barrels. This is a zesty yet textured wine which marries citrussy vibrancy with floral notes of honeysuckle and orange blossom.

The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blends Oak Knoll and Rutherford fruit. The former is lower down the valley and lends a plush fruit character to the wine, the latter, at higher elevation in the Mayacamas Mountain range, provides the structural and mineral backbone. 18 months ageing in French oak (35% new) frames the vivid blackcurrant and black cherry fruit with a subtle spiciness.

The flagship red is the ‘Trilogy’, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot grown in the ‘Komes Ranch’ vineyard in Rutherford. Perched at up to 300 metres elevation in the Mayacamas, the vineyard is bordered by oak and redwood forests and benefits from a cooler microclimate, resulting in wines defined by a remarkable freshness and precise aromatics. 22 months in a combination of French and American oak (35% new) has added notes of cedar and cocoa to the core of brooding black fruit and violet.