Calla Lily Estate was founded in 2013 by Anthony Fung and Andy Chui, who came to ‘winemaker extraordinaire’ Cary Gott to create an elegant portfolio of wines around the imagery of the calla lily, a flower of enormous beauty and refinement. The guiding principle was to be an artisanal, low-production project.
The 95 acre Calla Lily estate vineyard sits in the heart of Pope Valley, on the eastern hillside of Napa County. At an elevation of over 800 feet, the vineyard’s climate is cooler than the Valley floor and produces small, intensely-flavored grapes with finely structured tannins and complex aromatics.
The first vines were planted in 1995. The estate vineyard consists of 12 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 acres of Petite Sirah and 1 acre each of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot. The gently contoured vineyard slopes provide ideal conditions for the grapes. The contours also serve as natural protection for frost in winter and extreme heat in summer. The soils predominantly belong to the Bressa-Dibble complex—well-drained, composed of fine-grained sandstone and shale. There are two natural reservoirs, a graceful garden and a number of historic buildings which give the property a unique personality.
The winemaking begins in the hillside vineyards, with extensive hands-on work with the vines. When harvesting, we make several passes through the vineyard, picking and sorting for ideal ripeness. We cold-soak our berries before fermentation. We choose very specific yeasts to maximize the nuances of that year’s harvest. We believe in pursuing very exacting standards, which insure that our wines are as distinctive and elegant as possible, offering a deliciously balanced taste of our unique terroir in the Napa Valley.
The winery produces two Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines: Ultimate Cabernet Sauvignon and Audax.