Tesseron Estate
In 2016, Vila Sorriso became the property of the Tesseron family. The villa was previously owned by the actor Robin Williams. Pym and Rae are the middle names of Williams' children, so he named the vineyard Pym-Rae. The Tesseron family has decided to keep the name.
The estate covers twenty hectares, 75% of which are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon. The remaining 25% consists of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The vines were planted in 1990 and are still in use. The plots are located on Mount Veeder, at 500 meters altitude. Mount Veeder is located in the southwest of the Napa Valley. The soil consists of deep sediment that is millions of years old. Some slopes are very steep, so the planting and harvesting is not always easy on this piece of land. On the plus side, it does produce grapes of very high quality.
The grapes are harvested by hand and they are carefully selected for quality on the sorting table. As everything is done by hand, the fruit does not endure any rough handling and the bunches remain intact. The grapes are fermented in small concrete vats. After that, 70% of the wine is aged in new French oak barrels for a period of 16 months.
The first vintage is powerful, yet balanced and is marked by a long and complex aftertaste.
A wine with much to discover: fresh herbs, plums, tobacco, dried flowers and earthy notes. The first vintage of Pym-Rae immediately got 97 points from Robert Parker and 98 points from James Suckling! And this is only the beginning. We can’t wait for the wines yet to come!