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Winemaker Profile – Catacula Lake Winery’s HORACIO HERRERA
by Charles Neave
With 1,025 acres of spectacular Napa Valley property to work with,
Catacula Lake Winery’s winemaker, Horacio Herrera, has a job many
people, including more than a few of his professional contemporaries,
would openly envy.
Herrera has been the winemaker at Catacula Lake Winery for almost four
years, coming to this wonderfully situated winery after years pursuing
his craft at such fabled Napa Valley names as Domaine Chandon – where
he began his career in the wine business, a career that is now reaching
almost its’ third decade – and then moving on to historic Beringer
Vineyards, Franciscan Estates, Chateau Woltner, industry giant
Kendall-Jackson, and, down in the southern reaches of the Napa Valley,
Kirkland Ranch.
“Our winemaking philosophy has always been based on the belief that
wines are really made in the vineyard and stylized at the winery,” the
winemaker says. “The expression of this Chiles Valley terroir
exemplifies itself in each of the different varietals that we
cultivate.”
Today those varietals include Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite
Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc, which also goes into a Sauterne-style late
harvest wine. There is a Napa Valley Rancho Cuvee, which is a delicious
blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as caves built into the
hillside with room for up to 2,200 barrels to store those wines in.
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