Colgin Cellars winery is located at IX ESTATE (“Number 9 Estate”) high above Lake Hennesey, on a secluded mountaintop in the Pritchard Hill area of St. Helena. The gravity fed winery is a remarkable marriage of classic design and contemporary technology. Here the graceful lines of a Mediterranean villa and the round, barrel-like signature of the Cellar integrate the winemaker’s craft with its ecology, creating a noble place that is at once Californian in spirit and timeless in character. Set against a majestic view of Napa Valley and the surrounding intimacy of its vineyards, IX ESTATE is an inspiring venue of faultless terroir and meticulous technique, a worthy extension of the Colgin mystique.
Ann Colgin is the heart of Colgin Cellars, a true renaissance woman and vintner of uncommon passion. An avid art collector and dedicated philanthropist, her elegant,yet engaging personality is a telling reflection of her wines and winery. Ann founded Colgin Cellars in 1992 with a vision of making the finest wines from exceptional hillside vineyards in St. Helena and was instrumental in forging a world-renowned reputation for California’s small production hand-crafted wines.
Ann began her career in the world of fine art with an M.A. from New York University, subsequently becoming President of Fairchild’s Fine Art, Inc., then establishing the Colgin label, where her own artistry found expression in the creation of her wines. Each wine has its own distinctive personality, the result of a careful, knowing hand, like that of a painter. Ann serves as consultant to the Sotheby’s Wine Department and has been instrumental in developing many major charity wine auctions. Her generous donations of rare verticals and large format bottles of the Colgin wines have raised over $13 million for worthwhile causes involving health care, community services and the arts. Ann is a trustee and executive committee member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Centre Pompidou Foundation. She and her husband Joe Wender also have an ownership interest in Camille Giroud in Burgundy. They share a kindred spirit inspired by a passion for great wine.
THE IX ESTATE VINEYARD (“NUMBER 9 ESTATE”)
The IX Estate Vineyard is a 20-acre vineyard carved out of a magnificent 125-acre parcel that varies in slope from gentle to steep, with elevations ranging from 1150-1350 feet above sea level. Located high above Lake Hennesey on a secluded mountaintop in the Pritchard Hill area of St. Helena, it is nestled in hillsides of rocky volcanic soils, and embraced by a most agreeable climate. Wine connoisseur and critic Robert Parker considers IX ESTATE “as close to a viticultural nirvana as I’ve ever seen.”
CARIAD VINEYARDS
Cariad, a Bordeaux-style wine of enormous proportions, is comprised of fruit from three vineyards owned and managed by David Abreu, blended to produce a wine hailed as “a legend in the making.”
TYCHSON HILL VINEYARD
The vineyard was originally planted in 1881 by Josephine Tychson, the first female vintner in Napa Valley. Though the vines were removed during prohibition and the land broken up into adjoining lots, Ann Colgin has been restoring the original holdings since 1997. The property consists of approximately four acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, with several vine rows of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The signature terroir features a rocky east-facing slope containing some of the rarest volcanic soil in Napa Valley, known as Aiken Very Stony Loam, which imparts distinctive floral, earthy, ethereal notes to a wine exemplary of Colgin Cellars’ offerings.