Pott

Pott ᛡ As noted in the profile for Blackbird, Aaron Pott has a distinguished collection of wineries on his winemaking resumé, Troplong-Mondot, La Tour Figeac, Newton, and Quintessa to name but a few. Pott, however, is Aaron’s very own business, and Châteauneuf-du-Pott (so-called until the recent Cease & Desist order emanating from the Rhône), his very own vineyard. In 2004, he and his wife, Claire bought a seventy-six acre property on Mt. Veeder and launched Pott Wine with the first vintage of Incubo in 2007.

The Châteauneuf du Pott vineyard, on Mt. Veeder, is at the top of Mt. Veeder Road in the neighbourhood of Mayacamas, Promontory and Lagier-Meredith. The soils are well-drained and made up of weathered sandstone and shale. The vineyard is often above the fog in the morning. Daytime highs are cooler than on the Napa Valley floor. At dusk the inversion brings the warm air upward to warm Mt. Veeder. This leads to wines that display greater ripeness at lower alcohol levels, and are therefore better balanced.
All of these wines are produced in tiny quantities and sell out domestically almost immediately. We only managed to obtain an allocation of three or four cases of each because Aaron hopes it will impress his English mother-in-law.