Ask Philippe Melka his opinion on the future of the Napa Valley wine industry, and watch his enthusiasm come bubbling to the surface. “The direction is toward proving the diversity possible in Napa Valley,” he says, sitting up a little in his chair as if to see from the winery terrace a bit of that diversity before him. “There is tremendous wine from the south to the north, hillside plantings and mountain elevations. It is exciting to see this evolution, with everyone trying to create high quality boutique wines while enabling the consumer to enjoy the wines more and more.”

It is just this desire to make the best wine possible from each vineyard site that makes Philippe Melka one of the most important winemakers in the United States today.

When Chuck McMinn determined that Vineyard 29 should grow to encompass other great vineyard sites within Napa Valley, Philippe was instrumental in helping to identify the sites that had the potential to stand alongside the already highly regarded Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon. “We wanted to find another piece of land with a totally different profile, soil or site wise, with tremendous potential.” The historic Aida Vineyard was, for him, an ideal choice.

“It is Chateauneuf-du-Pape in Napa Valley” says Philippe of Aida.

“The gravelly, warm soil is reflected in the wines by intensity—spice, big tannins, big wines. There is a need to civilize grapes that arrive with so much intensity. I want to make wine with a sense of classicism.” And that is where Vineyard 29’s state of the art facility comes into play.

Aida is the only Zinfandel that Philippe makes. “It has tremendous flavors, a lot of generosity. But it needs a lot of focus to arrive at balance. Most zinfandel is too rich or jammy. I wanted to come up with a product with more class and nobility. It took a lot of vineyard work—a little less sun exposure to avoid too much richness—and a great sorting method at the winery to remove all raisining berries in order to prevent jamminess. There is also a barrel aging difference. With the wine staying in barrel for up to two years, we are able to push the wine toward more maturation. Aging on the lees brings more mouth feel, more creaminess and more pleasing balance as a result of the extraction from oak during aging.”

What Philippe has accomplished is the creation of California’s only “elegant” Zinfandel.

The Aida Red Wine represents Philippe’s efforts to capture the best qualities of the vineyard through blending of the Bordeaux grape varieties grown on the site. The wine will become 75% - 80% Cabernet Sauvignon as young vines on the property mature and bear quality fruit; Merlot and Petit Verdot will constitute the remainder of the blend.

Of the Aida Red Wine, Philippe says “Wine must change in the glass and surprise you. Here we have brought forward pure red fruit, with a sense of minerality. One feels length in a classy, elegant way—after swallowing, you are left with a lasting impression of the fruit. The Cabernet is classic; it reminds me of a wine from the Medoc.”

The Red Wine blend, its composition varying from year to year, draws a clear difference for Philippe between French and American winemakers. “In France, we do not speak of the components of the blend. It is just the wine. It is what it is. You make the best wine possible from the site for that year.”

Thus the name “Red Wine” for the Aida blend. We are not concerned with components but, more simply, with making the best wine—providing the best representation of Aida’s quality—from year to year.

After all this talk of great wines, I ask Philippe, “And what of the Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon?”

“There is a clear difference in personality and character between the two vineyards. The gravelly loamy soil, mixed with just a little bit of clay gives the wines a cooler spirit. It is like you are in a totally different world, with a totally different person. It is going from bright and young, to depth and sophistication. It is elegance. The aromatics—they are the ballet.”

With that, this always energetic, always on the move winemaker settles back a little in his chair, obviously enjoying this front row seat for a performance of his own making.