Napa Valley is an American wine region, located in California. This area is renowned for the high quality of its wines, thanks to a Mediterranean climate.
The Arietta estate was founded in 1996 by Fritz and Caren Hatton, in collaboration with winemaker John Kongsgaard. Fritz Hatton has extensive experience in the fine and rare wine business, and is also the foremost wine auctioneer in the United States. Andy Erickson, one of the most accomplished winemakers of his generation (he was assistant winemaker at Harlan Estate before joining Arietta) is Arietta's winemaker. The first project led by Andy Erickson for Arietta was the production of a white wine : On the White Keys (first vintage produced in 2005).
Classical music, especially Opus 111 from the last Piano Sonata from Beethoven is a constant source of inspiration for the estate, both artistically and in taste research for the production of estate wines. The manuscript of Beethoven's Arietta movement is included in each wine label from the estate.
Arietta estate currently produces four red wines: H. (Hudson) Block, Variation One, Cabernet Sauvignon and Quartet, and a white wine: On the White Keys.
Arietta's H Block Hudson vineyards is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Both varieties are generally harvested simultaneously and fermented together, in order to ensure the homogeneous character of the wine. Native yeasts, long aging, and non filtered bottling are some of the production characteristics for this wine. Cabernet Franc brings notes of black fruits, and Merlot more sweetness, with dark chocolate aromas and a rich finish.
Data sheet
Arietta
The Arietta Estate is a quite recent creation, as it was founded back in 1996, in the American Napa Valley (to be more specific, it's located in the Los Carneros AVA district). There, John Kongsgaard, his wife Maggy and their business partner Fritz Hatton planted a small vineyard (less than 1 hectare of surface) and built their new wine estate. John was the man behind the Kongsgaard Wine company and Fritz was a famous wine auctioneer (he used to work for Zachys Wine Auctions Inc.) Together, they wanted to create a fine wine, born from their love of classical music. The name of the estate comes from the arietta movement found in Ludwig van Beethoven's legendary "Piano Sonata No. 32" (Opus 111), composed by the German artist after he lost his hearing. You can even find the sheet music on the estate's wine labels.
In 2003, the two partners started producing Cabernet. The following year, their Bordeaux-inspired Claret wine was released, made with 4 red grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. In 2005, Fritz Hatton bought back all the shares owned by John Kongsgaard and thus became the sole proprietor of the Arietta Estate. After this, the Claret changed its name to "Quartet", as a way to stay close to the musical themes of the estate. The estate now produces 6 cuvées in total: H Block, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Quartet, Variation One (five red wines) and On The Wine Keys (the only white wine made by Arietta since 2005, using a blend of Sauvignon and Sémillion grapes). The couple hired the services of Andy Erickson, a former Harlan Estate employee.
Discover the Arietta wine estate.
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