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About Us
Family and History
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Detert Family
Vineyards is owned
and operated by Tom Garrett, John Garrett and Bill Cover.
The foundation for our interest in wine was laid four
generations ago and Gunther established our family’s first grape agreement with
Robert Mondavi while Mr. Mondavi was still working with his
family at Charles Krug Winery. Their handshake arrangement began
a longstanding friendship and business relationship that has
endured over fifty years. In 1966, Mr.
Mondavi started his own winery and used our Cabernet and
Cabernet Franc grapes to launch his
The quality of the wines that Mondavi and Opus crafted from our grapes and the outstanding wines that our grandparents and mothers made at home, with the assistance of Norman Mini (legendary local artisan winemaker), inspired us to launch Detert Family Vineyards in 2000. The Vineyard — Originally planted to Cabernet Franc in 1949, the Detert property is believed to be the oldest Cabernet Franc vineyard site in the Napa Valley. Our vineyard is nestled against the western foothills and banked by two creeks. Over the course of millions of years the runoff from the Mayacamas and Mt. St. John canyon deposited an alluvial fan of fractured sandstone across the Detert property.
In their struggle to find water in these well drained alluvial
top soils, the vines
produce only a small quantity of fruit that has extraordinary
concentration, flavor development and breadth of palate.
The
Our vineyard manager is Mike Wolf. Mike is known for his impeccable vineyard care and he manages many of the valley's premier vineyards. His team takes tremendous care to insure our vines are well balanced, pruned, trellised and irrigated to produce world class quality fruit. Our vineyard yields on average 2.5 tons-per-acre. The majority of the vineyard was replanted in the late 1970s and early 1990s and is dominated by Cabernet Franc. A small one-acre section is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. The Winemaker – Tom, our winemaker, began working in the wine industry at Wine Spectator, where aside from writing about the California wine industry and managing the tasting department, he also had the opportunity to taste nearly every wine being made in California. We took the first steps toward our own winery in 1999 when Tom left Wine Spectator and embarked on a winemaking apprenticeship that includes stints with Turley Wine Cellars, Joseph Phelps Vineyards, and Robert Mondavi Winery. Since 2004, Tom has worked under Heidi Peterson Barrett as the assistant winemaker and general manager for Revana Family Vineyard. Tom crafts the Detert wines with a focus on fruit, balance and the flavors unique to our property. Notable Oakville Wineries
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made possible by our great grandmother,
whose attraction to the
tranquility and beauty of Oakville
led to the purchase of an old farmhouse and vineyard in 1953. Our
grandfather, Gunther Detert, although
he had no experience in the wine industry and already had a
demanding law career, took on the responsibility of the
vineyard. With his characteristic energy and determination, he
learned all he could about wine and grape growing. His
involvement with wine as a grower and
historian led to a lifelong passion that he and our grandmother,
Marie-Louise Detert have passed down to the family.
Coombs gravelly loam soil
and balanced climatic conditions which are unique to our site
are idyllic for growing world class Cabernet. 
