Though Aaron Pott is highly revered and vastly celebrated for the wines he makes for other vintners, Pott Wines is his own personal label that has become exceedingly admired and difficult to acquire.  Aaron was first introduced to wine at the young age of ten during a stint abroad in France.  Though fleeting, it was enough to capture him as an adult, and thus began a rich life of travel and winemaking. After gathering decades of winemaking experience in both France and California, Aaron and his wife Claire purchased a 75-acre parcel on Mt. Veeder in 2004. In 2007 Pott Wine was created, followed by their selection of single vineyards Cabernets in 2009.  

Winemaker: Aaron spent six years working in Grand Cru Classé wineries in the Saint-Émilion region of France, first as Winemaker at Château Troplong Mondot and later as Director of Château La Tour Figeac. This gave him a profound insight into site-specific plots of land and the diversity of expression terroir can have on wine.  Pott moved back to California in 1998 and has consulted on many esteemed projects since: Quintessa, Quixote, Stagecoach Vineyard, Blackbird Vineyards, St. Helena Winery, Somnium, & Perliss to name a few. Aaron can bend at will to produce wines of different styles and origins depending on a client’s needs, broadening his palate and providing him many brushes with which to paint. Pott Wines has given Aaron the opportunity to develop his own trademark style.

Vineyard:  Grapes are sourced from the Quixote Vineyard  in Stags Leap, which is one of the most beautiful locales in the Napa Valley.  Picture-perfect exposure and soils and with a breathtaking, towering skyline that’s craggy and indomitable. A perfect example of mountain soils on the valley floor, the climate of Stags Leap has the greatest diurnal difference in temperature, sometimes as much as 50 degrees (f). This allows the wine to maintain acidity which gives it youth and brightness.

Winemaking:  The 2016 Acteon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.  In the cellar, Pott Wines see an intense sorting process with not one but four stages of selection allowing only the purest fruit to make its way to the large oak barrel and clay amphorae fermenters. Relying on spontaneous, native yeasts and employing hand punch-downs only, long, slow macerations ensue which delicately extract tannin and intense color as well. Fermentations are constantly monitored and reevaluated every day allowing for micro-adjustments based on the individual needs of each lot. After 20 months in barrel, the wines are bottled and spend up to a year at the winery before being released.

Profile: Notes of black licorice, blackberries, roast meats, tar, leather, violet, and blueberry are present on the nose and are wonderfully balanced with nutmeg, toffee, and blackberry pie in the finish. Good weight and lovely density with plenty of acidity and balance. Powerful but moderated by richness and texture.

135 cases produced