Ketan Mody's First Harvest

This special guy started to plant an old school vineyard 11 or so years ago on top of Diamond Mountain. He has lived in a Thoreau like cabin working on this project from dawn until dusk. Due to cost, permits etc. we might never see a project like this again. Today, again 11 years later, was his first harvest! Sitting in my Park Avenue office I am in awe thinking about what Ketan Mody has accomplished. Wish I could tag him but he is not on IG, wish I could link to his website so you could sign up for his mailing list but I can’t find it! You will just have to go to the Mountain top yourself… #napa #diamondmountain

Wow.

is there actually a mailing list yet robert?

There is somewhere! I found it! This is for the wines Ketan is making from non-estate vineyards. The photo is his first pick from the estate.

What a nice tribute. I will say that I have bought some of his wines, and opened one, and they are really fantastic. Looking forward to watching them age, and seeing the new ones he produces.

Awesome! I remember visiting two summers ago when this was a work in progress. Can’t wait to see the fruits of his labor (pun intended).

a friend of mine worked for him for a while, working on that mountain. said the scale of the effort was massive.

i enjoyed the first Beta release

Ketan had some special visitors I sent his way the day before his first harvest!

It really is a special project!

Just to remind you all I was the one who first highlighted MacDonald and Sandlands among others. You will not be sorry if you sign up early for this list!

thanks Robert
do you think the wines that come from his estate fruit will be a different mailing list?

I notice two things if you scroll through those photos: 1) Not just a 2013 Montecillo but a Vare as well? 2) A white is being poured? Are there secret white wines too?

so is Beta Wines going away, replaced by Jasud - or two labels?

still wondering where this year’s release is for Beta - are they going to offer two vintages at once again next year?

Two questions:

  1. Usually you need only three years for a vineyard to be harvest-able; after the first nine years, did he still need the exceptional precipitation of the last several winters in order to push him over the top? [If he’s living in a cabin, then I’m assuming there’s no artificial irrigation up there.]

  2. What varietals/cultivars did he plant?

Correct, two vineyards for Beta in '13.

If the white is the same one we tried then it is a Chuy Chard, cant quite remember the vintage but I think '17

Cool - thanks for the information.

I get that this was a massive effort and that’s really cool.

Anybody have any idea what’s actually in the glass from the estate site? I’d much rather drink a story-free great wine than a meh wine with a cool story.

Anyone know if the juice is as good as the story (which is, admittedly, cool)? I mean, these wines will be made from grapes off super young plantings. All things being equal, don’t grapes tend to improve as the vines age?

-af

Shhh. You’re ruining the sales pitch.

1.) I think that is true for most vineyards however this is a very complicated project. After buying the property he found an Indian burial site which he had to work around, the site is very rocky, permits in Napa take forever (there are also Redwoods on the site) and I don’t think he was working with an unlimited budget.

2.) As far as I know it is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon.

Yes Ketan has made a non estate Chardonnay.

Here is where you are wrong the last thing Ketan cares about is a sales pitch just ask anyone who is waiting for him to sell the next release of the non-estate.

Af - As for the estate this photo was from his first pick so nothing has been put in bottle yet.