Caldwell is about love and family (you can taste it in our wines). But around here, it’s a little bit about mischief too…
Our founder, John Caldwell, is known by many names but, here in legendary Napa Valley, he’s a legend all his own. The original wine industry maverick, John is the man responsible for introducing the most prized Bordeaux root stock and grapevine clones to California. vineyards
, John worked with the French government to create and license the Entav-Inra clones for all of North America. Through this larger-than-life odyssey, John has helped to revolutionize the foundation of modern winemaking in the United States. John planted the Caldwell vineyard in 1982. Since then, he’s sold grapes to some pretty heavy hitters over the years including: Moone Tsai (Philippe Melka), Merus and Brion (Mark Herold), Pahlmeyer (Helen Turley), Patz and Hall, Joseph Phelps’ Insignia, Stephane Derenoncourt and a heap of others. Today, alongside his wife Joy and winemaker Marc Gagnon, they produce more than 23 clone and varietal-specific wines for the Caldwell Signature Collection, Varietal Collection, Rocket Science and the Society of Smugglers.
