Alioto-Tournahu Wines

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Alioto-Tournahu Wines Alioto‑Tournahu is a family‑run winery in the St. Helena.

Helena AVA of Napa Valley, producing small‑production Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon exclusively from the historic Tournahu Vineyard just north of St.

04/08/2026

Our 2026 estate Sauvignon Blanc harvest came three weeks earlier than last year. The grapes and phenolics are looking fantastic. Thank you to Rich Frederick for driving this through.

The berries have started to turn.Hard and green for weeks, they are softening now, the first blush of red spreading acro...
30/07/2026

The berries have started to turn.

Hard and green for weeks, they are softening now, the first blush of red spreading across the clusters. Véraison is the vineyard's first real report card on the season.

We saw notable shatter earlier in the year, nature's own green harvest, and what is left on the vine is tighter and more concentrated for it. Harvest is trending a touch earlier than it did in 2025.

Next: cluster thinning, and the season's first harvest.

It's been 50 years since my grandparents, George and Evelyn Tournahu, bought a seven‑acre vineyard just north of St. Hel...
02/07/2026

It's been 50 years since my grandparents, George and Evelyn Tournahu, bought a seven‑acre vineyard just north of St. Helena as a family retreat, not a winery: a home surrounded by Napa Gamay vines back in the 1970s.

My father, Nunzio Alioto, married into this family and this land. Long before he was known as a Master Sommelier, he was already studying what this gravel and river rock could become.

In 1987, he sat for one of the first Master Sommelier exams ever held in the United States. Twenty‑five candidates were invited. Only three passed. He was one of them.

He brought that expertise home. As Napa Valley's reputation flourished through the 1990s, he guided George and Evelyn through a pivotal decision: in 1998, they replanted the entire vineyard to Cabernet Sauvignon, planting Blocks 1 and 2 to Clones 15 and 7, selections he knew were right for the Perkins soils, an alluvial fan of gravel and river rock soils.

Nearly twenty years later, in 2016, he worked with our vineyard manager Josh Clark to replant Blocks 3 and 4 with tighter spacing, 420A rootstock, and American heritage clones, sharpening the expression of our terroir and preparing the vineyard for the decades ahead.

For years, our fruit quietly found its way into some of Napa's most respected wines; a testament to the instinct and discipline my father brought to this land.

Alioto‑Tournahu Estate Wines is the next chapter. We're bringing Old World sensibility to our wines, managing acidity, tannins, and alcohol starting in the vineyard, without losing the character, grit, and soul this site has always given us.

Dave at The Napa Wine Project just published our full story. Read it here: https://www.napawineproject.com/alioto-tournahu-wines

Keith at The Napa Valley Register did a beautiful piece on Alioto-Tournahu. https://napavalleyregister.com/news/alioto-t...
26/06/2026

Keith at The Napa Valley Register did a beautiful piece on Alioto-Tournahu.

https://napavalleyregister.com/news/alioto-tournahu-vineyard-st-helena-wine/article_eb4d083b-9ee7-4c20-ba64-8dabbfc9166c.html

My father, Nunzio MS, has spent decades forming a point of view about what great wine should be, and it runs counter to where Napa has been heading. He believes the valley’s most age-worthy and delicious wines came from an era of higher acid structure and lower alcohol, before extraction and ripeness became the default. His vision for Alioto-Tournahu is elegant, fine, and complex — powerful, yes, but with a fineness that St. Helena’s gravel soils are uniquely suited to deliver.

Fifty years in the making. The 2024 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon releases this year.

We will remember today for a long time. 🍷This morning, our inaugural 2024 Estate Cabernet went into bottle, the first wi...
25/06/2026

We will remember today for a long time. 🍷

This morning, our inaugural 2024 Estate Cabernet went into bottle, the first wine to ever carry our family's name. Fifty years ago, my grandparents, George and Evelyn, purchased Tournahu Vineyard in St. Helena. To stand here today and watch that first bottle fill was a feeling we won't soon forget.

None of this happens without our winemaker, Rich Frederick. Thank you, Rich, for your patience, your precision, and for believing in this little vineyard as much as we do. You have truly made a beautiful wine with real power, elegance, and grace, a wine with powdery tannins and a long, persistent finish.

The label holds a few details close to our hearts. At its center is the Tournahu Rose, designed by Tom Sieu, whose petals also echo the swirl of wine in a glass. Its leaves are reminiscent of angel wings, paying homage to our grandparents and all those who came before us. And the subtle wavy lines represent the Mayacamas and Vaca ranges that frame our vineyard, forming the hourglass effect that shapes our grapes.

It's all in glass now, resting. We can't wait to share it with you later this year.

We produce an ultra small production, so please sign up for our mailing list to get access to our wines.

www.aliototournahuwines.com/signup

11/06/2026

How do you get the same complexity of grape phenolics at lower brix?

We're running an A/B test in one of our blocks — pulling more leaves around the clusters than we have before. The idea is to let dappled sun reach the fruit, which builds phenolics: the compounds behind a wine's color, tannin, and complexity. The risk is sunburn, so we're going slow, using shade cloth, and watching each block closely. 🍃

It's all part of our commitment to producing exceptionally balanced, elegant wines at lower alcohol from Alioto-Tournahu.

We produce very small quantities. If you'd like to get your hands on our Cabernet, sign up for our mailing list at the link in bio.

Sign up at https://www.aliototournahuwines.com/signup.

These photos are from our Tournahu Vineyard estate this morning. We have fruit set! These images show our tiny green ber...
04/06/2026

These photos are from our Tournahu Vineyard estate this morning. We have fruit set! These images show our tiny green berries, no bigger than peppercorns and just a couple weeks ago they were flowers. We lost some to shatter (we always do), but what's still on the vine looks very promising. Based on what we are seeing in the vineyard, yields will be lower and harvest might come a bit early. The 2026 vintage finally has a shape. 🍇

The past couple of weeks, the vineyard has smelled like honey and something almost floral you can't quite name. Flowerin...
29/05/2026

The past couple of weeks, the vineyard has smelled like honey and something almost floral you can't quite name. Flowering. It only lasts a few days, and what happens in that window defines the entire 2026 vintage. 🌼🍇

The canopy is filling in fast now. What started as a few tentative shoots three weeks ago has become a full green wall o...
12/05/2026

The canopy is filling in fast now. What started as a few tentative shoots three weeks ago has become a full green wall of growth — and the crew is already managing it, tucking shoots between the catch wires to keep the canopy open and even. Every decision we make in May shapes what we pour in three years. 🌿

The hourglass of St. Helena is one of the most discussed — and least understood — climate forces in Napa Valley. Where t...
11/05/2026

The hourglass of St. Helena is one of the most discussed — and least understood — climate forces in Napa Valley. Where the valley narrows between the Mayacamas and Vaca ranges, afternoon breezes accelerate through the gap, cooling our vines reliably each evening. That daily temperature swing is what allows our Cabernet to develop power and elegance alongside each other. 🌬️

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