Anakota

In the mid-1990s, wine pioneer Jess Jackson and French winemaker Pierre Seillan set out to find a place where they could grow Cabernet Sauvignon of grand cru standard. They found it in Knights Valley, the warmest AVA in Sonoma County, on the slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains: a relatively little-known volcanic area with a marked difference between day and night temperatures. Two steep vineyards, Helena Dakota and Helena Montana, were planted and have formed the foundation of Anakota ever since. Seillan, who is also responsible for Vérité, sees in Anakota the chance to make pure, unblended expressions of Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Worth knowing: the same Knights Valley vineyards also supply grapes for Vérité. Anakota is, in effect, the pure, unblended reading of that very same ground.