The 100-acre Vine Cliff estate is located at 7400 Silverado Trail on the East Side of the Napa Valley and has the Oakville Appellation. Neighboring properties include Dalla Valle, Oakville Ranch, and Screaming Eagle. Much of the estate is sloped with 22 plantable acres that produce about 3000 cases of wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% estate grown while the Merlot contains estate and purchased fruit. Vine Cliff recently purchased a 100-acre property adjacent to Eisele Vineyard in Calistoga where the vines should start bearing fruit soon. The winery is setup on the hillside in a gravity flow system. Rob Sweeney is the proprietor and general manager while Virginia Sweeney, his spouse, is Director of Sales and Marketing. Paul Hobbs is the winemaking consultant. Rob has considerable expertise in viticulture. The wines were tasted in January 1999.

1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, 100% estate, Oakville Appellation, Final Blend, Barrel Sample, 94-98 pts, C5N4+F4+?A3T4-E4?: This wine displays an inviting sweet oak nose and mouth-coating richness with intense cabernet flavors. The tannins are relatively soft for such a young wine. The finish is difficult to accurately access because of the wines youth but there’s no question it has great potential. The wine is aged in 100% new French oak and will be bottled July 1999 with little (i.e., one-half egg white per barrel) or no fining and no filtration. As Rob stated, "…there’s no need (for filtration)."

1997 Merlot, Napa Valley Appellation, Barrel Sample, 91-95 pts, C4+N4F4A3T4-E4-: This wine begins with a toasted oak, carmel nose that is still a bit green, and leads to rich, delicious fruit with an overlaying smokiness and a finish that will develop well after the wine is bottled.