Moss Creek Winery - Napa Valley
Moss Creek meanders through the Moskowite family vineyards and stone winery located in the rolling hills of the eastern Napa Valley. Our family has been farming here for over 88 years, with 145 acres of vineyards planted beginning in 1972. Today we retain a select portion of the grapes from each harvest to create our limited production estate wines.

Family History in Napa Valley
Four generations of the Moskowite family have been farming in the Napa Valley since 1917. During the 1920ﾒs ranches were acquired in the Berryessa, Capell, Monticello and Wooden Valley regions of the eastern Napa Valley. These holdings encompassed over 10,000 acres and primarily farmed hay and raised sheep and cattle. The first family wine was created from a few Muscat vineyards that remained on the property from 19th century plantings. This ﾓsacramental wineﾔ was made during prohibition in a clandestine stone wine cellar on the Wooden Valley ranch by George Moskowiteﾒs grandfather and namesake.

The ranch evolved from its cattle ranching roots to grape growing as its primary livelihood in 1972 when Harold Moskowite began planting vineyards as part of a long term grape contract. Today, the Moskowite Ranch covers approximately 1,300 acres of the eastern Napa Valley hills of which 162 acres are planted with grapes. As a fourth generation Napa Valley rancher and vintner, George Moskowite now manages the ranch vineyards. We are meticulously maintaining selected older vines while developing new vineyards utilizing sustainable farming practices.

Vineyards
The Moskowite Ranch vineyards lie in Capell Valley, a small, cool mountain valley located in the Napa Valley hills directly east of Oakville. Nestled against Atlas Peak, the vineyard ranges in elevation from 835 to 900 feet. Vineyard plantings include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Zinfandel. The vineyards source grapes to several renowned Napa Valley wineries; including Markham, Raymond, Terraces and Saddleback Cellars.

These 33-year-old vineyards are planted in a well drained, loam soil that is riddled with rock and obsidian. The vineyard maturity, soil types and estate farming practices combine to produce exceptional low yielding fruit. The cooler climate provided by the mountain elevation brings on a longer growing season. Therefore, the grapes have an extended hang time on the vine, allowing the sugars to ripen slowly prior to harvest. This produces an outstanding mature fruit, adding character and rich complexity to Moss Creek wines.

Winery
Today, owners George and Ann Moskowite have re-established the familyﾒs dormant winery, naming it after Moss Creek, which has a presence on the family ranch. This return to the Napa Valley and farming followed lengthy business careers for both in the financial and computer industries.

This stone winery has a charming presence nestled amongst the Raney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard. Hillside caves lie directly behind the winery. A stone bridge crosses the creek and links the winery to a picnic area nestled in an oak grove. Visitors are welcome by appointment.

Moss Creek Wines
Under the guidance of our winemaker Nils Venge, Moss Creek is crafting estate grown and produced Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc. With this focus, we have retained the best vineyard blocks and estate farmed them exclusively for Moss Creek Winery.


Nils Vengeﾒs influence is reflected beginning with our viticulture practices. Careful attention in the vineyard through pruning, leafing and limiting the number of grape clusters per vine contributes to the intensity of our fruit. These estate-farming practices produce small clusters with concentrated fruit and allow for full sugar maturity to be reached over an extended period of time at a mountain elevation. Grape yields are kept low and vary from 1 to 3 tons per acre depending on the varietal farmed.

At harvest, the grapes are hand picked and sorted with any green or over-ripe clusters discarded. Harvest may consist of several pickings from each vineyard so only fully mature fruit is crushed. Old world production techniques such as punch cap fermentation and hand pressing without over-extraction further enhance the character of our wines. These techniques combined with extended barrel aging, help to manage the mountain tanins and produce outstanding cellar worthy wines. Furthermore, prior to release, our wines are held back and bottle aged allowing the wine to open up and develop in the bottle.

Our first wines were released in January of 1999. We quickly received recognition from both consumers and trade for the quality of our wines. We are grateful to have been recognized in the press as a promising new Zinfandel producer as well as an upcoming Cabernet star in the wine business. Our current annual production is about 2,000 cases. In order to produce the highest quality wine, we plan to limit our growth and cap wine production at 3,000 cases per year.

Winemaker - Nils Venge
We are privileged to have the gifted Nils Venge leading our winemaking operations. His talents are utilized in the vineyard as well as in wine production. He has been an incredible help for us to craft the finest wine possible from our vineyards.

As one of the most respected winemakers in the Napa Valley, Nils Venge brings over 25 years of winemaking experience to Moss Creek Winery. Nils originally established himself as the winemaker at Villa Mt. Eden and Groth wineries. Under Nilsﾒs tenure, Groth 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon earned a perfect 100 score from the Wine Advocate and was ranked wine of the year. This made Nils the first American winemaker to earn a perfect 100 score. This achievement was nearly matched when Nilsﾒs 1992 Groth Cabernet earned a 98 point rating from The Wine Spectator and was ranked the #2 wine of the year. This served to cement Nilsﾒs reputation as one of the top winemakers in the world. Today, in addition to Moss Creek, Nils serves as consulting winemaker for Del Dotto, Plumpjack and Robert Keenan wineries, as well as his own Saddleback Cellars and Venge wines.