Currently Angelina Mondavi oversees the winemaking for Allora. Rudy Zuidema was their primary winemaker from 2002 until 2016. Winemaker Dennis Johns (founder of White Cottage Ranch Winery and more recently Round Two Wines) was Allora’s first winemaker. Two tasting rooms are located here – and are used to host private tastings. The bonded commercially producing winery is small but extremely functional. This is one of the finer examples of a “garagist” winery in the Napa Valley (small winery at a home). The well driller soon capped the well and then demonstrated to Terry just how much water they had tapped into by removing the cap and Terry estimates he watched a 150-foot spray of water shoot over the vineyard. Water is not an issue here – when they drilled a well, they were hoping to discover just enough to use for the vines but remarkably they hit an Artesian well – and water started rapidly bubbling out of the bore hole. The soil is so fertile that Terry told us, “One year our metal end posts on each row started “growing”! The Allora property features rich loamy soils – during the drilling of a deep well on their property, the drill bit passed through layers of gravel, loam and clay multiple times as the well was dug deeper. Today 10 acres of vines are planted on the estate with the majority being two clones of Cabernet Sauvignon (clone 15 which Terry planted from cuttings from the iconic Monte Rosso Vineyard in Sonoma County) and clone 337 and lesser amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah. The previous owner used the property for pastureland for livestock and it had never been planted to grapes. Their 15-acre property is located on the valley floor in between Calistoga and St. Allora winery and residence buildings are beautifully constructed and are the centerpiece of the property. Conveniently Terry and Nancy live on property in the gorgeous home located above the winery and cellar. While Nancy rarely drinks wine, Terry has enjoyed wine for years – they began Allora Vineyards beginning with their first vintage in 1997 (with encouragement from friend and winemaker Dennis Johns) and purchased their property and planted it a year later harvesting the first grapes in 2002.ĭaughters Kelly and Cortney are also directly involved with the winery operations – managing the winery sales and marketing. Terry began Terry Klein Plastering in 1988, a successful residential & winery plastering company (based in the San Francisco Bay Area). Helena High School) – his family has been in Napa Valley since 1963. Helena when he was 13 years of age (a graduate of St. Terry was born in San Francisco and moved to St. Owners Terry and Nancy Klein have lived in Napa Valley for many years and is where they raised three children. Helena on the valley floor near Ehlers Lane off of Highway 29. Allora Vineyards is located north of the town of St.
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