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Once a “ghost winery” just north of St. Helena, V Madrone’s history began in the late 1880s, when, along with other German contemporaries such as Charles Krug, the Hersch family made wine on this spot.

After Prohibition (oooooh, that word just sends a shiver of terror down our spines), it became a popular “country” resort for some years until being abandoned.

New owners, the Tilleys, resurrected it and started making a bit of wine in 2007. Since THEN, it has been acquired by AXR Winery (which is made by rockstar Jean Hoefliger!!).

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Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate: 93 Points:

“The 100% Monastrell 2014 1771 is named after the date when the property was created. The wine is produced with the grapes from their oldest vineyard (82 years old)?grapes with thin skins and not much color that tend to produce elegant, fresh and long wines. There was some rain during the harvest, which complicated things after a very dry year. The destemmed and lightly crushed grapes fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, then it went through malolactic in concrete vats followed by an ?levage in 700-liter oak casks for 12 months. This is always a subtle, elegant Monastrell, with an open color and less tannic than the Marselan. There are notes of beef blood, iron, tobacco and dry roses; it’s elegant, polished and developed, with recognizable varietal aromas. The palate shows polished tannins and nice integration. 2014 was a warmish vintage, and the grape that better reacts to a year like that is Monastrell. Here it is. This is only the fourth vintage of this pure Monastrell, which I believe should develop nicely in bottle. 4,000 bottles were filled in April 2016.”