The Crystal Springs of Napa Valley AVA is the newest Napa Valley sub-appellation. It is known as being a windswept "all-hillside" appellation with no flat areas along the western face of the Vaca range.
The Crystal Springs of Napa Valley AVA is located on the hillsides of Howell Mountain, North of Saint Helena and East of the Calistoga AVA. It is described as a windswept "all-hillside" AVA with no flat areas along the western face of the Vaca Range. The Western and Southwesterly facing slopes are exposed to larger levels of solar radiation which helps grapes to fully mature during the growing season. With elevations ranging from 400 to 1400 feet, this AVA is placed above the floor of the Napa Valley, which is more susceptible to early autumn frosts.
The Crystal Springs of Napa Valley AVA has a distinctly different terroir and climate than all of its neighboring appellations. Unlike it's neighboring AVAs, the hillside does not have frost during the growing season. During the growing season, the hillside sees lower daytime temperatures compared to the valley floor due to the altitude while both receive nighttime cooling from the proximity to the Pacific Ocean. The cool maritime influence is not as wet as on the valley floor and the grapevines benefit from cool, dry air at night. Compared to the top of the mountain, which is typically in the inversion layer during the growing season, the hillsides have much cooler nights and somewhat warmer days. This all-hillside AVA has the best of the best: cool nights, warm days, abundant sunshine, and thin, well-drained volcanic soils.
Winemaking in the Crystal Springs of Napa Valley AVA dates back to the 1880's. In 1884, the Rossini family purchased the property that would eventually become Burgess Cellars. In 1892 Albino Pestoni, a Swiss Italian immigrant, planted his first vineyard and later established "Bonded Winery No. 935" which would become popular among other Swiss Italians of the area. Also in the late 1800's was the establishment of The Rural Health Retreat at Crystal Springs, now the Saint Helena Hospital. The Health Retreat was established on the hillside for the crystal clear spring water and the clean air. A perfect place to get one's fitness back and return to society.
Following the turn of the century, World War I, World War II, Prohibition and the Great Depression, many of the vine acres on the hillside went unkept or were turned to orchards for other crops such as apples. It was not until the 1980s that large scale viticulture returned to the Crystal Springs AVA.
The 1980s saw renewed growth in hillside plantings as vintners invested in the area due to the wine boom and other factors such as America's recovery from Prohibition and the 1976 Judgement of Paris, where Napa Valley wines unexpectedly surpassed renowned French wines in a famous blind tasting. However, only two commercial vineyards were in the AVA's current boundaries until recently.
The Crystal Springs of Napa Valley AVA was officially recognized as an American Viticultural Area in 2024. Today some of the most distinct wines are grown here and surrounding appellations within Napa Valley are widely renowned for their world class vineyards, wineries and restaurants.
"It’s a piece of lava basically, and it’s in a wind tunnel. The wines have a lot of freshness, a lot of acidity, a lot of minerality."
- Julien Fayard, Somnium
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