Larkmead

History

Larkmead is one of the older continually operating wine estates in Napa Valley, with roots stretching back to the nineteenth century. The property sits in Calistoga at the northern end of the valley, and its history includes multiple ownership transitions across the Prohibition era and the decades that followed. The estate takes its name from the larks that populated the property, a detail that has survived every change of ownership. The Solari family connection is memorialized in one of the estate's named single-vineyard bottlings, reflecting a mid-twentieth century chapter in the property's ownership history. The current ownership is the Forman family, who have held the estate since the late 1990s and have guided it toward a focus on single-site Cabernet Sauvignon and a small portfolio of other varieties. Dr. Olmo, another named wine in the lineup, honors Harold Olmo, the UC Davis viticulturist and plant scientist who spent time at Larkmead and whose contributions to California viticulture were significant. That the estate commemorates him in a wine says something about how seriously the family takes the property's place in the longer arc of California wine history.

Vineyards

Larkmead's estate vineyards are located on the valley floor in Calistoga, where the soils tend toward well-drained alluvial and gravelly loam. Calistoga is the warmest of the Napa Valley appellations by most measures, with afternoon heat moderated to some degree by evening winds pulling cool air down from the mountains. The combination of heat accumulation and drainage produces Cabernet Sauvignon with ripe, concentrated fruit and firm structure. The estate farms distinct blocks that correspond to the named single-vineyard wines, including the Solari and Dr. Olmo bottlings, as well as the block behind The Lark designation. A small planting of Tocai Friulano is an anomaly in this part of Napa and survives as a deliberate choice rather than a historical accident. Specific farming certifications are not prominently documented in publicly available sources, so it would be inaccurate to characterize the approach as certified organic or biodynamic without confirmation.

Winemaking

The winemaker at Larkmead is Avery Putnam, who has shaped the cellar program toward wines with genuine aging potential rather than softness at release. The Cabernet Sauvignons, particularly the single-vineyard bottlings, are structured and restrained relative to much of Calistoga's output. French oak is used for aging, with the proportion of new oak varying by wine and vintage; the flagship and single-vineyard wines see a higher percentage than the estate Napa Valley bottling. The LMV Salon is a Bordeaux-style blend rather than a varietal bottling, drawing on Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties, and is positioned as the estate's top-tier offering. Firebelle is a Merlot-dominant blend, softer in profile than the Cabernet-focused wines. The Tocai Friulano is made in a straightforward white wine style, unoaked and intended to be consumed young, functioning almost as a counterpoint to the red wine program. Across the lineup, the house style leans toward precision and restraint rather than extraction, which sets it apart from a number of its Calistoga neighbors.