[ad_1]
Husband-and-wife Andy Erickson and Annie Favia
Annie Favia and Andy Erickson are Napa royalty. Because the 2021 classic of their private challenge, Favia, is launched through La Place, we caught up with the couple in regards to the label, property and imaginative and prescient for the area.
“We’re simply kind of making it up as we go alongside,” Andy Erickson says to me on our transatlantic Zoom name, shrugging and smiling as we discuss his and his spouse’s challenge, Favia. It’s not essentially what you’d anticipate this star marketing consultant winemaker to say – having helped craft the likes of Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Dalla Valle, Staglin, Mayacamas and extra. It’s onerous to consider that something this man does is a fluke of destiny. And but this self-effacing tone is a thread that runs all through my dialog with Erickson and his spouse Annie Favia.
Favia brings her personal, equally enviable resume, having labored at Kongsgaard, Corison and for a few years alongside cult viticulturist David Abreu, giving her unparalleled expertise of Napa’s most interesting vineyards. She and Erickson met at a cocktail party virtually 30 years in the past, immediately hit it off, and inside six months had been making their first barrel of wine collectively, tucked within the nook of their storage. That first experimental barrel of 1996 Russian River Pinot Noir (of which they nonetheless have a couple of bottles) was the beginning of one thing that grew as they and their household did, and the Favia label was born in 2001, though it was a few years earlier than there was greater than a barrel or two to promote.
The Favia label, created by husband-and-wife Andy Erickson and Annie Favia (prime of web page) was born in 2001
The idea behind the model is easy: “It’s our expression of what we predict Napa Valley wine needs to be,” explains Erickson. However Favia has additionally been a challenge the place they may experiment, push the envelope and play with the “pioneering freedom” (in Erickson’s phrases) that Napa presents. The pliability to buy grapes from totally different areas, choose and select varietals, and work with no constraints within the vineyard is one thing they clearly savour.
The challenge focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc – the latter specifically a grape they each love. Impressed by the likes of Ausone, Cheval Blanc, the reds of the Loire and Dalla Valle’s Maya (a wine that Erickson now makes), they had been eager to play with the varietal, crafting two Cabernet Franc blends – Cerro Sur and La Magdalena. As Annie Favia explains, “[Cabernet Franc] means that you can make one sort of wine should you choose it at one time, after which a totally totally different wine should you choose it at one other time.”
Erickson and Favia deal with Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon for their very own label
Greater than something, nevertheless, Favia is about expressing a way of place and connection to the land. “After I was rising up, my mother was an avid gardener and I spent numerous time together with her within the backyard,” says Annie. “So it’s at all times been actually sort of dwelling to me.” It’s unsurprising maybe that their Coombsville property is much from only a winery and vineyard, however a homestead of kinds. “We actually like to develop every kind of issues,” Annie says eagerly. Whereas vines are the primary crop, Annie additionally farms a spread of different vegetation – largely for her loose-leaf tea firm, ERDA, but additionally fruit and greens for the household desk. “Rising totally different crops means that you can take a look at grapevines another way,” she explains.
For the Favia label, they work completely with fruit from Oakville and Coombsville, and whereas Oakville is arguably one of the crucial prestigious appellations in Napa, Coombsville is much less well-known. Fruit from the AVA has typically been blended away into regional wines, however with its volcanic soils and proximity to the San Pablo Bay bringing cooling influences, they love its concentrated energy, naturally recent acidity and savoury high quality, and extra forward-focused tannins versus the broader profile of Oakville.
Though Erickson is more and more centered on Favia, he nonetheless consults for a handful of rigorously chosen estates – one thing he can’t see giving up. “It’s an excellent outlet,” he tells me, explaining how totally different it’s to channel a consumer’s imaginative and prescient for a challenge, versus craft your personal wine precisely the best way you need. Very similar to the assorted crops they farm, it’s one other means for them to be taught, experiment and develop. And but, “Presenting one thing that you simply’ve made to folks and getting a response…” Erickson says. “I really like that a part of what we do.”
Favia works with vines in Oakville and Coombsville
Twenty years after Favia was born, they’ve acquired vital funding from the Huneeus household (which owns Quintessa), together with a brand new 86-acre property in Oakville, the place they’ll quickly be beginning work on a brand new vineyard, taking the challenge to the following degree. “We’re going to be doing precisely what we’ve achieved for 20-plus years, however now have a good greater farm and extra fruit timber and extra gardens and extra wine to share with folks. And it’s simply actually enjoyable,” says Annie, the thrill clear in her expression. They’ll be bringing again Sauvignon Blanc, which they’ve made prior to now, and are making their first wine with a tiny plot of Malbec they planted – a range they’re contemplating with local weather change.
On paper, Favia and Erickson are a formidable duo – with CVs that supply a roll-call of Napa icons – and but they’re solely unassuming. Their absolute ardour for the vine, for farming, the area and their craft shines by way of; and whereas they is perhaps as down-to-earth as they arrive, it’s already clear that Favia is destined to succeed in nice heights.
[ad_2]