Mueller Family Vineyards is located on ten acres on Diamond Mountain near Calistoga. The Diamond Mountain District or AVA is located above the valley floor, west of Highway 29 between Calistoga and Spring Mountain, north of St. Helena. Most of Diamond Mountain and its peak are actually in Sonoma County, but the winegrowing reputation of the mountain has always been associated with the Napa Valley side. It encompasses some 5,000 acres, of which less than 500 are planted to vines, making this the smallest AVA in the Napa Valley.
Our Vineyard
We purchased our ten acres in 1991 and built our family home. In 2004 we planted the first vines for the commercial vineyard. Through hard work and good luck we have developed a small vineyard on land that formerly held only scrub pines and rocks. Our daughters still joke about the Saturday afternoons they spent moving rocks just so we could have enough room to plant a garden.
Expansion came in a surprising way. Angie and I attended a benefit auction and were enjoying dinner during the live event. I had my fork in the salad when during a break in the table conversation I heard the auctioneer describe a lot that included development of an acre of vineyard from soil preparation to planting and included irrigation and trellising. It stood at $7500 and with not more than a one inch nod from Angie my paddle shot up. We got that gift for $8000. It allowed us to replant Cora’s Vineyard on the north side of the house, add Angela’s vineyard on the south side and Pancho’s Vineyard of Petit Verdot. Now our hand-tilled mountain vineyard had 4000 vines ready to produce the wine we share with you.
