Igor Sill
Winemaker, Igor, became passionate about Bordeaux wines after being introduced to Château Margaux, Château Latour and Château Lafite Rothschild in the late 1970s by H. Lyman Emerson, a renaissance gentleman and noted fine wine collector. In 1997 through 2010 Igor worked with Francois Pinault’s Group Artemis, owner of Château Latour.
Château Latour is a French wine estate, rated as a First Growth under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification and lies in the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc region of Bordeaux.
Igor went on to become a Court of Master Sommelier, judging wine competitions including the annual International Wine Challenge, earned his Masters at Oxford University’s Merton College and learned his winemaking craft via UC Davis’ viticulture program. He worked at Italian wine producer, V. Sattui Winery and Opus One Winery in Napa. Igor acquired the St. Helena appellation property some twenty nine years prior and fell in love with Napa’s numerous microclimates and unique terroirs.
Thereafter, he started a thorough search for an extraordinary volcanic mountain vineyard. That search lead to the purchase of the twenty four acre Atlas Peak Mountain Winery property (formerly Ardente Estate Winery) in 2016, turning his passion for collecting fine Bordeaux and Burgundian wines into a love for producing it with an artisian Old-World approach.
Igor chose Napa’s high elevation Atlas Peak volcanic appellation on the Vaca mountain ridge given its longer sun exposure and cooler nights because it presents an obscure, distinctive area for truly great wines, those with profound boldness, elegance, density and character. There are numerous soil characteristics which provide this specific site with the mysteries that unfold in this volcanic mountain plateau’s exceptional terroir.
This vineyard represents a unique piece of Napa winemaking history as it was one of the most difficult to plant, hard to farm and its quality is truly exceptional. Of course, the small size of the vineyard limits production, but then, it also produces some of the greatest cabernet fruit Napa has to offer each and every year. This secluded piece of land is turning the heads of wine critics and collectors worldwide.
“Just doing more of what I love” ... when it comes to winemaking, Sill, who was raised in California’s Marin County, has a wealth of wine knowledge, a plethora of experience, and a resume full of scientific studies to draw from. With a winemaking style rooted in Bordeaux and Burgundian tradition, his Atlas Peak Mountain winery has been producing exceptional wines focusing on these two varietals. His club members and fans of the mountain region’s star grapes probably know their tastes: the lightly-oaked yet crisp Chardonnay, and the exquisitely balanced and silky Cabernet Sauvignon.
– Fran Miller, Haute Living SF
There is an undeniable interest in wines born of volcanic origin, interest which seems to have evolved into a significant upward trend in the wine world. Any restaurant with pretensions of discovering beautiful, ultra premium wines will have an Atlas Peak red wine listed these days. Igor spends considerable time walking this volcanic vineyard, developing an appreciation for every row of vines in his Atlas Peak mountain vineyard. The rootstocks receive excellent drainage as a result of the igneous volcanic rock’s structure, moisture retention and aeration characteristics when combined with ideal exposure to sunlight.
These wines possess all the elements of greatness, an individuality combined with elegance, extraordinary complexity, remarkable aging potential, remaining faithful to the vineyard’s pedigree. It’s this understanding and an integrated natural and precision farming approach to growing grapes that allows him to produce wines that reflect the essence, soul and spirit of this volcanic mountain range, because exceptional wines are truly created from exceptional grapes.
Like any other great work, his arose out of the passion for uncompromised quality in creating exceptional wines. As a result, his wines are receiving world-wide rave reviews for their powerful expressiveness, density, character, elegance and silk-long finish. “We’ve uncovered an amazingly serene and peaceful lifestyle along with the challenges that volcanic viticulture and Napa Valley offers.” Fine wine, sunshine, great food and romance are enticements that seduces everyone who visits here.
H. Lyman Emerson, a renaissance gentleman and noted fine wine collector.
