bella montagna

3786 Quimby Road, San Jose CA 95148

OPEN
By appointment only:
info@bellamontagna.net

About

A hillside vineyard in the heart of one of California’s pioneering
regions. The vineyard sits above the estate home
overlooking the Santa Clara Valley on the historic
Mirassou Winery property. With an elevation at 500'-700'
above sea level, Bella Montagna is just above the AVA's border.

Victor and Stacie Klee purchased the 12+ acre property
back in 2001. They frequently visited the Mirassou Winery
(pre Gallo acquisition) tasting room on Aborn Road and
surprisingly learned that their property was part of
the original estate vineyard dating back to the mid 1800’s.

The soil and sun exposure (south by southwest) of the
property make for the perfect environment to grow grapes.
The Klees started off slow, planting 200 Cabernet Sauvignon vines,
head pruned to pay homage to the original estate. The
first bottling was in 2007 and they found they had
something special. They planted another 1300 Cabernet
Sauvignon vines in 2012 and followed that up with 900
more vines, split evenly between Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

Winemaker, Collin Cranor, has a history of producing wines
with a focus on showcasing the unique expressions of the
site from which the wine was grown. Aside from making
wine for the estate, Collin runs a few other programs
and works with some of the most reputable vineyards
in Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

Cabernet Sauvignon is Collin's biggest passion, and
unlocking the expression of the vineyard site comes as
second nature to this point. "The vineyards soils and climatic
circumstances are perfect. Hillside with some elevation, west facing
and in a gravel pit. Couple that with the warm days and cool
nights of the region and it is tough to ask for better conditions
for Cabernet Sauvignon and its Bordeaux Counterparts to thrive."

Fermentation: We gently warm our ferments and monitor
uptake of color and tannin daily. We utilize different methods of
cap management to ensure our wines hit goals
in terms of flavor profile and mouthfeel.

Aging: The wines are aged in exclusively French Oak for 14-22 months
depending on the vintage and program. We use more
new oak on Cabernet Sauvignon as the site produces
rich flavors to stand up to the increase in barrel.

Our plan is to produce a handful of world class wine
that showcase the discernable qualities of our site and
reflect the region's rich viticultural history.
We invite you to join us on this journey.