Revitalize your wellness routine with a one-of-a-kind adventure that blends breathtaking nature, Napa Valley history, and premium, estate-grown Napa wines. Welcome to Palisades Canyon, one of Napa Valley's newest wineries, where you can experience the great outdoors in a novel way—via an exclusive, year-round hiking experience. This rare, “Into the Wild" opportunity invites guest to venture into the private sanctuary of Palisades Canyon founders Felicia Woytak and Steve Rasmussen, and experience the beauty of their rugged property and hiking trails just as they do....

“Old vine” is a commonly used term in the world of high-end wine. It seems to imply something regal about a wine, a greater sense of depth, concentration or profundity of character.

As with most everything that concerns wine, the reality of how old vines can influence a wine is far more nuanced. Terroir, climate, farming methods, and winemaking all play a role in how grapevines express themselves. “Old vine” shouldn’t necessarily be a catchall term to indicate a certain quality.

“In Italy there is no official definition, but above 40 years old is usually considered ‘old,’” says Bernardino Sani, CEO and winemaker at Argiano Winery.

In California, the Historical Vineyard Society defines old vines as those planted more than a half-century ago. By their definition, vines that are 49 years old don’t qualify.

“As vines grow, their root systems penetrate deeper and wider in the soil,” says Steven Rasmussen, co-proprietor, alongside Felicia Woytak, of Palisades Canyon, a producer in Napa Valley’s Calistoga AVA. The winery, whose winemaker is Graeme MacDonald, specializes in head-trained, dry-farmed Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and old-vine Petite Sirah, some planted as far back as 1964....

Felicia Woytak and Steven Rasmussen are proprietors of the newly debuted Palisades Canyon. The couple has been visiting Napa Valley wineries since 1981 and have lived on the Palisades Vineyard since 2015, but it wasn’t until last fall that they released their first bottlings, a trio of wines crafted by fourth-generation winemaker Graeme MacDonald. Of the wines released—2021 Chenin Blanc, 2021 Petite Sirah and 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon—their 60 cases of Chenin Blanc sold out in two minutes.

News: Just five months after their October 2024 launch, Palisades Canyon is gearing up for the release of their 2022 Chenin Blanc and more 2021 Petite Sirah in March.

Chenin blanc is a white wine indigenous to France’s Loire Valley. As with many native French grapes, it’s found success beyond its borders, particularly in South Africa. At one point, chenin blanc was Napa’s dominant white wine variety.

Most of Napa’s original chenin blanc plantings were removed in the 1970s to clear space for the more profitable cabernet sauvignon. In recent years, there’s been a renewed interest in the variety of legacy producers and newcomers.

“Chenin blanc is perfect for the Napa Valley,” shares Felicia Woytak, proprietor of Palisades Canyon Wines (palisadescanyonwines.com), one of the wineries working to bring the variety back in fashion. Woytak adds that the grape’s naturally high acidity performs particularly well in the region’s canyons (like its Calistoga vineyard), where diurnal shifts can drop as much as 50 degrees. “This allows the chenin to ripen while retaining acid and aromatics.” ...

When Felicia Woytak and Steven Rasmussen released their first wines in the fall from Palisades Canyon, a historic vineyard in Napa Valley’s Calistoga region, their Chenin Blanc sold out in two minutes.

They made only 30 cases of it, but the demand for this under-the-radar white wine at a pricey $75 a bottle suggests that Chenin Blanc, a longtime black sheep of California wine, is having a moment again. This time it’s poised to stick.

Chenin Blanc, a wine that’s famously grown in France’s Loire Valley, was once California’s most widely planted white wine grape. “It was a cult wine,” said Palisades Canyon’s winemaker Graeme MacDonald, whose grandparents grew Chenin Blanc for Charles Krug on one of the original parcels of To Kalon, Napa Valley’s most famous vineyard. Back then, most wineries were producing it in an off-dry style.

“It was the wine people lined up for more than anything,” MacDonald added. “They couldn't get enough Chenin.” ...

The first releases from Palisades Canyon in Calistoga, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Chenin Blanc, are made by fourth-generation Napa winemaker, grape grower, and historian Graeme MacDonald, who also makes wine at his family’s storied To Kalon property in Oakville under the MacDonald label. Palisades Canyon owners Felicia Woytak and Steve Rasmussen searched for years before settling on this 796-acre property in Calistoga that contains their 17.5-acre CCOF-certified organic Palisades Vineyard. Vines are farmed using regenerative principles, and MacDonald prefers a minimal interventionalist style of winemaking, including a predilection towards native yeasts....

Once in a great while we come across a project with a trifecta of
success factors: location, story, and personnel. When I had the chance to meet Felicia Woytak & Steven Rasmussen, not only did I fall in love with the property they purchased and became the conservators for, but also with the people themselves. They knew they had something special on their hands. Something worth investing in, something necessary to protect....

Felicia Woytak’s decade-long search for the ideal Napa Valley estate ended in 2015 when she discovered a stunning 796-acre property at the base of The Palisades cliffs in Calistoga. Inspired by agritourism during a visit to Italy, Woytak, a home winemaker, sought land to cultivate wine grapes; she found her perfect spot in this picturesque canyon, with its historic dry-farmed vineyard, 1881 farmhouse, and historic winery.

This fall, Woytak and her husband Steve Rasmussen will release their first wines under the Palisades Canyon label, crafted with fourth-generation Napa winemaker Graeme MacDonald....

Felicia Woytak’s ten-year search for the perfect Napa Valley estate concluded in 2015 when she fell in love with a 796-acre estate at the base of The Palisades cliffs on the eastern edge of Calistoga. A home winemaker who had found inspiration in agritourism during a visit to Italy many years ago, Woytak sought a piece of land where she could farm wine grapes with integrity. She found it in this narrow riparian canyon, surrounded by thousands of acres of rugged, natural splendor. The property featured an historic dry-farmed vineyard, and an 1881 farmhouse standing opposite a ghost winery—Bonded Winery No. 118....

For Felicia Woytak and Steve Rasmussen education flows both ways. As vineyard owners, they have been both the students and the educators.

In 2015, after purchasing Palisades Vineyard, they joined the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and dove into workshops and seminars to master grape growing. Their enthusiasm for learning naturally extended to the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation, where they became mentors for the Patrick Foley Fields of Opportunity (FOO) program....

Ten years. Ten years to get a vine just right, according to the heritage way of growing premium wine grapes.

First, the rootstock goes into the soil. Two years later, the vine is grafted onto the rootstock. Six years of getting advice from four well-known viticulturists, one of them a PhD who is a leader in her field of research, with the most experienced vineyard workers meticulously pruning and shaping these bush vines (also called goblet vines because they should be shaped like a goblet cup). Then, after the shape of these bush vines resembles some of the grand old goblet vines of the world, it takes two more years to bring it to an ideal balance of fruit-producing potential through future management in the vineyards....

Up in Calistoga, I was wowed by this new 796-acre organic wine estate with panoramic vistas. It’s steeped in 19th century mining history, and the vineyard and 50-year-old head-trained vines were part of a pre-Prohibition “ghost” winery that owners Felicia Woytak and Steven Rasmussen are bringing back to life with the help of star Napa winemaker Graeme MacDonald, co-owner of MacDonald Vineyards. There’s even a vineyard llama.

This fall they’re introducing two of their not-to-be-missed first wines. Go for the 2021 Chenin Blanc with white peach aromas and lemony flavors ($70) and spicy, smooth 2021 Petite Sirah ($85)....