Or, More Likely…
About Us
The great grandson of Louis Michael Martini, of Louis M. Martini Winery and grandson of Louis Peter Martini, Hollsted Cox has exercised his heritage by designing and creating the brand, Castlevale.
The home of Castlevale is a small private valley directly east of St. Helena, Napa Valley. It was granted to pioneer Joseph B. Chiles by General Mariano Vallejo, the then governor of northern California territory, in exchange for Chiles supplying milling equipment and a millwright to Vallejo for his developments.
Louis P. Martini purchased the Chiles Valley property from the estate of Henry Chiles, Joseph’s grandson, and planted the valley for wine grapes. His experimentation led to selecting Cabernet Sauvignon as the heartiest and best suited for the little valley.
When the Louis M. Martini Winery sold in 2002, Louis P.’s daughter, Carolyn Martini Cox, kept 30 acres of vineyard land.
Carolyn and her son, Hollsted, planted Cabernet Sauvignon, with a small portion of Malbec, Merlot, and Petite Verdot. The original Castlevale wine was a “field blend” of these varietals. As of 2022, the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine’s proprietary name is “Defender”. (See the The Legend of Castlevale available from Amazon books.)
Castlevale is a very small operation,
currently producing 100 cases a year or so.
The main players are
Carolyn Martini Cox | Vintner
Granddaughter of Louis M .Martini, Carolyn spent forty years at Louis M. Martini after attending college and graduate school, the last 17 years of these as CEO. Carolyn , husband Barry, and their son, Hollsted, retained a piece of Louis Martini’s Chiles Valley ranch when the company sold in 2002 and planted 30 acres of predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is now the home of Castlevale “Defender”wine.
Hollsted Cox | Vintner
Greatgrandson of Louis M. Martini, Hollsted is the fourth generation of the wine growing and making family. He was born and grew up in Napa Valley, attending local schools until college where he attended the University of New England, where he met his wife, Jennifer. Together, they have settled back on the land and are building themselves a home. When that’s done, the next project is building the winery.
Angelina Mondavi | winemaker
Angelina Mondavi has officially staked her spot within a new generation of winemakers. She began her career at an early age of 10 assisting in the lab at her family’s winery, Charles Krug. She went on to attend Villanova University and majored in Chemistry with a minor in business. She knew winemaking was calling her name and wished to lay the ideal foundation for herself.
Angelina quickly became indoctrinated into the wine industry by landing her first job with the Hess Collection working as a lab rat during harvest. After harvest concluded, she packed up her bags and moved to Barossa Valley in Australia landing a position working harvest at Yalumba Wine Company. While working in Australia, she also earned a master’s degree in Oenology from the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus.
In 2007 Napa Valley called her back as Angelina joined Pine Ridge Vineyards as the assistant winemaker until 2010. Since then, she has embarked on numerous adventures and endeavors, including working as an assistant winemaker for five and a half years for a Napa Valley cult brand securing well over a dozen 100-point scores from Robert Parker. While producing these wines Angelina joined forces with her three sisters to launch two highly sought-after Howell Mountain brands, Aloft and Dark Matter wines.jumNow 40 years old, and with over a decade of working dual hemispheres, Angelina just completed her 30th harvest and launched her own company called A. Mondavi Consulting. Consulting as a winemaker, her portfolio includes Brasswood Cellars, Aloft and Dark Matter Wines, Illum, Castlevale, Flat Top Hills, CK Mondavi, Charles Krug and the newly launched Harrow Cellars from Sonoma. In addition to running her personal business, Angelina currently carries the honor of serving as a director on the family’s company board for C. Mondavi & Family, standing proudly with her sisters as they all strive to continue the families legacy and humble roots.
Mark Oberschulte | Vineyard manager
I went to Cal Poly in the 70s. Started farming here in 1980, been looking over Chiles Valley vineyards since 1987, when Carolyn and Mike Shuey hired me at Louis M Martini. I spent the years as Mike’s Assistant Manager of Vineyards, and then VP of Vineyards for Louis Martini . I’ve also grown grapes in nearly all Napa AVAs (13, are there 17 now?) and sold fruit to dozens of wineries. My family even lived on High Valley Vineyards (Chiles Valley) as my girls were growing up. I can definitely vouch for the quality of these grapes.