W.S. Keyes Winery has a rich history that started in the 1880's on Howell Mountain. It was founded by William Keyes, a renowned geologist whose background helped him choose the best terroir he could find for his vineyards. Winemaking was a part of the family; William's Civil War general father was the first Commander of the Presidio in San Francisco as well as owner of, at the time the prestigious Edge Hill Winery (one of the first wineries in the Napa Valley). The prominence of W.S. Keyes Winery reached the International stage when in 1900 they won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition. Following up this accolade, 4 years later they earned another gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition. Needless to say by this point, their vineyards helped solidify Howell Mountains reputation fairly early on. Keyes also used to own the Liparita label which has changed hands several times and is currently in private ownership and is still in production. These high end Howell Mountain vineyards are all connected in some way or the other! W.S. Keyes is part of the Jackson Family Wine portfolio - owned by Tess Jackson of Kendall Jackson fame. The actual vineyard is located at about 1800 feet and is situated in very chalky dusty volcanic soils which of course contribute to the complexity of this wine. Select blocks are hand harvested from the vineyard and the wine is made by Tom Peffer who also makes Jackson's Atalon wine. Today W.S. Keyes is somewhat of an anomaly in the Napa Valley as they produce one vintage each year of Merlot. All the grapes for this wine are sourced from the W.S. Keyes vineyards including a small touch of Cabernet Sauvignon which is blended into this wine. This vineyard is located within the same area as Jackson's high end La Jota vineyard and in fact some of the fruit from this vineyard is used in their Atalon and another label. As a result of their extremely small production and little marketing only those in the "know" are aware of this Napa gem. It is a rare wine indeed - 2003 was their first vintage and they were essentially sold out of this at press time. Merely 274 - six bottle cases were produced of the 2004 vintage and as of press time the only place you can taste or purchase this wine is through Cardinale Winery in Yountville. This vintage saw 20 days maceration helping extract additional flavors (juice to skin contact) - and then 26 months in barrel for aging. It was blended with 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has elegant aromas of black cherry and dark chocolate with hints of cedar leading to a rich concentration of fruit, especially on the mid palate. This is not a light weight Merlot. It is full bodied yet is in balance with a smooth velvety mouth feel and just the right tannin structure on the extended finish. Visit: www.wskeyes.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No, Taste at Cardinale Winery, App only Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 888-423-5758 Address: P.O. Box 328, Oakville Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Watermark Wine is a small boutique winery run by long time Napa Vintner Phil Steinschriber. Phil is also winemaker for the much coveted Cabernet Sauvignons of Diamond Creek Vineyards on Diamond Mountain and because of his long history working in the wine industry in the Napa Valley has access to extremely good fruit sources. He has been around the beverage industry every since he was a child. He later worked as a wine buyer which ended up in part being the path to fueling his interest in wine. He earned his degree in Agriculture Chemistry from Fresno State - then after a short stint in Israel making California style kosher wines, and as winemaker for a winery in New Mexico he moved to the Napa Valley and worked for a now defunct winery for several years. In 1991 he became winemaker for Diamond Creek Vineyards and has since made his mark for this winery, often earning top scores for his Cabernet's. His Watermark wines are layered and complex and need we mention available at much less the cost then the Diamond Creek Vineyard wines. Phil's wines are all hand produced. They are made in a Bordeaux style. The grapes for the 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested by hand in the very early morning, then cold soaked for 4 days, pressed sweet for the free run juice and then fermented. No pumps are used, punch downs are carefully regulated and are done less often in the later stages of fermentation to help ensure a wine that is less tannic. All aging is done in small French Oak barrels. Recently we had a chance to taste the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon with Tim Mertz who works at A Dozen Vintners and has helped Phil with a number of harvests. Now here is a wine worth getting your hands on! Napa's secret and sometimes not so secret recipe is combine unique high end terroir with a long time well-regarded wine maker veteran and you have the recipe for success in the wine industry. You can tell this wine is full of ripe fruit as soon as you get a whiff of the bouquet. The aromas are big with raspberry, and spice components including black pepper. The palate continues with raspberry and cherry with notes of chocolate, cloves, cinnamon and subtle nuances of tobacco, vanilla and toasted oak to round out the finish. The finish is clean and very long. There is a lot packed in this wine - both in fruit and spice flavors! Watermark focuses entirely on Cabernet Sauvignon with the one wine mentioned above as well as a Howell Mountain Cab. Their wines have good acidity and backbone structure and will age nicely for a number of years. Their first vintage was in 2004 and production is tiny at merely several hundred cases of each wine. As a result the easiest way to find their wine locally is to pay a visit to A Dozen Vintners, the collective tasting room just north of the town of St. Helena or visit: www.watermarkwine.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Private, You can taste at A Dozen Vintners in St. Helena Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 942-1734 Address: Calistoga Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Waterstone Winery is located in downtown Napa next to the Oxbox Market and just down the street from the Copia Wine Center. Their Taste at Oxbow tasting room is a joint venture between Waterstone and Mahoney Vineyards. Waterstone Winery was founded in 2000 by two partners who have a long history in the Napa area wine business; one is a winemaker and the other worked at a Sonoma County winery for many years and now works with well-known industry organizations. Their premise for starting this winery was to produce luxury wines available at affordable pricing. They have certainly done this as other than their Cabernet Sauvignons their wines are in the high teen to mid 20's range. The tasting room is very large and well decorated. They are in a "green" building which means the building materials and furnishings are environmentally friendly. Check out their mostly green wine bar countertop - it is made from glass pieces of recycled wine and olive oil bottles. This tasting room has a slight wine lounge feel with tables and chairs scattered about (even the cushions on the chairs are made from recyclables!). They have a kitchen on site and have plans to offer sit down wine and food pairings. For a set tasting fee you choose 5 tastes out of 10 wines, (5 Waterstone wines and 5 Mahoney wines are available). We tried their 2005 Merlot which is very reasonably priced. It is a juicy wine with lots of fruit flavors including plum and cherry and you can pick up just a hint of vanilla from the oak aging. It is an elegant Merlot. We also tried their Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which is priced head and shoulders above the rest of their wines, but for a good reason. The fruit for this wine is high end fruit from undisclosed locations in the heart of Napa's Cab country, the Oakville and Rutherford Appellations. It sees entirely 100% new French Oak and undergoes extended Maceration before the oak aging. There is a lot going on with this wine with complexity of flavors - the nose has some cedar and the palate has notes of chocolate and tobacco. This is a wine with a long finish. Lastly, we tried their 2005 Syrah; this wine has a huge nose with lots of white pepper flavors on the mid palate. Ask about the Downtown Napa Wine Tasting Card - multiple downtown area tasting rooms participate in this - for a one-time fee you can visit & taste at each of their tasting rooms. You can buy this card in each of the participating tasting rooms. Visit: www.waterstonewines.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Yes Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: 11-7pm Phone: 265-8523 Address: 708 First Street, Napa Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Waugh Cellars is a winery truly "going places". Ryan Waugh founded this winery in 2001 at the young age of 25. Many 25 year olds are still trying to figure out what to do with their careers. At the time of our visit Ryan is project manager for his own 22,000 square foot completely underground-contained cave winery (including the crush pad) 900 feet above the valley floor in the famed Stag's Leap District. Once completed this will serve as custom crush facility for a select few already chosen winemakers. The views from this ridge top location are fantastic with full 'aerial' type spreads overlooking the entire southern and central part of Napa Valley. In addition, Waugh Cellars has plans to build out a large deck with kitchen and other amenities and a fractional ownership community nearby the winery - all of which looks down on Napa Valley. Ryan is one of the new generation of Napa winemakers - young, lots of enthusiasm, initiative, International wine experience and an unbridled passion for working with vineyards. He was bitten with the wine bug while studying to be a Doctor at Santa Clara University. His girlfriend's father inherited a large collection of wine and spirits from his father who owned a wine shop. One day he asked Ryan if he likes wine and then promptly indicated to Ryan that he was not a fan at all, but that he had like 300 cases in his basement and Ryan was welcome to try a bottle. Ryan had never really consumed wine at this point so he stated the obvious which was he had no basis to form a decision on the matter. He was then instructed to pick out a bottle from his birth year, which turned out to be a Warren Winiarski Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Lot 2 Cabernet Sauvignon from 1976. One bottle turned into 3 and Ryan was hooked at this point. It is quite fortuitous to note that Ryan's new winery is located in the home appellation of Winiarski's winery - Stag's Leap. Almost immediately Ryan started looking for a wine job and a change in career direction; the Santa Cruz Mountains were close to Santa Clara and this was a good fit while at school. Other stints were at Chateau Potelle - (commuting 2 hours each way to this job shows just how serious Ryan was at the time), Trefethen, he was the first non-family employee at Del Dotto and he also worked several harvest in Australia. As with most winemakers, he knows the unique benefits of terroir and as a result sources fruit from a variety of locations within California based on where specific varietals grow best. All his vineyard sources are locked up into very long contracts ensuring he is not excluded from this high quality fruit anytime soon, and in addition he actively provides the vineyard management for the many locations that his fruit is sourced from. In several cases he has come in and changed the trellising systems, pruning and a variety of other factors to meet his specifications. Case in point was for his Petite Sirah; it took 3 years for him to update the vineyard all the while it was producing fruit - however the quality was not up to his standards and no wine was released during this time. It is extremely rare to see this type of control and full vineyard management from wineries who exclusively source fruit. From the outside, Waugh's wine is easily identifiable by the "W" on the label. From the inside Waugh's wines can be characterized as smooth, with velvety mouth feels and tannins that are well structured but do not dominate the wine. In addition Ryan is a perfectionist for ensuring each cluster of grapes ripens evenly - he does no acid adjustment on his wines and if a wine ends up needing this adjustment, he will not release this wine commercially. As a result, the mouth watering flavors and feel of Waugh's wines are all from natural acidity. The 2007 Chardonnay is from the Indindoli vineyard in the Russian River area of neighboring Sonoma County. It sees no malolactic fermentation, is barrel fermented and there was much stirring of the lees. As a result this is a "heavier" Chardonnay with aromas of citrus, tropical fruit with some citrus following to the palate and notes of toasted almond toward the finish. There is great acidity structure in this wine. We've had some big Petite Sirahs with huge tannins during this project; the 2006 is not one of them. It is sourced from Dry Creek in Sonoma County and is available in very limited quantities. Rich fruit aromas open up to notes of chocolate on the nose - great mouth feel. The 2004 Napa Cabernet combines fruit from two mountain vineyards and valley floor. As with Waugh's other wines this has a smooth mouth feel, rich in flavor and aroma. Nice blackberry fruit on the palate and notes of various spices which continue to linger well after you swallow. He also makes a Zinfandel and a cool weather Riesling from Santa Barbara County (not the warmer Santa Ynez valley, but rather on a ridge almost overlooking the ocean). Six Degrees is another very interesting project - here is a Napa winemaker who has created a high-end second label featuring a premium neighboring Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice! It was created with two ideals in mind; produce a stellar Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County and connect with each person who tastes it. This is a special wine that has the "it" factor Ryan speaks of. It is a wine that is easily on par with any of Napa's best Cabernet's; it has that special richness combined with elegance. It is sourced every year from a 2-acre vineyard located on the northeast side of the Napa/Sonoma Mayacamas Mountains above the Russian River Valley (Redwood Hill). It is fermented in special barrels that are from trees in France, which are at least 150 years old. This ensures the wood grain is extremely tight and allows for very slow integration of flavor into the wine and does not dominate (yes these barrels are more expensive then the typical French Oak barrel!). Waugh Cellars operates the "Friends of Waughs" wine allocation list as well as a general mailing list. Visits are for serious wine enthusiasts. Visit: www.waughcellars.com and www.sixdegreeswine.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 888 883-9463 Address: P.O. Box 3746, Napa Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Wermuth Winery falls completely off the Napa Valley winery scale - this is not your typical Napa Valley Winery. If you are looking for sophistication do not stop here. If you are looking for a simple, down to earth experience, a visit in which you will probably be the only one here even on busy summer weekends, and meeting face to face with a long time winemaker then a stop here is a must. The red modern bright looking sign just off of Silverado Trail might lead you to believe you will be tasting at another fancy tasting room - this is not the case as it is a complete contrast to the actual tasting experience. There is no website (the only Napa winery with a tasting room to not have a website), so don't even bother checking, the tasting room is very small and somewhat dusty; it is located next to the owners house, and this winery has no outside distribution whatsoever. There are maybe 3-4 Napa wineries who have this feel - it is not the "Napa sophistication" that you find up and down Highway 29 - that's for sure. Recently the main winery phone number stopped working so the only way to contact Wermuth Winery is to physically be here when Ralph is open. Compared to the other 470+ wineries we have visited this weirdly refreshing. He typically is open from 11-4pm but it all depends on Ralphs schedule on any given day. The bonded winery is on site and the owner is the winemaker. A small dirt parking lot is adjacent to the tasting room and can accommodate no more than 3-4 cars at any one time! Due to space restrictions, back in for ease of departure. If the owner is not in the tasting room or you cannot visually spot him on the grounds, ring the bell at the tasting room or simply make a short beep or two with your car horn. When open, only the owner pours his wines - he has no employees. The bearded bespectacled Ralph Wermuth is the aforementioned owner and he falls into the "character" very nice guy category. He has a chemistry background and is a physician. Ralph told us he's been making wine on the property for at least 30 years, but the years are running together so he can't really give an exact date. During another one of our visits we narrowed him down to find out that his first commercial vintage was 1982. The vineyard you see in front of the tasting room is the source for his wine. Its less than an acre so as a result his wine is produced in quantities of under 200 cases annually. He can also tell you about the "old days" along the Silverado Trail, when grass grew through cracks in the middle of the pavement or the high cost of sending kids to college these days - and will be happy to hit upon any topic you wish to discuss. It is extremely easy to spend an hour or more here talking with Ralph. Today he focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon - he used to make Gamay, Zinfandel and one year made a Cabernet Franc as those wines were sourced from area vineyards. Tasting is $2 - not an amount you will see at any other Napa wineries. All tastings are poured in Ralph's trademark small almost port like glasses. They won't be the crystal clean glasses you are used to finding at area tasting rooms. As a result when we went to swirl, we spilled some right over the top, not being used to such small volume glasses. His wines have a very interesting nose and a bit of a metallic almost tangy finish. The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon is light to medium bodied. If you let them open up and breath there are some nice fruit flavors on the palate. Wermuth's wines are typically lower in alcohol than most of the Napa Cabernet's you will find - typically they are in the low 13 percent range. Ralph doesn't let his grapes get overly ripe before picking. The price of his Napa Cabernet will be among the lower priced Cabernet wines in the valley. Look for the small black chalkboard hanging on the wall - this is supposed to be used to provide pricing; when we were there it looked like the prices had been crossed out a number of times so we couldn't even read them! Ralph will sign all purchased bottles. When he made white wine, his label simply read "white wine"! Also of note his wife Smitty paints and her colorful cards are available in one corner of the tasting room. Ralph is interested in photography - he mentioned that its hard to get good film anymore; he will take a photo of you in his vineyards if you request.

Quick Info Open to Public: Yes Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: When Ralph is there, otherwise ring the bell or honk horn Phone: 942-5924 (may not work) Address: 3942 Silverado Trail, Calistoga Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

WH Smith Wines is a small winery high in the Howell Mountain hills east of Angwin. Bill Smith purchased the nearby La Jota property in the early 1970's, and planted all of the vineyards by hand. One of his neighbors, Randy Dunn was an initial early influence during his formative winemaking years. Bill was the winemaker for La Jota until he sold this winery to Markham (now owned by Kendall Jackson). Today he is the winemaker and operates W.H. Smith Winery - which is located just down the road from La Jota. The bulk of their production is Pinot Noir (four different Pinot's produced) as this is one of his favorite wines, as well as two Cabernet Sauvignons, the Purple and Bronze label. Bill used to produce big bold high tannic Cabernet Sauvignons but enjoys the softer lower tannin more velvety mouth feel Cabs which is what he now produces. To produce these "softer" wines he removes the seeds during every step of the process. Grape seeds have a lot of tannins and when the seeds are sitting in alcohol, the actual alcohol will release those tannins into the wine. His first commercial vintage was in 2001. The source of the Cabernet Sauvignon is from his Piedra Hill Vineyard which is located next to the winery. The location is above the fog line which provides a cooler overall climate compared to the Napa Valley floor. This means longer ripening, higher acidity and a more even ripening of the grapes. W.H. Smith selects only the most intensely flavored and aromatic wine from select barrels for his final blends. He also keeps fruit from individual clones separate until the final blends are constructed. We tried several barrel samples during our visit including what will be their 2006 Purple label. This dark wine has a very round mouth feel; it is an elegant style of Cabernet. We thought it was impossible to find a winery producing high quality Pinot Noirs located in the hills of Howell Mountain until we visited W.H. Smith. Of course this isn't Pinot country and they don't grow these grapes here. All their Pinots are sourced from very high quality vineyards along the Sonoma Coast region in Sonoma County. We tried a bunch of these Pinot's still in barrel. Our favorite is the Pinot produced from the Hellenthal Vineyard located at about 1800 feet. This site is only 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean so it receives a fair amount of wind and fog. Their Maritime was not yet blended at the time of our tasting. This is their "high end" Pinot Noir and the fruit for this wine is selected from several vineyards all within proximity of the Pacific Ocean. It has been well received by the wine press. We have their bronze and purple Cabernet Sauvignons and will be providing tasting notes for these as time permits. Visit: www.whsmithwines.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Private Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 965-9726 Address: N/A, Angwin Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

White Cottage Ranch was originally a 500 acre cattle spread dating from 1898. It also used to be a Dude Ranch and people would spend parts of their summers here. The headquarters of the ranch are where the current winery is located. Due to its original large size it encompassed land that is currently being used by other nearby wineries. The winery itself is located just outside of the small town of Angwin (which we have been told due to the town's religious affiliation is only one of two towns in the USA to have Sunday mail service). Allow at least 20 minutes to reach the winery from the turnoff on the valley floor. The winery sits at about 1400 feet and ranges in elevation up to 2000 feet so they sometimes get a light dusting of snow in the winter. The owner/winemaker has a very long history in the Napa area of making wine and as as result has accumulated tremendous knowledge and winemaking skills. His styles of wine and wine making philosophy have changed over the years. He now introduces oxygen to his wine during several stages of the wine making process; this is done to the majority of his wines. This is a philosophy different than many area winemakers but is in no way whatsoever detrimental to his wines. Winemaking as with religion has no "right way or path". Today he makes wines that are smooth, and very easy to drink when you open the bottle. They can be aged but they are meant to be consumed now. White Cottage makes a rather large variety of different types of wine. We had the pleasure of trying several from barrel - including a Cabernet Franc and then a Cab Franc blended with about 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. What a difference the Cabernet Sauvignon makes when blended - it ads a backbone and complexity that the Cabernet Franc just does not have by itself. By itself, the Cab Franc sort of just drops off and disappears in your mouth. The Ezivese is a unique blend of Sangiovese and Zinfandel. A typical tasting will be held in their tasting room or if weather permits outside on their porch which overlooks the native woods and vineyards. This is a personal tasting, usually conducted with the owner in which you get to know him and how he makes his wine. White Cottage planted blocks of grapes within the native vegetation so as to keep a balance with the surrounding environment, rather than clear cut everything. We also tried their Sauvignon Blanc - this is a crisp refreshing wine great for serving on warm summer days. Be sure to try their Howell Mountain Cabernet - it is made with top quality mountain fruit. Do not only take our word - as the winemaker says, it is up to you to decide which wines you enjoy. Visit: www.whitecottageranch.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: 10-5pm Phone: 965-0516 Address: 555 College Ave, Angwin Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

White Rock Vineyards is a winery that you will typically not find in any of the Napa Valley winery lists. They are family run and their focus is all about the wine. They are not setup for tasting or tours - but if you are a serious wine enthusiast you can email for an appointment as the owners do live on site. A winery was established here in 1870 and the original stone winery still stands. The current owners planted vines in the late 1970's and started making their wine in the mid 80's. The vineyards are all organically managed (no pesticides or herbicides). Caves were dug in the late 80's and true to its name, a good portion of the front of the caves were dug through a chalky white volcanic rock. This is truly a family affair, one of their sons is the vineyard manager and the other son is the winemaker. At press time, they specialize in three types of wines, Chardonnay, a red blend called Claret and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Their Chardonnay is quite nice - it retains a bit more acid than some of the typical chardonnays - giving it a very nice crisp feel and the acid also allows it to age nicely for a number of years. This wine only undergoes partial malolactic fermentation so as not to mask the fruit and floral aromas of this wine. It is left on the lees and regularly stirred which gives it some nice weight and creaminess. Their Claret is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot and is barrel aged for up to 2 years, then bottle aged for up to two years so by the time it reaches the market it has had 4 years of aging. The blend of this wine typically changes each year but Cabernet Sauvignon is always the majority varietal. It is a very Bordeaux style wine - great with food. There are small caves within the main cave walls - and it is here that the bottles are packed very tightly during their aging process. This is not a common practice and we can think of only other winery with this type of system - the "sparkling house"...Schramsberg. For those of you who have never been in the company of fermenting wine or listened to the sound it makes, White Rock Vineyards has creatively recorded an almost 3 minute audio for your listening enjoyment. Don't expect a Pavarotti type performance! To purchase wine online or for more information visit: www.whiterockvineyards.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No, Via Email - Also use the Contact Us link on their website Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: N/A Address: Off of Soda Canyon Road Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Whitehall Lane Winery is located on the southbound side of Highway 29 several miles south of the town of St. Helena. It sits next to the main highway and is not located on nearby Whitehall Lane. It was founded in 1979 but was bought out by the Tom Leonardini Family in 1993 who updated the winery and found new sources for grapes. Today all of Tom's children are involved with the winery and is truly a family run affair. They actually own approximately 150 acres of mostly valley floor vineyards as of press time separated into 6 uniquely different vineyards. The winery actually owns prime vineyard land in Rutherford, St. Helena and the Oak Knoll district to the south. The original owners of Whitehall now own Judds Hill Winery. Whitehall is certainly not white from the outside - it is in a very distinctive building that you can't miss as you drive by. Most of the building is yellow and there is a unique window that is in the shape of the top of a wine glass. With the addition of their new barrel storage facility, Whitehall now actually has multiple built in wine glass windows! This winery has a well rounded slate of premium wines (at decent prices) which have won numerous awards - their Cabernets and Merlots are very rich and complex. They have long used screw cap enclosures (among Napa's first wineries to do this) for some of their wines and the reserve Cabernet is actually enclosed with what is called a Vino-Seal - a glass enclosure. This is the first Napa winery we have seen use an enclosure such as this which makes sense as they were the first winery in the world to use this particular type of enclosure! For dessert wine lovers their Belmuscato (an Orange Muscat) is sweet with a long finish and not overly syrupy like some of the Muscat wines we have tried. Their staff is very knowledgeable and friendly and they can give you recommendations for other wineries nearby. Like nearby Highway 29 wineries the tasting room can become very crowded especially on weekends. If you are looking for a more private tasting experience Whitehall offers a reserve tasting program. This is a private tasting with a wine guide and lasts about 1 hour. Ask about their annual open house, typically held in September. You can also join their mailing list online. Visit: www.whitehalllane.com or check out their blog here: www.whitehalllane.com/blog

Quick Info Open to Public: Yes Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: 11-5:45pm Phone: 800 963-9454 Address: 1563 St. Helena Hwy, St. Helena Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

William Cole Winery is a very prestigious 300-350 case single vineyard single vintage producing winery. Even by Napa standards that is small and they are also the smallest producing winery in Napa Valley to have their own bottling line on site. This has its unique advantages as they are not tied into the schedules of having a mobile bottling truck come to the property. The owner, vineyard manager and winemaker is Bill Ballentine who has a long family history in Napa Valley dating back over 100 years; he used to be the winemaker at nearby St. Clement Winery. The name of the winery comes from his own name and his son Cole. William Cole handcrafts a single vintage Cabernet Sauvignon each year from their estate property called Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Claire (named after his daughter). Everyone has their own taste in Cabernet's and their Cabernet fits our palate like a glove. Our visit here was early on in our project and after tasting this wine this was the first winery where we said "yes, we get it"! We are always looking for the "it" Cabernet Sauvignon wine during our Napa wine odyssey and this is definitely one of those. A local winemaker we met with previously describes "it" as having that special richness combined with elegance. The 2004 vintage is one of the nicer Cabernet's that we've tried in Napa Valley. It is structured so that nothing dominates the wine, rather the acid, tannins and alcohol are extremely well managed and the overall structure is smooth and velvety. The nose is full of aromas of cherry and touches of vanilla from the French oak which lead to rich fruit flavors with a touch of mocha. Everything contained within this wine is representative of a very high quality Napa Cabernet. 2.5 acres are planted on site and extreme micro management goes into the making of this wine - there are even micro terroir (soil) regions within the small property and each of these regions is treated as its own unit during harvest, fermentation, aging and the actual winemaking. The estate is gorgeous - it is located right next to Highway 29 North and you can drive by their location day in and day out and never know its there due to its hidden location behind the trees and bushes as well as the non signage. It is one of the first stone wineries built in St. Helena (dates from 1876) and originally opened as the JC Weinberger Winery. Starting in 1883 Hannah Weinberger became one of Napa Valley's first woman winemakers. This was because her husband became a victim of St. Helena's first murder after a disgruntled employee tricked him with a fake telegram and then shot him in broad daylight at the train platform. Yes, in our experience every ghost winery we have visited in the valley has some interesting history! The current winery dates from 1997 which is over 90 years between vintages. Over the last few years a huge renovation and restoration was conducted and now the winery and grounds look sparkling. Parts of a more modern restoration and addition date from 1938 and include the pool and gardens behind the actual winery...definitely the oldest pool at a Napa winery! Also of note is William Cole typically places within the top barrel lots at the annual charity Napa Valley Auction. A visit here is for very extremely serious wine enthusiasts as all visits and tours are private and the estate is opened for your party only. Visit: www.williamcolevineyards.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 963-6100 Address: N/A Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

William Harrison produced its first vintage in 1993 although the winery building dates from 1985. For a number of years William Harrison sold all their grapes to other valley wineries. The land was totally vacant when the family purchased it and as a result they planted everything by hand. In addition, they also built the winery building mostly by hand themselves. The actual winery looks like a cross between an old western building (think of the old TV show Bonanza!) and some of the typical two-story California Mission buildings. The rock used for the first floor walls of this building was actually quarried from the nearby hills across from the vineyard just east of the Silverado Trail. A wooden boardwalk is located in front of the building - a bocce ball court is on site and picnic tables are also available for use. Weather permitting, an outside tasting is recommended - you are surrounded by vineyards and it is a low key relaxed experience. With only several employees this is truly a small winery! As a side note, they are the only wine tasting room that we have visited in Napa Valley that contains a bear - its a stuffed Alaskan Brown. Bill's family traces their winemaking back to the early 1500's in Italy. They made wine in California since 1902 at various locations including Healdsburg in neighboring Sonoma County. Bill's grandfather, Antonio was actually the first California winemaker to have a wine-making degree. Bill grew up with the wine industry in his blood. Besides his family contributions to the California wine industry, his personal claim to fame is he started the first ever mobile bottling service for wineries. Drive to the wineries, bottle using all your own equipment and then leave. The cost of an individual bottling line is almost prohibitive for small wineries and he saw a niche that wasn't yet filled. However, it wasn't easy proving this service to the banks as he applied for 39 loans before one bank actually gave him a loan on his 40th attempt! As they say the rest is history - as today mobile bottling is huge business in the wine industry. His original bottling business spawned many new similar businesses and today many of the owners based in Napa and Sonoma & beyond received their training under Bill. During our most recent visit, we saw him out front appropriately working on a mobile bottling truck. He still runs his original bottling company called Estate Bottling. We started our tasting with a 2007 Carneros Chardonnay. This only undergoes partial malolactic fermentation and is not overly creamy. The fruit is well represented both in the bouquet and on the palate. Honeysuckle, dried apricot and minerality nuances are found in the aromas with pear, vanilla and just a touch of toasted oak towards the finish. The 2005 Simpatico is their "Right Bank Bordeaux" version using estate grown Rutherford fruit. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. This is very drinkable now. The 2005 Estate Cabernet Franc has some minty herbal qualities in the bouquet with touches of mocha followed by a palate layered in flavor - raspberry and some earthiness. The 2003 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has a nose full of black currant with notes of cedar and mocha - the palate is juicy with black cherry and black currant. The Rutherford Red is their high end wine and is always made in fairly small quantities; the varietal percentages vary from year to year. The 2005 is a very dark wine and contains a healthy amount of Petite Verdot which contributes to the color, richness and structure of this full bodied wine. Their total production rarely exceeds 1500 cases which makes them one of the smaller wineries in the Napa Valley to have their own tasting room. As a result of their low production the wines often sell out relatively quickly. A number of red varietals are planted on the 9 acres surrounding the winery. These are used for their high end estate red wines - and in addition they source fruit from cooler growing regions for their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Note: the winery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visit: www.whwines.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Yes Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: 11-5pm Phone: 963-8762 Address: 1443 Silverado Trail, St. Helena (corner of Zinfandel Lane) Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

William Hill Estate dates from 1978 and has been sold a number of times since 1992, most recently in 2007 to Gallo Family. This winery is located about a mile from the Silverado Country Club in a beautiful location perched on top of a hill surrounded by hills and vineyard land. As a result, the Silverado Country Club often refers guests to their tasting room. This is home to their estate vineyard which is fairly large at 142 acres. This is where some of their Bordeaux varieties are planted predominately to Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller blocks including Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. William Hill is just south of the Stags Leap district, minutes from Silverado Trail. The tasting room backs right up to their main cellar storage room - which is huge. Be sure to ask to step inside for a better view. Look through the windows and you will see hundreds of cases piled up in this large room. Gallo is a huge wine company, but compared to other wine companies of even smaller size, they are first rate. We have been to several of their tasting rooms (not only in Napa) and in our experience, their staff are always top notch, informed, professional and helpful. The estate tasting is "the" tasting here! It typically covers 7 or 8 of their varietals. A very unique feature of this winery is all their red wines are blended with small quantities of Petite Verdot. The reason for this is it helps create a Bordeaux style blend and brings color, tannins and a nice backbone to the wines. We started out with a 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay with production at 28,000 cases and compared this to the same vintage Reserve Chardonnay - only 3,500 cases produced. The first chardonnay mentioned is a great outdoor wine; its rather light, crisp and slightly creamy with melon and citrus aromas. The Reserve on the other hand is all about the fruit - this is a rich Chardonnay that will easily stand up to foods higher in fat, salt or oil content. The 2003 Merlot has the most fruit driven aromatics of any of their wines we tried. Think of a cross between a Pinot Noir and a younger Cab with concentrated cherry flavors. William Hill makes two radically different Cabernet Sauvignons. The 2004 vintage is one of the lighter bodied Cabs we have tried during our Napa wine odyssey. Despite being made from fruit from similar vineyards this wine is radically different. The keywords for this wine are "more, more more"! More aging, more French Oak, more tannins, more body. Some wines are also only available for purchase or tasting at the winery; these are their "Winery Exclusives" which are produced in extremely small quantities and typically include varietal wines often used for blending in other wines, i.e., Cab Franc, Malbec & Petite Verdot. The 2003 Petite Verdot deserves special mention. It is a big wine, bigger than a number of Cabs we have sampled. PV is a grape that produces wine extremely dark in color; this version bursts into your mouth with a variety of flavors - cherry, plum with some subtle notes of vanilla. If the weather permits special outdoor tastings can be arranged by appointment. Check their website for any tasting specials. Visit: www.williamhillestate.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: 10-5pm Phone: 265-3024 Address: 1761 Atlas Peak Road, Napa Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Wineries of Napa Valley is a wine collective located in the Napa Town Center in downtown Napa. This center contains many shops serviced by open air walkways - restaurants, clothing, jewelry and more. It is located right next to the usually busy Chamber of Commerce tour center, which by the way is a *great* place to pick up winery tips, winery, restaurant, hotel and tour guides and recommendations for local travel. There are always several "concierges" at the main counter willing to answer your questions. Lots of free printed information! Wineries of Napa Valley offers wine from five Napa Valley wineries: Goosecross Cellars, Burgess Cellars, Girard Winery, the amazing late harvest and botrytis wines of R.H. Harrison Family Cellars and Ilona Howell Mountain Winery (the owner of this label is a long time employee of Burgess Cellars). The nice thing about Wineries of Napa Valley is their vintners tend to stay with them for a long time unlike some of the other collectives that tend to rotate wineries. Often area collectives are for wineries that do not have tasting rooms but three of the wineries represented here all have additional tasting rooms. When busy there is a second bar that can be opened. We enjoyed Ilona's blend of Howell Mountain grown blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc - it is a very easy to drink smooth wine with rich concentrated flavors. The Orange County Register wrote about her wine here. Note that despite some of the wineries having their own tasting rooms, some of the wines poured here often differ slightly than what each winery offers in their own tasting room. For example we sampled Goosecross's Sparkling Rose here while it was not served at their tasting room. Finish off your tasting with one of the R.H. Harrison Family Cellars botryisized Sauvignon Blancs. This is truly "desert" and there are maybe 2 or 3 wineries in the Napa Valley focusing all their efforts on this type of wine. There is a very informal relaxed and friendly atmosphere here. Be sure to take the "wine quiz" usually sitting on one of their tables. This location is a Wi-Fi spot for Internet access and outdoor seating is also available in their small fenced off patio section. Always wondered about grape varietals - there is a very nice framed graphic listing a plethora of the world's wine grapes on the wall to your right as you walk in. Ask about the Downtown Napa Wine Tasting Card - multiple downtown area tasting rooms participate in this - for a one-time fee you can visit & taste at each of their tasting rooms. You can buy this card in each of the participating tasting rooms. Visit: www.napavintages.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Yes Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: Depends on season, consult their website Phone: 253-9450 Address: 1285 Napa Town Center, Napa Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Wing Canyon Vineyard (run by a husband wife team) is located about 4 miles in on the very windy Mt. Veeder Road off of the Oakville Grade which starts just west of the town of Oakville. This is a very small and remote winery which sits at the bottom of a very steep hillside vineyard. The winery is at the owners residence and a visit here is for very serious wine enthusiasts only as they are not open to the public. This is the only Napa area winery we've visited to date that is accessible entirely via a dirt 4wd road. A visit to this winery is about as far from the "normal" preconceived notions of the "Napa wine experience" that you can have! Don't even think about taking a 2-wheel drive car down their road - over the years a number of cars have gotten stuck. Wing Canyon sits in the heart of the Mayacamas Mountain range. Their first vintage was in 1991 and their typical production is merely 800 to 1000 cases. The small winery building is built of rammed earth which is a mix of earth and concrete which has been compressed. The walls are 2 feet thick and as a result moderate the temperature inside very well throughout the year. Wing Canyon specializes in two types of wine; a Cabernet Sauvignon and their Lolita Merlot. All their wines are hand crafted - because of their small production they can pick when they want and may only pick certain parts of their vineyard at a time. This is important in making high quality wines and ensures that only the best, ripest fruit is used. Most of their acreage is dry farmed and they use 100% sustainable farming practices. The fruit in this part of the Napa area is extremely concentrated and they typically harvest between 1 and 1.5 tons which is quite low compared to valley grown fruit. This type of fruit produces very concentrated flavors in the actual wines. We tried their 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon; it definitely has some cherry flavors as well as spices including cinnamon. It is a very nice wine. Besides the two reds sometimes they have a very small amount of Chardonnay available but often production is so small on this varietal that they are unable to produce it commercially. One of the owners hand paints a different label for each vintage. Visit: www.wingcanyonvineyard.com

Quick Info Open to Public: No Appointments: Yes Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 265-8798 Address: 3100 Mt. Veeder Road, Napa Winery Photos Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Witt Estate is one of the few wineries in the Napa Valley just concentrating on Merlot. We have mentioned the Napa Allure several times and we can mention it again here. The owners who are originally from Ohio have always enjoyed drinking wine and would take annual vacations to the Napa Valley. They decided to move to the area and try their hand at winemaking. Little did they know how much work this entails! They purchased their property in 1997 on the west side of the valley just south of St. Helena in the shadow of Mt. St. Jean which is located in the Mayacamas mountain range. The land was site of an old dairy farm and was not planted to vineyards. After soil tests determined that Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot would grow well, being red wine drinkers they chose the Merlot. They produce about 200 cases each year of this wine and it was made at the nearby Tres Sabores Winery. 2002 was their first vintage. They do grow a slight amount of Cabernet Sauvignon on the property and this is sometimes used for blending purposes in the Merlot. They have named their wine Repartie which is a play on their last name and means "witty conversation". We tried their 2004 version. This dark purple wine undergoes extended maceration which leaves the skins in contact with the wine for longer periods of time thus ensuring strong color and flavors. This wine tastes of ripe plums characteristic of Merlots with slight hints of Vanilla from the type of oak it was aged in. It is slightly smoky on the finish with well-managed tannins. We also tried their 2003 vintage. This is a nice soft wine with a similar nose to the 2004 - the finish is quite smooth. You can find their wine locally at the Rutherford Grill, Dean & Deluca and sometimes at the Oakville Grocery. They also produce limited quantities of olive oil and lavender from the property. Visit: www.wittestate.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Private Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 967-8046 Address: St. Helena Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

Wolf Family Vineyards was established in 1997 and includes about 30 acres of which 7 are planted in vines. They are located against the Mayacamas mountains just a touch south west of the town of St. Helena. The small winery on site was built in the 1980's and the surrounding acreage was already planted at the time of purchase. At the time the vineyards were mostly planted in Merlot which perhaps wasn't the most ideal varietal suited to the soil and location. After purchase the vineyards were replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon and smaller percentages of other varietals. Cabernet Franc was left as it was originally planted in the 1970's and fruit from these vines are still producing today. In fact their first vintage in 1997 was from their Cabernet Franc vineyard. As of press time, they focus on three wines, a Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and a predominately Cabernet Franc. Wolf also runs a second label called Phaedrus, or in Greek means Wolf. We tried their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc which like all their wines, is produced in limited quantities. Their total typical production runs about 1000 cases. This wine is a blend of two Sauvignon Blanc clones Musque clone and the Sauvignon Blanc clone 1. It has a luscious round mouth feel with lots of fruit up front and more of a herbal minty flavor about mid palate. It is always a delight to find a nice Cabernet Franc and Wolf's vintage 06 does not disappoint. A small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon is blended to provide depth to the finish. These Cab Franc vines are very vigorous which as a result produces berries that are quite small resulting in concentrated flavors. This is a smooth very elegant wine with soft tannins. Also try their 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon. You can find their wines in local wine shops and they are distributed in select markets in NY, Chicago and California. Visit: www.wolffamilyvineyards.com

Quick Info Open to Public: Private Appointments: No Regular Tours: No Hours: N/A Phone: 963-6042 Address: N/A Winery Website | View Comments (0) | | Add Comment |

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