Trespass Vineyards is an interesting name for a winery but it starts to make sense when you visit their actual vineyard location. It is a 5 acre vineyard accessed by driving through residential St. Helena streets. You enter the vineyard and tasting location via a dirt road at the end of a residential street. This used to be just bare ground and nearby neighbors would walk their dogs or "trespass" over the property before the current ownership. If the weather is not suitable your tasting may also be at an alternative location, Trespass's actual wine is made by the well-known Venge winemaking family. All tastings are private for serious wine enthusiasts and are always conducted with the owner. The vineyard location is really a great spot to taste wine as you are entirely surrounded by vineyards in all directions; it is one of the few valley locations where you sit outside and drink wine among the actual vineyards. You might even see rabbits running through the vines! Production is extremely small and is concentrated on two wines, their Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
If you are looking for a good Cabernet Franc come here; this varietal is slowly becoming more popular as a stand alone wine in the Napa area. Their 2005 version is full bodied, smooth and has a delightful nose with aromas of berries and black cherry. It does not have the "vegetal" characteristics you sometimes find with a different style of Cabernet Franc. In addition it is interesting to note some background characteristics of this wine. The orientation of the vineyard rows and trellising expose some of the fruit to the morning sun while some receives lots of warm afternoon sunlight. As a result parts of each row were fermented and aged separately until their final blend. It is 100% Cabernet Franc. Want to make your own Cabernet Franc blend? A neat feature of this winery in regards to this wine is they offer what is called a "Blending Box" in which they give you the "morning" and "afternoon" wines along with a pipette and graduated cylinder. Pretty cool eh?! Their 2004 Cabernet is a silky earthy wine with lots of fruit on the palate. It drinks well now but you can also age it for many years. Visit: www.trespassvineyard.com
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Open to Public: No
Appointments: Yes
Regular Tours: No
Hours: Call
Phone: 963-0804
Address: 1859 Hillview Place, St. Helena
 Winery Photos Winery Website
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