Kelly Family Vineyards was founded by long time Napa Valley resident, Gene Kelly and his wife Paula, with the purchase of a 10 acre property in 2012 on the west side of the Oak Knoll District. Gene’s grandfather immigrated through Ellis Island from Moravia in the eastern portion of the Czech Republic with just fifty dollars to his name. His family owned a mill, and as the second‑oldest son he was not expected to inherit it, so he chose a different path. Once in the U.S. he washed dishes and paid people to teach him English; later he went to work for International Harvester. Over time he saved enough money to buy 160 acres of land in Minnesota, which he cleared and farmed himself.
Gene’s family has lived in the Napa Valley since 1968 when his father Harold Kelly became tired of commuting into New York City and convinced the company he was working for, Equitable Life Assurance Society to transfer him someplace more rural. Once he arrived in Napa, he persuaded the company to start lending money to physical wineries (they had never done that before) and began working with a number of now well-known local wineries early on in their development.
The Kelly family have long been champions of preserving the natural environment in Napa Valley and its agricultural heritage. Harold was a founding member of Napa Landmarks in 1974. He was a Napa city-councilman and founding president and trustee of the Napa County Land Trust. Since their founding in 1976 the trust has protected 57,000 acres of land from development – equivalent to about 10% of Napa County. In addition to his work with the Napa County Land Trust he played an important role in establishing a number of parks in the city of Napa including Alston Park – a short drive from Kelly Family Vineyards. Harold passed at age 91 in 2022.
In addition to overseeing his vineyard, Gene is also the founder and president of American Gunsmithing Institute, based in the city of Napa. The institute was founded in 1993 to teach firearms design, function, repair and customization. As in wine, comparable to the WSET program, this institute offers various levels of instruction including levels one and two and other classes for certification. And Gene was instrumental in starting the Gunsmithing Club of America, a networking group for other gunsmiths and gun enthusiasts. Members have access to an always growing library and collection of gunsmithing materials and resources.
In 2012, Gene wrote a book titled, College Myth: Why You Shouldn’t Go to College If You Want to Be Successful.
The site of their vineyard is along Dry Creek Road, a part of Oak Knoll that few visitors to the valley get to see; it is tucked away just north and west of the city of Napa slightly outside of the city’s residential neighborhoods. While there are many growers here as well as some producers, there are few physical wineries, and none open to the public.
The property is almost at the base of the southern Mayacamas mountains and as a result there is a slight slope to part of the vineyard. Because of their proximity to the hills, they see a fair amount of wildlife including wild turkeys, rabbits, fox and coyote, including the one we saw wander casually through the vineyard in broad daylight during our visit.
The well-drained soils are fairly uniform throughout the vineyard and the vines are generally dry farmed. A nearby canyon often brings a cooling breeze through the property – especially in the late afternoons on warm days. While a neighbor has a wind fan they do not and have yet to be affected by frost. A small reservoir on site may also help moderate temperatures. The first vines on the property were planted in the mid 1990s. Prior to the Kelly family ownership, grapes were being sold to Duckhorn Vineyards. Since the Kelly’s acquired the property, they have sold grapes to Stags’ Leap Winery and Alpha Omega.
Crop Care Associates, one of the larger agricultural technology consulting firms referred Gene to his vineyard manager Mario Bazan. Mario founded a vineyard management company in 1997 and has tended to these vines since Gene purchased the property. It was Mario who then introduced him to long time winemaker Bob Pepi who made the Kelly Family wines through the 2025 vintage.
Gene purchased the property with the intent to sell grapes to area wineries. He was not planning to make wine commercially. However, this changed with a phone call. Some years prior Gene had encouraged his son to take a “gap year” off between high school and college. This turned out to be a 12-month father-son trip built around some of Gene’s business ventures. He was overseas when Mario called him and said they needed to decide what to do with the fruit that was still hanging on the vines during a period of unusually rainy conditions during fall. Pepi encouraged them to hold off on harvesting for a few more days to give the grapes a chance to dry out. Ultimately he was right. They had not yet lined up any buyers for the grapes at this point; Gene calls his first wine his “gap year decision” – as he made a spur of the moment decision to use the grapes for themselves. Still it was a challenging harvest with less than 50% of the total crop harvested.
Restaurants and foodies take note. These wines are balanced and always food friendly, expressed as lighter in style with bright acidity and lower alcohol. They complement food rather than detract like a much ‘riper’ wine often does. And the wines are available at an extremely reasonable price to quality ratio. This style of wine expresses an old world sensibility in new world Napa Valley. While they are approachable and ready to drink upon release (extended bottle aging is part of their philosophy prior to release), they also have the cadence for long term aging and the older vintages have the history to prove it.
Select Wines
Reds
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2023 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; darker fruited, and savory, the bouquet is a union of both fruit and supporting barrel influences. This wine smells like blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, dried rose petals, a light note of old cedar box, pipe tobacco. And as it opens a hint of cocoa powder and milk chocolate. Savory across the palate, this wine tastes dark fruited, including flavors of Satsuma plum, dark mulberry, blackberry, boysenberry and dark cherry. Finishes with a spicy character, including of tobacco, dried herbs including sage and bay leaf. The tannins are gravelly with a firm but never edgy grip, persisting with a long lasting dusty character, that outruns the fruit on the finish. There is a lovely tension here between acidity, flavor and texture. Already balanced at this age, it will remain balanced for years to come. 14.1% ABV.
The 2021 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the nose smells elegant including a union of both floral and fruit. There are scents of rose petals, violets, blackberry, dark plums, boysenberry, dark chocolate, cloves and a hint of cardamom. On the palate, this wine is bright with a balanced but lively thread of acidity running its length. And spicy. And savory. Layered in terms of both fruit and texture, this wine tastes like plum, blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry and dark mulberry. The tannins kick up their grip another notch compared to previous bottlings, a product of this exceptional vintage in Napa Valley. They firmly tug at the palate, with a persistent lightly chewy and dusty grip that far outpaces the fruit on the finish. This wine has plenty of life ahead of it at 5 years post vintage and you will do good to hold back some bottles for the 5, 10, and 15 year window. 13.8% ABV.
The 2020 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the nose is focused on its fruit with the oak as a complementary element. Both red and dark fruited, this wine smells like Santa Rosa plum, red cherry, red licorice and a plethora of berry fruits including boysenberry, raspberry and mulberry. And a light kiss of darker baking spice deeper in the aromatics. This wine tastes like raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry, currant and red cherry. Bright, balanced and food friendly. this is a lighter and texturally soft expression of the variety. The tannins are perfectly rounded spheres, broadly and gently dispersed across the palate with a persistent dusty character felt primarily on the front of the palate. No smoke taint either on the bouquet or the palate – the vineyard’s more southerly location certainly helpful in that regard during this particularly challenging vintage in Napa Valley. Its ABV is 13.8%.
The 2019 Kelly Family Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in color; aromatically bursting out of the gate like a horse charging ahead of the rest of a pack in a race, the bouquet immediately offers notes of blackberry, black cherry, dark plum and boysenberry along with cassis, dark chocolate, clove and a hint of lavender. More red fruited than dark across the palate, there are flavors of Persian mulberry, plum, cherry, currant and cranberry. Youthful, fresh, bright and balanced, this medium bodied Cabernet Sauvignon overdelivers for the price. The tannins sport a lightly grainy feel and parallel the fruit on the finish without either dropping off too soon. Lingers red fruited with mouth watering tartness from the lively but balanced acidity. We tasted this wine 5 years post vintage; his has another good 10 to 15 years ahead of it still with the proper aging. Pair with venison and a BBQ; if you aren’t a hunter seek out this meat at a specialty store as you won’t find venison at your average supermarket. This wine was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels.
The 2014 Kelly Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in color and nearly opaque; at 12 years post vintage the bouquet still smells youthful with both red fruit and spicy characteristics. This wine offers a light ferrous/minerally quality with additional scents of raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry, dried rose petals and some light herbal notes. A lighter expression of the variety, this wine shows primarily red fruits including of raspberry, cherry, plum and finishes with a light note of dried tobacco leaf, and an additional accompanying spicy/earthy character which persists beyond the fruit on the finish. The tannins are rounded, resolved and easy going at this age, they persist with a light gravelly character. Very approachable but with the fruit and acidity to continue aging nicely for another number of years. And very much a food wine. This wine was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels. 14.4% ABV.
The 2013 Kelly Family Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon (estate vineyard) and 22% Merlot (non estate vineyard). We tasted this soon after release and then again 13 years post vintage. At the time of our most recent tasting the color shows some bottle maturation evolving more towards garnet rather than ruby. It would be easy to pick this out of a lineup of Napa fruit‑forward wines precisely because it is not that style; instead, the nose shows plenty of Cabernet Sauvignon varietal spice but without every crossing into the territory of pyrazines. It offers aromas of cigar smoke, leather warmed in the sun, tobacco and a dry dust component, smoke sage, dried bay leaf, crushed peppercorn with the fruit sitting just behind these savory notes. Like the bouquet, the palate is also spicy, with flavors of smoked sage, dried bay leaf, dried tobacco leaf, crushed peppercorn, Satsuma plum, and Persian mulberry. It finishes with well‑textured tannins that carry a gravelly, grainy, persistent character, and it remains fresh and bright thanks to a lively thread of acidity. The finish is mouth‑watering, with a lingering plum and red cherry tartness. This wine still has plenty of life ahead of it and has aged remarkably well.
Merlot
The 2012 Kelly Family is 100% Merlot. This wine is medium to deep garnet in color at 14 years post‑vintage. It initially shows some bottle bouquet, but given time in the glass the fruit becomes more expressive. The nose is very much transitioning to tertiary at this age having lost some of its youthful fruit and floral characteristics, with sweetly fruited aromatics that blend fruit and barrel notes including sweet pipe tobacco, old cedar box, baked plums, cherry liqueur, stewed fruits, and dried cherries. Across the palate the wine shows plenty of acidity, yet with bottle maturation the fruit remains bright and red‑fruited; it tastes of red cherry, currant, and tart plum. The bouquet shows more age than the palate. It finishes fresh and mouthwatering, with tannins that are still very present; their gravelly, grainy, and long‑lasting texture outpaces the fruit on the finish.
In 2013 the decision was made to graft over the Merlot grapes on the property to Cabernet Sauvignon. This was done in April. Remarkably these grafts were so vigorous that they set a surprising amount of grapes later that same year. The long growing season this year was certainly favorable. These grapes were harvested Thanksgiving weekend which in 2013 was during the final few days of November. This is among the latest Napa pick date in recent memory for a non-dessert wine.
Whites
Sauvignon Blanc
Looking for a white wine to accompany their estate Cabernet Sauvignon Gene turned to his winemaker pepi who located a source of Sauvignon Blanc in Calistoga. Kelly Family Vineyards does produce Sauvignon Blanc every year.
The 2013 Kelly Family Sauvignon Blanc is blended with 5% Semillon and shows straw yellow in the glass, with tropical notes on the bouquet including honeysuckle, apricot and subtle mineral tones that carry through to the palate. This warm‑weather‑grown Sauvignon Blanc is not green or grassy; it avoids the overt herbaceous characteristics that this varietal often shows, leaning instead into fruit and minerality. The mouthfeel is rounded and soft, offering a gentle, creamy ease, and the wine is very easy to drink, with enough freshness to keep each sip lively rather than heavy.
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In 2014 a devastating earthquake hit south Napa causing significant damage to both the city of Napa as well as numerous barrels of wine that were being stored in the southern part of the valley. Kelly Family Vineyards stored their wine in a warehouse in Carneros – the day of the earthquake they moved their wine to Napa Wine Company which was far enough up valley to be much less affected by the earthquake. They lost none of their wine in the earthquake- but Gene recalls the location where they moved it from had significant damage. Talk about great timing. The Kelly Family wines continue to be produced at Napa Wine Company.
The catchy looking label incorporates the Kelly family Irish crest with visual images representing two disciplines that Gene is passionate about, gunsmithing and grapes.
The wines used to be available for tasting at what was the tasting room at Napa Wine Company. But that space has since transitioned into the exclusive home for Ghost Block estate wines. The Kelly Family wines are available at a few select restaurants in Napa Valley, at Wine Country Connection in Yountville and through their mailing list – which incidentally has been quite popular with those who share the same last name.
Kelly Family Vineyards is a member of the Oak Knoll District Association, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and the Napa Valley Vintners. Total production each year is typically less than 100 cases. For more information, and or to purchase wines, visit: www.kellyfamilyvineyards.com
Been researching my family heritage and found your family, not sure how we are related but know we are.
I would think all Kelly’s are related if one goes back far enough 🙂