Amizetta Estate Winery

Amizetta Estate Winery is located in the eastern hills of St. Helena about a 18-20 minute drive from the Silverado Trail. Look for their blue winery sign at the junction of Silverado Trail and Howell Mountain Road. All visits are by appointment. Allow ample time to drive here as the roads are narrow and speed limits low. This secluded winery sits at an elevation of about 1,000 feet and has great views of Lake Hennessy in the distance which you can also see from Greenfield road leading down from their property.

Founder Spencer Clark (who we originally met with years ago during our first visit to the property) is a guitarist for a Rock and Roll Band called Noble Rott which tours nationally. He continues to perform, compose and record music. The winery is named for Spencer’s wife Amizetta. Her signature is used for the front label on their wine bottles. Some of Amizetta’s early custmers may remembers an image of three wild turkeys on their bottles; in homage to when wild turkeys would start visiting the vineyard later in the season it meant the grapes were starting to become ripe.

Both Spencer and Amizetta were raised by farming families in Texas, Amizetta in Beaumont on a cattle ranch and Spencer rice farming. They originally met in Houston. As with music, Spencer was attracted to the artistic side of wine making – especially the renewal that happens seasonally in the vineyards and the chance to craft something new every year based on that particular vintage.

Spencer and Amizetta purchased the property in 1979 and soon planted vines on these steep hillsides (sometimes referred to as the Hennessey Hills), in part from cuttings taken from Napa Valley’s well-known Martha’s Vineyard. Following the vineyard development, a small winery was constructed with the advice of family friend, Justin Meyer (founder of Silver Oak Cellars). Their first commercial release was in 1983 and the winery was built in 1985. The family still owns the original tall wooden vat that Spencer produced their first wines in.

There is a saying that Spencer told us which might be attributed to vintner Georges De LaTour, the founder of Beaulieu Vineyard. The three ways you could lose money were: through slow horses, fast women and owning hillside vineyards. We don’t know about the first two but how times have changed in regard to hillside vineyards. They are still costly to manage and maintain and are among some of Napa Valley’s most expensive vineyard real estate – but there is a reason for that. And it’s not only about the views, although that certainly doesn’t hurt.

As with other hillside vineyards in Napa Valley, production is extremely small – usually in the range of 1 to 2 tons per acre. The berries are small in size and very concentrated in flavor due to the higher skin to juice ratio. Despite the already low natural vigor of the vines, vineyard workers usually cut off some of the grape clusters during summer with the idea to bring only the ripest most concentrated grapes into the winery. A cut out of the hillside directly behind the winery provides the perfect visual of the “soils” these grapes struggle to grow in. There is very little topsoil and beneath this are layers and layers of rock.

Today Spencer and Amizetta continue to be involved with the winery they founded but have since stepped back from the day-to-day operations. Sometimes it can be difficult to pass a winery from the first generation to the second generation, especially so when you have four children. Fortunately, three of their children have formal education in wine making and are actively involved in the business. And this is an ideal arrangement as each brother handles each of what are probably the three most important duties in running a winery: vineyard management, wine making and business operations. Edward is the winemaker; Perry is the President and Spencer Jr. manages the vineyards. Their daughter, Amizetta is a doctor in Napa Valley. Perry and Edward are also partners in what was William Harrison Vineyard & Winery in Rutherford, since renamed to William Perry Winery.

When you stand in the vineyards and look at the view in front of you, it can be difficult to believe you are close to the heart of Napa Valley. It takes a bit of effort to spot homes in the distance as in all directions this landscape is either vineyards, Lake Hennessy or the natural forested slopes. Views from their terrace are a bottle it up type of beauty, especially on an early summer’s late afternoon day with gentle breezes bringing up cooler air from Lake Hennessy. It’s a place one doesn’t want to leave, especially when combined with good friends, family and a bottle of Amizetta Cab in your glass.

The location and slope of these vineyards are extremely rare in contemporary Napa Valley; their property predates Napa County’s soil erosion ordinances which require an Erosion Control Plan permit for general earth moving activities on slopes over 5%. Incredibly some of their vineyards are on slopes approaching 70 degrees. These vineyards are heavily terraced with steep slopes and a significant distance between each of the rows.

When the family was determining what vehicle to purchase to be able to drive some of these slopes; they were presented with an “extreme” golf cart – the seller indicated quite a few wineries had already purchased this vehicle for their steep slopes and he didn’t’ anticipate any problem with this vehicle tackling Amizetta’s vineyards. They test drove it on the steepest slopes of the property and the seller said something like, “I’ve never seen this happen before” after the vehicle proved inadequate for climbing the vineyards. They purchased the vehicle anyways and now sometimes use it to show visitors the “safer” vineyard terrain.

The property is 40 acres of which 30 acres are planted to vine. Because of the terracing, the number of vines here are much less per square acre than what it would be on similar sized land on the valley floor.

A small 800 square foot cave was tunneled into the hillside near the winery building; during the drilling the original plans for the cave called for a U shape. But they soon hit an abundance of water while drilling and were unable to drill further. As Spencer told us during our first visit “when you want water for a winery you cannot find it – when you don’t it is everywhere!”. Until 2023, this was one of the smaller wine caves in Napa Valley.

In 2023 drilling began to expand the cave significantly; a much larger portion was tunneled into the mountain resulting in a cave which is now approximately 6,500 square feet. Its first year fully open was in late 2026; the original wooden tank is now the centerpiece when visitors enter the main portal.

This larger cave has a wine club members lounge with a patio area in front of one of the entrance portals (opened in 2027), taking full advantage of the vistas, even more panoramic than the main patio area. The cave spoils were used in part to create a new wide driveway with access to a much-needed parking lot. As a result, parking was finally relocated from the front of Spencer and Amizetta’s home. Additional improvements to the winery were made including, renovating the tank room, building out a commercial kitchen and adding another tasting room.

The winery is also small, but it does not need to be large. Custom square 8-ton tanks line one side of the wall. The tops of these tanks can be removed during fermentation as they prefer to break up the cap manually. This is done instead of pumping over juice which as the cap dries out; they noticed over time the pump overs seemed to only moisten part of the cap. Each tank is equipped with its own pump – this saves quite a bit of manual labor and allows them to remotely control each tank at any time for pump overs via an app. They have found that because they can set pump overs to run anytime shorter pump overs set to run more often work best for their wine making style.

For a number of years, Amizetta sold some of their grapes to other local wineries and their own production was much lower. However today they use all the grapes for themselves. While the majority of their wine used to be distributed – today the wines are sold direct to consumer. The exception to this is a second wine bottled under the Tradition label. At the time of this review, total production of Amizetta wines are about 5,000 to 6,000 cases annually.

A visit and tasting here are certainly one of the more intimate experiences you will have in Napa Valley, not to mention combining excellent wine with the remarkable views. If the weather does not allow for a tasting outside tastings will be hosted in a small tasting room connecting directly to the winery. Note the elevated wooden counter inside the tasting room; with the three brothers ranging in height from 6’3″ to 6’8″, their elevated bar seating might make one feel a bit short.

We first met with Spencer at the property in June of 2007; this was most likely the very first small Napa Valley producer we met with for the Napa Wine Project. It has been exciting to witness all the changes to the property including major upgrades and improvements, the evolution of the brand, additional vineyard property purchases and the development of Tradition – a second brand. The efforts of the second generation have taken the operations to the next level – built upon vision, strong ties to the land, perseverance and timing.

Amizetta also owns a 100+ acre property next to Wragg Canyon Road in eastern Napa County. Wragg Canyon Road leads to the Pleasure Cove Marina along one of Lake Berryessa’s shorelines. This part of Napa Valley is lightly planted to vineyards and the only winery located in this part of the county is M.S. Torun. We first visited this vineyard site in mid 2023 and observed soils were already being prepared for future plantings of vines. By mid 2026 rootstock had been planted in preparation for eventually grafting on the variety.

Select Wines
Whites
Chardonnay
The 2024 Amizetta Chardonnay, Napa Valley is medium gold in color; the bouquet smells like the variety – it also smells like a California expression of the variety, but without being overtly oaky or buttery. The nose smells scents of baked apple, pineapple, and a combination of both stone and tropical fruits. These include apricot, yellow peach, ripe papaya and Alphonso mango. And vanilla. This wine tastes like pineapple, golden delicious apples, vanilla, yellow nectarine, lychee and pineapple guava. A fan favorite, this wine is balanced nicely between flavor, weight and a bright acidity. The palate offers a creamy and rounded texture but never feels heavy. Finishes bright with lasting movement from the lively acidity. This wine is best consumed on a warm afternoon at Amizetta, out on the patio overlooking Lake Hennessy on a clear day. Or somewhere else, reflecting on memories of enjoying this wine while at Amizetta.

Amizetta Reds
Merlot
The 2021 Amizetta Merlot Napa Valley is deep ruby and nearly opaque; this is a ripe and fruit forward expression of the variety, both on the bouquet and the palate. It reveals scents of blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, mulberry and dark plum. Additional layers are more subtle and include notes of pink peppercorn, dark cocoa powder and mocha. The minerally and earthy palate is generous with flavors somewhat mirroring that of the bouquet. These include blackberry, dark plum, dark cherry, mulberry and dried sage. A full on throttle Merlot, its texture brings way more to the table than most California wines from this variety. And that is it’s hillside pedigree primarily showing through. The finish lingers with both grape and oak tannins sporting a chewy and firm grip, a dusty character and a grainy and gritty texture with a savory and woodsy spice accompanying.

Red Blend
The 2023 Amizetta Complexity Red Blend is a blend of 48% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; this wine is dark fruited, ripe and generous with aromas of baked plums, blackberry jam, cherry pie, and dark mulberry. The Cabernet Franc is expressive on the bouquet including a layer of red chili spice, a light shishito pepper and dried tobacco leaf. As the wine opens further, it offers a note of dark cocoa powder. Easy drinking in terms of its texture, but layered with flavors, this wine tastes like Satsuma plum, boysenberry, dark cherry, dark licorice, blueberry and licorice. And finishing notes of dried herbs. The fruit is on the ripe end of the spectrum, but is tempered somewhat by the balanced acidity. The tannins are integrated seamlessly, evenly distributed across the palate with a well-tumbled and lightly dusty texture.

The 2020 Amizetta Complexity Red Blend is composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. This wine was aged in 70% new French oak barrels for 18 months. It is deep ruby in color; the bouquet offers sweetly fruited aromatics of strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry along with a note of red vine licorice. The darker fruits including a blackberry jam note reminded us of our days in college in San Luis Obispo when we used to sometimes frequent the Apple Farm Restaurant for breakfast, enjoying their delicious blackberry jam. The palate doesn’t show quite as ripe as the bouquet. It offers flavors of strawberry, cherry, blueberry and pomegranate, accompanied by gentle fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. And at Amizetta they sometimes refer to this bottling as the, “dad’s wine” a reference to the style of wine that Spencer favors.

Reserve Blend
The 2020 Amizetta Reserve Blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet Franc, 14% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. The wine is deep ruby in color and opaque in the glass; the appealing aromatics are focused on its fruit rather than any overt influences from its barrel aging. It offers scents of blackberry, blueberry and a cigar spice. The palate somewhat mirrors the bouquet and includes flavors of blackberry and boysenberry. This wine displays both a simultaneous freshness and a ripeness (two words we don’t often join together to describe bottlings). The grainy tannins linger with notes of dried herbs, pepper and an overall savory character. This wine was aged for 22 months in new French oak barrels.

Cabernet Franc
The 2023 Amizetta Cabernet Franc is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet is a California expression of the variety, with its ripe fruit but there is also the inherent spice and savory notes that Cabernet Sauvignon is known for. This wine smells like Santa Rosa plum, dark cherry, boysenberry, and blackberry, accompanied by a hint of red chili spice, some floral notes including rose petals and lilacs. As the wine opens further, it offers scents of dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Generous and ripe on the palate, this wine is both red and dark fruited with flavors of dark raspberry, cherry pie, boysenberry jam, blackberry, Satsuma plum and finishing notes of espresso and dark chocolate. The tannins are crowd friendly, with a well tumbled and lightly gravelly and dusty texture. The acidity is balanced.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
The 2020 Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley was aged for 20 Months in 80% New French oak barrels. Its color is deep ruby with a purplish/garnet rim; the bouquet offers aromas of violets and raspberry. There is a perceived sweetness of fruit on the palate and is richly layered including flavors of raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry and mulberry. The tannins are gravelly, grainy and pixelated in their textural feel. A drying character persists for some time on the finish including a note of dried tobacco leaf, vanilla and clove.

The 2013 Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is inky dark in the glass, with a deeply saturated core that hints at its concentration. The nose is powerful and expressive, offering ripe blackberry layered with mocha and a slightly bitter dark chocolate. With a bit of air, subtle undertones of espresso and toasted oak begin to emerge. This wine is driven by fruit—rich, generous, and fully ripe—yet it maintains a sense of balance that keeps it from feeling overly heavy. Its flavors echo the dark fruit and chocolate tones found on the nose. For a wine of its youth, the tannins are already very well integrated, providing structure without harshness. Finishes with a note of cocoa powder and an impression of lingering dark fruit. Approachable and polished, this wine already shows nicely in its youth.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve
The 2023 Amizetta Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal; it is deep ruby and nearly opaque. This wine smells like red chili spice, shishito pepper, dried tobacco leaf, cherry, dark raspberry, boysenberry and Santa Rosa plum. The fruit becomes more expressive as the wine opens. Loaded with ripe fruit, this wine tastes like dark raspberry, strawberry, red cherry, red plums, and boysenberry. More red fruited than dark. Finishes with a note of dried tobacco leaf and smoked cedar. The tannins are broadly distributed with a gravelly and integrated textured. Their grip is dusty with a lightly drying character in tandem with the fruit with neither pulling away from each other.

The 2020 Amizetta Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal and spent 22 months aging in 100% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby with an immediately expressive and diverse bouquet including scents of cherry, raspberry, chocolate, brown sugar, licorice and a nuance of mint. The one word which immediately came to mind as we were tasting this bottling was, decadent. The palate offers flavors of plum, cherry, blackberry and chocolate. The finish shows some notes of toasted oak but is in no way, ‘oaky’ and lingers with some darker baking spices including tobacco, cloves and cardamom. If you sit with this wine for some time on the palate before swallowing, the texture shows as somewhat creamy. The tannins are gravelly with plenty of textural long lasting grip. Richly flavored. Well-worth seeking out.

The 2013 Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve. In the glass, this wine is deeply colored with a pronounced viscosity, slowly coating the sides of the glass. The bouquet is bright, offering a lively aromatic lift alongside a noticeable sweetness of fruit. Notes of cassis and ripe dark berries are complemented by vanilla from the oak, and as the wine opens, there are layers of coffee and mocha. On the palate, the wine is equally commanding—dense, layered, and full-bodied, with a core of concentrated fruit. The tannins are prominent, showing a somewhat chalky and chewy texture that provides firm structure and aging potential without feeling overly aggressive. They anchor a remarkably long finish, where flavors of dark fruit persist alongside notes of toasted caramel and subtle oak spice. The grapes were sourced from the highest vineyard on the property at approximately 1,100 feet in elevation and aged entirely in new French oak. Only 192 cases were produced.

Marienne
The 2023 Amizetta Marienne is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, made with clones 336 and 337. This wine was aged for 34 months in 100% new French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby with an amaranthine hue and opaque; the bouquet smells contemporary, yet there are inherent varietal characteristics at play. Its aromatics are of dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry, cherry, rose petals, dark chocolate and old cedar box. Also a note of dried sage. Loaded with flavors, generous in that regard, and ripe, this wine tastes like dark plum, blackberry, boysenberry, dark raspberry and blueberry. It hits all the pleasure points on the palate. The acidity is bright, and is especially noticeable on the finish. The tannins take a step up here from their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – persisting on the extended finish with a dusty, grainy and drying grip that outpaces the fruit on the finish. Lets try this beauty again in the next 8-10 years. Perhaps it will be peaking by that age.

Tradition
Perry and Eddie are partners in Tradition, a Napa Valley based wine brand which sources grapes from various parts of the valley including their own 10-acre property in Carneros off of Duhig Road. In late 2023 the county approved plans to for the Clarke’s to build a winery on this property. We will keep a close eye on their progress and will visit once the winery is fully open.

The 2021 Tradition Chardonnay, Carneros is medium gold; the bouquet offers a medium intensity revealing both citrusy aromas and as the wine evolves, also some tropical influences. These include initial notes of grapefruit and lemon along with pear, honeysuckle, passion fruit and pineapple. Deeper layers include vanilla, caramel and a light note of warm butter. We are tasting this in fall, but its scents are absolutely making us crave spring. This wine’s texture is noteworthy; its creamy with a gentle and supple softness which runs the length of the palate. A refreshing but not overly bright acidity complements flavors of honeydew melon, hazelnut, and light popcorn butter. There is enough varietal character here to recognize this as a Chardonnay but it never even comes close to crossing the line into oaky and buttery territory. 14.9% alcohol.

Other wines bottled under Tradition including a red blend and a Malbec.

For more information, to schedule a visit, to purchase current release wines or to join their wine club, visit: www.amizetta.com

Exterior

Wine Cave

Original Cave

Other properties/businesses
Amizetta previously owned the gorgeous Amizetta One Oak Farmhouse located at 7433 St. Helena Highway about two miles north of Yountville and within an easy walk of next door Cosentino Winery and Mustard’s Grill. This house was built in 1981 by real estate agent Jean Brunswick and operated as the Oleander House, a bed & breakfast. The Clark family sold this property in August 2025.

The family still owns the much smaller Amizetta 1132 Church Street property in St. Helena featuring four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It is within a short walk of Main Street in downtown St. Helena and its resulting shops, restaurants and tasting rooms. This house is appropriately planted with a tiny front yard vineyard and is located several houses away from the first house that iconic winemaker Mike Grgich purchased after he moved to Napa Valley.

The Amizetta Vineyard Cottage is located on the estate property.

Amizetta Farmhouse, Yountville + Church Street Home, St. Helena

Napa Yard
Perry Clark is one of several partners in Napa Yard, located in downtown Napa across from The Culinary Institute of America at Copia. Napa Yard opened in 2022 and was originally scheduled to operate for 3 years. This space features an outdoor restaurant among gardens (showcasing a farm to table approach). It also features a beer garden, a wine tasting area and is used as an event space accommodating groups up to 2,000 people. The space usually hosts live music on the weekends. The shipping containers on site have been repurposed and we were originally in the parking lot at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The overflow Oxbow Public Market parking lot is located directly next to Napa Yard.

Wheel Life Napa is a roller skating rink located at Napa Yard. The rink offers a recreational activity that is quite different from the wine tasting experiences for which Napa Valley is best known. The rink provides an opportunity for friends, families and couples to enjoy time together, whether they are experienced skaters or stepping onto roller skates for the first time.

The rink is operated by local entrepreneur Rick Gudgel, whose original holiday pop-up at the Napa Valley Expo helped establish interest in a more permanent location. Wheel Life’s Napa Yard facility features open-air skating, music, skate rentals, private parties and group events.

William Perry Winery
In July 2025 it was announced that William Harrison Vineyards & Winery sold to several local families already in the wine industry. The current owners are Perry and Christine Clark, Perry’s brother Edward Clark and Jennifer Wagner Clark of Amizetta Estate Winery, and Laura Long and Ted Bystrowski of David Arthur Winery. The winery was renamed to William Perry, combining the Clark brother’s first two names. We have an extensive profile of William Perry Winery, also on this website.