Quilt & Co opened in downtown Napa in August 2020. This tasting room features a number of brands from 5th generation winemaker Joseph (Joe) Wagner’s Copper Cane & Provisions collection. It is located in a beautiful 100+ year old brick building on Main Street across from Veterans Memorial Park and the Napa River. Previous tenants were Velo Pizzeria, Rio Poco and Pilar restaurants. With a significant retrofit already in place, the building survived the 2014 Napa earthquake nicely intact while nearby buildings were not so fortunate, including the building that houses Carpe Diem restaurant.
Wagner’s Quilt brand focuses on Napa Valley grown fruit and the ‘co’ includes brands made from grapes typically grown outside of the Napa Valley including neighboring Sonoma County, central California and even Oregon. Grapes are purchased from a diversity of vineyards. Wagner owns a sizable piece of property in the hills near Calistoga Ranch in the northern part of Napa Valley. The name ‘quilt’ came from time spent on this property – looking down at the patchwork of vineyards which become even more quilt-like after harvest when leaves begin to turn various shades of yellows and reds.
The number of brands available for tasting and or purchase that tasting room has varied over the years; labels that used to be available here are no longer available. Additional labels represented at the tasting room at the time of our latest update to this profile include Belle Glos; the Clark & Telephone Vineyard Pinot Noir in 2001 was this brand’s first commercial wine. The brand Belle Glos was named in honor of Joe’s grandmother and is easily identified by the unique red wax shape on the outside of the bottle.
Böen means ‘to farm’ in Norwegian in honor of his own heritage and is wine from California grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Steorra is a sparkling wine, Braille Forte, an Albarino and a Zinfandel, Threadcount, meant to be easy drinking wines from coastal California sites, and Key to BLDG 1, wines that feature keys embedded in various color wax labels. These wines are primarily from central coastal California vineyards.
In 2025 Wagner sold Elouan (meaning ‘good light’ featuring Oregon Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) to the Stoller Wine Group.
Wagner’s parent company, Copper Cane & Provisions was not named for golden looking canes on grapevines seen under smoky brownish skies at sunset during the ubiquitous fire season, but rather is an homage to the eventual lignification of the canes that come towards the end of the growing season indicating that harvest is coming soon. The green canes turn a color that is almost copper like. For reference, we wrote this paragraph during the middle of the horrific 2020 fire season in Napa Valley.
And since we are writing about canes, lets clarify the difference between canes and cordon/spur pruning in grapevines. Cane pruned involves cutting back most of the previous year’s growth. On trellis systems one-year old shoots are laid down along the wires and these will produce the grapes the following year. Cordon pruning involves permanent ‘arms’ (woody material) which produce short spurs (2–3 buds) which are left to mature each winter after pruning. These spurs then produce grapes the following year.
Copper colored canes
All the Quilt wines and associated brands are made at the large winemaking facility at Beaulieu Vineyard in Rutherford, located about 30 minutes north of the tasting salon.
Joe Wagner grew up at Caymus Vineyards where wine is his blood so to speak. During a visit to Quilt & Co, we were told a story as related by one of their hosts. At age 19 Joe moved to Mexico to spend some time working at table grape vineyards and practicing his Spanish. For 16 years the Wagner’s operated a table grape growing operation in the Sonora Desert in Mexico. They ultimately developed and managed 400 acres of these grapes – shipping the grapes back to the states for consumption. Eventually they sold this business.
After his time on the farm, Joe returned to California sporting dreadlocks. Along with a childhood friend, (who works for Copper Cane) they presented a cigar box to his father Chuck who probably initially thought his son was returning from Mexico with some special cigars to present to his supportive father. He opened it and instead of cigars, discovered the gift inside was Joe’s dreadlocks – symbolizing Joe’s return and his seriousness about working in the family business.
In 2006 Joe began crafting wines that would become bottled under Meiomi – he eventually sold this popular Pinot Noir focused brand to Constellation Brands in 2015.
Quilt & Co Tasting Room
Perhaps the most common question visitors ask the hosts when visiting this space is ‘who are those statues of’? The two highly visible ‘golden’ statues perched on the exterior of the adjacent building high above the street level are of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. These statues were unveiled in 2015 across the street at Veterans Memorial Park and were created by local artist Mario Chiodo. Chavez died in 1993 but Huerta attended the unveiling of the statues.
Wagner owns both the buildings housing Quilt & Co and the former AVOW Restaurant along with a third building which as of our latest update to this review houses the non-Wagner owned La Taberna (Spanish style small plates menu).
A number of tasting selections are offered including Napa Valley only wines, a flight that includes wines from a diversity of sites primarily from outside of the Napa Valley, higher end wines and even a library tasting featuring some older vintages. Using the kitchen on their second floor, a number of small bites and pairings a prepared by their chefs.
And in an extremely unique experience, especially for a tasting room located in downtown Napa, Quilt & Co offers a Personal Waxing Experience. Guests will custom dip a bottle of wine which is yours to bring home; this offering also includes a tasting of select current release wines.
Select Wines
Key to BLDG 1
The 2021 Key to BLDG 1 Grenache, Glasir Holt Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara County is garnet and medium ruby in color; the bouquet smells like confectionary candy, sweet and ripe with aromas of caramel, strawberry jam, raspberry compote, a plum liqueur, cinnamon stick, a ferrous or rusty character, milk chocolate and cocoa powder. Fully ripe, luscious and fruit filling, the palate tastes like red cherry, raspberry, strawberry and red plums. Some of the freshness associated with the Santa Rita Hills perhaps has been displaced by ripeness, yet still, the acidity is bright and provides an overall lift to the palate. Easy drinking and crowd friendly, this wine wants to be front and center of attention, both in terms of its visual bottle appeal but also in regards to its palate profile. The finish lingers red fruited with a gravelly and lightly grainy and dusty texture fully coating the palate.
Quilt
The 2022 Quilt Napa Valley Chardonnay is deep yellow in color; the forward and not shy bouquet offers aromas of melting butter, ripe banana, almost overripe pineapple, cantaloupe at the peak of ripeness, baked Golden delicious apple, mango, apricot, dried peaches, caramel, butterscotch and toasted oak. On the palate there are ripe flavors of dried apricots, yellow peaches, mango, papaya and pineapple accompanied by sweet notes of caramel, creme Brule, popcorn butter, butterscotch and toasted oak. Its texture is rounded and creamy supporting a flavor filled and drawn out finish, lingering with a touch of warmth in the back of the palate. The list alcohol is 14.6%. Pair this with a summer pool party and require everyone to dress in yellow, just for the fun of it. The silkscreen printed label offers a patchwork quilt of aerial views of vineyards.
The 2023 Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is deep ruby, opaque and sports purplish tinges on the rim; sweetly fruited and ripe the bouquet is generous in terms of both fruit and barrel influences. Its scents are of dark raspberry, boysenberry, cherry and red plums with additional layering of pencil shavings, toast, toasted oak, smoked cedar and pipe tobacco. And as the wine evolves, it opens to a thread of espresso. This wine tastes like dark raspberry, boysenberry, red cherry and red plums accompanied by a balanced acidity. The influence of oak on the bouquet is even more evident on the palate. The mostly oak tannins fully layer the palate and sit there for some time with a soft, rounded and lightly dusty presence, but with plenty of oaky and woodsy characteristics along with a layer of cocoa powder and roasted hazelnut, lingering until well after the fruit has dissipated on the finish.
The 2018 Napa Valley Quilt, The Fabric of the Land is a blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah – all harvested from Napa Valley grown vineyards. Dark purple in the glass with pretty aromatics including licorice, mocha, dried herbs, cedar and blueberry. Somewhat savory. Lovely texture across the palate – a balanced and a riper showing built around a richness of flavor. A crowd pleaser if you will. The tannins are drier and darker in nature but are not course. Juicy and mouthwatering – this is a fun wine to enjoy by itself.
The 2017 Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from 7 vineyard sites within the Napa Valley and is 100% varietal. Dark ruby in color offers a sweetness of ripe fruit driven aromatics including fresh boysenberry and blackberry and hints of Graham cracker. Dark fruit shows across the palate including black cherry. The tannins are noticeable but are not coarse. Lingers with some darker spices, and toasted cedar. Mouthwatering.
The 2015 Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a very limited barrel selection of the finest lots from that years’ vintage. 100% varietal. Dark ruby in color with purple tinges on the rim. Offers a ripe sweet bouquet with notes of blackberry jam and various dessert spices including nutmeg and vanilla. Loads of fruit on the palate including boysenberry and blackberry. Lots to love here for drinkers of hedonistic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The tannins are chewy and somewhat gravely in their textural feel.
Belle Glos
The 2022 Belle Glos Glasir Holt Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills Santa Barbara County is deep golden in color; quick to play, the bouquet offers scents of buttered popcorn, pineapple, vanilla, melon, and as it evolves further it reveals vanilla, honeysuckle and creme Brule and a healthy dosage of butterscotch. On the palate there are flavors of Golden delicious apple, popcorn, mandarin orange, apricot and dried peaches. One can tell this Wine is from California but it doesn’t cross into the territory of being overly buttery or oaky. The palate lingers with a supporting brightness of acidity and a light sensation of stevia. Recommended drinking window, outdoors at Quilt & Co with a refreshing breeze blowing in off of the Napa river, and the park in front of you filled with throngs of people, listening to live music on a Friday evening.
The 2011 Belle Glos Taylor Lane Pinot Noir is medium ruby in color offers very pretty aromatics including raspberry, cherry cola, white pepper, an Asian 5-star spice and subtle hints of cocoa powder – found more towards the back of the bouquet. Offers dark fruit across the palate, with a slight roundness in texture complemented by good acidity. Plenty of spices on the palate and on the finish – including peppercorn, dried tobacco leaf and a fruit spice union similar to the skin of a ripe Santa Rosa plum. The tannins are present but are fairly well integrated. In what is a very unusual offering – in 2019 Joe released his 2011 vintage of Taylor Lane Pinot Noir bottled entirely in magnums. The source for these grapes is from a vineyard that he helped plant when he was 15 years old in the Sonoma Coast appellation in neighboring Sonoma County.
And this wine is named for the street that passes by the vineyard – in the rolling hills west of the tiny community of Occidental.
The 2019 Belle Glos Oeil de Perdrix Pinot Noir Blanc was made from grapes grown specifically for rosé. In French, Oeil de Perdrix means ‘eye of the partridge’ – incidentally this is the same name that Sacramento wine retailer, Darrell Corti suggested to Bob Trinchero to use for what would become Sutter Home’s famous White Zinfandel (but the TTB ultimately rejected that name indicating it needed an English translation as the name). Its name originated in Champagne to describe a rosé wine and is now used to describe wines produced in Switzerland. Salmon pinkish color in the glass, offers aromas of strawberry and watermelon. Noteworthy is the wine’s saline type viscosity – showing weight with its rounded and creamy texture. A lingering brightness on the finish with flavors of cranberry, red cherry and currant – not tart, simply refreshing.
The 2016 Belle Glos Eulenlock Napa Valley Pinot Noir (was sourced from Carneros). Medium to darker ruby in color shows appealing aromatics including fig, brown chocolate, mocha and various dessert spices. Rounded with an appealing mouth feel and a noticeable density or weight on the palate- this wine has plenty of layers. Lingers with loads of fruit, well integrated fine-grained tannins and notes of old cedar and cardamom. And Eulenlock means ‘owl hole’ in German – referring to the owl boxes located at this vineyard.
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Quilt & Co moved from their next door space to their current space in early 2024; this is the very historical Fagiani/Thomas building – named after Nicola Fagiani who bought the building in 1945 and opened a bar, operating as Fagiani’s bar from 1945 until 1974. Walking inside one feels like walking back into time, to another era where if the walls could talk – one’s ears would burn with their stories. However, not all stories relating to this building have been lost; Co-owner Anita Andrews (Fagiani’s daughter) was murdered inside in 1974 – the weapon: a simple screwdriver. The bar remained completely shuttered until 2010, a year after a DNA match finally identified a suspect in the murder – he was convicted in 2011. Enthusiasts of some of Napa Valley’s more gruesome murder stories, including this one, can reference the book Murder and Mayhem in the Napa Valley by Napa resident, Todd L. Shulman.
Prior to Quilt & Co, previous tenants included AVOW and two short lived restaurants, The Thomas and Ninebark. Finally, ‘life’ has returned to this space and with other nearby restaurants, this block, the “Joe Wagner block” has become an important destination for both visitors and tourists to downtown Napa (easily within walking distance from the Napa River, numerous tasting rooms and various shops).
Quilt & Co features three floors including two well stocked bars on both the first and second stories and dining space on all three floors (the kitchen is located on the second floor). There is a large elk head mounted to the wall that Joe bagged during a hunting trip. And fairly unique for the city of Napa is a small semi-outdoor seating area on the rooftop third floor offering stellar views overlooking parts of the downtown skyline and Napa River. While the rooftop bar on top of the Archer Hotel is also front and center when discussing the city of Napa rooftop spaces, one must not forget this space. And decorating the walls of the third story are ceramic masks in the likeness of Wagner’s first 25 employees at Copper Cane along with himself and his children.
Perhaps the closest retail outlet to where the Quilt Wines are produced is at La Luna Market in Rutherford, one of our favorite in the moment to-go places for Mexican food including their wholesome burritos. For more information about Wagner’s wines, visit www.coppercane.com and about Quilt & Co, visit: www.quiltandco.com
Quilt & Co
Always nice to pop by here when we are in Napa. Hoping to meet up with Joe at some point.