Salvestrin Winery is located off of Main Street (Highway 29) slightly south of the town of St. Helena, bordering the historic St. Helena High School grounds. Remarkably, this site has been farmed to grape vines since 1859, one of the oldest continuously farmed vineyard sites in all of Napa Valley. None of these original vines are still living. Even during … [Read more...]

Foley Johnson Winery is one of six Napa Valley based wineries or brands owned by Foley Family Wines & Spirits: the others are Cosentino (the brand not the former winery) Kuleto Estate, Merus Winery, Silverado Vineyards and Swanson Vineyards. Previously, Foley Wine Estates operated Foley Food & Wine Society tasting room, which was located at the Vista Collina … [Read more...]

School House Vineyard is a very small producer of entirely estate wines nestled in the hills of the Spring Mountain District a few hundred yards in on Langtry Road at about 1500 feet. A visit here is for the serious wine enthusiast - their vineyard is truly off the beaten path, there is no tasting room or 'Napa fancy'; all tastings are conducted next to the … [Read more...]

Schramsberg Vineyards is one of Napa Valley's venerable must visit properties; the winery is located just south of Calistoga off of Highway 128 on the west side of the road at Peterson Drive and Schramsberg Road. This is the Diamond Mountain sub appellation. The long steep wooded driveway is narrow and windy so drive carefully and slowly (during harvest … [Read more...]

Schweiger Vineyards harvested their first grapes in 1984 and produced their first commercial vintage in 1994. The original 8 acres was purchased by Fred Schweiger in 1961 when he was 19 years of age. Fred paid $250 per acre for land that was completely forested; of all the vintners we have met in Napa Valley, perhaps Fred was the youngest to ever purchase … [Read more...]

Sequoia Grove Winery was founded in 1978 by James and Barbara Allen when tbe couple purchased the existing property; the winery on site was bonded in 1980 the same year as their first vintage. James' brother Steve managed the 24-acre vineyard at the time. James, a former language interpreter for the United Nations in Europe was also a founding partner of … [Read more...]

Shafer Vineyards was family owned from 1978 (their inaugural vintage) through early 2022. John Shafer (died 2019) founded Shafer Vineyards after a long corporate career in the book publishing industry, based in Chicago. In 1972 at the age of 48 he and his family moved to Napa Valley and purchased 209 acres which at the time had 30 acres of vines dating from … [Read more...]

Sherwin Family Vineyards is a boutique winery located in the forests of the Spring Mountain district. A tiny road leads north from the Napa / Sonoma County line at the top of Spring Mountain, the 'summit' road as we refer to this ribbon of pavement. This road passes select driveways to Spring Mountain wineries before forking several times; the road is well … [Read more...]

Shypoke Vineyards is located just south of Calistoga. The winery was founded by Peter Heitz (today he and his wife Meg oversee all the operations of this tiny brand). The Heitz family (no relation to Joseph Heitz, founder of Heitz Cellars) dates back to 1896 in Napa Valley which makes his family among the older winemaking families in Napa Valley. Peter … [Read more...]