Casa Piena, or in Italian, "Full House" is a Napa Valley producer founded by Carmen Policy and his wife Gail. Those who follow American football will know about Carmen's lengthy involvement with the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s and 1990s including serving as the team's president and CEO. During his time in their front office the team was extremely … [Read more...]

Ackerman Family Vineyards is owned and operated by Lauren Ackerman, long time resident of Napa Valley. Lauren previously lived and worked in the Silicon Valley and has enjoyed fine wine for many years. She has a degree in public relations and business from USC and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She worked in high tech for many years (marketing and brand … [Read more...]

Cimarossa Vineyards (pronounced Chimarossa), is one of Howell Mountain's more secluded estate vineyards. The vineyards are located at an elevation of between 1600 to about 2100 feet and respective of the owner Dr. Dino Dina's Italian heritage as well as the terroir, Cimarrosa is an Italian word that means "red hilltop". This is an appropriate name as much of … [Read more...]

Darms Lane Winery as the name indicates is located on Darms Lane in between Yountville and the city of Napa (just west of Highway 29). While perhaps not recognizing this name one may be familiar with Crichton Hall. Darms Lane was previously Crichton Hall; Crichton Hall's own vintage history dates back to 1983 making this among the older active producers in … [Read more...]

Bravante Vineyards was founded and is owned by George and Nancy Bravante. The winery is located in the Howell Mountain sub appellation high in the hills above the main part of the Napa Valley - about a 15-minute drive from the town of St. Helena. The Bravante's have a long history developing real estate and agricultural land; they own and operate Bravante … [Read more...]

Merus Wines has risen from humble "garagiste' beginnings to their current more auspicious historic winery home. This brand was started by Erika Gottl and Mark Herold (both met while teens in Orange County, CA) in their garage on Patchett Street in a downtown neighborhood in the city of Napa. Incidentally the name Patchett was named after John Patchett, the … [Read more...]

Black Sears is located on the slopes of Howell Mountain with the highest vines located at 2,396 feet in elevation; other parts of their property not planted to grapevines, are higher than this. We have walked this part of this vineyard with the folks from Black Sears. GPS coordinates of the highest vines: 38.60157, -122.47217. For reference, the highest … [Read more...]