Crane Family Vineyards

Crane Family Vineyards was founded by Peter and his wife Frances (who we originally met with); their son Tom Chiarella eventually took over the business from his father. Their family name is not to be confused with Michael Chiarello the chef who has his own Napa wine and coincidentally whose family also comes from the same small region of southern Italy as Peter’s family. Peter’s dream of owning a vineyard in Napa was born from a very interesting source. While commuting to work in New York City he read a feature in the Wall Street Journal about a select few top businessmen who had other avocations aside from their primary businesses. Reading about each of these individuals Peter saw that these were actually all business failures save for one. He read about a successful individual who owned vineyards in Napa as a second business and was successfully selling his fruit to other vintners and making a profit.

This was a business that highly appealed to Peter. Unlike many who come to the Napa Valley in retirement with no plans to become either growers or vintners but then get sucked in by the “Napa allure”, Peter came to Napa during his career – because of his company’s decision to locate their offices from Santa Monica. He worked for the Doctors Company; the largest physician owned medical malpractice insurer in the country. At one point the relocation team identified 17 different communities and on Peter’s strong recommendation, finally settled on Napa for its agricultural feel and dedication to preserving some of the surrounding land…and of course, no big freeways!

Once he moved here permanently, he started looking for a home and existing vineyard on the same property. Not finding this he started from scratch with land that previously was only used for grazing and never planted to grapes. Seeking out the advice of a top vineyard manager and soils expert (who had spent time in Pomerol, Bordeaux), he gave Peter suggestions for possible varieties. In addition, neighbors owned several existing vineyards. After determining this slice of the Napa Valley is prime for both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, he planted these varieties along with just a small amount of Cabernet Franc. Crane Family Vineyards owns 7 acres in the shadow of Mt. Veeder on the west side of Napa Valley on the southern spine of the Mayacamas mountains.

The vineyard is located merely 3 miles from downtown Napa in the city limits but on its far western edge. It is named Don Raffaele which in Italian translates to “Sir Ralph” in honor of Peter’s father Ralph who was knighted by Italy after World War I. Tom remembers Ralph visited his namesake vineyard from New York in 1992 when he was 94 years of age. He recalls that Ralph spent two weeks working among the vines. These vines are now more then 30 years old – while their production has dropped in about half over the decades, they are still producing excellent fruit.

Not to be overshadowed, Crane is Frances’s maiden name (she died in 2011) and since the vineyard was already named after Peter’s side of the family it only made sense to name the wine in her honor. Peter’s father used to own a restaurant in Coney Island on Surf Ave called The Napoli Seven Seas – Tom remembers spending time here when he was a child. This restaurant unfortunately has since been demolished, making way for a parking lot.

When Peter was ready to retire from overseeing their tiny brand in 2011 – he told Tom something like, “I’m ready to shut down the winemaking and go back to just selling grapes”. Tom thought about this for a week and then realized his father’s decision didn’t feel right – so he offered to take over the operations. And it was through the wine business that he met his wife – she fondly remembered a tasting at Cliff Lede Vineyards; on a return visit to the valley, she wanted to return to Cliff Lede but had forgotten its name, only remembering that it started with a C and that she thought there might have been a bird in their name (mistaken). She asked around and was told by someone to check out Crane Family Vineyard. So, she simply showed up at Crane Family Vineyard with a friend one day – and immediately hit it off with Tom. They married on the property in 2020.

Once the vineyards came into production Peter started selling the fruit to several premium wineries. Fortuitously he met Jack Cakebread of Cakebread Cellars through a mutual friend and Jack convinced him to join his board of directors – as Peter says, his “retirement” became one year, then two and finally resulted in his becoming the President of Cakebread Cellars for 5 years. During his time there, he started thinking about making his own wine and a statement from Jack Cakebread set him in motion. Jack said, “if you really want to know wine you have to make it yourself.”

Peter then held back some of his own grapes and built a very cute small, bonded winery in 1995 just above his vineyard which he now refers to as “the house that Jack built”. While the rest of their wines are made at Laird Family Estate (since 1999 and are one of Laird’s oldest custom crush clients), the dessert wine is made on property in the winery. This is certainly one of the smaller standalone bonded wineries in Napa. Surrounded by the caliber of Cakebread’s winemaking team and other area vintners Peter had plenty of initial help as a first-time winemaker. Wining top honors in almost every competition they placed wine in – as well as taking home a double gold medal in the 1998 California State fair (only 13 double golds out of 2700 entries) – indicated that they were onto something special. The first commercial vintage of Crane Family Vineyard was in 1999.

Peter is both understated yet passionate and committed when it comes to his wine. He and his son in law were the winemakers for the first few years before eventually hiring Alison Doran who continues to make the wines today. Alison trained with famed vintner and soils expert André Tchelistcheff and today consults for several small brands. Her family owns and operates Hoot Owl Creek Vineyards in Healdsburg of neighboring Sonoma County.

As of our latest update to this review, they focus on several different wines all of which are from their property with the exception of their Chardonnay and a dessert wine which has been sourced from various vineyard sites within the Napa Valley. They produce several wines; Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, a Cuvee named in tribute to Alison and their Zinfandel dessert wine.

Select Wines
Whites
Chardonnay
When Peter’s son Tom took over the operations in 2011, he decided to introduce a non-estate white wine, a Chardonnay which has been produced every year since. It is typically only a two-barrel production.

The 2023 Crane Family Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay is medium gold in color. This is a more delicate and restrained aromatic expression in comparison to many contemporary Napa Valley wines from this variety. Less Dolly Parton and perhaps closer associated with Audrey Hepburn. On the nose, there are scents of vanilla wafer, caramel, butterscotch, baked pineapple, peaches in light syrup, yellow mango, ripe papaya, and a light note of toasted hazelnut. Not oaky. Not buttery. And like the bouquet, the palate shows a sense of restraint, focusing on the fruit without showcasing cellar influences. It tastes like ripe pineapple, apricot, mango, papaya, vanilla, butterscotch, golden apples and a very light spice note and dryness that lingers in tandem with the fruit on the finish. Its texture is rounded and shows a light creamy mouth feel. The malolactic fermentation has softened the acidity.

The 2022 Crane Family Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay is medium to deep gold in color; the bouquet is stone fruited with aromas of yellow nectarine, yellow peaches and apricot with lighter tropical fruit influences including of pineapple, yellow mango and a light note of vanilla. The bouquet is somewhat shy and needs time to fully open. This is a balanced bottling that embraces restraint rather than overt richness or intensity. The palate offers a pleasing and balanced tension between flavor, acidity and texture. This wine tastes like melon, golden apples, nectarine, pineapple. The mouth feel is supple, with a creamy texture, but never feels heavy. Features a balanced acidity. This bottling is in no way oaky (fermented in neutral barrel) or buttery. This went through full malolactic fermentation. Easy drinking and food friendly.

The 2018 Crane Family Chardonnay Reserve was sourced from a Doug Hill managed vineyard within the Napa Valley. Medium to deep gold in the glass; immediately offers appealing aromatics including honeysuckle, mango, vanilla, citrus, warm popcorn butter and other sweet dessert spices. Noticeable on the palate is the wine’s supple texture – rounded and creamy it glides over the palate smoothly. Shows flavors of mandarin orange, papaya and pineapple – there is plenty of richness on this beauty. There is a pleasing interplay on the finish between fruit sweetness and acid. This Chardonnay went through 30% malolactic fermentation and was fermented in neutral French oak barrels. This wine is a clearly a standout and is one of the best Napa Valley Chardonnay’s we have tried from this particular vintage.

Reds
Alison’s Cuvée
The first vintage of this was in 2005.

The 2019 Alison’s Cuvée is primarily a Merlot based blend (70% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec). This wine is medium ruby with some brickish hues already showing at 7 years post vintage. There is some bottle bouquet; sweetly fruited with a lighter sweeter influence from the barrel, this wine smells like raspberry jam, blackberry and baked plums along with dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Ripe on the palate as expected from its aromatics, but this is tempered and balanced out by the bright acidity. Easy drinking and fun, this wine tastes like blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, Santa Rosa plum and raspberry. Finishes red fruited. Balanced, with a softer texture, the tannins are seamlessly integrated with a rounded and finely-woven lightly dusty kiss.

Merlot
The 2021 Crane Family Reserve Merlot is 90% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. This wine is medium to deep ruby in color; red fruited and restrained, this wine smells like dark raspberry, red plums, boysenberry and red cherry. The oak is comfortably seated in the back seat and lends a quiet voice to the fruit with a hint of cocoa powder. Like the bouquet, the palate is also red fruited with flavors of red cherry, currant, not fully ripe boysenberry, red plums, and blueberries. The addition of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot has certainly added to its textural profile. Finishes with lightly gravelly textured tannins, evenly distributed across the palate with a gravelly and persistence dusty character. This bottling is built on the back of juicy acidity that keeps this wine fresh and bright – and very age worthy.

The 2016 Crane Family Reserve Merlot (with 3% Cabernet Sauvignon) is deep ruby in color; offers an elegant bouquet with aromas of red cherry, tobacco spice, some sage and dried herb notes, cassis and a noticeable mocha/espresso nuance. Has an appealing savory quality to aromatics. Offers a complexity of flavors across the palate including red cherry, red currant and plum with darker spices and earthiness on the finish. Bright, fresh and lively, this wine is anchored by its vibrant acidity. Lingers with firm, still very tightly woven and drying tannins along with old cedar box and dried tobacco leaf. Good grip but not heavy. A great food wine that clearly has plenty of age ahead of it.

The 2005 Crane Family Vineyards Alison’s Cuvée Reserve Merlot, blended with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah, is an elegant, deeply colored wine, showing a very dark crimson hue in the glass. The nose is immediately expressive, offering spicy pepper and tobacco alongside ripe cherry and a hint of mocha and dried herbs. On the palate, the wine is beautifully structured, with enough backbone and concentration to suggest further development, yet it retains the balance and approachability to be thoroughly enjoyable now. The mouthfeel is smooth and silky, with the supple Merlot fruit framed by fine-grained tannins and a gentle touch of oak. As their premium wine, it leaves a long, refined finish that invites another sip, and it is a bottling we would love to revisit in another 8–10 years to see how the complexity and secondary nuances have evolved with additional bottle age.

The 2005 Crane Family Vineyards Estate Merlot is medium to deep ruby in color. The bouquet offers rich and expansive aromas (especially for a Merlot), with an inviting spiciness layered over cassis, dried red berries and a subtle graphite-like minerality that becomes more apparent as the wine opens in the glass. A row of bay trees grows near one part of the vineyard, and it is easy to imagine that this setting contributes a gentle bay leaf and savory note that carries from the nose onto the palate, adding a distinctive sense of place. On the palate, pleasing dark cherry notes take center stage, supported by hints of plum and a light touch of mocha and cocoa powder on the finish. The tannins are present yet fully integrated, giving the wine a polished, seamless texture and allowing the spice, fruit and mineral tones to linger gracefully after each sip.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2018 Crane Family Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby; at 8 years post vintage, the bouquet is still very much fresh and lifted from its red fruits, offering scents of blackberry, boysenberry, Santa Rosa plum, blueberry and red cherry, with a light note of tobacco spice. Still very much youthful at this age, the palate is loaded with plenty of movement from the lively vein of acidity. This wine tastes like raspberry, currant, not fully ripe boysenberry, Persian mulberry, cranberry, tart cherry and red plums. And a finishing light tobacco spice. The gravelly textured tannins sport a light grainy texture but never dominate. Both fruit, acidity and texture parallel each other on the mouth watering finish. This wine is aging very well at this age, and perhaps hasn’t even quite yet reached its peak.

The 2017 Crane Family Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and completely opaque; the bouquet is a bowlful of ripe cherries, with plenty of additional aromatic layering including dark raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, red licorice, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, cardamom and mocha. The scents are a balanced interplay of both fruit and barrel. As balanced on the palate as the bouquet, this wine tastes like red cherry, Santa Rosa plums, Pakistani mulberry, dark raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, dark chocolate, cocoa powder and a light note of coffee. The tannins are a memorable landmark here, sitting squarely across the entire palate, their firm and earthy grip continues to persist far beyond the fruit on the finish. Their texture is gravelly, grainy, chalky and drying. Medium+ acidity. This wine is aging well at 8 years post vintage and still has plenty of life ahead of it with the proper cellar care. We would love to enjoy this with a well-marbled Wagyu beef and a BBQ. And throw in a warm afternoon somewhere inspiring in Napa Valley for good measure.

The 2015 Crane Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (blended with 4% Merlot) clearly showcases its varietal character. The nose offers classic Cabernet aromas with lifted herbal notes and a suggestion of eucalyptus, giving the bouquet an elegant, almost old‑world sensibility compared to some of the riper expressions often found in Napa Valley. Subtle hints of red currant, blackberry and a touch of cedar add further aromatic interest. On the palate, the wine presents a mix of both red and darker fruits, supported by bright acidity that keeps the profile fresh rather than heavy. The tannins are granular but not coarse, framing the fruit without dominating, and they are well integrated into a finish that gently lingers with darker spice tones, including white pepper and a faint note of dried tobacco.

Cavaliere
The 2018 Crane Family Vineyards Cavaliere is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot. This wine is deep ruby in color; at 8 years post vintage, the nose shows an initial light bottle bouquet, but this quickly dissipates in favor of still fresh red fruited scents including raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, boysenberry, currant, red cherry and a hint of dried rose petals and menthol. Like the bouquet, still fresh on the palate and at this age, in a lovely state of balance, this wine tastes red fruited with flavors of cherry, currant, boysenberry, red plums, blackberry, blueberry and Icelandic crowberries (look up that somewhat esoteric fruit if you are unfamiliar with this). The tannins are broadly dispersed, starting to loosen up slightly with time in bottle, but still tightly woven with a persistent dusty and drying character.

The 2015 Crane Family Vineyards Cavaliere (crafted to honor Tom’s grandfather – Cavaliere means knight in Italian) is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot. The bouquet opens with generous aromas of ripe plum and red cherry, supported by darker licorice tones and a subtle hint of dried herbs. On the palate, the wine shows good depth and layering, with the red and dark fruit notes interwoven with cocoa, cedar and a touch of baking spice. There is a nice complexity from entry through the mid-palate, leading into a finish anchored by dusty, well-structured tannins and the same darker spice we noted in the Cabernet Sauvignon from this same vintage.

Dessert
Their dessert wine is typically only a barrel production; it is usually made from either Zinfandel or Petite Sirah. The first vintage of this was produced in 2005 in honor of the birth of Peter’s grandson; it was going to be just a onetime production to be saved for his grandson’s 21st birthday, but this wine came out so well, they decided to incorporate it into their annual wine production. It is called Douceur or “sweetness” in French. It is sweet and very rich, deliciously so.

The 2020 Douceur is 100% varietal. This wine is deep purple in color and opaque; the bouquet smells floral and dark fruited with scents of lavender, lilacs, blackberry, boysenberry, plums and a hint of dark chocolate. The aromatics are balanced, not overtly sweet. On the palate, there are flavors of ripe blackberry, Satsuma plum, boysenberry and dark cherry. Like the bouquet, the sweetness is deftly restrained; this is a balanced expression with the interplay of flavor, sweetness, and acidity, all complementing each other quite well. And this is very much a textural expression, perhaps no surprise considering the variety. The tannins are evenly distributed across the palate with a gravelly and persistent dusty and chalky texture. The high proof brandy addition is very well integrated here.

The 2017 Crane Family Vineyards Douceur (Petite Sirah) is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet showcases riper aromatics including of raspberry jam, plum compote, blackberry spread and cherry pie. And a hint of dark chocolate. Noticeably sweet, slightly tempered by a bright acidity, but still, the sweetness dominates, especially on the finish. This wine tastes like raspberry, fig jam, blackberry jam and cherry pie. And a light note of dried tobacco leaf on the finish. Lingers with a dusty and chalky note from the well rounded tannins. This wine was aged in barrel for 54 months prior to bottling. This is Tom’s vintage he produced on property; subsequent vintages are now made offsite Doran.

The 2005 Crane Family Vineyards Douceur Primitivo opens with boysenberry jam aromas leading to a palate that shows chocolate, cherry and additional berry flavors. The mouth feel sports a velvety texture but with layers of fruit. This wine is sweet and very rich, deliciously so. This is one of Napa Valley’s smallest production consistently produced dessert wines. In 2015, for the first time and just for this vintage, the Douceur was sourced from outside of the Napa Valley – with the grapes coming from the Sierra foothills.

—

Peter is also the author of two books, (Calabrian Tales and Out of Calabria) which take place in a region of Southern Italy; each book is based on the real-life tales of his mother and father’s side of the family but somewhat dramatized. Out of Calabria is really well written – a story for hopeless romantics and for those who believe that the power of perseverance and love will ultimately overcome tragedy and hardships.

The winery is not open to the public and does not host tastings. The best way to acquire their wine is via their mailing list. In the past certain wines have been available in select Trader Joe’s in California displayed in their premium wine section. One may sometimes find the wine locally at Backroom Wines in the city of Napa. For more information, visit: www.cranefamilyvineyards.com