Don Chalo Cellars is homage to the Fernandez family’s late father, Don Chalo, who immigrated to Napa Valley from Michoacán, Mexico in the 1970s. Michoacan is rich in culture, tradition, and natural beauty—known for its vibrant Day of the Dead celebrations, charming towns, indigenous Purépecha heritage, and diverse landscapes ranging from lakes to mountains. While it isn’t known for wine grapes, it is one of the world’s leading producers of avocados.
One of the founders of Don Chalo Cellars, Don Chalo’s son, Sergio Hernandez, began working in the wine industry right after high school, starting in the cellar at St. Supéry. He later became cellar foreman at Cardinale, helping manage the large-scale winery on the property, and also worked harvest at Robert Mondavi. He eventually moved to Texas for five years to work in the oil industry, searching for natural gas deposits across the state, before returning to Napa Valley.
Don Chalo Cellars produced its first vintage in 2018, though it wasn’t released until 2020. Early on, they made their wines at several custom crush facilities before moving into their current space in south Napa, where their first harvest took place in 2025. Production remains small, typically 125 cases or less per SKU. With decades of experience across all aspects of the industry, Sergio has a deep understanding of what it takes to make great wine.
Today, three brothers oversee winemaking at Don Chalo. Sergio serves as CEO, leading the brand, and is one of ten siblings. Rosalio (also known as Chalo) is the primary winemaker and oversees vineyard operations, sometimes sourcing grapes from vineyards he manages. Ernesto also plays a key role in assisting with winemaking.
Their father originally came to California as a seasonal worker, following harvests from Stockton up through Washington. However, he spent the most time in Napa Valley, working about six months each year before returning to Mexico. Eventually, he brought his family to Napa—first the oldest, then the youngest brothers. Their father worked in the vineyards, including at Napa Valley’s oldest continuously family owned winery, Nichelini Vineyards.
Don Chalo Cellars is ultimately about honoring that family foundation, including the hard work and sacrifices that created new opportunities for future generations.
The Don Chalo Wines are higher alcohol and are riper expressions of the variety. And that is a style that Sergio prefers. Yet, there is also a cohesiveness in these wines, an overall balance consistent across all the SKUs and regardless of the higher listed ABV.
And associated with Don Chalo is the following in Spanish, “La vida es un sueno y el despertar la muerte. Or in English, “Life is a dream, and waking up is death”.
Their first wines included a Rosé, Cabernet Sauvignon from Oak Knoll, and Zinfandel. They skipped the 2020 vintage due to wildfire smoke taint.
Select Wines
Don Chalo
Sauvignon Blanc
The 2023 Don Chalo Sauvignon Blanc, Yountville is medium gold in color. The bouquet is a harmonious union of spring florals, with kisses of tropical fruit and citrus. The aromas include pineapple, Golden Delicious apple, apricot, yellow nectarine, jasmine, lemon zest, and lemongrass. Straddling the inherent varietal characteristics and California sunshine, this is a balanced expression of Sauvignon Blanc. On the palate, this wine tastes like pineapple, yellow nectarine, honeydew melon, golden apple, yellow plum, and a lingering hint of passion fruit. This wine sits in a lovely place 2.5 years post vintage. Bright and lively, the finish lingers with fruit, vibrant acidity, and a rounded, supple texture. As Sergio calls it, a summer sipper—and we might add our recommendation, pair with a summer salad and BBQ chicken.
Rosé of Pinot Noir
The 2024 Don Chalo Rosé of Pinot Noir Rosafina, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County is medium copper/salmon in color; bright and minerally, the bouquet sports aromas of orange zest, melon, citrus blossom, raspberry, and dried rose petals. On the palate, there are flavors of raspberry, white strawberry, melon, with a hint of cranberry and currant. Intensely flavored for a rosé, and for the variety. The acidity is bright yet balanced, lingering with a light warmth deep in the throat. The mouthfeel sports a rounded and creamy texture, lifted nicely by the bright acidity, especially on the finish, which lingers with a light note of orange bitters. This wine was kept on the skins for about 4 hours before it was pressed off. We would love to pair this with burrata—the signature dish at Brasswood in St. Helena. This wine is a tribute to family; Rosa is Sergio’s oldest sister, and Josefina was Don Chalo’s wife.
Zinfandel
The 2019 Don Chalo Zinfandel, Dry Creek, Sonoma County is deep ruby and nearly opaque; sweetly fruited with a light varietal spice, the aromatics are highly appealing at 7 years post vintage. The nose is ripe and expressive, with scents of raspberry jam, cherry pie, red licorice, baked plums, and sweet baking spices including mocha, vanilla, cloves, and a hint of cardamom. As ripe on the palate as on the bouquet, the fruit is the star of the show, with flavors of raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry, and baked plums. Despite its ripeness—a character often associated with California Zinfandel—some of the spicy varietal characteristics show through on the finish, including dried herbs such as sage along with white pepper. Despite the listed ABV of nearly 16%, this wine doesn’t come across as hot and remains fairly balanced. The lightly gravelly tannins are felt more on the front of the palate than the back. The label depicts 10 silver lines, representing the 10 siblings.
Red Blend
The 2022 Don Chalo Red Blend, North Coast “Our Finest Moments” is made from grapes from Sonoma, Lake and Napa counties and is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; forward fruited, it smells like raspberry jam, boysenberry preserves, cherry pie, mission fig vanilla and mocha. Layered. On the palate, there are flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, plum, dark raspberry, mulberry. A combination of both ripe fruit and a light amount of residual sugar gives a perception of light sweetness. But the bright acidity helps temper the sweetness. Highly enjoyable, this bottling falls into the crowd friendly spectrum of wine, dangerous, in a good, way, but you have to be careful as one sip will lead to many more sips and before you know it the bottle is empty. The present tannins persist with a light dusty texture. This wine is a listed 15.5% ABV. Sergio recommends this wine be enjoyed in the company of friends or family. The name of this wine, Our Finest Moments, refers to love, happiness and faith. Sometimes wine inspiration happens in the most unlikeliest of places; Sergio was running on the treadmill in 2020 when the idea to create a red blend came to him.
Cosecha Nocturna
The inspiration for the name Cosecha Nocturna came while Sergio was working many years ago in Argentina at a custom crush winery. He noticed one of the brands was called Cosecha Nocturna, or in Englsh, night harvest. He noticed that workers would often harvest at night in Argentina. And it was around that time that he started noticing more vineyard crews harvesting at night in Napa Valley.
The 2021 Don Chalo Cosecha Nocturna, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque; while primarily driven by fruit, there is a range of spice evident, including a dried herbal character such as sage, along with mocha, milk chocolate, and vanilla. On the palate, the wine shows flavors of raspberry, red plum, boysenberry, and cherry. The oak is complementary here and does not dominate. ABV of 15.5%. The wine lingers with a savory character that contrasts with its ripeness—showing notes of dried sage, bay leaf, and chalk. The tannins are broadly dispersed and persist with a light dusty, drying character. Their grip is like a gentle handshake or hug, never pulling too hard in one direction.
The 2019 Don Chalo Cosecha Nocturna, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oak Knoll); is deep ruby and opaque. More often than not, the varietal characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon at this ABV (15.5%) are masked by ripeness. But in this bottling, the nose is not all about ripe fruit although there is plenty of that to; consistently and as the wine continues to evolve, there are layers of shishito pepper, red chili spice, tobacco. Additional scents include mocha & cocoa powder with fruited aromatics including raspberry, red cherry, Santa Rosa plum and Persian mulberry. The palate is about the fruit, more red than dark sporting flavors of raspberry, red cherry, mulberry, red licorice, blackberry, and red plums. The tannins offer a light to moderate grip, felt primarily on the front of the palate. And a lingering warmth is felt on the back of the palate. Easy drinking at 7 years post vintage. Don Chalo only produced wines from this vineyard in 2018 and 2019 before changing vineyard sources because the vineyard manager Octavio Hernandez moved to Mexico and the vines were eventually pulled out.
The 2018 Don Chalo Cosecha Nocturna, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oak Knoll) is deep ruby and opaque; riper and sans most of the herbal characteristics expressed in the 2019 vintage from the same vineyard, it still shows some consistent site-driven traits. This wine smells like sweet pipe tobacco, a kiss of red chili spice, and plenty of red fruits including raspberry, red cherry, Santa Rosa plum, and blueberry. Brightly lit, showing the freshness that Oak Knoll is known for—due to its cooler southern location in Napa Valley and closer proximity to the San Pablo Bay. At 8 years post vintage, this wine remains fresh and youthful, with plenty of energy from both its acidity and bright red fruits, including cherry, plum, boysenberry, and mulberry. The tannins are gravelly in texture with a light drying character, and the finish lingers with a note of pipe tobacco.
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2019 Don Chalo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was sourced from a barrel selection of the best two barrels used to make Cosecha Nocturna from Oak Knoll. This wine was aged for 36 months in 70% new French oak and 30% neutral French oak. Deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is distinctive from the non-reserve bottlings. The aromatics open with a floral edge—dried rose petals, lavender, and blood orange, a layer that almost crosses into honeycomb, followed by raspberry, cherry pie, and boysenberry. More red-fruited than dark, the palate shows raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, cherry, blackberry jam, boysenberry preserves, licorice, and chocolate. It finishes sweetly fruited and ripe, with well-integrated tannins at 7 years post vintage. Their texture is well-tumbled, offering a lightly gravelly, friendly grip.
DC
The DC on the label refers to larger production bottlings and wines available at a more affordable price.
The 2022 DC Sangiovese is medium ruby in color; the bouquet is ripe and red-fruited with a touch of sweetness from both fruit and barrel. This wine smells like raspberry, cherry pie, red licorice, baked plums, vanilla, and mocha. The palate is just as ripe as the nose, with flavors of Santa Rosa plum, cherries, and raspberries. It finishes with a light spicy and savory character, including dried herbs, i.e., sage and bay leaf. This wine is comfortable in its youth; the tannins are rounded, resolved, and ripe, seamlessly integrated into the supple finish. Easy drinking, not complicated, and available at an affordable price, this is a Monday–Sunday wine, i.e., everyday. This wine was aged for several years in French oak barrels. Grower Dave Fanucchi owns 3 acres of Sangiovese and offered them a ton of fruit this year; they continue to source from this vineyard. Pair with enchiladas or Mexican food that isn’t too spicy, perhaps refried beans and cheese as suggested by Sergio.
The 2019 DC Syrah, Lake County is deep ruby and opaque; color extraction was not a problem with this bottling. These vines grow in well-drained volcanic soils. The ripe nose is immediately compelling—a classic expression of the variety, combining ripe fruit with sweet barrel influence. This wine smells like blackberry pie, raspberry jam, boysenberry, mulberry, and Santa Rosa plum, along with notes that evoke childhood – plums picked at peak ripeness after falling to the ground—plus cloves, dark cocoa powder, and milk chocolate. On the palate, it tastes like blackberry at summer ripeness, Coral cherry, dark mulberry, and plum. It lingers with a darker savory edge, including crushed pepper and smoked sage. The tannins are clearly present and broadly dispersed but not overtly grippy; instead, they are tumbled, with a gravelly, dusty character. Pair with lamb chops or pork ribs.
The 2019 DC Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake County Red Hills AVA is 100% varietal; color extraction was not a problem with this wine. It is deep ruby and opaque. Darker fruited, the nose shows blackberry pie, cherry pie, boysenberry jam, baked plums, and late-season mulberries, alongside generous barrel notes of dark chocolate, mocha, cocoa powder, and vanilla. While ripe, this wine offers plenty of depth in both flavor and texture. It tastes like cherry pie, blackberry jam, boysenberry spread, dark cherry, and a hint of dried herbs. The finish lingers with significant texture, fully coating the palate; the tannic grip persists with a gravelly, grainy, long-lasting dusty character. There’s also a gentle warmth that settles deep in the palate, like cozying up next to a fire in winter. The grapes come from Perry Ranch Vineyard, owned by Sergio’s friend Michael Ryan, who farms approximately 6 acres in obsidian-rich soils, including large obsidian boulders. The vineyard sits at 2,300 feet above sea level and directly borders a Beckstoffer property.
Winery
Tastings are hosted at the small winery in the Crusher District, an industrial part of the city of Napa located about 12 minutes south of downtown. Previously this space has housed several other small wineries including Chiron Cellars and before them, Y Rousseau. Small groups are hosted at the bar, or for more space a side room or sometimes in the actual winery surrounded by wine barrels. Visits are by appointment or by walk-in if someone is there.
For more information, to purchase wines, to join one of two club memberships including La Familia or Los Hermanos, or to setup an appointment for a tasting at the winery, visit: www.donchalocellars.com
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