The Thomson family history in Napa Valley dates back to 1938, when grower and proprietor of Thomson Vineyard, Jennifer Thomson’s great-grandmother, Jenny Ophelia Barnum Thomson, and her husband, Matthew Alexander Thomson (Sr.) relocated from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. Matthew and his two brothers helped build the Oklahoma City airport before moving west to establish […]

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Flint Knoll was co-founded by proprietors Aaron Meredith Michaelis. Aaron fell in love with wine while working at Chateau Cigar Shop at age 18 in Wichita, Kansas. At the time, Jacob’s Wine Store was located next door to the cigar shop. Aaron would walk over and look at their wine selection, his interest piqued by […]

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Silver Oak Cellars is a Napa Valley and Sonoma County winery best known for its focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and its distinctive use of American oak barrels, a stylistic choice that helped define its identity among California wines. Founded in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer, both now deceased, this remarkable success story grew […]

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Au Sommet is a 44-acre property located high on the slopes of Atlas Peak (2,100 feet). Nine acres of vines are planted; the majority being Cabernet Sauvignon with two small blocks of Petit Verdot. The site offers incredible views at times and on clear days one can look east into the Central Valley, on very […]

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Jarvis Estate Winery is located on Highway 121 on the way towards Lake Berryessa; despite a somewhat isolated feel to the properties’ location, Jarvis is located only about a 15 minute drive from downtown Napa. The estate is over 1,320 acres of which only 37 are planted to vine. The winery was founded by William […]

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Altamura Winery is located about 25 minutes east of the city of Napa in Wooden Valley and was established in 1985 by Frank and Karen Altamura. Their early focus was on Chardonnay; in fact, the first vintage of Altamura wine ever produced was the 1985 Chardonnay which earned a 91 point score from the Wine […]

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Morisoli Vineyard. The Morisoli family is deeply rooted in Rutherford. Fifth generation, Chris Morisoli’s great great grandfather Rocco Morisoli immigrated to the U.S. from the small town of Monte Carasso in what is now southern Switzerland in 1883. Monte Carasso is located about an hour and 15 minute drive from the airport in Milan and […]

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MK Cellars bottles wines under the brand SummitVine. Born and raised in San Francisco, proprietor Michael Klopka’s first introduction to Napa Valley was in his youth during family vacations to Calistoga every year. He remembers his “I could live here” moment came when visiting Vichon Winery and enjoying the views of the valley from its […]

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Vinatieri Vineyards was founded by vintner Pat Vinatieri when he purchased his nearly 3-acre property south of the town of Yountville in 1978. He later built an impressive Tuscan-styled home in 2004. This western part of the Yountville sub AVA is prime terroir for growing premium wine grapes; nearby neighbors include the Sleeping Lady Vineyard, […]

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Baldacci Family Vineyards is located in a beautiful part of the Napa Valley just off of the Silverado Trail (west side) slightly south of the Yountville Cross Road. Records show the property was originally planted to grapes in 1888; it was purchased by Thomas (Tom) & Brenda Baldacci in 1998. The site caught their eye […]

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Hertelendy Vineyards (pronounced ‘HUR-tuh-LEN-dee’) was founded by proprietor Ralph Hertelendy; his inaugural release was from 2013. His parents immigrated from Hungary to the United States as children to escape World War II and settled in the Oakland area of the San Francisco Bay Area. His father Paul was a music critic for the Oakland Tribune […]

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It was another extremely busy year in Napa Valley; we visited, tasted with and profiled 40 new Napa Valley wineries/producers bringing us to a total of 1,260 now completed for the Napa Wine Project. For reference, that was only one less than the previous year. We continued to taste up and down the valley most […]

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Maybach Family Vineyards was founded in 2004 by Chris Maybach; Thomas Rivers Brown has been the winemaker since the inaugural vintage. Prior to his role in Maybach Family Vineyards, Chris graduated from the University of California Berkeley and later attended film school in London. But he dropped out of film school to work on director […]

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Missimer Wine. Juggling four kids equates to a full time job for Sinead and Travis Bullard, and Travis also has a full time winemaking job. Yet, both found the time to launch their own brand in 2025, a realized dream of nearly 20 years, launched simply because it needed to be done. And their ambition […]

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Sown Estate was founded by Andrew and Alexis Greenhalgh with their inaugural vintage from 2023. Both are from Sacramento; Andrew is an art major from UC Berkeley, while Alexis is a graduate of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. While in college, Alexis became interested in wine; it was her beverage of choice. Her father was […]

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Hensel West Wine was founded by Will Phelps with his first vintage produced in 2024. This tiny brand is built upon the paths forged by family members; it honors their legacy, their contributions to Napa Valley and the heritage vineyards they worked with. Phelps was raised in St. Helena and was surrounded by the wine […]

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Coyoacan Vineyards. Proprietor Rodrigo Enriquez was was born in Mexico City and was raised in Perth, Australia. His father was a scientist and his work was often international related; the family lived in both Mexico and Australia during Rodrigo’s youth. His first job after graduating college was in San Francisco providing IT consulting for Price […]

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Old Soda Springs. Family owned. Family operated. The Kaufman family story is one of moving west, finding and developing a deep connection to a piece of property in Napa Valley and resilience. Herb and Margaret Kaufman moved to California from Houston, TX in 1963; originally from Kansas, Herb was in medical school at Baylor. They […]

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Chateau de Vie, not to be confused with Chateau de Vie in Chandler, AZ was founded in 1998; the name means ‘house of life’ and refers to both the gorgeous Bed & Breakfast built in 1983 located on 2 acres including a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and the wine brand. The inaugural vintage of Chateau de […]

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