Michael-Scott Wines

Michael-Scott Wines was founded by vintner Michael Quinn in 1996. He maintains a small, bonded winery on his property located in the western portion of the city of Napa in an area known as Browns Valley. While he keeps some wine on site to keep his bond active, he makes his wines at nearby Artesa Winery in Napa Valley’s Carneros District.

Michael was born and raised in Napa Valley (3rd generation) and attended both high school and college in the region. During his childhood and then later in high school (Justin Sienna) he met several children of established Napa Valley wine making families including Marc Mondavi. It was through these friendships that he took his first wine job in Napa Valley at Charles Krug Winery at age 18, working in the vineyards. He was the first in his family to get into the wine business.

He worked for five years at Charles Krug before another vineyard opportunity arose, a position managing the historic Stanly Ranch on the Napa Valley side of Carneros. Michael remembers having to drive down to the San Francisco and interviewing for the job in a high-rise office building. Interviewing in his early 20s in front of businessmen in the financial district must have been a bit intimidating. Regardless, he made a good impression and was soon hired as the ranch’s Vineyard Manager. At the time he was only 22 years old. Two notable wineries that were purchasing grapes at that time from the ranch included Beaulieu Vineyards and Domaine Chandon.

Anyone who has been to the Stanly Ranch (formerly the home of Migration Wines) can’t help but notice the sizable bridge on Highway 12 which crosses the Napa River. Unofficially it is called the southern crossing while officially it is known as SR 29/12/121 bridge. During his time living in Judge Stanley’s old house on the ranch in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Michael recalls sometimes jogging on what he called the “bridge to nowhere”. This bridge, now taken for granted, was only half built at the time. Construction started in 1974 and finished in 1978 but was not in use for several years after its completion. The bridge rises to a height of 120 feet above the Napa River and is 2,230 feet long. The project engineer for this bridge was Steven Jones who was working for Guy F. Atkinson Co, a heavy contractor based in South San Francisco.

Michael spent five years managing the vineyards at the Stanly Ranch before making what is probably a fairly unusual move within the wine industry transitioning from directly managing vineyards and doing vineyard work to doing sales and marketing for a northern California wine distributor. In the ensuing years he helped develop sales for a number of Northern California based boutique wineries.

And then in 1996 he added winemaker to his resume. The focus of Michael’s wine making is on small production lots including primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel with grape sources from both Napa and Sonoma. His total production each year is around 1,600 cases.

And if you are wondering where the Scott came from in the name; it is not Michael’s middle name but rather the first name of his original partner. Michael bought him out after a few years in business.

Select Wines
Sparkling
The Michael-Scott North Coast Sparkling Brut, Gold Edition is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. This wine is deep gold in color; the tangy, fruity and diversely layered bouquet offers apple-driven aromas including bruised apples, Golden delicious and honey crisp apples, along with pineapple, honeycomb, white strawberries, raspberries, a light note of vanilla, hazelnut and a floral lift of honeysuckle and citrus blossom. Bright and tangy like the bouquet, this wine is buoyed high by its fresh and lively acidity running the length of the palate. It tastes like Gravenstein apples, lemon curd, grapefruit, pomelo, dried apricot, white nectarine, Babcock peach, not fully ripe pineapple and a lingering note of toasted almond. The finish is mouthwatering, refreshing, crisp and dry. Bottled as 375ml. Its ABV is a listed 12.5%. This wine was released in July of 2022 and we tried it in mid 2025. We would love to pair this with a breakfast in the mountains somewhere, perhaps at the undernamed, Fairview Restaurant at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta overlooking Lake Louise through one of their oval windows. Our food of choice with this wine: their Signature Eggs Benedict.

Zinfandel
The 2022 Michael-Scott Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County is 95% Zinfandel and 5% Petite Sirah. This wine smells like the variety; we always like that. It is medium to deep ruby in color; its scents are higher toned with a mélange of primarily red fruited aromatics including cherry, Santa Rosa plum and currant along with boysenberry, raspberry jam, blueberry compote, old cedar box and white pepper. Its aromatics are fully ripe but never cross into the territory of being jammy or over ripe. Intensely flavored, this wine tastes like dark raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and strawberries. It is superbly balanced from the entry through to the finish. Its mouth feel is silky smooth, soft like running one’s fingers across a cashmere sweater. Lingers bright, juicy and with a light lingering dusty presence and finishing notes of white pepper, smoked cedar and dried sage. Savory. Brambly. Delicious. Immediately pizza and pasta friendly. Its alcohol is a listed 14.5% ABV. Every year this wine is made from the same 1-acre dry-farmed vineyard planted in the 1960s.

In 2013 the Zinfandel was created by sourcing Zinfandel grapes from both Napa and Sonoma Counties. This vintage was the first year that Michael used grapes from both counties; this co-county varietal blend was made for several subsequent years before eventually transitioning to all Sonoma County grapes. When one has been involved in the Napa Valley wine industry since 1975, one has made numerous connections with growers and vintners. Such was the case with his Napa Valley Zinfandel source; Michael has been friends with the owner since childhood. The grapes from these 70+ year old vines are grown within the city limits of Napa. And in addition to Zinfandel there was Petite Sirah, Carignane, and a bit of Mourvèdre in the blend. The grapes from Sonoma County are from older vines from Dry Creek Valley, just north and west of Healdsburg. Michael decided to craft this blend on the spur of the moment when some winemaker friends were over his house. Liking what he tasted and getting the approval of his friends he decided to bottle this wine.

The 2013 Michael-Scott Zinfandel is a blend of 53% Napa Valley and 47% Sonoma County. This wine is medium ruby in color. This wine offers bright fruit aromatics; lively, they ‘jump’ out of the glass inviting one to try a sip by teasing with their attractive aromas. Blackberry and plum show with a subtle hint of cedar spice – the bouquet is about the varietal rather than the oak (Michael ferments the wine in neutral oak barrels). Juicy on the palate with excellent acidity and flavors of raspberry – this is a superbly balanced Zinfandel. Easy to keep drinking. The finish shows notes of plum with rounded well-integrated soft tannins. This wine is a great value to quality ratio and is highly worth seeking out.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Michael-Scott Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder Napa Valley is deep ruby and nearly opaque; immediatley open knitted, brambly and fruity, on the nose there is a union of both ripe fruits and barrel influences. These aromatics include Satsuma plum, dark cherry, Himalayan purple mulberry, dark cherry and boysenberry. And there are additional undertones of clove, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and old cedar box. This latter aromatic reminds us of a velvet lined cedar jewelry box our grandmother gifted to us decades ago. We still have it and occasionally open it just to enjoy this particular smell and be reminded of her presence. The palate is bright, juicy, balanced and showcases plenty of fruit including flavors of red cherry, boysenberry, dark raspberry and red plums, accompanied by a lingering note of toasted oak and smoked cedar. The palate is buoyed nicely by its vein of lively acidity. The tannins are gravelly, fully palate coating and linger beyond the fruit on the finish. This wine shows plenty of freshness we often find from our two southern most mountain appellations, Atlas Peak and Mt. Veeder. Pair with a rack of baby back ribs and plenty of BBQ sauce.

The 2022 Michael-Scott Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain Napa Valley is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is generous, forward fruited and very ripe, perhaps a reflection of this particular vintage, especially late in the growing season when the Napa Valley experienced a sustained and extreme heat spike. Its aromatics include ripe blackberry, dark cherry, plum, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and blueberry. Besides its punch of fruit, additional layers include dried sage, violets, lavender, clove and smoked cedar. And a note of milk chocolate and mocha as the wine evolves further. Despite its listed alcohol of 15.3% ABV, there is a bright thread of acidity running the breadth of the palate. Its ripe flavors include blackberry, dark plum, boysenberry and dark cherry. The extended finish is brimming with red fruits with a resulting tartness from both fruit and its lively acidity, paralleled by grainy, gritty but fully ripe mountain tannins. Lasting flavors include crushed dark peppercorn, white sage, bay leaf, a light note of dried tobacco leaf and a dusty character. Shows a light but lingering warmth in the back of the palate. We would love to try this again in 5 to 10 years.

The 2012 Michael-Scott Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from a hillside vineyard just north of Calistoga along with Petit Verdot from an organically farmed vineyard in Yountville. This wine is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot. The bouquet is highly aromatic, with floral notes, blackberry, spicy plum and a hint of truffle oil. Shows a bit of earthiness and mocha as it continues to open. This is an approachable Cabernet Sauvignon with flavors of red currant, raspberry and blackberry. Very balanced. The present and lingering tannins are somewhat dry – and are finer grained rather than coarse or edgy. The wine spent 24 months in French (70%) and American (30%) oak barrels prior to being bottled.

NOTE: This section of this review has been identified as needing a *major* update. Check back by Q2 2026 for tasting notes on the 2023 vintage.

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In addition to making Michael-Scott Wines, Michael has developed a diverse clientele for his private labeling business. Some of his clients include wine retailers, select restaurants, wine clubs and several international clients including one in China. He works closely with the client to determine the type of wine and then handles everything from sourcing the grapes, to barrel procurement to bottling, to label design and also offers warehousing and fulfillment services. A minimum order per SKU is 2 full pallets of wine which is equivalent to 112 cases.

Over the years Michael has sold his wines through a variety of outlets. He used to share a tasting room with a winery in Sonoma and was one of the brands represented in what used to be the Gustavo Thrace tasting room in downtown Napa. At one point he had some 250 placements based on his distributor contacts. He has since scaled this down considerably, still sells direct to consumer and is selectively available in Napa Valley including at Mustards Grill and close to where he lives, Browns Valley Market. For more information and to purchase wine, visit: https://michaelscottwines.net/