Olabisi Winery

Olabisi Winery was founded in 2002 and is run by Ted Osborne and his wife Kim. Ted is part of a generation of ambitious winemakers in the Napa Valley (who came here when they were in their twenties from elsewhere) who earned their way towards running their own wineries through a lot of hard work from the ground up. Ted is self-taught having entered the wine industry with a degree in English and no formal training in wine making.

He came to the valley when his wife Kim took a job designing wine labels. After living in Napa Valley for six months Ted still didn’t have a job but wanted one in the wine industry. He wasn’t sure who to call – so during harvest in 1995 while flipping randomly through a book highlighting wineries of the Napa Valley Ted randomly called Cakebread. To his surprise, he was immediately connected to winemaker Bruce Cakebread who hired him the next day since one of their workers who agreed to work harvest backed out at the last minute. Sometimes timing is everything – this was a ‘foot’ in the door so to speak.

Along with significant cellar time working for Cakebread, Ted also worked for one of the most northern located physical wineries in the Napa Valley, Storybook Mountain (excellent Zinfandel producers). And it was at Storybook Mountain where Ted made the first vintage of Olabisi in their historic caves. We first met Ted in 2007 while he was making his wines at Laird Estate – he was one of the first small brands we met with soon after we started Napa Wine Project. Today he produces his wines at a small winery on Howell Mountain.

Along with other area winemakers Ted has a plethora of international experience ranging from work at Passing Clouds in Australia, Rupert & Rothschild in South Africa, and Chateau du Seuil in Bordeaux.

Ted was formerly head winemaker at the well-regarded Cabernet house in Rutherford (Pina Napa Valley) and Phifer Pavitt in Calistoga. He continues to consult for several small wineries including Spence Napa Valley and Okapi. Today he runs Olabisi almost single handedly. It’s always refreshing to find a non-last name, name of a winery and this one is quite unique. The name “Olabisi” is an African girl’s name which means “joy multiplied”. Take that as you may but keep that meaning in the back of your mind as you try his rich, layered yet balanced fruit driven wines.

Ted’s philosophy is to keep a hands-off approach as much as possible to wine making with the thinking that the more you manipulate a wine the more chances for flaws to enter the wine. His vineyard sources change depending on the year and so do the varieties.

Olabisi sources from a variety of vineyards both in Napa Valley and from other nearby counties. He uses a barrel aging program of French oak; all the wine is made in Napa Valley. During our first meeting with Ted, we barrel tasted several of his upcoming vintages, some were still in fermentation including the 2007 Beckstoffer sourced Chardonnay from Mendocino County.

Select Wines
Whites/Rosé
The 2023 Olabisi Sauvignon Blanc Lake County, Wild Diamond Vineyard is pale yellow in color; the nose offers a citrusy and zesty expression, with both its inherent herbal and grassy typicity represented here. These scents include citrus blossom, star jasmine, lemon zest, lemon balm, Meyer lemon, grapefruit pith, kaffir lime, not fully ripe pineapple, white nectarine and passion fruit. Not as herbal on the palate as the bouquet, its flavors include Babcock peach, white nectarine, pineapple guava, crenshaw melon, grapefruit, pomelo and pineapple – lingers with a light tangy combination of both citrus, orchard and tropical fruits. Its mouth feel is supple and rounded and complemented by its vivacious, but not bracing acidity. Superbly balanced. Pair with some sort of sustenance from the sea, ideally something that has two shells. This wine was fermented in a combination of small stainless steel barrels and neutral French oak; it was aged sur-lie for 6 months prior to bottling.

The 2019 Olabisi Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is pale to medium yellow in color; offers elegant aromatics which are floral in nature including jasmine, citrus blossom, and honeysuckle. As it evolves in the glass, shows additional aromas of pineapple, pineapple guava and pear. Strikes a very nice aromatic balance between the more citrus driven notes that this variety often produces from cooler climes and aromas more tropical in nature resulting from riper grapes at the time of harvest. Slightly creamy in texture. It is very balanced across the palate; lingers with a noticeable richness of flavor and a lingering note of lemon/lime zest. This wine is produced from a single vineyard site in Oak Knoll District; fermentation occurred in both stainless steel barrels and neutral oak.

The 2023 Olabisi Rosé, North Coast was made from Zinfandel. This wine is pale to medium salmon in color; simultaneously minerally, citrusy and higher toned, it smells like rhubarb, kumquat, lime, not fully ripe raspberries, cranberries, ruby grapefruit, pencil shavings, striking flint and chalk. As it continues to evolve, it opens to notes of dill and tarragon. It is zesty and bright, both on the bouquet and the palate. Its flavors include a pomegranate tartness, a tang most similar to cranberries but without the bitterness commonly associated with that fruit, wild strawberries, citrus peel, lemon juice and kumquat. Its lightly fleshy texture is uplifted high by its buoyant acidity. Fresh, and filled with energy, this wine sings brightly at this age, lingering with a mouth watering finish. In terms of food pairings, this wine is highly flexible. We immediately thought of putting it with something spicy, perhaps Thai sticky chicken wings or spicy Italian sausage; shout out here to one of our favorite sausage producers, Zio – with retail outlets in Paso Robles and Salinas, CA.

The 2022 Olabisi Chardonnay, Russian River Valley Sonoma County is medium gold in color; on the bouquet there are scents of honeysuckle, Alphonse mango, apricot, baked pears, golden delicious apple and pineapple guava. Balanced, with notes of California in terms of ripeness but also with a more restrained approach in terms of its oak and diacetyl expression. Its flavors include golden apples, apricot, comise pear, yellow nectarine, peach and papaya. It shows as more tropical on the palate than the bouquet. Finishes ripe but not oaky, nor buttery and is complemented by a fleshy mouth feel. Medium acidity. Drinks wonderfully three years post vintage. Pair with a honey glazed roasted duck. This wine was fermented in stainless steel and neutral barrels; it did not go through malolactic fermentation.

The 2011 was Olabisi’s last vineyard designate Chardonnay; subsequent vintages have been labeled Napa Valley or Sonoma County. The 2011 Olabisi Chardonnay, Ceja Vineyard Carneros Napa Valley was 100% barrel fermented on yeasts already present on the grape; it was allowed to fully go through malolactic fermentation. This wine is deep gold in the glass; it is very aromatic even when served at cold temperatures. It offers scents of honeydew melon, honeysuckle and hints of caramel. It is a crisp wine but with some weight with flavors including pear and hints of sweet baking spices. The fruit lingers for quite some time on the finish.

Reds
The 2022 Olabisi Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley Sonoma County is pale ruby in color; the bouquet is a mélange of both fruit and spices from both fruit and barrel. These scents include dark raspberry, cherry cola, sarsaparilla, a light note of toasted bread, clove, vanilla, all spice, and an assortment of dried herbs including oregano. Bright, but fully ripe, this wine shows restraint, a character we especially love to see from California wines from this variety. By this we mean its balanced, it does not push the envelope in terms of ripeness and it still preserves the freshness that we love about this variety. Its flavors including Bing cherry, currant, cranberry, raspberry, red plum and pomegranate. Lingers with a light savory character including of tea leaf, rose hips and rhubarb. The tannins are present, and linger with a very light gravelly character but are seamlessly integrated into the finish 3 years post vintage. The grapes for this wine were destemmed and fermented 95% whole-berry in open-top fermentors using indigenous yeast already present on their skins. Punch downs were done by hand, then pressed to barrel where they aged for 16 months in French oak barrels (Francois Freres) of which 33% were new. While this wine is 100% varietal, it is an assemblage of three clones including 115, 667, and 777. It is 13.2% listed ABV.

The 2019 Olabisi Zinfandel, California is deep ruby in color; forward fruited, the bouquet is immediately open-knitted with aromas of blackberry jam, fig jam, boysenberry preserves, dark cherry, dark plum at the peak of its ripeness, baked plums, red licorice and some accompanying layers of dark chocolate, dark cocoa powder, espresso, coffee grinds and Graham cracker. And sweet baking spices including cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. For being a full-on throttle aromatic expression of the variety, its scents are extremely well layered and are in no way linear. This wine is fully ripe but with a complementary arching thread of bright acidity to keep the palate moving and refreshing. Its flavors include a brambly character, licorice, dark raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, red cherry and black tea. The tannins are lightly grainy and gravelly and linger with a note of smoked sage, white pepper and a note of dried tobacco leaf. This wine was made from 125 year old grapevines; it was aged for 16 months in 20% new Missouri oak and French oak barrels, the remainder being neutral barrels. Pair with a BBQ and an assortment of meats; our thoughts are drifting to pairing this wine with the Mangalista (Hungarian breed) pork shoulder and ribs gifted to us earlier in the day by a breeder on Pritchard Hill. This wine is a listed 15.2% ABV.

The 2019 Olabisi Merlot, Oak Knoll is 100% varietal; this is the same Merlot that was used in the BDX blend this year. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; immediately open knitted, the generous bouquet is singing loudly at this age. Its aromatics are of fully ripe blackberry, Himalayan purple mulberry, dark cherry and layers of dust, dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Plush across the palate, its flavors mimic the bouquet to some extent including blackberry, boysenberry, licorice, dark cherry, dark plum and a note of dark chocolate. Lingers with both a sweeter note of fruit and a darker layer including of smoked sage and a light but persistent dusty character. Its texture is almost creamy with soft, supple and perfectly spherical tannins. For reference, we tasted this wine 6 years post vintage.

The 2019 Olabisi BDX Red Blend is deep ruby and nearly opaque; this wine is 49% Cabernet Sauvignon (Oak Knoll), 49% Merlot (Oak Knoll) and 2% Petit Verdot (Calistoga). Its aromatics are a union of darker fruits, savory elements and baking spices. These scents include old baseball mitt, sweet tobacco spice, spiced plums, dark cherry, blackberry, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg. The fruit becomes more expressive as this wine opens. It is balanced and drinking in a sweet spot 6 years post vintage. Its flavors include dark raspberry, red cherry, blackberry, Santa Rosa plum and boysenberry. The tannins are fully ripe, resolved and rounded and seamlessly fit into the finish like the piece of a perfectly aligned puzzle. Lingers bright, ripe and with light gravelly/dusty character. Certainly a crowd favorite.

The 2017 Olabisi Proprietary Napa Valley Red Wine is a blend of 61% Merlot, 26% Zinfandel and 13% Napa Petite Sirah; the wine is dark ruby and nearly opaque. The aromatics are generous and fruit forward offering ripe blackberry, a sweetness of boysenberry, a darker accompanying spice note, toasted cedar, Graham Cracker, vanilla and dark chocolate. Well layered indeed! The ripeness continues onto the palate with flavors of blackberry, plum and old cedar box. The tannins are darker and are somewhat earthy in nature; they are well integrated with a light to medium grip. The ‘aliveness’ of youthful tasting fruit is clearly still evident, four years post vintage date. This wine is extremely approachable in its youth.

The 2010 Black Pearl Vineyard is located at the base of Atlas Peak. This wine was sold out at the time of our tasting and a 2011 was not produced; the 2012 vintage was the current release. This wine is part of the Infinite Series – several vineyard designated wines that Ted makes of superior quality. 75% new French oak barrels were used during the wine’s aging – all sourced from premium coopers. The bouquet is very inviting with intriguing aromas that one keeps wanting to revisit. Aromas of desert spices, mocha and fine chocolate are well woven among the layers of fruit. Blackberry, cherry and toffee notes show on the palate. This is a superbly balanced wine with appealing fine-grained tannins anchoring the clean finish.

The 2010 Olabisi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal and was the current release during our most recent visit. The bouquet is nice – showing herbal notes, berry aromas with a noticeable lusciousness on the palate, a “supple mouth feel” as Ted describes of this wine. A darker plum note shows on the palate, with notes of boysenberry and blackberry. The tannins are delicate, framing a wine that has very good acidity.

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In July of 2015 Olabisi opened a beautiful tasting room in a stand-alone building just off Lincoln Ave (the main street through Calistoga). The entrance is a short half a block walk down Washington Street. This smart looking building was the prior home of the now closed Wappo Bar and Bistro. The tasting room sits right next to Evangeline Restaurant (French food with a Creole twist) and Olabisi’s wines are on their wine list. There is plenty of parking on residential side streets within a short walk of this the tasting room.

Ted tends to age his wines a bit longer than many producers and as a result slightly older vintages are often available at the tasting room.

Through a partnership with Solage Resort in Calistoga, Ted leads a “Sip and Cycle with a Vintner” experience, a 4-mile cycle through Calistoga area vineyards, a barrel tasting at a local custom crush winery, a stop at another local winery followed by the grand finale, a stop for a tasting at the Olabisi tasting room.

Total annual production is typically less than 1,000 cases. Tastings are by appointment or by walk-in during the afternoon. Ted lives in Calistoga and is often in the tasting room. Check the website for the latest hours and updates. For more information, visit: www.olabisiwines.com