RH Wine Vault

RH Wine Vault is located across the street and just down from the famed French Laundry restaurant. Formerly the tasting building known as Ma(i)sonry – this fancy spelling of the word masonry refers to the trade of constructing a building from stone. This old stone building used to be a former distillery and was completely gutted and elegantly restored a number of years ago. It is one of only two buildings in Yountville to be listed on the National Register of Historic places (note the plaque outside) as you walk in. Ma(i)sonry opened by appointment only in early October 2008 and was not your typical wine tasting destination. Founder, Michael Polenske called the space, “Ma(i)sonry is in every way a celebration of life’s aesthetics. Every collection on site has been created by the hand of an artist, or artisan, or designer, and, of course, that includes the wine.”

Ma(i)sonry was one of the early premium tasting rooms to open in Yountville – followed by a number of other equally high-end tasting rooms to open nearby and further to the south of town.

The old stone building houses some fascinating history; it was built for Charles Rovegno in 1904 by a local stone mason Angelo Brovelli. Angelo worked on a number of what are now historic stone bridges in the valley. All the stone in this building was quarried from the eastern hills above the valley floor proper. Charles died in 1954 and for some 30+ years the building was a boutique Inn, called the Burgundy House Inn. This inn was founded in 1977 by Robert & Mary Keenan; that same year the building won an award for best restoration given out by the Upper Valley Associates organization. Mary also operated the Bordeaux House in Yountville adjacent to the Burgundy House Inn.

This part of Yountville, which we call NoYo (North Yountville) used to be known as the “Chinahouse” part of town but not quite large enough of an area to be called Chinatown.

Now called The Wine Vault at the Historic Ma(i)sonry Building, it is currently owned by RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) – a premium purveyor of furniture, lighting, textiles, rugs, bath ware, décor and outdoor products. RH operates numerous galleries throughout select parts of the United States and Canada and was founded as a single store in Eureka, California in 1979; the current headquarters are in Corte Madera (San Francisco Bay Area). RH owns more than 60 showrooms in select markets across the U.S of which as of our latest update to this review, 12 are RH Showrooms + Restaurants. Potential plans call for opening additional international gallery locations including in London and Milan. This company continues to expand its presence.

Until the complete interior and exterior courtyard redesign of 2018 (led by John Gillam of Backen, Gillam, & Kroeger Architects), Michael Polenske’s Bespoke Collection was curating and managing the art collection housed within the space and grounds. Ma(i)sonry closed temporarily in 2018 and reopened on October 1st that same year as part of the RH Gallery and Cafe (the Yountville RH Campus). The changes are dramatic; the art collection was removed, the building features more space and less objects with the focus now being on the wine.

A chandelier heavy decor is prominently featured in both the Wine Vault, the Cafe and the neighboring lifestyle gallery. The focus of this campus is as their tagline indicates, “an integration of food, wine, art & design”. While the previous selection of wines was limited to certain Napa based vintners, wines from several of these vintners continue to be offered here, however the wine selection has increased dramatically – focusing primarily on some of Napa’s most premium producers, although there are a number of higher end Sonoma County based wines also offered. And select wines available are produced from wineries who typically do not maintain their own tasting rooms or other public tasting spaces. As a result, if you would like to taste through just one of these producer’s wines you may do so by requesting one of their “wine flights”. And or wines can be ordered in 3 or 6oz pours by the glass. Specific winemakers whose wines are represented here may host guests from time to time.

One can expect to find both current and sometimes older vintages from wineries such as Eisele Vineyard, The Mascot, select Paul Hobbs produces wines, Opus One, Dominus, Shafer and others. Wines are categorized and can be ordered by variety featuring some of the most common varieties grown in Napa Valley including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir among others. There is also a selection of Bordeaux-styled red blends. Wine flights are presented in three categories, Classic (includes Napa and other locations in California), Connoisseur (focusing on single vineyard Napa wines from Napa producers) and Collector (featuring some of the Napa Valley’s most limited production and coveted wines).

Wines can also be ordered by the bottle and enjoyed inside the building or in the bucolic courtyard in a number of relaxing spaces nestled under the old olive trees. And a separate building at the edge of courtyard offers a variety of wines by the glass as well as coffee, tea and miscellaneous drinks including several specialty beers.

RH Wine Vault also provides more intimate tasting experiences by appointment, held upstairs in either of their two private rooms. This setting is an opulent reminder that when one thinks Yountville has reached a certain sophistication plateau, another space comes along and sets the bar even higher. Although for some quick perspective, after visiting the RH campus, duck into the dive bar Pancha’s located just north and across the street. A visit there, perhaps will give one some perspective of what parts of Yountville used to feel like. One can smell the cigarette smoke emanating from both within the building and from years of buildup within the walls, simply by walking close to its exterior.

While the RH Wine Vault features several gorgeous Chandeliers, the RH Restaurant next door brings the number of chandeliers to the next level. Highly visible from the sidewalk, the two primary dining spaces offer intrigue, magnificence and is clearly a space to see and be seen. In addition to all the visual opulence the food scene is contemporary California featuring fresh ingredients. And the quality of food more than holds up to the visual scene. The Bibb lettuce salad is the best of its kind we have ever had. During our latest meal here, we ordered several of these beauties. Guests interested in visiting the art galleries in the back pass through a walkway dividing the two restaurant spaces.

Several unique tasting experiences are offered at The Wine Vault including the Wine & Cheese Experience – which pairs some of their member wines with both local and imported cheese and charcuterie, the Wine & Caviar Tasting – with member wines paired with locally sourced caviar and their Apres the Day – an afterhours private tasting hosted by one of their wine consultants (ideal for slightly larger groups).

Note that the RH Wine Vault also offers concierge services to help hand craft customized itineraries in the Napa Valley (including a visit to their tasting room) as well as helping to organize lodging, lunch and dinner reservations as well as transportation. Inquire for details. This is a somewhat unique offering by a Napa Valley tasting room.

Their Medallion Membership program features three tiers of wine club membership.

Select Wines
These are tasting notes from some of their often listed Napa Valley based wineries. Lail Vineyards was one of the founding vintner partners in this tasting space.

The 2023 Lail Vineyards Georgia Sauvignon Blanc is medium gold in color; this wine is perhaps a little brighter on the bouquet than the 2022 bottling. Its scents include pineapple, green apples, lemon blossom, and some herbal but not green underlying layers including of thyme and a light note of mint. The freshly cut grass which we noticed in a barrel sample 8 months post vintage, has dissipated. But give it time in the glass, it continues to evolve and open to new layers that weren’t there initially. Harmonious is a good descriptor to already describe its cadence; on the palate there are flavors of not fully ripe pineapple, green apple, lemon zest, lemongrass, kumquat and passion fruit. More herbal than the 2022 vintage, this wine sings soprano, higher toned, juicy and mouth watering. And the finish doesn’t drop off; it continues with both its citrusy characteristics, a note of tarragon, plus its bright and bouncy acidity. It texture is smooth as satin and glides gracefully across the palate like ice skater Peggy Fleming at the height of her career. And it invites another sip and the company of shellfish – perhaps freshly shucked raw oysters. This is an exceptional vintage of Georgia.

The 2022 Continuum Sage Mountain Vineyard, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend is 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Merlot. This wine is deep ruby, opaque and sports an amaranthine rim. The attractive and compelling aromatics offer scents of dark raspberry, Santa Rosa plum, red cherry, light note of pipe tobacco and a light note of old cedar spice. But its primarily focused on its red and higher toned fruit aromatics. This wine tastes like tart cherry, red currant, cranberry, not fully ripe raspberry, sour plum and Icelandic crowberries, a flavor we were first introduced when our friends brought some of these berries back from Iceland to California in the late summer. And there is a note of darker baking spices including of clove and nutmeg. This wine is a throwback bottling to some of the great wines produced in Napa Valley from iconic producers in the 1960s and 1970s. Bright, expressive, incredible fresh, layered and with plenty of depth, it is built to go the distance, as in several decades at least with the proper cellaring. Lingers with a minerally, ferrous and earthy character, with grainy and gravelly tannins pacing the fruit in tandem on the finish.

The 2023 Corison Corazón Cienega Valley Riesling is medium gold in color; not shy in the least the bouquet offers subtle hints of petrol, a character that research shows resulting from sunburned skins – and according to Cathy, also from the site itself. Additional aromas include lanolin, a minerally attribute, white peach, citrus blossom, lemon meringue and beeswax. For lack of better adjectives, the bouquet smells energetic and vibrant. Refreshing, this wine tastes like lemon meringue, honeydew melon, mandarin orange, honeycomb, not fully ripe apricot and a lingering whisper of chalk. Finishes with what Cathy calls a snappy acidity, and we will add, a balanced acidity. This wine is always fermented completely dry in stainless steel tanks. Only about 100 cases of this are produced each year. This wine was inspired by the great Rieslings of the world including from Austria and Germany. Cathy remembers Riesling planted all over Napa Valley 50 years ago, even on the hillsides. Perhaps pair this bottling with a pork shoulder.

The 2022 TOR Chardonnay, Hyde Vineyard, Cuvée is 100% varietal; this wine is deep gold. On the bouquet there are aromas of honeysuckle, baked pineapple, apricot, melon, papaya and a light citrus influence. And barrel influences including butterscotch and vanilla. It is well-layered on both the bouquet and the palate, showcasing the full ripeness of the variety. On the palate there are flavors of papaya, baked pineapple, apricot, yellow peach, nectarine and a note of lingering vanilla. Its fleshy and oily texture is complemented with both a richness of flavor and a brightness of acidity. Long finish. This is a rich expression of the variety but is in no way oaky or buttery. The winemaking for this wine was fairly straight forward. The grapes were whole cluster pressed straight to barrel where they went through both primary and full malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged in 55% new French oak barrels with additional aging in hermitage cigar shaped barrels and a small portion in stainless steel drums and Austrian Stockinger barrels. Total aging was 14 months prior to bottling.

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In late 2022 RH purchased 856 acres in Napa Valley which includes the old Soda Springs Resort on Atlas Peak. Plans call for an ambitious project of building a high-end resort or possibly combining a resort with a winery. Looking back through history of Napa Valley large purchases with similar intents, odds are not in the favor of something like this ever being built. And if it is built, it will be most likely decades before plans come to fruition. But we will keep a close eye on potential developments and will update our notes here accordingly if plans come to fruition.

For more information and a current list of vintners represented, visit: www.rhwinevault.com

RH Wine Vault

RH Restaurant + RH Gallery

RH Marin
We spotlight this particular RH location as it features both galleries (spread over two floors) and a restaurant and rooftop on the third floor. And also, because this is the closest RH gallery to the RH company headquarters (less than a 5-minute drive away). This location is much larger than RH in Yountville and features 60,000 square feet; it is located in a standalone building on the east side of The Village at Corte Madera Shopping Center in the parking lot near the mall’s main entrance.

RH Marin opened in early fall 2020. It is located with no traffic about 30 minutes from downtown San Francisco and a little over an hour from RH Yountville.

It is always nice when a restaurant makes use of outdoor rooftop space; RH features a number of cozy and comfortable sit-down spaces on the roof, each with a private fireplace. Hedges help block the view of the nearby parking lot below and old olive trees add a calming influence. But if one stands up and looks to the southeast, one will have excellent views of nearby San Quentin Prison and the edges of San Francisco Bay. And one can see Mt. Tamalpais by walking to the other side of the restaurant and looking to the west.

RH Marin offers a variety of wines by the glass, both from Napa & Sonoma and beyond. They are known for the RH Bellini which is a blend of peach purée and Prosecco.