Tamber Bey Vineyards

Tamber Bey Vineyards produced their first commercial vintage in 2001 and now crafts over 5,000 cases a year (and growing). Tamber Bey was the first “new” public tasting room to open in St. Helena; however, in late summer 2013, they closed their tasting room and moved to and opened a new winery location off of Tubbs Lane in Calistoga. This 22-acre site (Sundance Ranch) is located on Tubbs Lane just north of the town of Calistoga. The use of the property is unique – an existing building was converted to a winery, and a prior house now serves as the tasting room. However, what is rare in the Napa Valley is a winery combined with the equestrian world. There is space for more than 40 horses on site and at any given time a number of horses are always kept here including a number of horses owned by area vintners. A full-time horse trainer lives on site – some of their more exotic horses include Arabian endurance racehorses and some miniature horses. This is also home to Napa County’s largest horse rescue organization.

While Tamber Bey sources grapes from outside of Napa County, the focus of their production is on two vineyards under their ownership – each very different from the other in terms of soils and microclimates – despite being only about 1500 feet apart. One is located in the southern Oakville sub-appellation and the other one in the northern Yountville appellation. Their Oakville estate features a Tuscan-style villa including a guest house which is sometimes available for rent to their wine club members.

The Oakville Vineyard is 3 acres and is planted in clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon (a Bordeaux variety known for small berries & intense flavors). Their 60 acre “Deux Chevaux Vineyard”, meaning two horses in French (not to be confused with Mumm Napa’s Carneros based Devaux Vineyard Ranch) in Yountville is planted with several varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The winery was founded and is owned by Barry and Jennifer Waite. Barry (an early employee and investor at Apple) used to vacation in Napa Valley as a child and fell in love with the wine country. He enjoys endurance horse racing; the name Tamber Bey comes from shortening and combining the names of two of his former racehorses.

We’ve seen a number of wineries named after dogs, but this is the first one in our Napa odyssey that is named after horses. Their “mythical” horse appears on all their labels. As of our latest update to this review, they produce 10+ wines – all generally fermented with non-inoculated yeasts. Accomplished and well-respected Thomas Brown was their founding winemaker and designed the winery; while he no longer handles the primary winemaking duties, he still consults for Tamber Bey and is often on site.

Select Wines
The Tamber Bey 2018 Lizzy’s Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (located off of Oakville Cross Road) is pale to medium yellow; the bouquet reminds of a freshly sliced pineapple and triggers a memory of harvesting and cutting open a ripe pineapple on the island of Mo’orea in the warm sunshine during the summer of 2020. As the wine opens shows notes of white peach and a floral note (jasmine). Also offers a pleasing aromatic of vanilla and caramel on the edges of the bouquet. Features plenty of acid pleasing brightness and freshness across the palate with flavors of lemon drops and some lime notes. Also shows a steely minerality nuance. Very balanced. Finishes rich in flavor. This wine was aged for 7 months in both a combination of stainless-steel vessels, neutral French oak barrels and a small percentage of acacia oak barrels.

The 2019 Tamber Bey Sans Chêne Chardonnay is 100% Dijon clone and was sourced from both the Trio Vineyard and Deux Chevaux Vineyards in Yountville. The wine is medium gold in color; shows sweet aromatics of honeysuckle, ripe nectarine, Golden Delicious apple, Comice pear and vanilla extract. Rounded and richly flavored across the palate, this wine is noteworthy for what it is lacking (no malolactic fermentation, overt creaminess, butter notes or oak influence). Lingers with a rich brightness of both fruit, acid and a subtle hint of vanilla sweetness. This is one of Napa Valley’s most refreshingly pure Chardonnays. This wine is a true expression of the variety; Sans Chêne translates in French to without oak; it was entirely aged in stainless steel.

The 2018 Tamber Bey Merlot, Yountville is 100% varietal from the Deux Chevaux Vineyard in Yountville. Color is not a problem with this wine – shows deep ruby in the glass. One immediately notices the powerful aromatics. Initially the bouquet reveals notes of freshly baked bread just out of the oven (the smell of yeast), dark chocolate, plum, black currant, boysenberry and a hint of dried tobacco leaf. This is a very distinctive bouquet. Offers mouth filling fruit – the palate is juicy with light to medium textured tannins. The finish is a bit savory, persisting with both some pepper spice notes and cedar. There is plenty of character to pique the interest of those who generally gravitate toward rich Napa Valley grown and produced Cabernet Sauvignon. Very nicely done.

The 2016 Tamber Bey Deux Chevaux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby red in color – both elegant and ripe on the bouquet, offers aromas of ripe blackberry and dark plum along with pretty secondary aromas including French vanilla bean, espresso, raisins soaked in rum, and a pleasing brown chocolate nuance. Rounded on the entry and packed with flavor shows blackberry and boysenberry – more black fruit dominated then red fruit. Lingers with dessert spices and well-integrated somewhat chalky tannins (not grippy). A crowd pleaser.

The 2005 Tamber Bey Chardonnay is a gorgeous wine that shows a nice golden color in the glass. It is usually their first wine to sell out due to its limited production and popularity. The grapes sourced for this wine (Dijon clone) are also used for another local wineries’ high-end Chardonnay. This wine is barrel fermented for a lengthy 17 months and for a long portion of that time is not stirred during the aging. The thinking behind this is that if you stop agitating the wine you will better preserve the inherent flavors of the fruit (including citrus) as well as the wine’s structure. Due to the popularity of this wine, Tamber Bey added another 4 acres of this specific Chardonnay clone.

The 2008 Tamber Bey Deux Chevaux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a great value. It’s a wine with nice complexities in the nose as well as layers of aroma. The entry on the palate is rather soft but then the layers of flavor show mid palate – blackberry, dark chocolate and just a trace of oak on the finish.

A red blend called Rabicano is named after specific set of white markings often found on horses. Their first vintage was merely 350 cases but quickly sold out – the next vintage jumped to 1200 cases. This is crafted each year to be a food friendly wine – although the varietal percentages do change each vintage.

The Oakville Cabernet is their flagship wine; the 2004 vintage is already a well-balanced wine with flavors of licorice and even hints of black fig. Let this wine age for a few years and one should receive some additional satisfaction from the bottle. The tannins do not disrupt and only add depth to the long finish. One can sometimes find their wines locally at ACME Wine Shop and Gary’s, both located in the town of St. Helena.

Tastings
The tasting room is first rate; is spacious and well appointed. It is so nice when you are able to talk to someone knowledgeable about the wine at a public tasting room (as is the case here) rather than someone who just “pours” wine. Their offices adjoin the tasting room and owners Barry and Jennifer Waitte are often around.

The tasting menu includes several flight options and visitors can buy wine by the glass or by the bottle. Check out the cool “water” bottles featuring fine filtered St. Helena tap water with owner Barry’s humor showing through on the back label! In addition to tasting at their bar, wines can also be enjoyed outside in a courtyard near the horse stables. And if you are visiting during lunch time, Tamber Bey provides a picnic lunch option to pair with the tasting.

Their most unique tasting are wines paired with a cookie tasting. They have partnered with a local cookie chef in the city of Napa – and each cookie was specially created to pair with one of their wines. Names such as Wasabi Ginger, Black Bacon, and Cardamom Crunch gives you an idea of the diversity of flavors offered.

Serious wine enthusiasts can make an appointment to visit and taste at their Oakville estate, (where we were first introduced to their wines many years ago). This property is also home for their Arabian endurance horses which Barry regularly rides. For more information or to join their wine club, visit: www.tamberbey.com

Exterior

Interior

Horses/stables

Snow on Mt. St. Helena & the Palisades