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 from a single‑wine vision … [Read more...]

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 clear days the snowcapped mountains of some of the … [Read more...]

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 and Leticia Jarvis. William met Leticia in … [Read more...]

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 Spectator. The first Altamura red wine was a Cabernet … [Read more...]

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 is in the Bellinzona … [Read more...]

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 location at the time … [Read more...]

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 and San Jose … [Read more...]

Outpost Winery is located on top of Summit Lake Drive at an elevation of 2200 feet – about 10 minutes outside of the small town of Angwin. This road should almost be called Zinfandel Drive as several other premium Zinfandel producers are located within minutes of Outpost off of this same road. This is in northern Napa Valley's Howell Mountain appellation. As … [Read more...]

William Cole Vineyards. Founders William (Bill) and Jane Ballentine purchased this historic property in 1999. Bill is the vineyard manager and winemaker; his family has a deeply rooted history in Napa Valley dating back to 1906 when his great grandfather on his maternal side, Libero Pocai, an immigrant from Lucca, Italy purchased 60 acres of land in Napa … [Read more...]

Lewis Cellars was established in 1992 by Randy and Debbie Lewis; Debbie passed far too young in 2017 from cancer. Randy grew up in Atlanta, Georgia; his previous career was in professional car racing. He competed in a variety of races including Formula Three in Europe, Formula 5000 and five Indianapolis 500 races. He is not the only former professional racer … [Read more...]