Silver Oak Cellars is a Napa Valley 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 into a highly … [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...]

Favia Wine was founded by noted viticulturist Annie Favia and her husband and wine maker, Andy Erickson. Wine making was not their initial career paths - Andy (originally from Indiana) majored in Political Science at Tufts University with an emphasis on Latin American policies while Annie majored in French Literature at George Washington University and was … [Read more...]

Domaine Carneros is a winery that one won't easily miss seeing while driving through the Carneros region of Napa Valley. The winery looks very European and is perched high on a hill, so it is easily seen from the well-traveled Highway 12. As a result, weekends combined with good weather can make for a very busy tasting experience. We have visited many times; … [Read more...]

Lail Vineyards was founded by long time Napa Valley vintner Robin (Daniel) Lail and her family. Robin's history in Napa Valley is significant and deeply rooted. Her great-grand uncle was Gustave Niebaum the founder of Napa's iconic Inglenook Winery. Her father was John Daniel, Jr. (died at age 63 in 1970) who inherited Inglenook winery from his father, also … [Read more...]

Ehlers Estate is located about 2 miles north of St. Helena on the east side of Highway 29 on Ehlers Lane. This location is in the heart of the north part of Napa Valley, is quite scenic and well removed from the often-busy wine strip of Highway 29, especially to the south of St. Helena. As a result of their historic setting, intimate tasting experiences and … [Read more...]

Black Cordon was founded by the husband wife team of David and Karen Dunphy with their first vintage from 2007. Both are from Minnesota. David has been a self-admitted "wine geek" since the age of 18. His wine journey began with French wines, followed by Spanish bottlings and then wines from Italy. His epiphany wine was a 1969 La Tache he acquired for $12. … [Read more...]