Pahlmeyer Wine produced their first vintage in 1986, a proprietary red blend. Their first vintages were made at Merryvale Winery; they began producing wine at Napa Wine Co in 1994, where we first met up with them for a private tasting many years ago soon after Napa Wine Co underwent a huge renovation to accommodate production from wineries who do not … [Read more...]

Component Wine Company is one of four wine brands part of the Vin Fraîche Wine Group - a collection of sommelier and winemaker created and owned wines ranging from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Bordeaux and Tuscany. The wine brands are Component Wines (Napa Valley & Bordeaux), Gagnon-Kennedy (primarily Napa Valley), SOM, State of Mind (Oregon, … [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...]

Aum Cellars is owned and operated by Peter Hoffman, a fellow Cal Poly, SLO graduate who also shares the same somewhat esoteric major as us, a Bachelor of Science, Ecology, Systemic Biology. Peter grew up in and around what was at the time one of California's largest vineyards in Rancho Cucamonga (Southern California). His family has been involved in … [Read more...]

Hagafen Cellars has been producing award winning wines since their first vintage in 1980; this original wine was bottled as a Johannisberg Riesling, made at Louis Bertolucci Cellars, now known as Madonna Estate on the Napa Valley side of the Carneros District. This first vintage was made as a kosher wine. Production has ebbed and flowed since then, with an … [Read more...]

CHANDON California is one of Napa Valley's iconic and well- visited wineries; they are only one of four Napa Valley based wineries that focus on sparkling wine production, i.e. Champagne style wines (the others being Mumm Napa Valley, Domain Carneros and Schramsberg). CHANDON California owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH); LVMH also owns or has part … [Read more...]

Bergman Estate. The property for Bergman Estate was acquired by Alan and Pam Bergman in 2013; they eventually acquired a neighboring parcel for a total of 40 acres. Ten acres are currently planted including 8 acres to red varieties: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Merlot. Two terraced acres on a triangular hill are planted … [Read more...]

Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi was founded and is owned by two winemakers, Lucas Foppa Alves and Ricardo Ambrosi with their first vintage produced in Brazil in 2017. Tenuta in Italian refers to estate; this part of Brazil was settled by many Italians whose relatives still live in the region. Both men met in 2012 while students at Instituto Federal de Bento … [Read more...]

Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards is located a few miles from the Silverado Trail, accessed via windy and narrow roads meandering through rolling hills. Their property is not flat but rather a series of rolling hills next to valley floor land; the physical winery is located on the lower part of the property at an elevation between 400-600 feet. The winery … [Read more...]

Calafia Cellars was founded in 1979 with the release of their first vintage and is owned by Randle & Mary Lee Johnson; Randle has been the winemaker since their inaugural vintage. During the early years of Calafia, Randle was making 7 different wines and around 2,000 cases. Later, and for a number of years he made just one wine, a Napa Valley Cabernet … [Read more...]