7 Wineries Offering Good Company With Great Wine

Many of these wineries are family businesses--and it shows with the care they offer.
BY TOURING & TASTING

Wente Vineyards

What to Buy:
'12 Charles Wetmore Cabernet Sauvignon - $30
Black cherry, mocha, vanilla, chocolate, oak

'13 Morning Fog Estate Grown Chardonnay - $15
Green apple, tropical fruit, vanilla, toasty oak

'13 Riva Ranch Single Vineyard Chardonnay - $22
Tropical fruit, butter, vanilla, subtle oak

'12 The Nth Degree Chardonnay - $80
Ripe apple, apricot, nutmeg, tropical fruit, graham, clove

The Winemakers Studio: Open Thur-Sun 11-5
Vineyard Tasting Room: Open Daily 11-6:30
Estate Tasting Room: Open Daily 11-5

It's nearly impossible to describe Wente Vineyards without using superlatives like “longest,” “most,” and “best.” For starters, with a history in wine that dates back 131 years, Wente Vineyards is the oldest continuously operated family-owned winery in the United States. From its earliest years, it has also been a leader in the world of wine, maintaining a global vision for quality and integrity in every aspect of the wine industry. The legacy of Wente Vineyards is a story of integrity, perseverance, and family. It begins with Carl H. Wente, an immigrant from Hanover, Germany, who arrived in America around 1870. After spending a few years learning about winemaking in the cellar at Charles Krug Winery in the Napa Valley, Carl was drawn 70 miles south to the Livermore Valley. He moved there with his wife Barbara in 1883 to manage a vineyard and quickly invested in it. He sold his first vintages from barrels on a wagon. By the time two of Carl’s seven children, Ernest and Herman, became winemakers in the early 1900s, the family winery was a well-established, successful business selling premium quality wine in bulk.
www.wentewinemakers.com

Chateau St. Jean

What to Buy:
'12 Pinot Blanc, Alexander Valley, Robert Young Vineyard - $24
Pear, honeydew melon, hazelnut, vanilla, peach, apricot, citrus

'11 Cinq Cépages - $80
Blueberry, fresh Santa Rosa plum, cocoa powder, brown spice

Tasting Room Hours: Open Daily 10-5

Founded in 1973, the winery has the distinction of producing the first Sonoma County wine (the Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon) to be chosen by Wine Spectator as its Wine of the Year. The estate has delivered a relaxed French flair to the foot of Sonoma Valley’s Sugarloaf Ridge, with a graciously staffed Visitor Center and elegant gardens designed to provide the utmost in tasting experiences. Visitors are invited to enjoy the seated charcuterie at the Chateau tasting, which pairs local artisan cheeses with Chateau St. Jean’s award-winning wines. Guests looking for a one-of-a-kind tasting experience are invited to the Cinq Rêves tasting, where rare, highly sought-after library wines are shared, including some of the most coveted vintages of the flagship Cinq Cépages. But it would be a mistake to think that people visit Chateau St. Jean purely for its ambiance. Chateau St. Jean has a long-standing reputation for the exceptional quality of its wines. The winery was one of the first to craft single-vineyard designated wines. And the winery boasts a legacy of great winemaking talent.
www.chateaustjean.com

Robert Mondavi Winery

What to Buy:
'13 Moscato D’Oro - $25
Peach, lychee fruit, orange blossom

'13 Pinot Noir Reserve - $65
Ripe black cherry, clove, nutmeg

'12 Oakville District Cabernet Sauvignon - $55
Black fruit, fresh bay, black pepper

'12 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - $145
Black cherry, cassis, dried herbs

Tasting Room Hours: Open Daily 10-5

With his belief that the Napa Valley could be the center of a gracious life- style embracing wine, food, and art, Robert Mondavi built the valley’s first major winery since Prohibition in 1966. Since then, Robert Mondavi Winery has been the quintessential destination for visitors to the Napa Valley, who are drawn by the winery’s history, the legacy of fine winemaking, the stunning mission-inspired architecture by Cliff May, and the robust menus of tours, tastings, and elevated wine programs. With the growing popularity of wine tourism, the winery recognizes that many guests are seeking unique opportunities for wine education and enjoyment. No longer content to rush from winery to winery simply tasting wines, today’s visitors are looking for authentic experiences, a slower pace, and a chance to connect with friends and family during their visits. For this reason, the winery recently moved its main tasting bar to its Vineyard Room and renovated its outdoor spaces to include several 126 20th Anniversary Platinum Year inviting patios with comfortable seating and shade umbrellas. Here, guests can relax and enjoy the beauty of the celebrated To Kalon Vineyard without feeling rushed or crowded.
www.robertmondaviwinery.com

The Hess Collection

What to Buy:
'12 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon - $60
Cherry, raspberries, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, oak spice

'12 Mount Veeder Chardonnay - $40
White peach, nectarine, pear, persimmon, no oak

'12 Mount Veeder 19 Block Mountain Cuvée - $38
Blueberries, black licorice, black currant, oak spice, vanilla, clove

Tasting Room Hours: Open Daily 10–5:30

Hidden away in the hills of Napa along a scenic road ascending Mount Veeder, the Hess Collection is a world-class winery that combines founder Donald Hess’s passion for unique vineyards and excellent wine with his appreciation of fine modern art. Donald, who was born in Switzerland, grew up surrounded by the finest vineyards of Europe, and after developing an interest in winegrowing, decided he wanted to build a beautiful vineyard that could produce quality wine. In the early 1970s, he began searching for a suitable site, and when he came to the Napa Valley for a business trip, he knew he had found the right place. His research on the region led him to Mount Veeder, where he discovered vineyards with an ideal combination of soils and microclimates for yielding wine grapes of distinctive character. He acquired his first land on the mountain in 1978 and started to make handcrafted, small-lot wines, marking the beginning of the Hess Collection.
www.hesscollection.com

Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard

What to Buy:
'12 Cabernet Franc - $26
Blackberries, violets, vanilla bean, cinnamon, mocha, red plum

'14 Syrah Rosé - $18
Red rhubarb, spicy hint of anise, Bing cherry, blood orange zest

'13 Signature Blend Sauvignon Blanc - $16
Grapefruit pith, honeydew, rocky earth, tangy lemon-lime, passion fruit, breadfruit, dried sage

Tasting Room: Open Daily 11-5

Long before grapevines were planted on the hilltop at Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard, it was home to horses, goats, and chickens; trees bearing fruit, nuts, and olives; and gardens filled with vegetables, herbs, and flowers. And long before the words “sustainable” and “organic” were part of the common vernacular, they were ardently practiced here. The farm has been operating since the 1800s. Buttonwood Farm—named after the buttonwood, a sycamore tree native to the area—was purchased by Betty Williams in 1968. From the beginning, she was dedicated to maintaining and nurturing the beautiful 106-acre parcel of land. Winemaker Karen Steinwachs believes that wine, food, and companionship are the ultimate, down-to-earth luxuries. “We were a farm and have been since 1968,” Karen says. “Way before it was cool, we were green and locavores.” Buttonwood wines are distinctive, well-structured, and balanced—often with an intriguingly flinty, mineral characteristic that Karen calls “buttonwoodish”—in their entry and finish. Buttonwood wines are exquisite on their own, but they taste even better when paired with food.
www.buttonwoodwinery.com

Cathedral Ridge Winery

What to Buy:
'11 Dampier Pinot Noir Reserve - $48
Violets, rhubarb, caramel

'10 Rock Star Red - $48
Bold, cedar, dusty blackberries

'11 Chardonnay Reserve - $44
Honey, hazelnuts, pears

Tasting Room: Open Daily 11–6

Making its mark on the stunningly beautiful Columbia River Gorge, Cathedral Ridge Winery captures rave reviews, including Wine Press Northwest’s 2007 Oregon Winery of the Year and Wine & Spirits’ Top 50 Pinot Noirs. More recently, Cathedral Ridge was awarded a Double Gold Medal for its Barbera Reserve at the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Cathedral Ridge Winery was founded in 2003, when Robb Bell purchased the former Flerchinger Vineyards. He named the winery Cathedral Ridge after the striking knife-edge ridge running off the northwest summit of Mount Hood. This impressive ridgeline is known to climbers as difficult to find, but worth the trip. Robb expresses this same passion in his wines. Robb’s winemaking vision places emphasis on a variety of great red wines reminiscent of the great wine regions of the world: Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Rhône, with a bit of Tempranillo, Barbera, and Zinfandel thrown in. In order to create superb, handcrafted wines, Robb invited fourth-generation Californian winemaker Michael Sebastiani to begin blending, and retained Lonnie Wright of The Pines Vineyard and Winery as the winery’s grape specialist. The impact was immediate and outstanding, with Cathedral Ridge Winery receiving many accolades and awards.
www.cathedralridgewinery.com

ROCO Winery

What to Buy:
'12 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir - $30
Spice, red cherry, cinnamon, vanilla

'13 Chardonnay - $40
Guava, cinnamon, green apple

Tasting Room: Open: June - October: Thur - Mon 11-5; November - May Thur - Sun 11 - 5

Named after Rollin and Corby Soles, ROCO Winery represents the combined energy of a tireless married couple who dreamed for decades of starting their own winery focused on grapes grown on their property in the Chehalem Mountains of Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley. ROCO’s story dates back to 1987, when Rollin and Corby purchased a unique hillside property near the quaint town of Newberg. At that time, Rollin was in the founding stages at Argyle Winery, and Corby coowned Panther Creek Cellars and worked as a founding member of the International Pinot Noir Celebration. It wasn’t until 2001 that they planted their first vineyard and, two years later, produced the first Private Stash Pinot Noir from their own estate, Wits’ End Vineyard. Since that first vintage, ROCO has been served in the White House and received 90-plus points from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator, including an impressive 95 points for the 2010 ROCO Private Stash.
www.rocowinery.com