Category: Wineries

There actually is a fellow named J. (for Jerry) Lohr.  He began making wines in California’s Central Coast back in the 1970’s, first in Arroyo Seco and then in Paso Robles.  He also owns a vineyard in Napa Valley but the main production comes from the center of the state.  J. Lohr has two tasting rooms, the original one in San Jose and a newer one in Paso itself, on the less artisanal east side of Route 101.

The J. Lohr tasting room in San Jose.  Photo courtesy of Travel Expert Wiki.

The San Jose site is on a city street, just off a major boulevard.  We’re fond of in-town tasting in places like Healdsburg or Calistoga, where there are several tasting rooms you can walk to.  But finding one in a city of a million people is neither bad nor good, but it is definitely unusual.  For one thing, there’s no place to park; you just find a spot in the street.  For another, there’s no indication that you’re in Wine Country.  The tasting room just stands alone.

It’s a pleasant, brick building covered in vines.  Once you enter, it’s like any tasting room anywhere: a long bar, some tables, wines on display.  And there are quite a few red and white wines available for tasting, that do show off what J. Lohr wines are all about.

And what they are about is, for the most part, easy accessibility.  You may already be familiar with these wines from a local wine shop or on a restaurant menu.  Many are inexpensive and are appropriate for casual drinking.  So why go out of your way to taste them?

The reason is that like many wineries that make their living in the mass market, they also have some wines that defy your expectations.  This applies to J. Lohr.  Yes, there are Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons available for under $15.00.  But there are also single vineyard varietals including Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands and Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyard in Napa Valley.  Even these, by today’s standards for such wines, are relatively affordable.

And then there are a few of J. Lohr’s wines that are clearly intended to show what this winery is capable of.  As with other makers of widely sold wines, it’s a pleasure to find out that their winemakers have the talent – and the grapes – to make fine wine.  Power Tasting is about wine tasting, so we’ll leave it to wine critics to say just how good J. Lohr’s top wines are.  We found some of their Signature series wines to be quite enjoyable and certainly didn’t consider them to be casual.

We were in Silicon Valley on business and took a little side trip to San Jose to visit this tasting room.  We wouldn’t recommend a special journey there, but if you are in the area it’s worth a stop.  One of the pleasures of wine tasting is surprises, finding something you enjoy that you didn’t even know existed.  We can’t promise that all their best wines will be available for tasting when you go, but there will probably be something you’ve never tasted before.  Finding the top-end products of wineries you only thought of as making picnic wine is a very pleasant surprise indeed.

As we have written previously, wine tasting in Bordeaux seems more than a little formal and stuffy for those of us used to visiting wineries in the U.S.  In that region of Wine Country, Saint-Émilion offers visitors the most relaxed experience.  The town itself is lively and welcoming and there are many wineries to visit without an appointment.  Nonetheless, if you want to try the wines of the top châteaux, you’ll need an appointment.

Photo courtesy of Wine.com.

One we have enjoyed is Château Fonplégade (www.fonplegade.com).  Its wines are grand cru classé.  That classé is important.  Any Saint-Émilion vineyard can call itself grand cru, but the classé must be awarded by the local wine authorities.  [The top top wines of Saint-Émilion are called premier grand cru classé.]  Of course, for a visitor, the only important thing is to taste good wine, and we have had that experience at Château Fonplégade.

Interestingly, it is owned and operated by American wine makers, Denise and Stephen Adams.  They also make ADAMVS, on Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain.  It seems that Denise is the one most actively involved at Château Fonplégade.  The couple haven’t Napafied Château Fonplégade but they have raised the quality of the wine enough to obtain the cherished classé.

Unlike what we generally find in California, the French vineyard makes only two wines: the namesake Château Fonplégade and a lesser second label, Fleur de Fonplégade.  (The couple also own the Château l’Enclos in Pomerol.)  And of course being from Saint-Émilion, the wines are a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.  Another aspect that distinguishes Château Fonplégade is that their wines are made biodynamically, a trend becoming quite common in France (and in California too, for that matter.)

The cellars at Château Fonplégade.  Photo courtesy of The Wine Cellar Insider.

Bordeaux rules require that all the grapes of any vineyard must come from the contiguous estate surrounding the château. Therefore, the château itself is surrounded by vines, which seem to extend forever.  Some châteaux may be no more that humble farmhouses, but in Fonplégade’s case the building is an elegant 19^th century structure, intended to project the wealth and taste of its owners.  That has always been the case, but the previous owners had let it run down a bit.  The Adams’ invested in upgrading not only the château wine making facilities and the cellars.

Also under the previous regime, Fonplégade welcomed tour groups.  That is no longer the case.  You must have an appointment and the visits are, in the winery’s term, intimate.  That shouldn’t scare away American visitors.  We have met Denise Adams and she is a very easy-to-talk-to person.  The team at Fonplégade takes on that personality.

As to the word: Fonplégade means “fountain of plenty”.  There is a 13^th century fountain on the property that inspired the name.  It is still in use to moisten the vineyard in dry years.

 

Tamber Bey (www.tamberbey.com) is a unique experience for visitors to Napa Valley, one that hearkens back to the valley’s past.  Where today there are vineyards, restaurants and resorts not that long ago were orchards and ranches.  Tamber Bey combines the owner’s interests in both wine and horses.  The winery and tasting room are located at Sundance Ranch, where you can not only taste wine but also enjoy their horses.

In another article in this issue, we talk about discovering wines at dinner and following up with a visit thereafter.  We first discovered Tamber Bey on a small, eclectic wine list where we knew none of the wines.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was powerful and rich in the mouth then (and still is), so we drove over to see what else they had.  What we found was a ranch house (now a tasting room) with a large area behind it where visitors can lounge and horses can be stabled.  There were no vines to be seen.

The tasting room is made of wood, as is the entire location.  There’s a large bar with enough space for a dozen or so visitors to be comfortable.  We don’t think it was ever meant to be a destination for busloads of wine tasters.  If that were to occur, there’s plenty of room out back for them to sit, wander and enjoy their wine.  So when you go to Tamber Bey, try to avoid a rainy day.

Service at the bar is unusual, at least one day that we were there.  One of the servers was a fellow who we had come to know at another winery.  The other one was the Tamber Bey’s owner, Barry Waitte, who made his first fortune in information technology.  We hardly guarantee that Mr. Waitte will be pouring you some wine when you visit, but it could happen.

Tamber Bey has three levels of wine.  There’s the Vineyard Series, made from grapes grown in their vineyards in Oakville and Yountville.  Their best wines are in the Signature Collection, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and a Bordeaux blend they call Vermejo.  All but the Pinot Noir are estate grown.  Finally, they have introduced a second label called Three Steeds.  (There’s a lot about horses here.)  Usually second labels are inferior to the proprietary label, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Three Steeds.

About the horses: Mr. Waitte does own some fine Arabians, but the purpose of the Tamber Bey stables is to care for rescue horses that have been mistreated elsewhere.  We’re not horse people, but that seems like a pretty noble endeavor to us.

For the most part, Tamber Bey’s wines are powerful, with a great deal of alcohol in the reds.  This may not be to everyone’s taste.  Keep this in mind if you are likely to visit Tamber Bey after several other stops.

There is no place in Napa Valley, or for that matter anywhere in Wine Country, quite like Tamber Bey.  So come for the ranch ambiance and the horses and have some wine while you’re there.

From a wine tasting perspective, Santa Barbara has a split personality.  Uptown is all elegant hotels, fine restaurants and well-appointed tasting rooms.  Downtown, near the Pacific Ocean, is what they call the Funk Zone, which is all, well, funk.  This is not to say that there isn’t good wine to be had in the Funk Zone, just that the overall ambiance is not quite like anywhere else we have ever seen in Wine Country.

The Kunin tasting room in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone.  Photo courtesy of hotelcalifornian.com.

Right in the middle of the Funk Zone is Kunin Wines, which has identity crisis of its own.  Not a crisis, really; Kunin seems to be quite comfortable with its identity.  But it’s a little different than other Santa Barbara wineries.  For one thing, perhaps the most important, there’s the wine.  Santa Barbara is Pinot Noir and Chardonnay country.  Kunin primarily makes Rhône-style wines from grapes as diverse as Grenache (red and white), Syrah, Viognier, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Roussanne and Counoise.  That’s quite a selection for an American-owned winery in southern California.

A quiet time at the bar at the Kunin tasting room.  Photo courtesy of Keepin’ It Kind.

We’ve found that the servers are quite liberal with offering a variety of tastes if you show genuine interest, not just a desire for alcohol.  But then there’s the matter of Kunin’s identity crisis.  Up until around the lunch hour, visitors can sit at the bar, taste, discuss and enjoy in a thoughtful and unhurried manner.  But once the afternoon arrives, so do the partiers.  And we do mean PAR-TEE.

The tasting room is in a building of no particular architectural interest.  But there’s a long front porch, a wide-open door and a large rectangular bar.   Just perfect for wine tasting near the beach.  And so later in the day it becomes packed – bar, porch and street front and the crowd didn’t seem to be involved in a conversation on the relative merits of real Rhône wines and California varietals.

Now we have nothing against parties.  Who doesn’t like a good party?  It’s just that when we drink wine at a party, we expect it to be cold, wet and alcoholic, nothing more.  But Kunin makes serious wine and it’s a shame not to enjoy it on its own terms.  Don’t misunderstand; these are California Rhône-style wines, not imitation anything.  They cannot be confused with wine made in the south of France, nor should they be.

For example, Kunin makes two wines they call Pape Star and Pape Star Blonde.  They’re meant to be a “versatile take on France’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape”.  A take, perhaps, but hardly to be confused with the real thing.  From our point of view, they would be better off calling these wines simply California Rhône Blends, both red and white.  Drinkers should appreciate them for what they are, not what they aren’t.

We were several decades older than any other people in the tasting room and so maybe younger people will experience Kunin differently than we did.  Whatever your age, Kunin is worth a visit.

If you’d like to have a glimpse of what Sonoma County used to be while still tasting wines that might appeal to more modern tastes, Foppiano vineyards is a winery to add to your list.  One reason it’s like what Sonoma County once was is that Foppiano was there back then.  It was founded in 1896 by Giovanni Foppiano, an Italian immigrant from Genoa.  To the present day, there are many Sonoma Country wineries with Italian names; in this case, the Foppiano family still owns and runs it.

Foppiano’s winery.  Photo courtesy of Sonoma County Tourism.

The winery is a little bit out of the way although it’s easy enough to find if you start in downtown Healdsburg.  Just head down the Old Redwood Highway and there it is.  (It’s tougher to find coming off Route 101.)  It’s hard to miss, with “L. Foppiano Wine Co.” written in big letters on the side of their production building.

The Foppiano orange tree, in full (sour) fruit.

Foppiano is located in the northeast corner of the Russian River Valley, although it doesn’t feel that typical of the region.  The general image of Russian River is of winding lanes through the forest and alongside vineyards.  Old Redwood Highway and the roads that feed into it are straight as an arrow and the landscape is open and flat.

Foppiano’s tasting room.  Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.com.

Foppiano’s tasting room is housed in a little white clapboard house with a huge orange tree outside.  (They’re happy to let you take any oranges that fall, because they’re terribly sour.)  The building backs up to their factory, so the overall impression is “rustic industrial”.  The impression is softened by the vineyards that surround the buildings.  The tasting room is a bit dark with a simple bar, lit by big windows that overlook the vineyards.

As is often the case with smaller Sonoma County wineries, Foppiano produces an extremely wide range of wines.  There are Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Cabernets Sauvignons, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Zin, a Rosé, some sparklers and even a Carignane.  With that many varietals, it is unlikely that all of them will appeal to all tastes.

However, there is one varietal for which Foppiano is best known: Petite Sirah.  A hybrid of Syrah and Peloursin, this grape was developed in France but is now largely grown only in California.  Many use it as a blending grape to provide color and depth; Foppiano began bottling it as a varietal in 1967.  Their Petite Sirahs are dark, unctuous and deeply flavorful.  Prepare for blue teeth if you try some.  In our opinion, even though their wines are drinkable on release, they really need several years cellaring to knock of some of the rougher edges.

With 125 years of history, Foppiano has certainly seen a lot of changes, both in their vineyards and in the life of Sonoma County.  For most of those years, they produced jug wines and in tribute to those days, they still sell half-gallon growlers of Petite Sirah.  We see Foppiano as a bit of a throwback to a slower, less frenzied time when the roads of the county were filled with tractors, not tourists.  As the song says, these are the good old days, but it’s pleasant to visit the good older days, too.

Champagne is a sparkling wine.  If it’s really Champagne, the grapes are grown and the wine is made in the Champagne region of northern France.  Sparkling wine made in California isn’t called Champagne, with a few exceptions.  There are a few, such as Korbel and André that had been using the word historically, so they were allowed to continue using it.  (Many of us had our first taste of sparklers that come from those two producers, but if you’re into wine tasting, you probably haven’t had any of their wines for decades.)

The Taittinger visiting facility in Reims, France. 

Many of the better French producers have established wineries in California.  Among them are Moët & Chandon/Domaine Chandon and Mumm/Mumm Napa.  Taittinger in Reims developed Domaine Carneros in 1987, and the Napa Valley site is among the most visited wineries in the region.  Although the two wineries have the same ownership, they are operated completely independently.

Domaine Carneros, surrounded by vines.

For the wine-tasting visitor, there is a broad comparison between the French and American wineries.  The French winery is essentially a factory complex on an urban street.  Grape vines are nowhere to be seen.  The site was an abbey in pre-Revolutionary times, but nothing remains of it, except its cellars.  Domaine Carneros is also a factory but it looks very much like a French château.  In fact, it is modeled on (but is not a replica of) the Taittinger family manse in Champagne, nowhere near the factory.  The California site is surrounded by vineyards and rolling hills, one of the most appealing vistas in Napa Valley.

The caves at Taittinger, showing the gate used by the monks in pre-Revolutionary Reims.

Both locations offer interesting tours.  At Taittinger, they walk visitors through the caves where they age their top Champagne.  You can see where the monks of the ancient abbey managed the wines in their time.  Even better, you can see a section of the cellars that were dug out by the Romans when Reims was called Durocortorum.  There’s nothing in California to beat that, but then a tour at Domaine Carneros actually gives you an understanding of how sparkling wine is made.

The tour at Taittinger concludes with a glass of Champagne; for an extra fee you can have Comtes de Champagne, their premier offering.  The California tour includes a tasting of several of Domaine Carneros’ sparkling wines, including their top wine, Le Rêve (“the dream” in French).  Better yet, even without a tour you can sit on their expansive veranda and order sparkling wine by the glass.  Sipping while taking in the view is quite a treat.

Taittinger makes only Champagnes.  Domaine Carneros also offers some excellent Pinot Noirs and have recently added a Merlot.  These still wines are also available for ordering at the winery.

The question remains: Which winery makes the better wine?  Domaine Carneros makes excellent California wines, but they’re not Champagne.  And Taittinger is one of the most reputed houses in the Champagne region.  If all you want is a loud pop and some bubbles, Domaine Carneros’ Estate Brut Cuvée will do quite nicely.  On the other hand, if you want to celebrate with the real deal, stick with Taittinger.

 

 

 

 

Duckhorn Vineyards is one of Napa Valley iconic wineries, best known for its Merlots.   In 1994, they began to expand the number of wineries and labels under which it produced wine, the names of which are all related to our little quacking friends.  The first of these was Paraduxx (www.paraduxx.com) which today occupies a rather unique niche in the valley’s winemaking.

All their wines are blends, except their rosé.  That in itself is not so exceptional; many wineries mix their grapes, but most stick either to Bordeaux or Rhône varietals.  Paraduxx follows the Australian example: Blend anything with anything else and if it tastes good, bottle it.  So you’ll find bottles of Paraduxx wines that contain Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, Syrah and Viognier (like Côte Rôtie) and even one made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Tempranillo and Merlot.

Enjoying an outdoor wine tasting at Paraduxx.

The people at Paraduxx want to make visiting their winery a fun experience.  Of course, they want you to come and taste their wines.  But they’d also like you to bring your kids and your dog. (Both need to be well-behaved but only fido needs to be on a leash).  They invite you to relax under trees or umbrellas in their courtyard or on their veranda and stay a while. [Our description of Paraduxx is based on pre-Covid experience.  We sincerely hope that this, like so much else, returns to the way it was in before times.  Today, dogs are still allowed, but no person under 21 years of age.]

The setting at Paraduxx would seem to lend themselves to people who are more interested in a pleasant day out, including good wine to be sure.  A picnic would be perfect, but Napa County’s rules limit the number of wineries that allow picnicking.  However, they do sell plates of charcuterie.

The tasting room at Paraduxx.

The sort of experience offered at Paraduxx may not be to everyone’s tastes.  For our part, we never bring children or pets with us and our objective is to gain a serious understanding of the wines offered by each producer we visit.  And for those like us, you can enjoy wines outdoors or in the winery’s well-appointed tasting room.

One tasting feature we like at Paraduxx is that they pour you glasses of all the wines on offer, provide you with tasting notes and then they leave you alone to enjoy them.  A server will stop by periodically to answer any questions you may have.  He or she usually uses the occasion to urge you to stay a while.  There is, however, a feature we are not as fond of.  They ask you to pay for your tasting as you enter, before tasting their wines.  Of course, we recognize that wine tasting in Napa Valley is a commercial enterprise, but it still feels wrong to ask you to pay ahead of tasting and it leaves a bad impression.

The fun atmosphere at Paraduxx does not preclude serious wine tasting.  Come try their rather individualistic wines and have some fun too, if you wish.

 

 

 

 

There are many wines that show the skill of the winemaker.  There are only a few that demonstrate the artistry of a winemaker.  Today, especially in America, rich people or corporations own wineries; they hire winemakers.  It is difficult to be both an artist and an employee.

When a person owns the vineyard, makes the growing and harvesting decisions and then produces the wine, he or she has the means to express creativity, individuality and style in a bottle.  To experience such artistry, we recommend a visit to Domaine Paul Autard (http://www.paulautard.com/, in French only).

Jean-Paul Autard.  Photo courtesy of the winery.

The winemaker is Jean-Paul Autard; Paul was his father.  Jean-Paul took over in 2005 and the vineyard was soon mentioned among the best of Châteauneuf du Pape.  Today, Autard makes four Châteauneufs: a white and three reds, foremost among which are La Ronde and Juline.  There is also a Côtes de Rhône and, true to tradition, some local wines unavailable in North America.

Interior of the winery.  Photo courtesy of the winery.

The Domaine is not actually in the town of Châteauneuf du Pape but just outside it in a hamlet called Courthézon.  It’s not hard to reach, just a short drive away from the main town.  In our experience, the winery is nothing like what we Americans are used to.  It’s a large farmhouse, where Jean-Paul and his family make, store and sell wine.  It is not set up for visitors in the way we find in California, although you can expect a pleasant welcome.  When we visited, it was Madame Autard who welcomed us and chatted amiably with us (in French, of course).  After a tasting, we asked some rather specific questions about the winemaking technique and distribution back home, so she called out “Jean-Paul, please come.  We have visitors.”

We then had an interesting conversation and offered him to visit us when he was next in New York (an offer never taken up, alas).  It was not so much that we had a unique experience (although we did) but rather that the man is as approachable as is his wine.  We make no guarantee that you will have a similar experience if you should stop by, but we do think you will enjoy the wine.

Domaine Paul Autard has been making wine since 1924, a talent passed down through the generations.  This continues today.  Jean-Paul is communicating to his children, Jules and Pauline, “une somme précieuse de connaissances, d’observations et le travail de la vigne” (“a precious sum of knowledge, observations and work in the vineyard”).  The winery’s flagship wine is Juline, derived from his kids’ first names.

When we visited, the Autards gave us a corkscrew with the Domaine’s name and logo on it.  To this day, we use it to open his (and other people’s) wines.  Each glass of Paul Autard comes with an extra dollop of memories.

 

 

At virtually the eastern-most extreme of the Minervois region in southwest France, there is a winery in the village of Bize-Minervois called Château Cabezac (www.chateaucabezac.com/copie-de-home).  It is housed in a yellow building that combines Mediterranean architectural touches with some medieval parapets and an inviting terrace where you can sip your wine under skies that seem always to be blue.  You may encounter some confusion because there is also a Château de Cabezac just down the road which is an actual castle renovated today into a hotel.  It is not associated with the winery.

Photo courtesy of the winery.

 Cabezac makes sprightly, fruit-forward wines that are respectful of the terroir.  Most of their wines are from the traditional Rhône-style grapes:  Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan in the reds and Roussanne, Muscat Sec and Grenache Blanc in the whites.  With thirteen wines to choose among, you can have quite a tasting.

The tasting room is handsome and airy, made largely of wood.  When we were there it was not very busy, but that was a weekday in late September.  We understand from our server that it can be quite bustling at times, which makes their terrace even more valuable.  We received quite an education in Cabezac’s viticulture and winemaking philosophies.  We also learned that the same proprietor has properties in Calvados and Champagne, producing the wines and spirits associated with those regions.  Alas, they were not available for tasting.

Cabezac takes its tasting program quite seriously.  Of course, you can just drop by as we did and have a standup tasting of four wines (although we found that “four” is more of a concept than a limitation).  They also offer half-day and full-day tastings that include more extended explanations and tours.  Cabezac also has a program for corporate clients to host tasting events there.

Cabezac is a relatively young winery, established in 1997.  The proprietor, Gontran Dondain, has invested in wine making in a modern, sanitary manner.  We found that these practices at Cabezac are exemplary of a trend that has, happily, swept across Languedoc.  Improved winemaking practices are being followed across the Languedoc region.  When you visit Cabezac tasting room, you’ll find a window that allows to view the production facilities.  They are gleaming and spotless, indicative of the investment and the care that has gone into this winery.  We have observed this in many other leading wineries in the region.

Where once wines were thin in the mouth and harsh in the throat, today Languedoc wineries such as Cabezac are producing wines that, in our opinion, are comparable with many of those from the Rhône valley (excluding the top-most in that region).  Many of the new generation of Languedoc wineries have adopted bio and vin methode nature growing techniques.  Although Cabezac is not among these, they did tell us that they are scrupulous about their growing methods.

Sadly, Château Cabezac’s wines cannot be found in the United States, to our knowledge.  It does make a worthwhile stop if you are wine tasting in southwest France.

 

There are few wineries in California with more history than Beaulieu Vineyard, familiarly known as BV. Georges de Latour, a Frenchman, established his holdings in Rutherford at the turn of the previous century.  He had the foresight to obtain a license to make sacramental wine, so that when Prohibition came into effect in 1919 and almost all other wineries had to close, BV was still operating, sending bottles to churches across the country.  If a few found their way to a restaurant or a speakeasy, what could Mr. de Latour do about it, eh?

Critically for the California wine industry, in 1938 he induced a famed French winemaker, Andre Tchellichef (“The Maestro”) to be BV’s winemaker, which he was for 30 years.  In his time at the helm, Tchellichef bottled the wine that the de Latour family was keeping for its own use and sold it commercially.  It was one of the first signs of the possibilities of California winemaking.  To this day that wine, the Georges de Latour Private Reserve, is the top of the line at BV and one of the most sought after Napa Valley wines.  If you visit the winery, you can taste it (including well aged versions of this wine).

As with all Napa Valley wineries during the pandemic, tastings are served outdoors.  In the past and we’re sure again in the (near?) future, there are two wine tasting experiences at BV.  As you enter the property, there’s a modern building on your right and a vine-covered old stone building on your left.  There, you can taste BV’s copious selection of widely available commercial wines.  The stone building is where you can taste their finer wines.

The lights are kept low in their reserve tasting room, perhaps to give the impression of a church (remember those altar wines) or a fine restaurant.  The room is not very large, but they have other facilities in the building if they get crowds.  The servers are, for the most part, quite knowledgeable about BV’s wines and wine in general.

The first pour will usually be a Chardonnay but BV has built its reputation on Cabernet Sauvignon.  They have quite a few Cabs at different price points.  We have always been fond of their Bordeaux blend that they call Tapestry.  Like many Napa Valley wineries, BV is experimenting with different, non-traditional grapes.  Today they make a Cabernet/Syrah with a nod to Australia and a Touriga Nacional from Portugal.  We have found that if they’re not too busy and you show a proper appreciation of the wines, the servers will find some gems just below the bar.

Depending on what they’re serving that day, you may get a pour from one of BV’s original vineyards or some single clone wines that are quite unique.  If you want to taste the George de Latour, they’ll charge extra.  We advise you to pay the fee; it’s worth it if only to know what a foundational Napa Valley wine tastes like.

A little extra tip.  BV shares its parking lot with the Rutherford Grill.  We often eat lunch there before we go tasting; if you want to go, you’ll need a reservation. It is a popular restaurant and the food is quite good.

We are never quite sure what Rutherford Dust was all about, but you certainly can find it (if it exists) at BV.