My family and I are taking a trip out to Napa in the fall and my father, who has been a buyer of Bryant Family for some years now, reached out to ask if they do private tours. They denied his request for a tour but suggested the 3 following wineries:
David Arthur
Ilsley
Rarecat
Does anyone have any familiarity with these? I have never heard of them but am intrigued of course by Bryant Family’s recommendation. Any insight is welcome. This is my first post, looking forward to being part of the community. Thanks.
Not sure about David Arthur, Ilsely or Rarecat. You should do a taste and tour at Chappellet which is on the same plot of land as Bryant. They are family owned and make perhaps the best valued Napa Cabernet there is. Their Pritchard Hill Cabernet has gotten a 100 point score 2 years in a row for the 2015 & 2016 vintages.
Over by David Arthur is Dakota Shy, which is putting out fantastic wine right now. We were there in November and it is the only place from my last two trips to Napa that I have scheduled to revisit next month. Other neat options:
Vineyard 7&8 has a gorgeous view from their tasting room
Hall’s vineyard in Rutherford (not the tasting room in St. Helena) has an awesome experience tasting in their cave under a massive crystal chandelier
Swanson used to do a really neat wine and food pairing, but I have not been there in years.
Covert is another lesser known vineyard in Coombsville that has a the feel of a secret lair from a James Bond villain.
Chappellet is a great tasting/tour with a nice variety of wines. The 16 signature cab is amazing and a steal around $60.
David Ilsely has been Ops director at Shafer for a while. The make some wine and sell much of their annual crops. Their property is on a hillside right next to Shafer and pretty sure they have sold grapes to them for years. I’ll leave it up to you to connect the rest of the dots
-Chappellet is a really nice visit with a great range of wines to enjoy. Their Signature offering is fantastic for the price.
-I visited David Arthur about 6 weeks ago…a very fun and insightful visit (was able to meet and speak with David briefly). They have a very intimate tasting set up and a relaxed feel, not to mention fantastic wines.
-I also visited Continuum about 6 weeks ago and thought it was one of the highlights of the trip. The winery design, the tour, and the tasting (only 2 wines to taste) were top notch. Not cheap, but very worthwhile.
All 3 of the above have adjoining driveways at the bottom, but each takes at minimum 10-15mins to access once going up, so keep that in mind.
Houyi is the vineyard, and Nine Suns owns the land. They bottle their own juice as well as sell grapes to the likes of Vice Versa, Realm and others.
The wine is delicious, the actual facilities are almost brand new, and the view on a clear day down to the Valley is worth the trip alone. Jason and Flora Change own it and they are super cool…
Bud, no, we were actually supposed to taste with Tanner but he got tied up and wasn’t able to host us. Another gentleman took great care of us, but his name escapes me at the moment. Pretty fun to try a Pritchard Hill Nebbiolo! I plan to do a side by side with Cimarossa’s Howell Mountain Nebbiolo.
Seavey an Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyard are a 1/2 mile apart in a beautiful, secluded area up in the Conn Valley, their wines are great and the tastings are very personal. As others have said Chappellet has good wines, a great setting and nice tour. All of these are still “small” family owned.
B Cellars is an amazing experience with top quality food to go along with wine tastings.
Shafer and Phelps for the great wines and beautiful setting. Top notch experiences.
Napa tastings are different from other smaller areas like Paso or Washington. The tastings are more expensive but they can last an hour or more and you can get a significant tasting. Three to four a day is plenty.
I suggest Schramsberg. Sparkling wine is a nice change of pace from so many non sparking wines in the Napa Valley . And a great tour .And the history of their presence in both Napa and Washington DC should not be overlooked .