Old School Napa Valley Tasting Suggestions

Albert_R · July 10, 2019, 1:29am

Agree, we love Merrill’s Black Cats! They strike a really good balance between old and new.

AndyK · July 10, 2019, 1:31am

Thank you all for the input so far, lots of great stuff!!!

Adam_Henkel · July 10, 2019, 5:40am

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Rich_Salsano · July 10, 2019, 10:08am

These were all mostly mentioned already but:

Stony Hill - although I would argue they are possibly more known for their white wines than cab
Smith Madrone
Matthiasson - Steve’s wines are phenomenal and his cab and merlot and Bordeaux style “red” are all what I would consider old school

There may be a few others but these come to mind immediately.

Howard_Cooper · July 10, 2019, 10:36am

You obviously have a lot of definitive opinions about what Napa Cabs you like and do not like. Pick your favorite wineries and try to get in there. The best winey visits in my experience have been at the wineries whose wines I like best. Nothing like seeing how and where your favorite wines get made.

I do know what I like and maybe I should have mentioned that I have family in Napa and we visit about once a month, so I’m quite familiar with the region… However, I haven’t really bought much of Napa wines and although we have done a lot of tastings, they were mostly at places where I get free access through memberships (Joseph Phelps, Larkmead, Clos du Val, Pine Ridge, Domaine Carneros). Most of them make quite good wine, but not exactly the style I was looking for. The little wine I do buy for myself is more along the lines of Dunn, Togni, and Forman, as mentioned. Just wanted to see what else people are recommending that’s similar.
Another thing that kept me from reaching out to schedule visits is that all three of them make 2 wines that I’m aware of. Not a huge problem, but our time is limited to a single day, so trying to get the most out of it. I’ll take your advice, though, and reach out to Stony Hill and Montelena

I enjoyed our visit to Quixote and their entertainingly Dali-esque winery, but if you don’t like petite syrah it might not be for you

Yes that’s the standard walk in at Montelena. Need to do private

I’ll second that; Winfred and I loved our (semi)private visit there - we shared a table with two other couples and had plenty of time to taste through their lineup. It is a little bit spendy if you buy older bottles from their library though

Thanks, Yao! We’ll make sure to ask for a semi-private tasting then!

I have done the Library tasting there and enjoyed it very much. Note that Montelena also has a place at a hotel in SF where they do tastings, so you can taste their wines in SF as well.

Howard_Cooper · July 10, 2019, 10:38am

I have only had whites from them. Where are they located and do they take visitors?

Marc_Hauser · July 10, 2019, 2:32pm

They’re in Napa on the NE end and they do now take visitors.

AndyK · July 10, 2019, 3:21pm

Matthiasson is another great suggestion! I attended their member pickup party once as a +1 and was impressed by the wines and the vineyards. Thanks for reminding me, it was a great visit!

Rich_Salsano · July 10, 2019, 4:08pm

You’re welcome! I am a wine club member there and love the variety of wines. Their style is right in my wheelhouse.

Howard_Cooper · July 10, 2019, 8:11pm

Thanks. I would be interested in visiting them on my next visit.

mmarcellus · July 10, 2019, 8:56pm

Tulocay. I’ve never visited the winery, but I’ve had the wines and they are definitely old school. I only wish they were more available here on the East Coast.

The web page indicates that the tasting fees (and probably the philosophy) meet your guidelines.

Merrill_Lindquist · July 10, 2019, 11:34pm

That’s funny…the Tulocay daughter is one of my tasters and often helps with my release tasting notes. She understands classic Cabernets very well.

BenjaminL · July 11, 2019, 10:30pm

Second this.

Roy_Piper · July 12, 2019, 1:32am

Forman, Corison, BV (get BV’s separate clonal tasting menu, it’s in a separate building from their main tasting room.) At most you are looking at $25-50 per person for these tastings. Forman is more of a “free” tasting where they hope you will purchase, but their wines are so good (and so relatively cheap) that such is hardly a sacrifice. Clos Du Val has a brand new indoor-outdoor tasting room, old-school history and better wines than ever.

Nathan_Smyth · July 12, 2019, 2:16am

What’s Fisher Wedding like now since they re-planted the vineyard?

It certain vintages, the vineyard used to be capable of producing a very gentle refined light-bodied elegance in its wines.

Jud_Reis · July 13, 2019, 12:16am

Another vote for Smith Madrone. Old school wines, old school proprietors, gorgeous location.

JohnP · July 14, 2019, 2:33am

I hope to try their decade library tasting next year:

Another suggestion is Spring Mountain, they have a reserve library tasting, including 2001 (my personal favorite), 1988 and 1979.