Napa Winery Recommendations: Take 1

Deviled eggs, the ghosts of women past, spore traps—these are the wineries that moved me the most.

Today on the wine hotline: some wineries you should have on your radar. Full transparency, my comrades in confusion, I didn’t do the classic Napa-tourist itinerary; I was there for the Wine Writers’ Symposium and so panels and networking were my focus.

But the beauty of Napa is that you can walk two steps and stub your toe on a classic wine, so I still managed to come up with a list of recommendations.

That being said: I probably (definitely) missed some gems. This isn’t an absolute list of the best wineries in Napa—this is a list of wineries and wines that moved me while I was there. These are the ones that I found myself saying “are you hiring?” or found myself scheming to marry into the family.

Wine Is Confusing Napa (Round 1) Wineries To Visit

Hourglass Winery

One of the highlights of my trip was being picked up by a local winemaker and whisked away to a dinner to be immersed in local Napa life. The wine held a sidebar at the table while we moved through our own conversations about the industry, finding common ground in our humanity along the way. The Merlot was a fascinating encounter, lively, flirtatious, and really took its time. The Cabernet was to the table like a drag queen is to the stage—stomping in heels in that way that makes you question your entire existence.

What I found out later is that their winery is also a work of art—if Earthships excite you, add this to your list. The winery is built into the hillside and the creative process that led to that choice is beautifully documented on their website. If you’re a fan of architecture, wine, or writing, or want to get a sense of the warmth of Napa, this is a good choice for you.

Seavey Vineyards

If you want to make winemaker Jim Duane happy, ask him about spore traps. I actually have it in my notes to follow up on what those are, and when I find out let me tell you…this is a wine nerds’ happy place. There are endless things to learn here and Jim Duane is as enthused about how sustainability works (I mean works) as we are confused.

Seavey Vineyard is in the Conn Valley, a lesser-known (read: exciting as hell) region in Napa. This is a small-production, land-comes-first kind of winery and I’d come back just to listen to the team talk about mowing practices. Seriously: these guys make cutting grass interesting.

Jim Duane also hosts a podcast, Inside Winemaking, and will go down in history as the first person to ever point to a hill and tell me what gradient it was. What a rush.

Corison Winery

Cathy Corison is the name that resounds all the way across the country. If you want to know what rebellious, stubborn winemaking tastes like—or if you love to see for your own eyes a woman absolutely killing it in a male-dominated industry, you’ll enjoy a visit to the Corison Winery.

Corison started her winery in 1987, when the cellar was a boys’ club. She built a barn and started making the wine that she wanted to make, remaining unbothered over the years as trends, headlines, and flashier wineries made headlines. And it paid off.

Her wines and her ethos are well-respected in the wine community, and I was really impressed by the floral notes in her Cabernet. Did you know that Cab could be floral?

Go to Cathy, she’ll hook you up.

Matthaisan

I didn’t visit Matthaisan, but next time I’m in Napa, I’m going. I’m recommending this because I got to try a few of their wines: first the Cabernet Sauvignon, then later the Ribolla Gialla (native to Italy).

Ribolla Gialla…what are you doing in here? Napa is Cabernet land; do you need me to call you an Uber? No, Ribolla Gialla is grounded, rooted, and making a memorable wine that has me wondering if it’s possible to buy two plane tickets in one month on a writer’s budget. That’s a lot of math so don’t hold your breath.

The Matthaisan characterizes the Ribolla Gialla as “clean hard stone”—no comma. That says something and I agree. If minerality is your holy grail (and it is mine) this is definitely a stop for you.

Ashes & Diamonds Winery

Another architectural feast for the eyes, the Ashes & Diamonds tasting room will take your breath away, then the rotating menu (oh please don’t ever do away with the egg noodles & black truffle butter) will get the wines talking. You might end up feeling like I did by the end—like you’re floating.

And I must mention the big yellow door. The Big Bird in me felt so seen.

Ashes & Diamonds was my first stop in Napa, so when I tasted their Grand Vin, a Pomerol-style blend that was understated in the way an antique end table is understated, I thought to myself: oh my. I’m going to leave Napa with a much more nuanced understanding of Napa, aren’t I?

Shoutout to our sommelier and guide who insisted I try it with the deviled eggs. You read it here folks: a Bordeaux-style blend and a deviled egg walk through a big yellow door. The rest is history.

Ink Grade

During our final dinner of the Wine Writers’ Symposium, we were put in the Beringer cellar with several established Napa winemakers and told the mashed potato bar was all the way in the back. Was that their way of herding us in? It worked.

I made a name tag. I looked for people I didn’t know. I found two ladies who turned out to be Chloe and Julie of Ink Grade and said, “hi ladies I don’t know!” and within five minutes I was being debriefed on the latest murder mystery to come out of South Carolina. How could I not know about this? Do I live under a rock? Are the Carolinas conspiring to shield this story of a man who killed his family (not good for the Man brand)?

I don’t think these are the kinds of questions the event intended to facilitate, and it occurred to me that I would like to try their wine. Chloe poured me a glass and voila, another balanced Napa Cab encounter. What do we mean by that? was the question that jumpstarted a (perhaps) more appropriate conversation for the night.

What I learned later is that the Cabernet in my glass was a single vineyard wine, grown on a pretty sharp slope on volcanic soil. Ding ding ding! I dub thee, a wine I love. If you’ve ever wondered: “what that mountain do?” this is a visit for you.

Spring Mountain Vineyard

If you love a paranormal moment, do I have the winery for you. This was a tasting that I will remember for the rest of my life and I have so many people to thank for making this experience possible but this isn’t the Grammy’s so let’s get to it.

It was International Women’s Day and I was fresh off an incredible femme-led Wine Writers’ Symposium, at a seat in the dining room of the Spring Mountain tasting room, also the restored home of Tiburcio Perrott. I was there with another female writer, led by a female wine educator who was warmly telling us that the winery was haunted by two women. And a boy.

No ghosts graced our presence or at least none that I noticed, but I tasted some of the best red wines I’ve ever had and listened to Catherine White tell us about a tasting memory that the 1988 Cabernet unlocked for her (grandma’s cherry jars strike again).

Jazz music played in the background as I swirled, smelled, and peered around looking for a woman with long black curly hair.

I’m not much of a medium myself, so I’m not surprised I didn’t see her. What I did notice: the grounds of Spring Mountain are strikingly different from everywhere else I went, and so were the wines.

That wraps up my list of round 1: Napa wineries. Do you have anything to add? Please leave a comment with a winery you loved visiting or a wine that made you want to book a flight. Everyone’s opinion matters here!

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