3 Hidden Winery Gems in Napa Valley Worth Seeking Out

Marla
18 minutes ago
5 min read

As we’ve reported, Napa Valley is one of the most famous and popular wine regions in the world. I’ve been to Napa several times, and have only begun to scratch the surface of this amazing wine region.

But let’s be honest: With almost 500 wineries in Napa, it’s pretty hard to narrow down which wineries to visit, especially when so many of them sound the same.

There are also practical challenges in planning a trip to Napa Valley’s wine region.

1. Napa’s Wine Scene Is More Varied Than People Realize

Napa is known for its big, well-known commercial players, like Robert Mondavi or Beringer.

But Napa offers many other types of wine experiences. There are some wine tastings that are part of other events and activities, such as a zip line adventure, a multi-course lunch, or a petting zoo. There are also smaller, under-the-radar wineries that offer tailored, exclusive visits, some very high-end. A few tiny producers make great wines as a hobby, accept very few visitors, and don’t sell outside their tasting rooms.

The wines produced are also more diverse than visitors realize. While Napa is renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignon, there are plenty of other kinds of wine produced there worth sampling.

Plus, the cost of wine tastings varies considerably. While the average tasting fee is $75 for a regular tasting and $138 for a reserve tasting of more premium wine, many tastings are much more expensive than that. At these prices, you want to be assured that the wine’s quality is worth it.

2. Logistics Can Be Tricky

Napa’s wine region, about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco, is an easy day trip from the city. However, while Napa Valley is only 30 miles long, the wineries are scattered throughout. Wine tastings are often one to two hours each, more if you’re including special tours or programs. If you don’t plan carefully and cluster your tastings geographically, you may end up wasting a lot of time on the road.

3. The Tour Consolidators Were Disappointing

As you may know, I strongly recommend letting a knowledgeable local guide me and drive when I’m drinking and unfamiliar with a particular place. In this instance, we were looking for two separate day trips to visit high-quality, under-the-radar Napa wineries that produce both the wine that Napa is famous for and some unexpected treasures.

I’m usually a big fan of using companies like Viator, where it’s easy to vet options and compare tours. I thought that would be especially helpful when dealing with Napa, where there are multitudes of tour companies.

It wasn’t, and not because there were so many tours to choose from (although that’s true).

The problem was that the tours on the third-party websites were underwhelming compared to other wine regions we’ve visited. Many of the wine tours listed visited only Sonoma, a wonderful wine region, but not on our agenda this time. Some tours squeeze in both Napa and Sonoma in a one-day trip; you visit one in each region. That doesn’t do either region justice and involves a lot of extra driving.

Luckily, there are plenty of Napa wine tour operators who don’t participate in third-party sites, so I reached out to eight I found online that seemed to fit the bill. They all responded. Some of them sent potential itineraries. A couple offered to create wonderful, personalized tours after we booked with them. Two only provided transportation; I’d have to do my own homework and book tastings directly.

I ended up choosing Crush Napa Valley Wine Tours because the owner, Chris Gilmore, was the only one who responded by calling to ask numerous questions about our goals for the trip, as well as our go-to wines and wine tasting preferences. It turns out that he works with about 120 of Napa’s wineries, many of them small, low-key producers, and a few that are not open to the public. He then crafted two fabulously sounding customized itineraries for two private day trips to Napa before we had even committed to booking. That’s customer service!

Here are three hidden winery gems in Napa Valley worth seeking out. They are all family-owned and located near the town of Napa, to reduce time in the car. We never would have found these on our own; a few don’t even note on their websites that they offer tastings. We visited all three on our first day trip with our wonderful guide, Terry. I’ll share another three gems shortly in another blog post.

Porter Family Vineyards

The first winery we visited was Porter Family Vineyards. Founded in 2005, the winery is literally in a cave the family created on the side of a hill on the property.

After a welcome drink overlooking Napa Valley (Rosé, a blend of three reds, 😊++) and a tour of the facilities, we sat down to a tasting in a well-appointed room in the cave, paired with different cheeses and chocolate truffles.

We sampled:

Estate Syrah, 100% Syrah 😊 😊

Estate Cabernet, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 😊 😊

Estate Barre Azure, a Bordeaux blend of five reds 😊😊++

Rutherford Cabernet, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 😊😊

Cave Dwellers Red Blend 😊😊

Sandpiper Red Blend 😊++

Azur Winery

The second winery we visited, Azur Winery, is woman-owned and was founded in 2007.

Now, I’ll admit that I take a look at the wineries we’re slated to visit before we travel. Azur’s website indicated that its wine tastings were held in its wine lounge in the town of Napa, which made sense as we were also having lunch in town. It looked modern and comfortable.

But to my surprise, instead we were taken to the winery itself, where we were treated to a tasting in the middle of the vineyards. This is where Azur holds its tastings for friends and family, a fact not on the website. It was like being in someone’s home. Incredible!

We sampled:

Azur Rosé, to welcome us 😊++

Azur Blanc, 100% Sauvignon Blanc 😊++

Empreinte Sauvignon Blanc, McGah Family Vineyard (very limited production) 😊😊

Azur Classic Cabernet Sauvignon 😊😊

Azur Library Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 😊😊

Empreinte Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder 😊 😊

Azur Library Reserve 2015 😊 😊

We then stopped in the town of Napa, where we had a great lunch at Scala Osteria (and were treated to tiramisu).

White Rock Vineyards

Our third winery, White Rock Vineyards, was established in 1870 and has been owned by the current family for 40 years.

We tasted three of the winery’s Chardonnays outside among the vines, where we met Chris, the winemaker. Then, after a private tour of the cellar, we proceeded to a rustic tasting room in the middle of the vineyards to continue our visit.

We sampled:

Chardonnay 😊😊

Chardonnay Breccia 😊😊

Chardonnay Reserve 😊😊

Cabernet Franc 😊++

Cabernet Sauvignon East Bench 😊😊

Cabernet Sauvignon Laureate 2019 😊😊

Cave Hill, the Cabernet they make the least of 😊😊

Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 😊😊

Cabernet Laureate 2015 😊😊

I hope that this intel on three hidden winery gems in Napa worth seeking out helps you navigate this iconic wine region. Cheers!

Do you have any favorite wineries in Napa? Let us know! I can’t wait to return. We’re at info@winewithourfamily.com.