Winery Spotlight: Trefethen Family Vineyards

 

In the heart of the Oak Knoll District in Napa Valley, California, sits a winery that is beautiful, welcoming and is also the home of incredible wines.  Trefethen Family Vineyards is a third generation, family owned and sustainably farmed winery that has deep roots in Napa Valley.  The best way to describe the founders, Katie and Gene Trefethen, would be as true pioneers of the area.  Their touches are still evident daily at the winery by the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve and the amazing gardens that are intertwined throughout the grounds of the estate.

Second generation family members and co-founders Janet and John Trefethen created their own footprints in the wine world.  John was the founding president of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and later led the charge for the Napa Valley Vintners during the early critical years.  For 25 years, Janet hosted the Napa Valley Cooking Class and became an ambassador not only for the winery, but also Napa Valley as she became a leader in establishing the now famous Oak Knoll District.

The entrance to Trefethn is impressive, awe-inspiring and welcoming.  The long drive also has an interesting history behind it.  We won't spoil the secret but there is a great story about this long drive, a pilot and a cowgirl that you have to hear from your winery tour guide!

Everywhere you look, you see manicured grounds, clean lines and beautiful gardens.  You could spend the better part of a day walking around here and taking in all of the beauty.

Huge trees create a canopy in many areas of the Trefethen property, providing shade, a gorgeous setting and a natural nature preserve for Napa's smallest residents.

Each winery ambassador is extremely knowledgeable about "all things Trefethen" and their passion is evident in the stories that they tell.  You learn about the history, the family, the wines and the future of Trefethen.

Trefethen offers many tasting experiences.  We were blessed to enjoy the "Taste the Estate" tasting on the porch of the old house.  We tasted five unique and wonderful wines accompanied by delicious food.

The foods that were served with our tasting featured estate-grown ingredients, which was as equally impressive as the wine.  We stepped outside of our comfort level and despite any preconceived notions we may have had (we are not cucumber fans), we thoroughly enjoyed all of the food pairings.

It's no secret that Napa Valley and red wines are synonymous.  But don't discount the fact that you can enjoy breathtaking white wines as well!  Pictured here are the 2020 Dry Riesling and the 2019 Katie's Acre Chardonnay.  These wines were both over the top delicious!

The Chilled Summer Melon Soup with tarragon goat cheese, sunflower and compressed melon introduced all of us to flavors that were unique and extremely pleasing.

Winery Chef Chris Kennedy and his team construct dishes that were absolutely mind blowing at times.  The Hen of the Woods Mushrooms with roasted white corn cake and créme fraiche was one of the best dishes we have ever tasted in our lives!  Chris is a culinary genius!

Pictured here are the three red wines from our "Taste the Estate" tasting.  They were all fabulous and we bought them all to bring home!

• 2017 Cowgirl and the Pilot
• 2018 Dragon's Tooth
• 2017 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine tasting is fun. Wine tasting with friends is more fun!  Wine tasting in an intimate setting creates memories that will last a lifetime.

You could get lost in the gardens (on purpose, of course) across these sprawling grounds.  These beauty of this place reminds visitor of Katie Trefethen's influence on what would become a magnificent winery and a favorite place to visit.

Despite being one of the larger, family owned wineries in Napa Valley with about 500 acres currently planted, Trefethen makes you feel welcome and like an extension of their own family.  The attention to detail, the kindness and the remarkable wines display the embodiment of the vision that was started decades ago.  So what does the future look like for Trefethen?   There is no doubt that the visionaries of Trefethen have helped them succeed for three generations.  They are eco-friendly, sustainably farmed, and keenly aware of how nature helps them thrive.  

Cover crops aid in decreasing carbon dioxide in the vineyards.  Nesting boxes for predatory birds help control varmint population.  Only the actual juice from the grapes leaves Trefethen's property.  All other parts of the grape (stems, seeds, skins) are used to form a compost that is re-entered into the vineyard soil annually.  Trefethen takes sustainability very seriously and they have been a role model for other wineries in both Napa Valley and around the world to learn from.

Recently, Trefethen released their very limited JOY BOX in honor of Earth Day.  This box included their OKD Four wine blend, a cotton tea towel with water based ink, white flake salt and an olive pinch bowl.  The Joy Box is a wonderful and special gift idea that any wine lover will enjoy.  We strongly encourage you to sign up on Trefethen's web site to be notified when these boxes become available, as they sell out very quickly!

If we could say how we feel about Trefethen Family Vineyards and the people behind the label, it would simply be expressed as "Visionaries with a love for wine, the environment and Napa Valley who create beauty through grapes, food and beautiful gardens".   

We strongly hope that you will consider connecting with Trefethen Family Vineyards during your next trip to Napa Valley.  You will create memories and enjoy experiences that you will talk about for years!

Winery Adventure: Porter Family Vineyards

 

Nestled 600 feet about the valley floor in the Coombsville Region of Napa Valley, you will find a winery that is off the beaten path.  This isn't just any winery.  It is a very special place with incredibly friendly people and delicious wines.  Porter Family Vineyards farms 14 acres of vineyards, concentrating primarily on Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.  Here are some of the highlights of our recent visit to this magical place.

Our visit started with a semi-sweet and refreshing cool glass of 2020 Sandpiper Rosé.  We arrived at Porter Family Vineyards just before 1:30pm and the sun was in full force with a temperature reaching 90 degrees.  This wine was a welcome sight and very tasty!

Our host for the tour and tasting was Luis.  He was super friendly, knowledgeable and has a true passion for the wines and the property.  A good winery host can make or break a tasting experience and we felt very lucky to have Luis show us around.  He told us that he is getting married later this year on the Porter property in the cave.  Lucky guy!

Looking out at mature grapes never gets old.  The dark purple/deep blue color in the sun is stunning!

We tasted both Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes from the vines at Porter Family Vineyards.  Shhh!  Don't tell the owners.  Just add it to our wine shipment.  Actually, Luis encouraged us to taste the grapes and while we thought they were perfect, Luis said that they still had about 3 weeks on the vines before harvest.  The Syrah grapes were very sweet and juicy.

We will never tire of this view.  The way the barrels are marked shows not only the dedication to detail that this boutique family winery has, but it also makes for great pictures and a very welcoming presentation when you enter the winery cave.  We just need to figure how to get one of these barrels back home for our wine cellar project.  (Hint, hint Porter Family - empty is ok with us!)

Now that we have seen this incredible wine rack, we are absolutely obsessed and need one.  Luis told us that everyone asks about these during their winery visit, but they aren't for sale.  This is one of the most beautiful and unique wine racks we have seen in recent years.

This pictures will give you a little better perspective of what our intimate tasting experience was like.  You have to be a wine club member (family member the call it) in order to visit with Porter Family Vineyards.  We are blessed that our friends Sarah & Richard are members here, which is the only reason this experience was made possible.  It was absolutely lovely!

While the wine tasting line up likely varies throughout the year, this was our offering during our visit:

• 2020 Sandpiper Rosé
• 2018 Beverly's Chardonnay
• 2016 Sandpiper Red Blend
• 2016 Cave Dwellers Blend
• 2016 Barre Azure Blend
• and a "bonus" pour of the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon

The toughest part of tasting these wines was deciding what to purchase.  Everyone in our party gladly purchased wines and we ended up with the 2016 Sandpiper Red and 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon.

As you know, the amount of food that is provided with each wine tasting (not all wineries offer charcuterie or light faire) varies greatly.  Since this was our second winery visit of the day and we had just eaten a tasty Mexican cuisine lunch, we didn't need much.  But the snacks that were served with the wines were perfectly paired.  They included:

• Rosemary Marcona Almonds (2018 Beverly's Chardonnay)
• Aged Gouda Cheese (2016 Sandpiper Red Blend)
• Iberico Cheese (2016 Cave Dwellers Blend)
• Porter Cabernet Chocolate Truffle (2016 Barre Azure Blend

Trying to decide which wines are your favorites can be a tough decision.  Luckily we agreed on just about everything.  I love this lady!

Everyone of the red wines at Porter Family Vineyards was similar to this.  Gorgeous, opaque colors that went to the edge of the glass and boasted fragrant aromas.

Wines, wines and more wines!  Thankfully Napa Scott kept detailed notes on what everyone ordered.  

All of the views in the cave are beautiful.  Here is another intimate area to taste the wines.  We felt very lucky to taste the main cave tasting area but this view is not bad either!

We met this four-legged cutie.  Winston belongs to one of the owners and he was quite happy to introduce himself to all of us on our way out.  Seeing this guy made all of us miss our pups back home.

The team at Porter Family Vineyards knocked it out of the park for us.  Ken Bernards makes some amazing wines and the passion that the owners (and winemaker) have is evident in each bottle.  We couldn't ask for a better group of friends in which to experience wine country and make these memories.  We look forward to returning to this amazing gem during future Napa visits.  For more information on how to acquire wine or become a club member, please visit the Porter Family Vineyards web site.  You'll be glad you did!

Winery Adventure: Repris Wines

We were very blessed to be able to travel to California recently for a wine trip with great friends.  We had planned the trip in 2020, but we had to postpone for a year due to most of the world shutting down from the Covid pandemic.  We decided that we would take this trip in 2021, come hell or high water.

Our "Winos" group as we jokingly and affectionately call ourselves, spent a few evenings and many text messages back and forth to discuss the "must visit" wineries as well as those that had been on various wish lists throughout the years.  After much discussion and many emails back and forth to the wineries on our radar, we finally decided on nine wineries that would complete our adventure.  And, so we begun with Day #1...... Repris Wines.

We love Southwest Airlines!  However, a non-stop flight from IND to OAK would be ideal.

There were three couples who took part in our journey and each one flew into a different airport.  Kris & Scott flew into Sacramento.  Richard and Sarah flew into San Francisco and we flew into Oakland.  Previously we had flown into San Francisco but next time would try Sacramento as we heard that the drive is very easy and the traffic isn't as heavy.

Share a car - save some money!  And take a lunch break when YOU want!

Our tour guide/driver was Napa Scott.  Sorry, he's not for rent.  Well, I guess everyone has their price.  Contact us and I'll put you in touch with him!  One great benefit to having your own transportation is you can make changes on the fly, move at your own pace and grab a bite whenever you want to.

Become a member at Repris Wines and ask for the ATV tour!

Both of the other couples in our group are members at Repris so they specifically asked for something special for our group.  We took an ATV tour of the property, a tour of the cave and......   well, I'm not going to spoil it yet.  We started to get excited when we saw the ATVs waiting for us. What a great way to start a few days in wine country!  Now if I could just get them to trade these units for John Deere Gators.....

Everywhere we went on the property was meticulously maintained.  The grapes were about 2-3 weeks away from harvest and the deep purple/blue-ish colors were so inviting.

These vineyards are 45 years old and producing delicious Zinfandel.

Drinking wines is always the highlight of visiting any winery, but learning about the property and the history is a close second.  These Zinfandel vines were planted by horse and plow and have been here for the better of 50 years.  The root stock is said to be as deep as 75 feet below ground.

The view from the top of Moon Mountain Road?  Priceless.

Despite some smoky haze in the area from various California fires, we were completely in awe of the view from the top of Moon Mountain Road.  This is a view that we could get used to every day.  By the way, if you haven't been to Repris Wines in Sonoma, the drive up to the property isn't for the faint of heart.  You're completely safe, but the roads would not be forgiving if you don't pay attention.

Say "cheese" and act like a tourist...

No tour to the top of the mountain would be complete without a "touristy" picture.   I wish I had a dollar for everyone who has taken this exact same photo on their visit to Repris.

The entrance to the cave at Repris is breath taking.  Candles lined he main entrance that fed into one of the barrel storage rooms.  If you've never had a cave tasting experience, you need to add it to your list.  It's such an intimate surrounding and (in our opinion) the best way to taste wine.  For those of you who are cold blooded, there are very cozy and warm blankets at the table to keep you comfy.

Do you think they would miss just ONE barrel?

Throughout our trip we had discussed (like literally EVERY OTHER visitor) the idea of "Oh, they surely won't miss just one barrel" and we thought we were clever.  Our winery host chuckled, although he was probably rolling his eyes when we weren't looking.  He finally told us that if we could lift the barrel, we could take it.   No dice.  

Let me first say that there was absolutely NOTHING disappointing about this winery visit.  We would definitely go back again.  One thing we personally would have love to experience was a barrel tasting (and we would have gladly paid for that).  Barrel tasting really gives you a finer appreciation of how different a wine tastes pre vs post bottling.

Our wine tasting setting, complete with candles, charcuterie and blankets.

We loved how not only was the wine featured (duh!) but that Repris also went above and beyond to explain what was offered with the charcuterie.  The L'amuse 'Signature Gouda' was one of our favorite cheese of the entire trip and now we are on a hunt to find it.  Take a look at these amazing wines that we sampled at Repris:

• 2019 Sauvignon Blanc
• 2016 Texture Lancel Creek Chardonnay
• 2018 Syrah
• 2018 Left Bank
• 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain Vineyard

Each wine was uniquely delicious.  The Sauvignon Blanc was offered when we first arrived while we were waiting to board our ATV for the property tour.  The remaining wines were tasted in the cave setting.

Get in my belly!

We really appreciate a winery that serves food with their wines.  Whether it is charcuterie, a light meal or snacks, a little food is always welcome.  Yes, it is great to add a few solids to the belly, but more than that, we appreciate the confidence that a winery has in pairing their wines with food.  We typically are not "wine/food" people because it can actually distract from the beauty and wonderful flavors of the wine.  However, this charcuterie was expertly paired and made us think about trying the same going forward.

Gorgeous colors and amazing aromas..

A fun winery host helps build lasting memories.

The staff members at Repris were not pretentious at all.  And believe me, they have every right to be.  Their wines are really top notch and we appreciated them more with every pour.  It's one thing to have a host who is knowledgeable about the winery and the wines.  But to have a host who is not only a great ambassador of the brand but ALSO funny, welcoming and makes you feel like a friend?  You just can't beat that type of experience.

"Forever"memories were made at Repris!

We don't rate wineries or our experiences.  Nearly every one that we visited during our trip was amazing in their own way.  The one that disappointed us won't be written about.  But Repris absolutely exceeded our expectations!   Admittedly, when our friends originally told us that we had to visit Repris, We thought they were a little crazy because they had all been there on prior trips.  "Why would someone want to go back to a winery they have visited before?"  Now we understand.  Repris is without a doubt on our "must see" list of wineries for our next trip.  It was incredible!

Please visit Repris Wines for more information about their wines and membership opportunities.

Wine Tasting Fees: A Necessary Evil

 

Wine tasting fees.  How much are they and why do I pay them?

We recently returned from an incredible wine country adventure that took place in Sonoma and Napa, California over three full days.  While we were there, our wine-loving group of six had the opportunity to visit nine wineries.  Wait, that's not right.  We added a tenth winery, but it was literally for just a glass of wine as they couldn't squeeze us in for a tasting.

Prior to the trip, we had combed over our options, created a whiteboard and mapped out best practices based on location, time of day and whether or not we had any "must see" properties.  It turns out that we did.  So much has changed since the last time we were in Napa ... including the wine tasting fees!  Don't get me wrong.  We weren't blindsided and we had our eyes wide open when creating our plans.  Most of the wineries we were visiting were what we would classify as very special places.  These weren't the 5,000,000 cases of box wines for $3.99.  About half of the wineries on our tour were very low-production, no-distribution gems that you could only visit if you were members.

As a professional courtesy, I reached out to 6 of the wineries that made our final cut.  Our good friends who we joined on the trip were wine club members or had connections at 3 others, so they made those contacts.  After the professional courtesies and wine club member discounts that we all had, we were looking at right around $250.00 in wine tasting fees for nine wineries.  When you break it down, it is really very reasonable!  Only one tasting room required payment up front, which ironically, was our least favorite of the trip and no wine was purchased there.

You have to pay to play!  Wine isn't free and either is your tasting.

So are wine tasting fees just a racket?  Are they a way of adding a few bucks to the bottom line and vintners wring their hands together and salivate as the tour buses of blue hairs arrive daily?  While there may be a small hint of truth to the second point, wineries really are NOT making anything from you off of their tasting fees.  In our case, we opted for an "elevated" tasting experience at most of the places that we visited.  We weren't keen on bellying up to the wine bar with a crowd of sweaty tourists who had just left their 5th winery before noon.  We sought out and asked for private tastings (or semi-private if that is all that was available).  For the general population, our fees would have ranged from $45 - $100 per person.  Again, we were afforded some professional discounts and gratis tastings.

A private or elevated tasting experience will cost more, but it is worth it.

Why do wineries charge fees and why have increased substantially over the last five years?  To answer the question, you have to look back at history.  The smaller, boutique or low production wineries are constantly in fear of being swept about by the Constellation Brands and the E&J Gallo of the world.  Keeping a foothold in an area of the world where a plot of land can sell upwards of $500,000 for an acre of grapes is extremely daunting as well as constantly tempting - to cash in!

Low production means just that.  Wineries that produce 1000, 3500, or even 7500 cases of wine annually have to be very select on how that wine is consumed.  If that winery uses 10% or even 5% of their annual production for wine tastings, it hits their net income hard.  

Remember the horrific fires that consumed various parts of Sonoma and Napa in 2020?  Even if a winery and/or its vineyards remained physically untouched, many red wine grapes were affected with smoke taint and could not be harvested.  Imagine raising, nourishing and encouraging your crop for an entire year, only to have it wiped out days before harvest.  The folks at CADE Winery told us that because of the smoke taint, they will not have any 2020 vintage red wines at all.

And then there was a little thing that we all recall because we are still living with it in some fashion. The worldwide pandemic known as Covid-19 left no stone unturned, including wine country.  For safety reasons, tasting salons were closed completely for extended periods, forcing wineries to seek alternative tasting options.  It also forced those companies to reach out to their membership, offer deals that would have never seemed possible before and in some cases, sit on inventory.

Of course, the tangible costs associated with a wine tasting.  With most of our tastings, we had 4 - 8 wines (which means 4-8 glasses to clean per person), a custom tasting menu, charcuterie, a host or hostess and the costs associated with set up and tear down of the tasting.  Is that worth $50 per person?  In our eyes, it's a resounding YES!

Need we say more?  Show them some love.

So the $64,000 question then is "Is there a way to avoid wine tasting fees"?  The super-simple, quick and sarcastic answer is yes;  don't go to a winery!  I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but it is very honest.  However, if you are going to visit your favorite or soon-to-be-favorite wine slinger, understand the expectations before you go.  Often times, wineries will be clear on their wine tasting/wine purchase policy.  For example, for every "X" number of bottles that you purchase during your visit, they will waive the tasting fee.  

What we found out in our personal experience was that nearly every winery we visited waived the tasting fee for us if we purchased wine.  There was never a "set amount" discussed, and truthfully, our group of six purchased several thousands of dollars total at 8 of the 9 wineries.  The only exception was the pre-paid $45 tasting fee for one of our visits, and that winery was a flop.  Maybe a major source of their income is from tasting fees because people aren't buying the wines?  Just a thought.

The proverb "A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted" never held truer words that in wine country.  But the memories you take from a trip like this will last you forever, or at least until the next time.  I compare a trip to Napa and Sonoma like a trip to Las Vegas.  Stay with me here!  The $3.99 buffet is comparable to the $5 wine tasting.  They are unicorns.  They don't exist any longer.  Traveling to wine country is not cheap and quality wine is worth every penny!  If you don't want to pay, stay home and drink wine from a box.

Your trip to wine country will leave you with wonderful memories and a lighter wallet.