B Cellars

B Cellars (founded 2003) makes their wine in Napa Valley and uses primarily Napa Valley grown grapes with Sonoma County vineyards providing the majority of the grapes for their white wines. For years they maintained a business office in Orange County (south of Los Angeles). We first caught up with the owners at a tasting in Los Angeles (yes one of the many locations outside of Napa that we have been to during our Napa wine odyssey) and then conducted a follow up interview in Napa Valley which is where their wine is actually made by the master of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, Kirk Venge.

Two partners, Jim Borsack and Duffy Keys (two of the nicest individuals we have met in Napa Valley), are both originally from Southern California and met by random chance at a 4th of July BBQ and discovered that each had similar aspirations in regard to someday making wine. Chance meetings that turn into business partnerships typically fail – even early on in the partnership and often after several years. When personalities, resources and an acumen for business align, really good things can happen. Both Jim and Duffy stayed in contact after their first meeting and two years later they formed B Cellars. This property, hospitality center, wine facilities and gorgeous grounds did not happen overnight.

Both Jim and Duffy made many trips to Napa Valley, interviewing growers, winery owners and vintners. They wanted to have a complete perspective of the wine industry before taking additional steps. They started small, virtually – making their wine at another winery and using the space in several Napa tasting rooms over the years to showcase the B Cellars wines.

Jim and Duffy are very involved in all aspects of this business. Their focused determination to succeed and consistently offer a top wine at a reasonable value is clearly evident. Both men have a diversity of backgrounds in the luxury and hospitality spaces. For more than 30 years Jim was co-owner of El Portal, whose primary products were women’s handbags and designer goods – at one point operating over 100 stores. He was also instrumental in the creation of Swatch watch franchising. Duffy spent more than 20 years with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. And both Jim and Duffy have taken winemaking classes at UC Davis. And another partner, Bill Cameron of Oklahoma City and an officer of American Fidelity is an investor in B Cellars. His beautiful house is perched on the hill above the winery.

Jim has an excellent palate; both he and Duffy are always involved in all blending decisions with their winemaker Kirk Venge. Because they source from many different vineyards, sometimes not every vineyard is represented in their final wines, despite having already made the financial commitments and produced the wines. Quality is of the utmost importance in their wines, and they are not going to blend in anything that doesn’t meet their strict standards.

Their labels display the lower case “b” with a degree sign representing Brix, which is the symbol for how the sugar content of grapes are measured. However, ‘b’ in this case might as well stand for “blend” as all their wines are blends; even their 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of several vineyards and often multiple vineyards will be represented in their wines even for the same variety. As of the time of this review, B Cellars produces a Blend 23 (a white wine), and Blend 24 through Blend 26 which are all red wines. In addition, they produce limited quantities of single varietal wines; the intent with these is to showcase some of the varieties that form the components of their blended wines.

All grapes are sourced from some of Napa Valley and Sonoma County’s highest quality vineyards; as of our latest update to this review 18 different vineyards are used, including from what is arguably the most famous vineyard in American wine making, the historic To Kalon in the heart of Oakville. Other sites include Georges III and Stagecoach which sits high in the hills of of Atlas Peak. B Cellars is constantly looking for premier Napa Valley vineyards as they are well aware that the fruit sources are key to the quality of their wines. They often source from different appellations as they recognize that unique terroir and clonal selections all bring individual complexities and nuances to the wine which are not always expressed from a single vineyard source.

B Cellars embraced the evolution of the wine tasting experience in Napa Valley with the opening of their estate property, winery and hospitality centers in late summer 2014. We have seen wine tasting in the valley evolve from simply dropping into a winery and walking up to the bar – to the more personalized sit-down tasting experiences. And finally, this: where food is an integral part of a winery visit.

They purchased this just under 12-acre property in 2012 from Lisa Miller, widow of Frank Miller, who used to play for the San Francisco 49ers and several other football teams and operated Clark Miller Distributing, a successful Napa Valley based alcohol distribution company. The site used to be called Miller Ranch, home of cutting horses. One of the most valuable parts of the property was that it came with a coveted winery permit, secured back in the 1970s.

Neighboring properties include Gargiulo Vineyards, Plumpjack Estate, Screaming Eagle and a large piece of property owned by Gamble Family Vineyards. One would not be incorrect in describing this vineyard neighborhood as high-end.

The winery and hospitality center opened in August 2014; their first harvest here was that same year. A small hillside block was planted at the time of their purchase; the vineyard footprint on the property has since expanded and now there are 5 acres of grapes including 80% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% to Cabernet Franc and 5% to Merlot. A small ‘founders block’ of vines is located behind the hospitality center, marked with plaques noting the names of those who have been an integral part of their success.

The winery is state of the art, featuring a number of hi-tech pieces of winemaking equipment including an optical sorter which they first used on site in 2014. Tank sizes are small to accommodate micro-ferments and several concrete vessels are available for additional fermentations. The winery is also used to produce wines from several custom crush clients, who also store their barrels in the cave.

Always pushing the envelope on innovation and winemaking practices, the winemaking team has been fermenting some of their grapes using submersed caps. Rather than allowing seeds and skins to float to the surface they are forcible kept within the fermenting juice for additional extraction. And for their Syrah in particular, barrels are left turned at an angle so that the bung remains always covered in wine.

Perhaps one of the most desirable spaces during harvest for employees, is a small storage room with beer on tap.

Hospitality/Culinary
A full-service kitchen and culinary staff are on site; of our latest update to this review they employ seven full-time chefs. Since the kitchen opened in 2014, the chefs have produced some 250+ different recipes. There is no ‘house specialty’ as they are not a restaurant; usually their recipes change at least once a year. And from personal experience, we can say the quality of food is consistent. During one of our recent visits we enjoyed Sausage Calzone (they make the sausages on site), Crab Cakes with Citrus Aioli, and Ham & Cheese Crepe. The amazing Brussel sprouts were also a highlight. And B Cellars provides printed recipes for any of the small plates provided during your tasting.

The culinary team sources various ingredients from a number of raised planter beds located on the property. These beds composted in part using grape pomace from the winery. A greenhouse is used for growing starter plants. Hens produce eggs used in the kitchen. A diversity of fruit trees are planted around the property including an Asian pear and a finger lime sometimes called a caviar lime. Seventy olive trees grow on the property and produce the olives used to make their estate olive oil. Usually their garden supplies 60 to 70% of the produce needs for the kitchen.

The B Cellars commercial kitchen is an open and interactive space where visitors can watch chefs cook. And if you are interested in making conversation, they are happy to talk about their craft.

A limited number of primarily food, wine or related books are for sale in the main hospitality room. Other items for purchase include spices labeled with blend numbers, honey, B Cellars olive oil and greeting cards designed by Duffy’s wife Judy Keys; she also paints and creates necklaces at her studio in Southern California.

All visits are by appointment. One of their most in depth offerings is the Oakville Trek, a 90 minute experience which includes a tour of the ground, the winery and the cave followed by a seated tasting with select current release wines paired with small bites. Depending on the experience, tastings are hosted in a variety of spaces; either indoors or behind the kitchen where they have private tasting rooms, outdoors in front of their hospitality center, additional outdoor seating overlooking vines and olive trees or inside one of the private rooms in the cave. Borrowing from spas or premium seating on airlines, B Cellars offers refreshing moist towels for all guests prior to tastings featuring cold towels in warm months and warm towels in cold months.

Oakville Cross Road does not experience nearly the traffic that its two anchor roads do, i.e., Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. And the winery and hospitality buildings sit back from this road and blend in fairly well with the surroundings based on the color, texture and building angles chosen. As a result, weather permitting, this is a quiet and relaxing outdoor place to enjoy wine and the company of good friends or family.

A 16,000 plus square foot cave tunneled under a knoll that sits on their property provides ample wine making space. The winery building sits next to the cave at the edge of this hill. The inside of the cave serves a dual purpose – barrel storage as well as a section that is elegantly decorated for a number of private personalized tasting experiences. One room in the cave is called the Heritage Room, but really it is an homage to prominent Napa based grower Andy Beckstoffer and to several of his heritage vineyards that B Cellars sources grapes from. Another room is named Vintage Oaks and includes maps highlighting all the B Cellars vineyard sources. These maps were designed by Tom Jarman.

With spacious grounds and the variety of spaces for hosting visitors, B Cellars offers several private and corporate experiences ranging from 90 minutes to 3 hours for up to 100 guests. Depending on the experience, these include a private tasting, lunch or dinner. The ‘great salon’ inside the cave features a long table in front of their library wine room. This is often used for hosting larger groups.

Memorable life size “human’ sculptures “working” or “walking” on the grounds were displayed in 2015. These real-life looking sculptures of fully dressed humans were created by the artist Seward Johnson. These pieces were eerie in the sense that when you walked the grounds you often caught glimpses of the sculptures in your peripheral vision and would find yourself glancing around sensing the presence of another person. They are extremely lifelike looking and are created and are often placed in poses of work – using sheers to trim a bush, digging in the ground or simply just “walking” by.

This property is a great example of how hospitality operations should be setup in Napa Valley. There are numerous places to host visitors, friendly and knowledgeable hosts, inviting smells from the open kitchen and wines from exceptional sites throughout Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

Select Wines
Whites
Certain wineries in Napa Valley build a much deserved reputation around their premium reds, but their white wines are often overlooked. Don’t make that mistake with B Cellars. They continue to produce beautiful and expressive white wines each year.

The 2021 B Cellars Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc is medium gold in color; the bouquet is floral, tropical and inviting, all at the same time. It offers aromas of lemongrass, citrus blossom and guava. As the bouquet opens it shows a more sweetly fruited aromatic including of honeysuckle, apricot and peach. This bottling is lively and fresh across the palate carried by its bright acidity and fruit which is complemented by a pleasing textural silkiness. It offers flavors of lemon and lime, apple, and a minerality nuance, which especially shows on the mouthwatering finish. This wine is bright without any linear greenness or tartness. We immediately thought of pairing this with spicy Thai stir-fried clams with basil and oyster sauce. For reference, this vineyard is located in the hills of west Dry Creek Valley at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. Other producers who purchase or have purchased grapes from the Grist Vineyard are primarily Sonoma County based, including Gary Farrell Winery, Day, Fogline Vineyards and Joseph Jewell.

The 2022 B Cellars Blend 23 Proprietary White Wine Blend, North Coast is 64% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Chardonnay and 11% Viognier. This wine is medium gold; the aromas include honeysuckle and honeycomb, citrus blossom, apricot, yellow mango, tapioca, vanilla custard and crème Brule. One would not be wrong in calling its scents crowd pleasing. Zesty, bright and wound with plenty of energy, this wine delivers citrus driven flavors of lemon juice and tangerine along with golden delicious apple, pineapple, dried apricots and honeydew melon. The finish is richly fruited and very long lasting paralleled by a creamy and rounded mouth feel. This wine drinks very well by itself, but in terms of a pairing, it would hold up well with roasted duck or a variety of sushi rolls.

The 2007 B Cellars Blend 23 continues to be produced every year and remains a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. This bottling offers expressive and fruit driven aromas, including pineapple along with being somewhat floral (notes of honeysuckle). The mouth feel is well balanced from start to finish; this wine has noticeable weight or phenolic grip on the palate which makes it an excellent wine to pair with a variety of foods, not just traditional “white wine foods”. Be sure to let this wine open up in the glass, as the aromas and flavors become more expressive given time.

The 2021 B Cellars Calesa Vineyard Chardonnay, Petaluma Gap Sonoma County is medium to deep gold; the bouquet is honeyed with aromas of honeycomb and honeysuckle, and loads of stone fruits including apricot, peach and yellow nectarine along with mango and ripe papaya. Some sweeter and assorted dessert associated scents include vanilla and caramel. Rounded, supple and with a silky mouth feel. The flavors mirror the bouquet including apricot, peach, ripe pineapple along with warm butter, creme Brule and caramel. This wine is not oaky, as the fruit is the star of the show. It went through partial malolactic fermentation and was aged 40% in new French oak barrels. The grapes for this wine are from “Musque” clones.

And in 2023 B Cellars began producing Albariño from the Paradise Vineyard in Sonoma County, both a still and a sparkling wine from this variety. After the base wine for their Charmat method sparkling bottling of this variety was crafted, production was finished at Brut Bottling in the city of Napa, a company who provides a variety of sparkling wine services for wineries who do not have the equipment to make sparkling wines.

Reds
The 2020 B Cellars Zinfandel Calistoga Napa Valley is dark ruby in color; the bouquet is powerful and expressive offering a combination of both barrel and fruit aromatics including of Thai iced tea, milk chocolate, mocha, espresso, vanilla bean, light peppercorn, sweet cinnamon stick, dark plum and ripe blackberry. Give this wine time to open; the ripe fruit aromas will open further. The aromatics smell like dessert. Ripe, juicy and richly flavored, this wine delivers plenty of opulence and crowd-pleasing comfort. This bottling shows flavors of raspberry, red licorice, black pepper and a toasted oak spice note, especially on the finish. The tannins are present and are felt more on the front of the palate rather than the end. They are dark, medium grained and slightly gravelly in texture.

2021 B Cellars Brown Ranch Pinot Noir, Carneros District is medium ruby; opens to elegant and delicate aromas of both fruit including red berries, bramble, dried herbs and a light pepper spice. Mouth watering from its well-lit and vivacious acidity. Bright and red fruited, but not tart. The palate offers flavors of dried cranberries along with raspberry, blueberry, pomegranate, currant, dried herbs and white pepper. The supporting tannins are lightly grainy and are felt more on the front of the palate rather than the finish. The fruit persists. We wanted to pair this wine with lightly sauteed halibut.

The 2021 B Cellars Blend 24 is 52% Sangiovese (Stagecoach & Game Farm vineyards), 35% Cabernet Sauvignon (Nemerever, one of their neighbors) 9% Cabernet Franc (Star Vineyard) and skosh of old-vine Petite Sirah (Frediani Vineyard). This wine is deep ruby; the bouquet is attractive; our first thought from the aromatics along, is that this would be a great pizza wine. It offers scents of plum, old cedar, dried herbs, violets and a thread that keeps us coming back to something tomato-esque, perhaps tomato leaf or sun dried tomatoes. Balanced with bright acidity, the palate sports flavors of red plum, cherry and currant. The mouth watering and highly energetic finish lingers red fruited with grainy tannins which broadly coat the palate. At B Cellars they call this, “their before, during and after dinner wine”.

The 2020 B Cellars Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of grapes from To Kalon and Giannone Vineyard (Skellinger Lane); two blocks of To Kalon came in just before the Glass Fire that year. This wine is deep ruby; the bouquet smells fresh and floral with an initial note of violets but with other aromatic layers including dark raspberry, red licorice, freshly harvested Santa Rosa plum juice and currant. The palate reveals flavors of plum, blackberry, and boysenberry. One can feel both a simultaneous dustiness and density of tannins, broadly coating the palate and lingering with a drying character for some time. There is also a light note of crushed pepper. Savory. Would love to pair with a well marbled dry-rub coasted ribeye from the BBQ.

The 2021 B Cellars Star Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is from a site in Rutherford which remarkably also produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet immediately opens to scents of dark berry jam. Very berry fruited, the open-knitted aromas are of boysenberry, blackberry, dark cherry, mulberry, dark figs, cocoa powder and dark chocolate. A bowlful of fruit, brightness and balance, remarkably saddled for a vintage which is known for its intense characteristics, especially in terms of texture. The palate offers flavors of plum, cherry and blackberry. The tannins are lightly grainy with an equally light dusty character and parallel the fruit in tandem on the bright finish. This wine is drinking extremely well in its youth.

Another Beckstoffer owned and managed vineyard that B Cellars works closely with is Las Piedras Vineyard. Meaning ‘little pebbles’ in Spanish, this refers to its primarily gravel soils. Las Piedras was the among the earliest of vineyards in St. Helena with its original vines planted in 1860. The 2021 B Cellars Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, Mr. Cal Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet greets with layers of mocha, a woodsy cedar spice, menthol, espresso, dark chocolate and licorice, cumulatively initially dominating its fruit of blackberry, dark cherry and dark currant. However, the fruit starts to show a bit more given time in the glass but at this age (less than three years post vintage), the secondary aromatics are front and center. Brambly and dark with flavors of blackberry, cherry, crushed pepper, cedar plank, bay leaf and smoked sage, one can feel the warmth of its listed 16.1% alcohol on the back of the throat. The moderately gripping tannins sport a grainy texture which fully coats the palate; they linger for some time on the dark-spice filled finish.

The 2021 B Cellars To Kalon is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet offers appealing aromatics of blackberry, Pakistani mulberry, licorice, assorted brown baking spices, and an attractive layer of chocolate and mocha. This site doesn’t ever need to be over oaked; the fruit should always be the star of the show. Grainy, gritty, grippy, pixelated and firmly textured tannins anchor a long lasting finish accompanied by flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, mulberry, dark cherry, chocolate and a chalky/dusty character. So youthful at this age, this wine’s foundation is assembled with strength and power both in terms of structure and flavor. It is clearly built to age and has probably 15-20 years life ahead of it before it starts peaking. While smelling this wine it was tempting to include “hints of Brussel sprouts” which were emanating deliciously from the kitchen next to the the high top where we were tasting through a number of B Cellars current releases.

The 2011 B Cellars To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon shows the power of this vineyard’s terroir immediately by the darkness of the wine in the glass as well as on the bouquet. The nose is somewhat dusty and brambly showing pleasant aromas of blackberry. Expecting bigger structure based on some of the wines we have tried from this vineyard – this wine pleasantly surprises with how balanced it is in its youth. Perhaps partly a vintage characteristic, the tannins are firm and well-integrated into the wine’s lively and powerful finish.

For the first time ever, in 2023 B Cellars began making a Cabernet Franc from To Kalon Vineyard.

The 2011 B Cellars Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah is inky dark in the glass. It shows dark fruit aromas complemented by pleasing notes of violets and pencil shavings along with a ripe berry component. In addition, the nose is someway ‘meaty’ – showing aromas of bacon fat. On the palate this wine shows dark fruit with some spices from mid palate through to the finish. Well integrated tannins.

The 2004 B Cellars Blend 24 is a Super Tuscan unique blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and Petite Sirah. This is a delicate and elegant wine that is very well balanced and is a pleasure to drink even when it’s young. The bouquet is almost briary with notes of earthiness and cigar smoke. It is noticeably supple across the palate with ripe juicy flavors and a velvety finish of great length.

The 2005 B Cellars Blend 25 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. With these two varieties blended together expect a mouthful of big fruit forward red wine. This blend delivers! It is a bigger bolder wine than the Blend 24. Lots of black cherry and blackberry on the nose follow through to the palate. The middle palate shows some spice and is almost chewy, fleshy – it is quite robust and finishes with hints of vanilla and well-structured yet delicate tannins.

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Their wines are very food friendly, with bright acidity, are crafted to be enjoyed in their youth but also have the stuffing to be able to age. For the quality of the wine to the price ratio, this is one of the better luxury values from contemporary Napa Valley. Larger format bottles as well as gift boxes are also available.

An electric vehicle plugin is available in the parking lot. They encourage compact fuel-efficient vehicles here – one half of the parking lot is dedicated to compact car parking. Unlike many wineries that offer a bocce ball court, B Cellars instead built a croquet green, and visitors can try their skill at this with possibly a glass of wine in hand!

And B Cellars maintains a small lounge type space for commercial tour group drivers, located next to their winery. This lounge usually contains drinks and sandwiches and sometimes fruit. Several tables located outside of the lounge are often used by employees for lunch breaks but are also frequented by drivers.

Sustainability is integral to their operations. In 2021 B Cellars transitioned away from Styrofoam packaging for all their wine shipping materials to Green Cell Foam (made from U.S. grown corn), an alternative which is ecofriendly and certified compostable. With water conservation ever on people’s minds in California, B Cellars uses a Lyve System on site – a biological wastewater plant that re-uses treated water from their cellar operations for use in irrigation on their drought-tolerant landscaping.

Helping to combat global warming, B Cellars has partnered with Ecologi; for every order of wine a tree is planted in Mozambique, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Uganda and Kenya.

Those long familiar with B Cellars have watched their evolution and have perspective on how far they have come from their small production and under-the-radar beginnings from making their wines at Robert Pecota Winery in Calistoga, to Silenus Vintners, to their tasting room in Calistoga where the old Silver Rose Resort was located (now a high end Four Seasons managed property).

Until 2017 B Cellars distributed some of their wines and bottles were in premium restaurants from Los Angeles to Vegas to New York. Today all their wines are sold direct to consumer. Total annual production varies depending on the year, but is usually around 12,000 cases.

Due to high demand, there is currently a wait list for B Cellars’ B Society, a wine club with three tiers including the B Society Connoisseur, B Society Platinum and the B Society Heritage. For more information on this beautiful property and winery, to purchase wines or to schedule a reservation, please visit: www.bcellars.com

Grounds

Hospitality Center

Cave/Winery

Winemaking

Human Sculptures

Old B Cellars Location (we keep these photographs for historical reference)