Chimney Rock Winery was founded in 1981 by Sheldon 'Hack' and his wife Stella Wilson (both now deceased). Hack enjoyed a lengthy career as a businessman in a variety of ventures including owning and operating a number of Pepsi-Cola plants in Africa, was president of New York-based Rheingold Corp and later operated restaurants and luxury hotels. Already … [Read more...]

Clif Family Winery operates a beautiful open-to-the-public tasting room in St. Helena. Clif Family Winery produced their first vintage in 2004. Founders of Clif Family Wines, Gary Erickson and his wife Kit Crawford have always enjoyed good wine and were inspired to start a winery during extended bike tour stops at villa estate wineries in northern Italy. … [Read more...]

Clos du Val (founded in 1972, means "small vineyard estate of a small valley" in French) is still under original ownership. The winery was founded by an American businessman and prolific patron of the arts, John Goelet (died in early 2023 at age 91) & his wife Henrietta. Goelet lived a very full life; he was the son of a French mother and an American father. … [Read more...]

Clos Pegase is a very contemporary looking winery despite being over 30 years old, is often called the Napa Wine Temple due to its Greek styled architecture and several statues of Bacchus which used to be prominently placed on the grounds. Its design was created by prolific architect Michael Graves (1934-2015). Clos Pegase is located in the northern part of … [Read more...]

COHO Wines was founded by Gary Lipp (who we originally met at a trade tasting and followed up with for a private tasting 15 years later) and Brooks Painter both of whom are Napa wine industry veterans. The first vintage of COHO was in 2002 two bottlings of Pinot Noir, one from Stanly Ranch on the Napa side of Carneros and from the Del Rio Vineyard in the … [Read more...]

Conn Creek Winery was founded in 1973 by Bill and Kathy Collins (Bill died in early 2017 at age 89 and Kathy passed in late 2023 one day short of 94) - making this one of the older operating brands in Napa Valley. Bill and Kathy purchased 54 acres of Zinfandel (finding the property listing in the Wall Street Journal's real estate section) off of Highway 29 … [Read more...]

Diamond Mountain Vineyard (formerly CONSTANT Diamond Mountain Vineyard). One leaves the valley floor just south of Calistoga, carefully navigating the narrow Diamond Mountain Road as it winds through redwood trees and soon begins its climb up the rugged eastern facing slopes of Diamond Mountain. Typically allow about 10-12 minutes to drive from the bottom of … [Read more...]

Corison Winery was founded in 1987 by wine maker Cathy Corison (her husband William Martin is also co-owner of the winery). Cathy first caught the wine bug when she was studying Biology at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. She took an elective course on viticulture and was hooked. As a result, she ended up going to the University of California, Davis and … [Read more...]

Cosentino Winery was founded by self-taught winemaker Mitch Cosentino in 1980. Mitch is the first person we have met born in Gustine, California (a small town south of Modesto). He discovered an interest in wine during college, prior to a career with wine he earned a degree in Broadcast Communications. Finding the job market in this field somewhat … [Read more...]