Castiel Estate. Napa Valley, to proprietors Dave and Kathleen DiCesaris is extremely personal. Their highly serendipitous story begins with a Napa Valley tasting room romance. But first some background. Kathleen grew up in Southern California and was raised by professional opera singers; while working in a restaurant at Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, she … [Read more...]

Hobel Wines. Cameron Hobel grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a degree in Biology. His father was a physician and Cameron decided to follow in his footsteps - originally on a pre-med track. One day his father looked him squarely in the eye and said, "if you want to become a doctor, you will not become a … [Read more...]

Gentleman Farmer Wines is a partnership between Joe Wolosz and Jeff Durham; both who have long careers centered around hospitality and the culinary worlds. Joe grew up in Pismo Beach, central California around hotels; his family owned two properties along California's coastline including El Patio Motel and The Wayside Motel. Later he worked in restaurants in … [Read more...]

Vinoce Wines was founded by Brian & Lori Nuss (tragically Lori, who we first met with passed away in early 2016). Brian is originally from New Jersey; in 1976 he and his brother spent several months driving across the country, one taking the northern route and one taking the southern route. Both settled in Los Angeles and began a general contracting … [Read more...]

Regusci Winery (pronounced Rey goo she) is the site of the first winery built in what is now the Stags Leap District. Vintner and early Napa pioneer Terrill Grigsby was related to William Harrison (the ninth president of the USA) Grigsby’s father was Harrison's nephew. Terrill Grigsby oversaw the construction of a wooden winery by Chinese workers, and … [Read more...]

Robert Mondavi Winery (acquired by Constellation Brands, Inc. in 2004, the same company that also owns 50% of Opus One) is one of Napa Valley's most iconic and visited wineries; it is located on the busy "wine strip" on the west side of Highway 29 in Oakville just north of Oakville Cross Road. It is one of the few wineries in the valley that draws people … [Read more...]

Inglenook Estate. While not Napa Valley's oldest winery, it is certainly arguably the valley's grandest. It is what a wine estate should look and feel like with its visually stunning exterior, while collecting layers of history and depth of stories over its 140+ years. Originally founded as Inglenook, the physical property been referred to by several … [Read more...]

Flora Springs Winery traces its original winery heritage back to 1885 (their former winery at the end of West Zinfandel Lane which they sold in 2020). Two brothers, James and William Rennie immigrated from Scotland via Australia to Napa Valley, planted 60 acres of grapes and began construction on their stone gravity flow winery in 1888. The brothers hired … [Read more...]

Cliff Lede Vineyards (pronounced "LayDee") was founded in 2002 on site of what used to be S. Anderson Vineyard; in 1971 Stanley (a dentist from Pasadena) and Carol (winemaker) Anderson (both now deceased), purchased 28 acres of land and by 1979 had built a winery and began producing sparkling wines with their first release in 1983 - in part using Chardonnay … [Read more...]