The winery facility can only be accessed from the south bound lane as there is a divider in the middle of the highway (just go up to the next light and make a U-turn if necessary). Cartlidge & Brown is the southern most winery we visited during this project – its about as far south as you can get and still be considered a Napa “area” winery.
They were founded in 1980 and until 2001 their winery was at the current Ehler’s Estate location in northern Napa Valley. They were quickly outgrowing their production at that facility and their current location suits them much better due to its increased size. The winery is located in a huge warehouse that houses massive steel tanks.
Their production is pushing 200,000 cases with 100,000 square feet of space so this is certainly not a small winery. Their initial release was merely 1200 cases in 1980 – all Chardonnay which ended up selling out in less than a month. Not a bad way to start a winery! The original founders are still the owners. Tony Cartlidge is currently President and has an eclectic resume which includes driving logging and cement trucks and leading trips to Russia and North Africa. Their winemaker has been with them since the early 80′s which is rare in the industry to be with one winery for that many years.
All fruit is sourced from about 1000 acres throughout different parts of California. Note that they use “California appellation” – this is for a reason. They are free to blend fruit from a variety of vineyards regardless of the source which often contributes to the complexity of their wines. I.e., different clones, cool versus warm weather vineyards etc. In addition, Cartlidge & Brown is focused on showing the varietal aromas and flavors in their wines – and as a result are typically 100% varietal. They also produce wines that are not overly high in alcohol.
As they say, “stick your nose in our business” and what a better place to do this than at the actual winery. Their location is certainly not in the main part of Napa Valley and typically you have to seek out this winery due to its somewhat isolated location. It is a working winery and this is part of the tasting experience. At press time they had 5 different labels and were complimentary tasting from 17 different wines.
Other labels produced here include Rabid Red (a blend of course!), Stratford, Moser Scharding and Manzanita Canyon. Their pricing puts them in the category of only 2-3 other Napa area wineries that we have visited – i.e. most of their wines are priced under $20/bottle. A very nice single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc & Merlot are available under their main C&B label. We enjoyed the Stratford Cabernet Sauvignon. They hold events at the winery second Saturday of every month – art, BBQ’s, olive oil tasting etc. Visit: www.cartlidgeandbrowne.com
NOTE: The Tasting room at this winery is currently closed and not open to the public. We will update if the situation changes.
NOTE: This review has been archived.
REASON: Moved out of Napa – no longer a Napa winery
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