Del Dotto Estate Winery & Caves opened for tastings by appointment in early November 2007 and was fully open for appointment only tours on Thanksgiving Day 2007. Those who are impressed by the visual appeal of Castello di Amorosa located near Calistoga in the north part of the valley, will certainly want to visit this winery. It is just as unique but on a smaller more elegant scale. We visited several times during the construction and have since taken more detailed tours. The winery is located just off the west side of Highway 29 south of St. Helena in the Rutherford sub appellation. For easy reference, look for the two large 300-year-old amphora ceramic vases at the entrance to their driveway.
Not many wineries can boast of having four wineries within Napa Valley: the original historic winery on Atlas Peak Road (near the city of Napa), Villa del Lago on Pritchard Hill (the old Girard Winery), this property (in Rutherford) and not one to stop with merely three wineries, Del Dotto opened a 4th winery (Piazza del Dotto Winery & Caves) in Oakville just north of Yountville on the East side of Highway 29 in September 2017.
Real estate and TV infomercial man, now Napa winery mogul, Dave Del Dotto was raised in Modesto, CA; his father was Italian and his mother Portuguese. Dave’s paternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s from Tuscany and settled in Merced, CA. And like many Italians who came to the U.S. he kept up his winemaking heritage by making home-wine in his basement.
Dave traces his ancestral roots to the early 1100s in Venice, Italy. Del Dotto relatives still live in Lucca, Italy (near Pisa). As a result, his heritage plays a big part in the visual look and feel of his Napa Valley wineries as well as the actual wine making. This winery is everything a classic Italian villa should be from the ancient, gnarled olive trees in front to the marble façade on the outside of the building to the gorgeous 1-ton marble columns inside. In addition, the interior features colorful and ornate tile work, the Venetian chandeliers, the ancient mosaic marble floors, and a beautiful bright orange onyx window upstairs.
Permits for the construction of the winery were filed in 2003; it then took several years to build this 16,000 square foot masterpiece. On a trip to Italy, while in Florence, Dave and his wife Yolanda spotted a marble butterfly being worked on by artist Ilio de Filippis at his studio. Dave and Ilio became friends and Dave soon commissioned him to oversee the design and construction of Del Dotto Estate Winery & Caves. Italian stone masons were brought over to build the intricate brick ceilings as well as to work on the detailed floor tile mosaics. They lived in Napa Valley until their work was completed.
But one local artist also contributed; Italian born but Calistoga resident Carlo Marchiori painted all the frescos on the inside the wine cave. Marchiori runs his own gallery in Calistoga; Ca’ Toga Galleria D’ Arte. He is a well-known muralist who has created murals around the world primarily in North America, Europe and Asia – in select hotels, wineries and casinos. He lives in his self-titled Villa CA’TOGA in the northern part of Calistoga and opens his impressive house to visitors for tours by appointment during select times in the summer.
Oh, and did we mention their sound system is tops with fantastic acoustics in the main part of the winery, the bathrooms and into the cave. As one faces the tasting bar, one will see the impressive audio control screen built into the wall on the right. Thanks, Dave, for turning us on to the modern opera band, Amici – good taste.
No expense has been spared on the construction and furnishing of this winery. From the parking lot, the winery building appears to be low to the ground and this is by design. Dave did not want to build a structure that would dominate the surrounding vineyard landscape. Its foundation was set 16 feet below the surface; this is the only Napa Valley winery that we know of and have visited that features a cave built right into the valley floor. Almost without exception, winery caves are built into hillsides.
Visitors descend steps below ground to the winery entrance, passing a custom-designed fountain made from rocks shipped over from Italy. Vines are planted on top of the cave and from the outside of the winery one has no idea there is a cave on site.
The cave is lined with 39,000 pieces tile that were originally used in 300-year old villas from Lucca, Italy. A VIP room and several alcoves near the end of the cave contain some of their most sought-after wines including the Villa del Lago Cabernet Sauvignon and ‘the Beast”, a proprietary red blend made from grapes from their multiple vineyard sources. Their 2012 vintage of this wine earned a perfect 100 score rating from prominent wine critic, Robert Parker Jr.
Also of note are their two Salumi rooms (very unusual for Napa Valley wineries); both are located at the end of the cave and contained a number of curing meats used by their culinary team.
In 2015 in conjunction with author, Kate Silver Del Dotto Vineyards published a coffee table book titled, Del Dotto Napa Valley, The Dream Becomes a Reality. This book details some of the Del Dotto family history, but primarily highlights the construction and efforts that were required to build Del Dotto Estate Winery & Caves.
While focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyards throughout Napa Valley, Del Dotto also owns a 359-acre ranch called Cinghiale in neighboring Sonoma County. The vineyard is located on the Sonoma Coast not far from the ocean. As a result, this is completely different growing climate than in the central part of Napa Valley. Their coastal vineyard is cooler, foggy (often moist during certain times of the year) and contains a diversity of soil types. That property is planted to some 40+ acres of grapes including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. As of our latest update to this review, Del Dotto owns 437 acres with 121 acres planted to wine grapes.
Property History
This property has had several owners before the Del Dotto’s purchased it.
A stately craftsman house is located to the right of the driveway. This was built in 1912 by by John Hoffman Wheeler, part of the Wheeler family who owned Wheeler Farms on Zinfandel Lane on the other side of Highway 29, now owned by Suzanne Deal Booth. The Wheeler’s owned some 400 acres at the height of their operations in the 1940s. This house was constructed with a built in refrigerator and a built in vacuum cleaning system.
Henry Goescher, an executive at Tidewater Oil Company and his wife Lydia purchased the house in the early 1960s. An article in the The Napa Valley Register dated Friday October 29, 1971 indicated they were farming 37 acres of grapes and were growing Colombard and Gamay grapes. In October 1966 they hosted an event in this home honoring Mrs. Carol Finch, the wife of Robert Finch who served as the 38th lieutenant governor of California under governor Ronald Reagan. The home was often used for entertaining purposes during their ownership. Henry passed in 1976 and Lydia in 1994.
And this was the first property that Dave and Yolanda purchased in Napa Valley. They first visited this old home and vineyard in 1988 when they were in the valley from Hawaii visiting wineries and purchasing wines for their personal collection. They aquired these 17 acres during that trip and then soon moved from Hawaii to this home. In 1990 they replanted the vineyard to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Sangiovese.
Select Wines
Whites/Rosé
The 2021 Del Dotto Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast is from the Del Dotto owned Cinghiale Vineyard. This gorgeous piece of property is located close to the Pacific Ocean and is planted to a number of other varieties including Pinot Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache. Cinghiale, pronounced ching-gyah-lay is Italian for wild boar. This wine is medium gold in color; nose. The bouquet is a bit closed when its cold, but opens as it warms in the glass. It offers scents of pear, apple, white peach, white nectarine and citrus blossom. It offers a refreshing crispness from the entry through to the finish. On the palate there are flavors of Sierra Nevada gooseberry, grapefruit pith, red delicious apple, honeycomb, pineapple guava, white peach, and pineapple. The fleshy texture is balanced perfectly by its bright acidity. Easy drinking. Looking for an oaky or buttery expression? That is not this wine nor the characteristics of this cool weather site.
The 2021 Piazza del Dotto Sauvignon Blanc, Rutherford Napa Valley is medium gold in color; the abundant aromatics are immediately tropical including scents of pineapple, guava, dried mango, honeysuckle, citrus blossom and lemon curd. There are no varietal characteristics showing in the bouquet that one would typically find from a cooler climate grown Sauvignon Blanc. The mouth feel is fleshy, rounded and supple and is complemented with a richness of flavor which is especially noticeable on the finish. This bottling offers intense flavors including of pineapple and cantaloupe.
Reds
There is a common thread through the Del Dotto red wines; they are ripe, fruit forward, higher alcohol and rich – with a texture that always to some degree regardless of vintage, features the Del Dotto trademark suppleness.
The 2021 Del Dotto Pinot Noir Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast is pale to medium ruby in color; the bouquet offers scents of dark raspberry, cherries and blueberries with a healthy dose of bacon fat. And there are additional aromatics which become more pronounced as the wine evolves, including of mocha, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, white pepper and old cedar box. This not an earthy or overtly spicy showing, but has plenty of aromatic appeal to draw one in, although we are not sure we could identify this as Pinot Noir in a blind tasting. On the palate there are flavors of cherry, dark raspberry and dark chocolate. This wine lingers with some ‘coffee in the morning’ flavors including mocha, espresso and roasted coffee bean. The tannins are fine-grained and polished and linger seamlessly with a subtle drying character on the fruit and barrel influenced finish. This is a riper expression of the variety; the alcohol is a listed 14.8%.
The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Zinfandel, Napa Valley is from the historic Tofanelli Vineyard in Calistoga. This wine is pale to medium purple in color; the bouquet is an immediate ‘hit me with fruit’ expression. It is ripe but doesn’t cross into the territory of being overly ripe or overtly jammy. Its highly attractive aromatics include cherry pie, baked plums, strawberries, raspberry jam and red licorice. Other aromatic layers include vanilla, toasted coconut, mocha and white chocolate. The palate is a showcase of both ripeness and voluptuous texture. There are flavors of cherry, strawberry and raspberry accompanied by pie crust, cloves, white pepper and dried anise seeds; this latter flavor reminded us of mukhwas, the fennel seeds we have enjoyed as an after dinner palate cleanser during our visits to India. The mouth feel here is very rounded with supple tannins gently caressing the palate as if one was running their fingers over a cashmere sweater. This wine delivers plenty of pleasure in its youth. 15.2% alcohol.
The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Sangiovese, Napa Valley (Pope Valley) is medium ruby in color; the bouquet is brimming with berries and cherries with raspberry, red plum, dried apricot, dried figs, tomato leaf and a hint of white pepper, mocha and toasted coconut. The focus here is on the fruit and its ripeness and a fruit forward expression of the variety. On the palate there are flavors of strawberry jam, red cherry, raspberry jam, ripe Santa Rosa plum, Graham cracker, cinnamon, caramel and chocolate. The rustic and savory character that this variety is known for has been bred out with ripeness. Already in its youth the tannins are highly polished and their rounded character complements a fruit filled finish. Also lingers with dark and pepper spice, but is not peppery as the fruit outshines its spice characteristics. We wouldn’t mind pairing this with the Moto Guzzi pizza with its smoked mozzarella, Caggiano spicy Italian sausage and slow roasted sweet onions at Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, CA.
The 2022 Del Dotto Vineyards Cave Blend, Napa Valley is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 6% Sangiovese, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Sirah and 2% Malbec. The first vintage of this wine was in 2000. It is deep ruby in color; the hedonistic bouquet offers ripe aromas of blackberry jam, strawberry, raspberry preserves along with clove, cinnamon, cardamom and fennel. If some of the Napa Valley spas would ever create wine aroma focused sensory experiences, they would model their scent choices fully after the bouquet on this wine. On the palate there are flavors of ripe blackberry, dark cherry, raspberry and dark plum. Opulent from the entry through to the finish, the ripe fruit continues to persist for some time accompanied by lightly grainy but already very well integrated tannins in its youth. Lingers also with a subtle dryness. This wine doesn’t really need food; pair with a pool party, warm weather, lots of splashing and appropriate excitement.
The 2021 Del Dotto Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the jammy, fruit forward and uber ripe bouquet offers aromas of blackberry jam, boysenberry preserves, stewed mulberries, baked plums and cherry pie with additional scents of cocoa powder, mocha, espresso and other assorted baking spices. The flavorful palate offers notes of blackberry at the peak of ripeness, boysenberry, Pakistani mulberry, dark raspberry and vanilla. The tannins show some of this vintage grip from Napa Valley red wines produced in 2021 but are in no way overtly gripping or course. Their grainy edged and light drying character outpaces the fruit on the finish. For those looking for pleasure from ripeness, this is a crowd pleaser. While high octane in terms of alcohol at a listed 15.5%, there are still higher alcohol Napa Valley red wines; we have seen red ‘dry’ wines bottled in the mid 16 percent range before. This wine lingers with a light warmth but is not as ‘hot’ as one would expect.
Hospitality
The barrel tasting tour takes at least an hour and includes stops at hand painted frescos built into the walls which correspond to historical wine making events. If a tour is a part of your visit here allow at least 90-120 minutes including some time spent in the wine salon after the actual tour. As with tour groups at their winery on Atlas Peak Road near the city of Napa, small groups of people simultaneously take tours with individual tour guides.
Besides being functional, the cave is also a shrine to the history of wine making. Tours include a healthy pour from barrel samples of premium wines; typically, guests will try 8-to-10-barrel samples. Small leaflets describing each wine sampled are available on the heads of the barrel or one can see a summary of what was tasted with a printout available at the end of the tour.
Former Executive Chef, Joshua Schwartz
‘Delicacies by Del Dotto’ is a memorable combined barrel tasting experience followed by a sit down pairing in their upstairs VIP room accompanied by small plates. While no longer with Del Dotto, talented chef Joshua Schwartz (formerly of Bouchon and French Laundry) used to prepare the cuisine for ‘Delicacies by Del Dotto’. The last we heard Joshua is traveling the world as a fishing guide and chef for his own company, Travel Creek Hospitality. Allow about 2 hours for this experience, usually offered Fridays and Saturdays. While the bites are small – unless you are extremely hungry this tasting/culinary experience makes a nice light lunch, and you won’t leave hungry. To get you salivating, during a recent visit one of the small bite highlights was a Pan Seared Hudson Valley Foi Gras Morels n’ Smoked Yams Black Truffle Jus. NOTE: As of September 1, 2017, this tasting experience has been moved to Piazza Del Dotto near Yountville.
Joshua has reign over one of the nicest winery kitchens you will see in the valley. His culinary domain increased dramatically once he moved the culinary team over to Piazza del Dotto on Highway 29 (just north of Yountville). When Piazza del Dotto opened, the culinary epicenter of the Del Dotto empire shifted to a space that is even more impressive than their Rutherford kitchen.
Sometimes Dave sits behind the bar on Fridays enjoying the results of his wine making team’s efforts and interacting with guests.
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All oak used for aging is always 100% new and is either American or French; they use only organically grown grapes, always handpicked and hand sorted. In addition, only free run juice is used (the highest quality juice) resulting from the natural compression of the grapes prior to pressing.
The number of wines created by a variety of different wine making methods is probably the single most key factor that separates Del Dotto from every other commercial wine producer in Napa Valley (and yes there are over 1,100 of them). Del Dotto crafts such a wide variety of wines that they have wine for most every preference. Dave’s philosophy is that consumers are the kings and queens; therefore, at Del Dotto guests can mix and match purchases from what seems like an almost limitless number of choices!
Hopefully by now after reading this review and our reviews of their other properties in Napa Valley, you will have concluded that Del Dotto is known for fun, experimentation, and creativity. This carries through to their wine aging program. They are already a Napa Valley winery leader in oak barrel experimentation as they use barrels from numerous coopers, including a variety of oak. How many wineries carve out additional grooves inside their wine barrels to increase the surface area? Del Dotto does this for some of their experimental programs.
Historically the inside of barrels have been toasted with coopers assigning levels of toast based on the amount of toasting each barrel receives. However, Del Dotto has worked with Vicard Cooperage in France – using a small number of barrels that are ‘toasted’ not by the traditional means of fire but rather by radiation. The temperature can be computer controlled so the toasting remains even throughout, along with maintaining a fairly constant temperature.
Sign on Pritchard Hill for the private Del Dotto Estate
We know of a number of premium Napa Valley wineries aging their wine in what those in the wine industry affectionately called “eggs”, concrete oval shaped tanks; when Del Dotto began using clay amphora very few Napa Valley based wineries were aging their wines in these vessels. Today more wineries in the valley are using clay amphora.
Total annual production varies but is around 20,000 cases. For more information on this unique winery, to schedule a visit to the property or to to join either their wine club or the more coveted VIP membership, visit their primary website here: www.deldottovineyards.com
Note: Piazza del Dotto, Dave Del Dotto & family’s newest winery opened its hospitality center on September 1, 2017 (tastings by appointment). Construction continued on their cave for many months after and as of our latest update, the 40,000 square foot cave is open for visitors. See our review on this site, filed under Piazza del Dotto.
Grounds/Exterior
Interior/Cave
WE would like to make an appointment for a wine tasting and tour for March 26. How do we set this up?
Thank you, Linda
Linda – I would contact the winery directly – and make sure you ask for the St. Helena property (not the Napa Atlas Peak property)
what does the object / symbol on outside of building represent or meaning? the Roman numerical object with zodiac signs on outside of yellow building.
Thank you