10 Amazing Wineries to Visit in Napa

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you buy or book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission .

There is a dizzying array of wineries to visit in Napa, so narrowing them down for a short trip is quite the undertaking. While I love using the tried and true method of asking friends and family for recommendations, everyone has different tastes and budgets.

Truly, it’s hard to find bad wine in Napa, which is the headquarters for many large producers that ship their products all over the country. It’s always been my preference to visit smaller operations, whose wines I won’t find at home. Oftentimes, those types of places provide the most personal, memorable, and educational tasting experience.

Below, I’ve listed ten wineries to visit in Napa Valley that I personally loved and would easily return to all over again. Many of these are small family productions, while others offer insane views or a unique venue. While a couple of these wineries specialize in sparkling wine, the rest deliver on beautiful Zinfandels and divine Cabernet Sauvignon.

---

10 Unique & Exceptional Wineries to Visit in Napa Valley

Grgich

Grgich is a classic winery that one must visit on a first trip to Napa. After all, it was one of their wines that put Napa on the map after beating out the French wines in the “Paris Tasting of 1976”.

To my chagrin, I actually booked a tour here, and subsequently forgot about it when the day came. After a morning of wine tastings, it starts to get hard to keep your reservations straight!

Thankfully, I remembered just in time for us to still enjoy a counter tasting about an hour before they closed. The staff were really cool about it, though, and refunded us the difference from the tour. At the end of the day, I’m really glad we still took the time to visit, as it was a very enjoyable experience.

Like many of the other wineries, the property was beautiful and surrounded by vineyards. We tasted a variety of whites and reds, which was a nice change of pace from giant Cabs (Cabernet Sauvignon). The tasting room was open to a space filled with rows of barrels, which filled the air with the aroma of oak. I even thought it enhanced the taste of the wines as I swirled them around my mouth.

1829 St. Helena Hwy S, Rutherford, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $75.

Schramsberg

Even if you don’t have a bubbly obsession, a tour of Schramsberg’s 34,000 square foot wine cave will fascinate and intrigue you.  Carved by Chinese laborers in the 19^th century (look for pickaxe marks on the walls), this extensive cave system houses endless rows of aging bottles that give Hall of Prophecy vibes from Harry Potter.

Adding to the eeriness is the thick lichen that grows on the roof of the caves, which often gets mistaken from giant spider webs.  There is also the chance that a pressurized bottle of bubby could suddenly explode, which might scare the pants off you (a few hundred bottles are lost every year).

If that happens, you’ll at least get to calm down with a tasting of five different sparkling wines.  This is where you can learn a little bit about your own tastes.  Specifically, do you like sparkling wine from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir grapes with a super dry or semi-sweet taste?

Maybe you are wondering why I am called it bubbly and sparkling wine, but not Champagne.  This festive wine cannot be called Champagne unless it was made with grapes from the Champagne region of France.

1400 Schramsberg Road, Calistoga, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $85.

Cade

CADE Estate Winery is all about full bodied red wines and views for days. This fantastic winery is situated 1,800 feet above sea level on Howell Mountain with a lovely patio that looks over the valley. The higher elevation leads to growing conditions that add different dimensions to the grapes than their valley-grown counterparts.

When we visited Napa Valley this February, we actually came to Cade twice. The first day was for our tasting appointment, which featured impressive Cabs that had us considering blowing our wine budget (they do not come cheap).

Since we were visiting in February, however, the views that we’d been looking forward to at Cade were completely shrouded in thick fog. We wouldn’t have even found the winery entrance if a minibus driver parked nearby didn’t help us along.

Thankfully, when we returned the next day to actually purchase a bottle, the fog had lifted. Instead, we found sunshine and the sweeping views, which we were able to enjoy with one more complimentary tasting.

360 Howell Mountain Rd S, Angwin, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $100.

O’Shaughnessy

Another winery on Howell Mountain, O’Shaughnessy provides a similar quality of wine to Cade with a more laidback Midwestern feel. That’s likely because the proprietor, Betty O’Shaughnessy, hails from rural Minnesota. While the stone terrace of the gorgeous tasting room lacks Cade’s sprawling vistas, it still offers charming mountainous views of its surrounding vineyards.

Our visit fell on a Monday in early October, when the winery was completely dead.  We were the only customers of our host, who took us on a brief tour around the property.  One highlight was the elegant 12,000 square foot wine cave cleverly built in a semi-circular shape to appear infinite.  The second was a small room housing an enviable wine collection with bottles dating back to modern Napa’s mid-century beginnings.

Next, our host chatted with us as we tasted four or five different wines, with each successive pour being more robust and complex than the former. We must have been pretty happy with what we tasted, as we ended up joining O’Shaughnessy’s wine club!

PO Box 923, Angwin, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $85. Each single fee is waived with the purchase of $300 per guest.

Biale

The fantastic Napa winery that is Biale came in-law recommended and is 100% approved by my husband and I. I’d been lucky enough to drink their Zinfandel at just about every family holiday on my husband’s side, and pretty much knew I would like whatever we tasted there.

Despite our high expectations, Biale did not disappoint and provided a wonderfully cozy tasting on their heated patio with vineyard views. Our server, Tom, actually right at our table to discuss each wine with us. This personal touch went a long way for me, and I appreciated the time he took to educate us on what we’re tasting.

Even better, the rainy day subsided and gave way to rainbows stretching over the vineyard. This unplanned moment made our visit to Biale that much more memorable.

4038 Big Ranch Rd, Napa, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $50.

Duckhorn

Of all the wineries to visit in Napa, I have to say I was a tad skeptical about Duckhorn before we came. I was biased by the fact that I’d heard of it before and assumed it was a large scale, sell-out winery that would be overrated. Thankfully, my judgement was wrong and this tasting was totally worth it.

As it turns out, Duckhorn’s tasting room was lovely, with a sizeable heated patio that looked over the winery’s beautiful gardens. Our server was warm and displayed knowledge about the wines, actually providing one of the most educational tastings of our trip.

We tasted about 4 or 5 wines, which is pretty standard, so we were surprised when our server brought over a couple extras. First, we were presented a Merlot to compare with another newer vintage. Then we were given a Cabernet Sauvignon grown on Howell Mountain to compare to a Cab grown on the valley floor.

These differences challenged us to detect different notes in our tastings that we otherwise wouldn’t have known to look for. It’s amazing how grapes grown on two plots of earth side by side might produce completely different wines!

1000 Lodi Ln, St. Helena, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $60.

Silver Oak

For all my red wine aficionados out there, you are in for a treat at Silver Oak. This is one of the most famous wineries to visit in Napa, and the best counter tasting we did. Their Cabs are très magnifique, albeit très expensive. That said, the building and surrounding landscape was absolutely stunning, even with the bare vines of February.

Although our tasting only included three Cabernet Sauvignons, they were all exquisite. In fact, Silver Oak’s wines were so good, my mouth actually waters even now when thinking about them. We were also given a fourth tasting of our favorite wine.

It’s at least worth a visit to go and behold Silver Oak’s beautiful tasting room. Be sure to check out the impressive display of bottles behind glass to the left of the bar, including magnums that could supply an entire party!

915 Oakville Cross Rd, Oakville, CA. Reservations required. Tastings of a selection of premium wines start at $60.

Mumm

Mumm is one of the most unique wineries to visit in Napa, and is a must if you crave bubbles during your trip. Apparently, bachelorette parties agree, as we saw a few of them there. Their elegant tasting room had large glass windows looking over the vineyard, which was charming even on a rainy day.

Another cool feature about Mumm is the free photo gallery exhibit located right next to the tasting room. It featured work by a couple different artists, but most notably by Ansel Adams, who is famous for his photos of the American West. While just a short little hallway, this exhibit is the perfect pause before you hit the next winery.

8445 Silverado Trail, Rutherford, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $40.

Vincent Arroyo

Our tasting at Vincent Arroyo Winery was easily one of the best I’ve ever done.  First of all, the tasting fee was $30 per person, which is super low in Napa.  Second, we must have tasted like ten different wines.  This is the first time I’ve ever dumped any wine simply because it was such a high quantity!

You may be wondering how this winery can get away with such good prices, which hover between $30 and $70 (for reference most Napa wines cost $90 to over $100).  Don’t for a second think it’s any indication of the wine quality – not at all!  It actually has to do with the cost of the land.

Vincent Arroyo started this winery in the 1970’s, when land in Napa Valley was much cheaper.  Since the winery has stayed in his family since then, the low land cost still factors into the wine prices.  This is the same reason why you see excellent wines from Spain and Italy at such low price points compared to California.

The specialty at this winery is Petite Sirah, which makes it unique from most other Napa wineries that heavily push Cabernet Sauvignon, for which they can charge much more.  We also tried Rosé, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, a red blend, Tempranillo, and dessert wine.  Tempranillo is pretty rare to find in Napa Valley, since it is a Spanish variety and cannot compete pricewise with cheaper bottles imported from Spain.

2361 Greenwood Ave, Calistoga, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $30. Fees waived with purchase of three bottles per person.

M.S. Torun

A visit to M.S. Torun will be unlike any other winery you tour in Napa Valley. First of all, you won’t even feel like you’re in California anymore. The arid hills are reminiscent of the hot Mediterranean and the property boasts a temple and amphitheater that are nods to ancient Greece.

Second, the proprietor Sid goes above and beyond on service. We are used to getting a small cheese plate to go alongside our tastings, but Sid basically prepares an entire meal!

After he got Aaron and I situated with a bottle of wine we selected from his cellar, he brought out plate after plates of fresh olives, nuts, jams, cheeses, quiche, kimchi, roasted vegetables, and other items. The views from our table were incredible, as we were perched in the mountains and looked over a little branch of Lake Berryessa.

We weren’t quite done yet, though. Next, Sid drove us on a small cart through cliffside dirt roads he built himself to tour the property. We past by rows of grape vines and olive trees, waved to livestock, and paused at the top of the mountain. At a small picnic table on a dirt temple that Sid is building, we took in sweeping views while finishing up our Cabernet Sauvignon.

As we sipped, we could hear Sid digging nearby, as he apparently never stops working. It’s paid off though, as he supplies his olive oil to the famous Yountville restaurant, The French Laundry. In fact, he is the only winery in Napa that produces more olives than grapes!

5185 Wragg Canyon Rd, Napa, CA. Reservations required. Tastings starting at $55.

• • •

If you are lost when trying to pinpoint wineries to visit in Napa, the ones I’ve listed above are a great place to start. Any of them will deliver on a truly unique experience that will enhance any Napa Valley itinerary. The only question is whether you will start with bubbly or Cabernet Sauvignon?

Which Napa Valley wineries would you add to this list?