This was also a fabulous winery to taste at. They let us picnic in their beautiful courtyard, complete with bocce court, and supplied us with complementary glasses of wine to enjoy while we ate. The employees were chatty, knowledgeable, and not at all pushy.
With nearly 100 years of heritage, our family-owned and operated winery is the place for you. From casual wine-tasting to eloquent events, Mt. Konocti is the perfect location for anyone seeking a unique and relaxing experience.
Hours: Monday - Saturday | 11 am - 4:30 pm
Joel Gott was born to make wine. His grandfather was winemaker and president of Inglenook in the 1960s and 1970s while his father, Cary Gott, is the founder of Montevina and continues to consult for wineries such as D.R. Stephens.
In addition to Joel's uncanny blending ability, he has privileged access to many of the best and as yet undiscovered fruit sources in the Napa Valley. Joel Gott wines are therefore remarkable values, offering gobs of classic California fruit, good structure and excellent balance.
Of course, Joel is also the proud proprietor of Gott's Roadside, Napa Valley's red hot retro-chic "hamburger joint" on Highway 29, and most recently, in San Francisco as well. Robert Parker once proclaimed a meal at Taylor's one of the finest meals of the year in the Wine Advocate!
Not open to the public.
Nothing was extremely stand out here, and the room is very small. However, I was intrigued by the Howlin' Good Red and the donation they give to Monterrey County SPCA, so we stopped by and gave it a whirl. Caught them right before closing and had a nice tasting session. It is a pick and choose list if I remember correctly, and the ones I picked were very good but maybe priced a little too high. The Howlin' Good Red was a very good, upper middle of the road red blend, that I enjoyed enough to get a bottle.
Don't miss Enkidu amongst the cluster of newer tasting rooms in Kenwood.
The staff is always friendly and always willing to open anything you may want to try, Don't miss the 07 Humbaba, 08 Sangiovese and the Tin Barn Chardonnay.
When volcanoes last erupted in Lake County, people had just migrated to this region. That was 11,000 years ago. Still, in geological time, that is recent. The area around Mount Konocti bears evidence of this volcanic activity, including its famous red soil and ubiquitous obsidian rock. Today, those rocks gleam in the sun, their shiny silica surfaces reflecting their origin – and lend their name to the business Peter Molnar helped build alongside partner Michael Terrien, brother Arpad, and their family: Obsidian Ridge Vineyards.
Dan and Margaret Duckhorn founded the Estate in 1976 and has spent forty uears establishing itself as one of north America's premier producers of Napa Valley wines.
A Napa Valley rarity, they have free tastings here. I went all the way to Anderson Valley and most of those places still charge $5. And it's not like Heitz is pouring low-priced wine. I tasted an $80 cab that was four years out of vintage which was a joy to drink. They also sell a decades worth of library vintages from both Trailside and Martha's Vineyards. If $75 to $150 cabs are too much, then pick-up a balanced bottle of Sauvignon Blanc for $20.
Location:
A delightful tasting facility perched on the hillside that feels spacious and has a great view.
Service:
Knowledgeable and friendly staff, although this is hit and miss. The first gentleman who poured for us was very helpful, but then a brusque lady came along and stole our spit bucket that we were using and gave it to the couple she was attending.
Wines:
We had a $25 flight of 5 wines that came with the flexibility to pick any combination of the wines they were pouring. Miner does not produce estate wines and their grapes are sourced from third party vineyards.
It was fun to compare the difference between the two styles of Chardonnay, one of which (2008 Chardonnay, "Wild Yeast") received more oak aging & malolactic fermentation % than the other (2010 Chardonnay, "Napa Valley").
Bankers by profession, Jim and Mary are no newcomers to wine. They've owned one of America's oldest wineries, Hermannhof, since 1974. It's located in their home state of Missouri, where Jim was raised in a farming tradition.The wines at Hermannhof are good, but the Missouri climate is not conducive to growing the European varietals that have made France and California famous. This winemaking couple are constructing their dream winery on the Star Lane property. It's dug into the hillside for efficient use of energy and will host some 26,000 square feet of caves for barrel aging.
