Winemaker James Foster’s love for the land began as a child growing up on the family farm, the historic Roseland Plantation in Eufaula, Alabama. As a teenager, his love for the land spread to the vine: spending many summers as a “cellar rat” in various wineries, James had a full vineyard-to-bottle view of winemaking. Inspired to learn more, he studied Enology at Fresno State University, then honed his winemaking skills over the last 13 years at The Wine Group. Along the way, he has partnered with grower-winemakers from around the globe on a portfolio of varietally and regionally expressive, exceptional wines at all price points. Since 2009, James has worked with a team of winemakers on crafting flipflop wines. By collaborating closely with partner winemakers at the source, he is able to stay true to each wine’s varietal character.

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Shadow Mountain is an ideal grape-growing location with an elevation of 3,500 feet, and it’s blessed with Pacific Ocean breezes and cool, dry nights. Master vintner Alexander McGeary specializes in award-winning viognier, whites, reds and dessert wines such as merlot, Syrah, cabernet, zinfandel and a muscat cannelli.Shadow Mountain Vineyards is a 3rd generation family estate grape growing & wine making business, which was founded by Agusto & Helen Mase, an Italian couple in 1944. The second generation of the family continued in this family tradition, by planting extensive vineyards in the 1960′s and 70′s.

Delicious wine and sparkling views of Napa. I know there are tons of quality wineries around that have similar offerings, but Rombauer is definitely one worth visiting. Gorgeous garden space with some cute little trails to walk along while you enjoy your wine and soak up the Napa Valley air. I prefer to go in Fall or early Spring or during the week. The servers or more relaxed and they seem to have a better time introducing you to their wines and letting you know more of the wine history. You get to sample 5 of their wines including their AMAZING chardonnay and Fiddletown Zin. These are the bottles we always end up with and they are usually priced pretty similar to what you would find in a big store (BevMo, Total Wine, etc.). Most of their pricier zins like the Fiddletown aren't sold in stores however. They give you the wine glasses as part of the tasting as well.