The vision for Toulouse Vineyards is to grow the highest quality grapes using sustainable farming practices and to produce the finest Pinot Noir infused with the fun and passion of winemaking. For Vern and Maxine Boltz, it has been an exciting journey beginning as fruit growers and evolving into producers of award-winning wines. Wines! Nice, varied selection of wines with some simple to more complex flavors.

When Kory Koehler acquired the property in 1997, all of the estate grapes were being sold to local wineries. Koehler soon recognized that some of the best wines in the valley were being produced with grapes harvested from her own vineyard so she made the resolved to launch her own winery and tasting room. From the start, Kory Koehler's vision was to create a world-class winery committed to making premium wines at affordable prices.

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These tasty little wines were introduced nationally in 2008 from California’s Central Coast and represented a finely crafted, fruit-forward, indulgent and eminently approachable style of wine. The inaugural release included Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then, Adam has used his experience and relationships around the world to add seven international wines to the lineup. http://underdogwinemerchants.com/

Read our guide to Livermore Wines and Wineries

In the 1950s and 1960s, a renaissance in the California wine industry emerged as a group of Napa Valley pioneers recognized the region’s potential to meet the evolving tastes of American wine consumers. Among these visionaries was Jay Corley, founder of Monticello, who would go on to establish a winery that, over five decades, would produce more than a thousand wines rated 90 or higher.

Winemaking in Napa Valley dates back to the mid-1800s. The industry thrived throughout the latter part of the 19th century, with hundreds of wineries sprouting across the valley. However, the late 1800s brought devastation in the form of phylloxera, a pest that ravaged over 90% of the valley’s vineyards.

The remnants of the wine industry were further obliterated in 1920 with the onset of Prohibition, which rendered wine production and consumption illegal. Wine grapes were rendered useless for anything other than wine, leading farmers to uproot their vines and replant the valley with prunes, walnuts, and figs in a bid for survival.

In 1969, Jay Corley ventured to Napa Valley seeking land to craft exceptional wines. He acquired a prune orchard from the Prohibition era and established Monticello in 1970. True to his preference for subtlety, Jay chose not to name the winery after himself but instead named it Monticello after Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia estate, modeling the winery’s estate house after Jefferson’s Monticello, inspired by the Palladian architectural style of the Italian Renaissance.

A connoisseur of food and wine, Jay admired Jefferson’s preference for wine over ale, the popular American drink of Jefferson’s era. Jay embraced Jefferson’s belief that “Good wine is a necessity of life” and shared a passion for pairing wine with food.

Although Jay hailed from a family of farmers, he himself was a businessman who recognized his own limitations. He surrounded himself with skilled individuals necessary for producing world-class wines. Decades later, these talents have been carried on by Jay’s own children, who are involved in growing the grapes, making the wines, managing the business, and preparing the way for the third generation of the family. In an era when many of Napa’s pioneering wineries have been sold to conglomerates, Monticello proudly remains one of the few family-owned wineries in the valley.