What a hidden gem! They only make four types of wine: sauvignon blanc, rosé, cabernet sauvignon, and a blend. Normally after you wine taste, you would just buy your favorite wines and leave the winery, right? Well, Doug, the vintner and now tour guide, then took us for a tour outside the wine cave and showed us the estate's 200+ year old rose, the extensive car collection residing in a renovated barn, and the fully restored functioning green house.

Named for the traditional practice of toasting barrel heads and staves to impart a mellow, toasted flavor to barrel-aged wines, Toasted Head began making hand-crafted wines at our vineyards in the Dunnigan Hills of Yolo County, California in 1995. Toast Head is widely distributed in grocery, BevMo etc.

Cuvée Wine Cellars - A great little urban winery that began with a passionate home winemaker intent on producing quality wines. After a run of successes in amateur- winemaking contests Paul Rogerville decided to tackle the daunting task of becoming a bonded winery.  Yes, Paul took a great hobby and turned it into a job. The good news is you can tell is that Paul loves what he is doing and when you visit you can tell. The staff is so friendly and we have enjoyed a number of visits with Paul. Often there are delicious appetizers or food and plenty of wine and we haven't had a bad bottle yet. This place is definitely worth a visit. Cuvée Wine Cellars is located on the Central Peninsula, which does not permit them to grow their own grapes. However, this has not proved too much of an obstacle by any means as Paul has partnered with some of the most outstanding vineyards in Northern California. Paul can be seen in a short video presentation made during our visit to the 3rd Annual Mid-Peninsula Summer Wine Walk. ~

Hours:

Fri - 6:00PM-9:00PM
Sat - 1:00PM-5:00PM

When William and Jane Ballentine bought a nineteenth century ghost winery in St. Helena in 1999, little did they know it would take them three years to acquire a permit to open its doors which had been shuttered since Prohibition. The reason: county laws prohibited restoration of abandoned wineries with less than ten acres and the young couple only owned five. After several years working with the county, the Ballentines received a special historic winery ordinance that allowed them to reopen the 1873 winery.