Bacigalupi Vineyards

Most wine aficionados know about the 1976 Paris tasting. What they don’t know, is that the 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay from Château Montelena was made with 40% Bacigalupi fruit. Although the family started their own label in 1979, they didn’t actually start bottling their own Chardonnay until 2011.

Today, Bacigalupi currently releases Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah in addition to their famous Chardonnay.

Their tasting room is pretty easy to find; a modular pre-fab building just off Westside road in the middle of two of their vineyards. We decided to go sans appointment (gasp!) and were pleasantly surprised by the ability to walk right up to the bar. We did the standard flight, which is $25 for five wines. (You can see what we tasted a bottle prices below.) The tasting fee is refunded with a two bottle purchase.

This is clearly a family-run operation. There’s no gift shop or picnic space, and our wine was poured BY THE WINEMAKER herself!

The Petite Sirah was easily our favorite, and we bought several bottles. The best part though, was the conversation! We were joined at the bar by two longtime club members. Pretty sure they convinced us to go on a wine cruise right there.