Vineyard 29

Vineyard 29 is off Napa Valley’s main drag just north of St. Helena. Although they also have a tasting room in downtown Napa as well, I wanted to go to the main tasting room as you get to tour their facility and caves.

We chose the Terrace Experience. At $110pp it includes one wine from their CRU portfolio, a tour of the winery, and a nosh plate. We had a stifle a laugh at the massive custom barrel elevator so they can claim their wine is gravity-fed and then we proceeded to the caves… and we stayed there for the entire tasting. It was weird. Especially when the somm would leave us to check in on the “loud, boisterous party on the terrace.” I suppose rain made the view almost non-existent.

We tried several wines from the Estate and Aida vineyards but found nothing exceptional and the price points just odd: $150/bottle for a Zin. (It comes in a 15+ ABV and is chewy with an infusion of 12% Petite Sirah.) Our favorite was the Cabernet Franc, which could stand up to the 20months in 70% new French oak.