We scheduled a tasting on our last full day in Napa Valley at Pride Mountain Vineyards. Since it's quite a bear traversing those narrow winding roads up Spring Mountain, we thought we'd also schedule an appointment at Paloma Vineyard but the Mrs had trouble contacting them - either no one answered or an older sounding woman hung up on her. We later found out that it probably was none other than owner Barbara Richards and that because Paloma was just a mother/son operation, they usually shut down after harvest to relax.
Anyway, after about a 20 minute drive up Spring Mountain, there we were at the door to Pride Mountain Vineyards. Why Pride Mountain instead of Spring Mountain especially since Spring Mountain is an acknowledged AVA? Well, Pride Mountain Vineyards straddles both Napa and Sonoma Counties and AVA designations can only be used if you are located in one county. Hence Pride Mountain instead of Spring Mountain. The winery actually physically marks what part of the winery is in Sonoma and which part is in Napa. And along with the myriad of alcohol regulations and taxes for each county, each side of the winery has to be kept separate.
Out tour began with a quick vineyard tour as explained by our guide, Jay Hebert... along with a glass of Pride Mountain Chardonnay. We then made our way past the sorting and crushing machinery into the 23,000 square foot wine caves where fermented wine rests in barrels. Other than the cave for Chardonnay, the red wines are all kept perfectly at temperature without the use of electricity. We sampled several red wines including a barreled wine that was just barreled about 1 year earlier.
What was the most informative to me was the regulations that bonded wineries need to follow. Unless you were grandfathered in due to your length of existence, most wineries are limited by the amount of guests they can see in a day - hence the need to schedule appointments (I don't recall having to schedule tasting appointments when I was in grad school 20-something years ago). And other than V. Sattui and couple other wineries, picnic areas aren't permitted in Napa Valley. As you can see above, Pride Mountain Vineyards has a major outdoor "party" area but it's clearly on the Sonoma side of the winery which doesn't have the same restriction. And weddings are only permitted on site for family members and employees, not the general public.
The tasting room with the Mrs.
Expended grape must about to be gently squeezed to extract wine... I knew that if I jumped into the crate, it would be obvious with my red stained skin...
The ultimate six-pack. We came to get a bottle of the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet Franc but both were only available in their six-pack crates...
We've done tons of wine tours which all start sounding and looking the same but I'll say that Pride Mountain Vineyards has one of the more informative tours in Napa Valley... I mean Napa/Sonoma. Especially if your guide is Jay Hebert...
Pride Mountain Vineyards
4026 Spring Mountan Road
St Helena, CA 95404
(707) 963-4949 tastings by appointment only ($20 to $75)
reservations@pridewines.com
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