I recently had the chance to spend a few days in Napa and Sonoma visiting several of our current producers and meeting a few new ones. Even better, my Napa-based daughter, Anda, joined me. She knows far more about wine than I do, which made the trip both educational and a lot of fun.
Our first stop was Meadowcroft Winery, where we met with the Meadowcroft team. We were guided through a tour of the winery’s history and beautiful back gardens before sitting down to their wine-blending experience. We were walked through a tasting of four very young wines—Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Malbec—pulled straight from the barrel. After tasting each individually, we tried our hand at blending. Anda and I each created two blends and bottled our favorite of the two in Meadowcroft glass. Both bottles are coming back to the store to age; next year we’ll host a blind tasting alongside the Meadowcroft lineup. Anyone who picks my blend over Anda’s will earn a generous discount on your next purchase… or at least bragging rights.
From there, we headed to Pine Ridge Vineyard for a full vineyard-to-cave experience. The visit began with a walk through their sweeping estate and an introduction to the Stags Leap District, followed by a tour of the wine caves and a seated tasting of their most limited bottlings. It was a fantastic visit. We currently carry their Chenin Blanc & Viognier, and although much of their portfolio isn’t available in New Hampshire, seeing it up close made me value their work in a way I didn’t fully before.
Of course, we made time for Frog’s Leap to taste the newest Sauvignon Blanc. We ended up in a long conversation with the winemaker and the barrel team (Anda used to work with them), which meant my tasting was cut short by a dinner reservation—though not before hearing about a recent award they received. The 2023 Frog’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown took the number 4 spot in Vinous Top 100 wines for 2025, the first American made wine on the list.
Our final stop was the small, family-run Gibbs Vineyard. They don’t have a traditional tasting room, so we tasted in the field and at the winemaker’s house. We sampled a bright Sauvignon Blanc, two standout Chardonnays, a Cab Franc, and several Cabernet Sauvignons and estate wines. Anda, who rarely enjoys Chardonnays, declared both of theirs exceptional. She’s bringing one, along with the Cab Franc, to her Napa Thanksgiving celebration, which says everything.
We’ll be hosting a Holiday Gibbs Wine Tasting on Thursday, December 2, and I hope you’ll join us to experience these remarkable wines for yourself.