Category Archives: Napa Valley

Robert Sinskey Vineyards

6320 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558

Robert Sinskey Winery is located in the lower end of the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap district. The winery is co-owned by Robert and his wife Maria Helm Sinskey. Robert grew up in California but didn’t go to wine school. Instead he started in advertising after earning a Bachelor in Fine Arts in New York City. One day, his father who started his own wine business called for help and for Robert quickly gained a passion for winemaking. Maria is a famed chef earning the recognition of Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef in 1996. She worked in several Michelin star restaurants in France, toured Italy, went to pastry school in Denmark, and worked at several top-notch San Francisco restaurants (not all in that order).

Organic garden at Robert Sinskey Vineyards

I would describe the recently renovated tasting room as a mix of old world meets new world. The winery is built of stone and redwood. A long wooden trellis covered with vines and held up by stone columns leads to the entrance of the tasting room. The landscape surrounding the winery is pretty with a view of the Mayacama Mountains to the east and the Vaca Mountains to the west. Right in front of the entrance is a crescent shaped pool made of stone with a small fountain. On the other side of fountain is an organic garden. The winery is 100% organic and biodynamic. It is also 75% solar powered and the Sinskeys use bio-diesel fuel from restaurants for their trucks and tractors.

It is not a surprise with Maria’s background that the winery has a strong food and wine focus. Besides Maria’s onsite organic garden, she runs cooking classes and recently published a cookbook. The stone and redwood continues into the tasting room. There is a long wooden tasting bar that runs along the right. The walls are made of stone and there is an open wood framed cathedral ceiling. Maria’s kitchen is behind the tasting bar. Honeycomb shaped pendant lights hang above the bar. The tasting room was a little dark, but it has a cool, almost medieval feel with all of the stone and sunlight coming in through the high windows and ceiling.

Robert Sinskey Tasting Room

Tastings are a little pricey because they include small bites to go with the wine. The lowest priced tasting includes five wines with bites to eat at the tasting bar. Depending on how much you are willing to spend, other private tastings and tours are offered. Reservations are recommended for all tastings. My husband and I each did a tasting and shared the wines so we could try more of them. This winery has several unique style wines to choose from. For the whites, I tried a Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and white blend called Abraxas that is an interesting mix of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer that pairs with green vegetables and went well with olives. For the reds, we tried a couple of Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and three blends. We took home a bottle of the POV red blend.

If you decide to visit this winery, give yourself some extra time to savor the wines and food and to snap some nice photos of the scenery.

Markham

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Markham Winery

2812 Saint Helena Hwy N, Saint Helena, CA 94574

Website: http://www.markhamvineyards.com/

Markham Winery is located on the site of one of the very first wineries in Napa Valley. In 1874, Jean Laurent who emigrated from Bordeaux in search of gold, decided to build a winery. After Laurent died in 1890, the winery continued operating under a number of different owners until Bruce Markham purchased the old winery and founded Markham Vineyards in 1978. The winery was sold again in 1988 to Mercian Corporation who conducted a four year, multi-million dollar renovation and replanted the vineyards.

The winery is located off Highway 29 in northern St. Helena, adjacent to Charles Krug and across the street from St. Clement. Both the exterior and interior of the winery have a modern feel. Two Koi ponds made of stone line each side of the walkway to the tasting room. The renovated winery itself is made of stone. Inside the tasting room are stark white walls and shiny wood floors. As we walked in, to the right was a hexagon shaped tasting bar and to the left was an open area with an artwork display. It felt very open and bright inside the tasting room.

At the time I visited, the art gallery was featuring covers of Rolling Stone magazine as captured by Baron Wolman and the tasting menu had a “Rock and Roll Tasting Selection”. The artwork collection changes periodically. You can check their website to see what is on display currently. There appears to be a music connection with the winery and the artwork but I have yet to run across anything that explains how they are related.

There are two tasting selections to choose from. The Rock and Roll Tasting Selection offers a selection of 5 nationally distributed wines. The Blues Tasting offers a sampling of 5 exclusive wines, including The Altruist Cabernet Sauvignons that has received rave reviews from Wine Enthusiast magazine. The tasting experience for me wasn’t as inviting as some of the other wineries, but it’s a nice, quick stop to or from Calistoga.

Tamber Bey Vineyards

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Tamber Bey Vineyards

1251 Tubbs Ln, Calistoga, CA 94515

Website: http://www.tamberbey.com/

Tamber Bey Winery is located on the Sundance Horse Ranch in Calistoga. It is an equestrian facility dedicated to training top performance Arabian horses. I have been to Calistoga many times but didn’t realize this winery was there. It is located on Tubbs Lane just up the road from Chateau Montelena. I sought out this winery because of its horses. My husband and I brought his aunt to Napa for her 70^th birthday to thank her for all of the times she has babysat our kids, and she loves horses! This place was perfect to bring her to. The owner Barry Waitte started making wine in 1999 after purchasing vineyards in Yountville and Oakville. The winery was built on Sundance Ranch in 2013 and is named after Waitte’s first two horses Tamborina and Bayamo.

Tamber Bey Vineyards Tasting Room

The winery is located inside a huge barn. There is a courtyard in back with eight horse stalls on each side (16 in all). There’s a pretty view of Mount St. Helena in the backdrop. The tasting room has a little more modern feel. It has dark paneled wood all around which made it a little dark. There’s a horseshoe-shaped bar in the center of the room with polished wood counter tops and rustic wooden stools. There was some merchandise off to the side.

Horse stalls and picnic tables at Tamber Bey Vineayrds

We went outside for the tasting. It was a windy day, but the setting was lovely. There are several tables and comfy lounge chairs in the courtyard shaded by umbrellas. There are also picnic tables off to the sides of the courtyard in front of the horse stalls. Guests can walk around and view the horses. We sat in the comfy chairs while our server gave us a little history of the winery and described the wines. We learned that the ranch has taken in some extra horses at times to help out other horse owners.

Tamber Bey’s portfolio includes a Signature selection of premium wines and the more popular, affordable Vineyard Series. They have several varieties of wine including Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux blends, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. For me I enjoyed the site more than the wine. That’s not to say the wine was bad. It was good quality. It just wasn’t my style overall. My favorite of their wines was the 2013 Merlot. The highlight of our visit was getting to meet the beautiful horses.

A mustang on the horse ranch at Tamber Bey Vineyards

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My journeys in wine country.

Category Archives: Napa Valley

Robert Sinskey Vineyards

Markham

Tamber Bey Vineyards