This winery requires reservations due to Napa Valley regulations and they can book up well in advance during the summer and fall.  I highly recommend that you take an extra few minutes to go online and schedule a reservation to be able to sample these great wines.  The regular wine tasting experience includes an educational tour of the property at a very reasonable price.  If you’d like a private experience where you can sample some of the limited release offerings, you can sign up for the Summit Experience and enjoy your tasting in the private salon inside the caves.  There is also a picnic area on the property if you just want to relax outside.

Tasting room at Pride Mountain

When my husband and I walked into the tasting room, we were greeted immediately by our host Paul.  He asked what brought us to the winery.  Truthfully, the first thing that drew me to the winery was reading about many of their highly rated in Wine Enthusiast magazine.  We started our experience with a glass of Viognier as we stood in front of a colorful map that showed all of the different soil types and growing areas on the property.  I sipped the lovely crisp, fruity Viognier while Paul shared the history of the Pride family.  It is an intriguing story of family commitment to the land.  Founders Jim and Carolyn grew up in farming families in California.  However, Jim Pride followed a different career path becoming a dentist and later founded the Pride Institute.  Yet he was always happiest when he was farming.  As he approached retirement he wanted to be closer to the land again and bought Summit Ranch in 1989.  He started off as a grape grower selling to local wineries until he realized he could produce premium wine of his own.  Sadly, Jim passed away of cancer in 2004 but his wife Carolyn and two children, Suzanne Pride Bryan and Steven Pride, have continued the family legacy.

After learning about the family we headed outside to the crush pad.  We stood right next to a line running through the crush pad into the vineyard.  This line marks the actual boundary between Napa and Sonoma counties.  As we tasted our second wine, a Chardonnay, we learned a very interesting story about some of the challenges the Prides faced owning land that crosses two counties due to zoning laws.  For instance, wineries are only able to put Napa or Sonoma on the label if the grapes were pressed in that particular county.  Therefore, at the winery they have to physically move the equipment back and forth across the boundary line in the crush pad in order to label the wines with the proper county designation.  Our next stop took us into the cave where we tried an impressive Merlot and did a little blending experiment.  We got a sneak peek of the private tasting room and were lucky enough to get to sample some of the reserve wines that were left behind.  Then we went back outside to take in the views and pose for some pictures.

Scenery at Pride Mountain

I loved all of the wines that we tried!  After visiting more than 150 wineries it’s rare that I find a place where I enjoy all of the wines so much.  These wines have been repeatedly served at the White House.  I was so excited with the overall experience that I signed up for the allocation program.  That is the only way to purchase the wines directly outside of the winery.  I left with a great appreciation for Pride Mountain winery and have been telling all of my friends about it.