Trefethen Vineyards

1160 Oak Knoll Ave, Napa, CA 94558

Website: http://www.trefethen.com/

Trefethen is a casual winery tucked away at the southern end of Highway 29, not far from downtown Napa.  Due to its location, the winery is not as busy as the other wineries located further north. This allows for a quiet, one-on-one tasting experience.  The entrance to the winery is located off of Oak Knoll Avenue. As we drove through the gate onto the driveway that leads up to the winery, we were surrounded by vineyards on both sides.  John Trefethen used to land his plane on the same driveway in the middle of the vineyard.

In 1988, Trefethen Winery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places for being the only 19th-century, wooden, gravity-flow winery still in existence in Napa.  The original winery was built by a Scottish sea captain named Hamden McIntyre in 1886.  McIntyre also designed other famous wineries like Inglenook, Far Niente, and Greystone (now the Culinary Institute of America).  Trefethen Winery was named Eshcol back in the 1880s. The winery shut down in 1940 until the Trefethen family bought the property in 1968 and set to work on restoring the historic building.  Trefethen was one of the wineries impacted by the 6.0 magnitude earthquake in August 2014 and suffered some significant damage.  Fortunately the family was able to bounce back and restore the historic structure after 33 months of renovations.

The fountain in the center of the courtyard in front of Trefethen Winery

The one thing that I really like about this winery is that it is sophisticated but not flashy. Between the parking lot and the winery is a courtyard with a small fountain in the center. There is a cork tree out front.  After stepping through the entrance to the winery building, there is a a barrel room on both sides that can be viewed through glass enclosures.   During the most recent renovations the tasting room was moved to the second floor.  When my husband and I visited there were only a few people in the tasting room at the same time and we were able to get personalized attention at the tasting bar. The server was friendly and willing to answer questions. Trefethen grows nine different grape varieties, which includes Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Viognier. Most of these were available to sample on the tasting menu.  I appreciate this winery for its history and the family’s dedication to maintaining that history.