Robert Sinskey Vineyards
6320 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558
Website: http://www.robertsinskey.com/
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.
