Viader Winery and Vineyards

1120 Deer Park Road, Deer Park, CA 94576

Website: http://viader.com/index.html

After visiting Viader Winery (pronounced vee-a-dare), I rate it in my top 5 places in Napa Valley that I would recommend to anyone. This place is superb for its location on Howell Mountain and its delicious wines. I came upon the winery when I decided that I was going to make a trek to Howell Mountain for one of my Napa visits. Every time I had tried a Cabernet Sauvignon with Howell Mountain on the label I really loved it. So, I broke out my Napa Valley map and looked up a few places on the mountain. Viader was the first place we selected to stop at. Little did my husband and I know that we would find such a lovely winery.

This winery is owned by Delia Viader who is a famed woman winemaker in Napa Valley. She was born in Argentina and spent much of her younger years in Europe since her father was a Diplomat. She has a very impressive educational background with a doctorate in Philosophy from the Sorbonne University in Paris and advanced business studies at MIT, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis. While studying in California she realized the potential of making wine in Napa Valley and acquired the current property on Howell Mountain. She founded the winery in 1986 and runs the winery with her children Alan and Janet. Delia had a vision to create Bordeaux style wines on Howell Mountain. The planting of her vineyards met with some controversy at first as she cut down trees and put in vines running up and down the mountain so that they follow the path of the afternoon sun, emulating what is done in France. This had never been done in Napa before, but it worked and produced fruit of exceptional quality.

Viader Tasting Room

Tastings at this winery are by appointment only. After driving up the mountain a-ways, we arrived at a metal gate and had to ring the intercom for someone to open the gate for us. Once the gate opened, we drove up the hill surrounded by trees on both sides. The winery is built of stone sitting in the middle of a clearing of trees. It’s a very peaceful setting. There are walking paths through the trees all around the property. We followed the tiled pathway to the large wooden entrance door. Our host Pablo, who is a native of Argentina and recently moved to Napa, greeted us inside the spacious tasting room. The tasting room is very spacious but elegant with high wood-beamed ceilings, stone columns, a few tables with stools, and a tasting bar on the right hand side. Opposite the entrance were large windows and glass doors leading out to a terrace with one of most gorgeous views I have seen. Pablo escorted us outside to a table set up for our tasting. We took a seat looking out at the vineyards running down the mountain with a lake below. There was one other group of three at a table to our right. The setting made me wish that I could live there. Then we had the wines and they were great! With a focus on Bordeaux style blends, probably the winery’s most notable wine is the “Viader”. They also produce a wine called “V” that focuses primarily on Petit Verdot, Viader Syrah, Viader Black Label that includes Malbec, and the DARE series of wines. My personal favorite was the DARE Cabernet Franc. Pablo was a very gracious and fun host sharing a lot of information with us about Delia and the winery. We felt at ease and not rushed throughout our tasting.

As we were leaving we walked around a bit and went by the vineyard to snap some postcard worthy pictures. I would without a doubt recommend this winery to friends and family. However, I feel that I need to give a disclaimer that the tasting and wines are expensive. I’m generally a bit critical of high priced wines, but I do feel the price here is in line with the quality. If you are willing to splurge on an experience, this is one I would encourage you to consider.

Wine tasting on the back deck at Viader on Howell Mountain