If you have a hard time getting up early enough on a Saturday morning to make it to the 12 Napa wineries you want to hit that day, then this is the place for you. Located in the town of Oakville, Napa Wine Company (or “Cult Wine Central” as they’ve helpfully named their tasting room”) is a one-stop shop that represents 25 different wineries. The main business of the place is as a custom crush facility, which caters to dozens of the Valley’s smaller producers who don’t have their own wine making equipment. At any given time, they have about 25 of the resultant wines available for tasting, in flights of 5, for a price-proportionate fee.
Even with an expansive portfolio of wineries, the place maintains an intimate feel, and the helpful attendees are happy to discuss the specifics of a given bottle. They’re also dog friendly (since they don’t serve food on-site), and you may even run into a random winemaker or two if your timing is right (perhaps they like to sleep in on the weekends too).
Note that wine flights vary and not all wines are available at all times. Check the web site to see their current tasting menu.
- Large Groups
- Tours
- Picnics or other outdoorsy events (or events in general)
- Shoppers looking for gourmet food or tchotchkes; they do sell a small selection of glassware
- Kids
- Certain particular small-production wines, like Jones Family, Lamborn, or Crocker and Starr
- To taste a variety of producers’ wines without doing a lot of driving
- A quiet, concentrated experience
