Chimney Rock Winery

Close to Oak Knoll in the Stags Leap District is the winery of Chimney Rock. Continually pushing out top of the line wines from their single vineyard productions they are a must see in the Napa Valley. Just a short drive north from downtown Napa along the Silverado trail, Chimney Rock displays gorgeous South African architecture that originated from the original owners, Hack and Stella Wilson. The property was purchased in 2004 by the current owners.

After driving down their long drive way you will end up surrounded by their vines and wine shop/tasting bar. Once you walk through the doors you will be greeted by your host that will take you to your tasting location. We chose to do a seated tasting on the covered patio that overlooks the winery.

The tasting comes with five wines but we were given three gems at the end to push this tasting over the top. Our tasting included the Estate Grown Elevage Rose, South Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, Tomahawk Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Clone 4 Cabernet Sauvignon, the Alpine Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet France and the Ganymede Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. The two standouts were the Alpine and the Ganymede Cabs. The Alpine offers up great notes of blackberry, cola, chocolate, tobacco, fresh fallen leaves, and a hand full of mint. The Ganymede has notes of blackberry, blackcherry, violet, chocolate and vanilla.