Set back in off of Silverado Trail just north west of Lake Hennessey sits Rutherford Hill Winery. As you wined back their roadway you will pass Auberge du Soleil a stunning resort that is accompanied by a Michelin Star restaurant. It is highly recommended to accompany these two experiences as you won’t be disappointed. The entire experience at both were exceptional.  Even though we had a bar tasting reservation for the winery scheduled we were giving an extensive explanation of the entire establishment.

The winery was founded in 1972 as mainly a merlot focused operation as the founders completed soil analysis and found that there were similarities to the soil in Pomerol. This is why merlot makes up 75 percent of their grape production.

The winery is an a rustic but sheek barn style building. Once inside you will notice the U-shaped bar available for tastings. After completing our scheduled tasting our host was nice enough to give us a few extra pours that explored some brilliant wines. 

Throughout the tasting we were able to try their Carneros Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon to start. The wine extra wine we were giving during our tasting was the Cellar Master’s Tribute. This was our favorite wine of the tasting, notes of fresh dark berries, chocolate and backing spices with a gorgeous mouth feel and soft tannins.