Types of Wines: Red wines and port
Charge for Tasting: Bar tastings
Locations: Historic Caves near the town of Napa, Estate Winerey and Caves in St. Helena
Winery Tours: You'll miss much of the fun at Del Dotto if you only stop at the bar. Instead, we recommend the tour and barrel tasting, by appointment only
Wine Price: Very Expensive. Their wines are sold only at the winery
Del Dotto Vineyards is a family-owned vineyard. Both locations offer barrel-tasting tours and wine room tastings.
Del Dotto Review
When they started it, Del Dotto Vineyards offered one of wine country's most unique tasting tours, tasting wine directly from the barrels. Today, other wineries offer similar experiences, but Del Dotto is still one of the best. After sampling your first wine in their tasting room and stopping to inhale the unexpected aroma of an empty barrel, you take your wine glass along as the tour guide grabs a wine "thief" (a device used to take samples from a barrel of wine) and leads you into their candle-lit caves.You won't see the crushing machine, the fermentation tanks or the bottling area on this tour. Del Dotto's winemakers think the barrel is important, and their tour centers on that. Depending on your tour guide, your individual tour may vary, but the best ones sample the same fermented grape juice aged in different types of oak, discovering flavor differences contributed by the wood, and taste different base wines (same grape, different year) aged in the same kind of wood, revealing the grapes' contribution.
The one-hour-plus tour ends with the ultimate wine pairing: Del Dotto's wine with chocolate. You'll also get a chance to sample several of their port wines. The St. Helena location even serves appetizer-sized portions of freshly-baked pizza.
Del Dotto's two locations have very different ambiance. The historic caves, hand dug in 1885 are located in the historic Hedgeside Distillery Building just outside the town of Napa and have a cozy, earthy feel. The St. Helena location brings to mind a Venetian palazzo and even the floors are paved in marble and the caves are bigger, with more tour groups in them at once.
A word of warning: You'll sample many wines on this tour, and each pouring is generous. It's easy to get intoxicated. To keep yourself safe on the drive home, pick a designated driver, hire someone to take you here, or arrive with a full stomach, take a tiny sip of each wine and sob while throwing out the rest.
You should also be aware that the wines you'll be tasting are still immature and not the refined, fully ready-to-drink wines that you might sample in other locations. Don't let that deter you from going - the experience is all part of learning to appreciate wine and enjoy it.
Wine Quality: Wine Spectator magazine gave Del Dotto's 1999 Cabernet 93 points, and their Cabernet Franc garnered a score of 92 from Robert Parker, the highest he's ever given for that wine type. Since then, we haven't seen any other ratings of their vintages.
Tourist Experience: Excellent. Del Dotto's barrel tasting is unique, and you will learn more on it than you can imagine.
Getting to Del Dotto Vineyard
Del Dotto Wine GalleryHistoric Caves in the town of Napa:
1055 Atlas Peak Road, Napa
1445 St. Helena Highway, St. Helena
707-256-3332
deldottovineyards.com
- Drive north on Highway 29 to Trancas Street (at the stoplight).
- Turn right onto Trancas Street.
- Drive past Silverado Trail, where Trancas becomes Monticello Road.
- Drive to Atlas Peak Road (at the stoplight) and turn left.
- Del Dotto is on the left side of the street, about 1/4 mile down the road.
Wine Gallery in St. Helena:
- Drive north on Highway 29.
- Del Dotto is on the west side of the road, about 500 yards north of where the railroad tracks cross the highway south of St. Helena, between Whitehall Lane and Zinfandel Lane
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with a complimentary tour for the purpose of reviewing Del Dotto Vineyard. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.
