Types of Wines: The main focus is on Cabernet Sauvignon, but Spring Mountain also produces a fine Pinot Noir and a very nice Sauvignon Blanc
Charge for Tasting: There is a charge for tasting and for the tour. The tasting fee can be applied to a purchase.
Winery Tours: Tours last about 1.5 hours and are by appointment only. On weekends, you can do a tasting without the tour, by appointment.
Wine Price: The wines are very expensive, but the tour is very reasonably priced, especially if you apply the tour fee toward a purchase.
Spring Mountain Vineyard is one of Napa Valley's oldest settled properties, with a beautiful Victorian-style, home built shortly after Beringer's Rhine House and designed by the same architect.
It's in the hills just a mile from downtown St. Helena, yet its wooded location makes it seem much further away.
Review
Few Napa Valley wineries have as beautiful setting as Spring Mountain, and even fewer an offer a tour that covers such a wide range of history and natural beauty. On the twice-daily tour, you'll get a chance to visit the wine-making facility, the historic barn, gardens and house. You may hear wild turkeys chattering away in the hillside sauvignon blanc vineyard or see a coyote skulking through the garden.Wine tasting takes place in the historic Villa Miravalle, built in the 1880s for the property's first owner Tiburcio Parrott. You will get a chance to taste generous portions of four wines while seated around a rustic dining table.
If the house here looks familiar, there's a reason. In 1981, Lorimar of Hollywood filmed a series at Miravalle. Originally called "Vintage Years," it was renamed "Falcon Crest" and for several years, Tiburcio Parrott's former home was one of the world's most recognized residences.
Wine Quality: Excellent. Spring Mountain doesn't enter their wine into many competitions, but the fact that they often sell out of their wines says what its devotees think of their products.
Tourist Experience: The tour is personable and fun, with group sizes limited to 10 people. Guides know the property's history and can focus on any aspect that interests you from viticulture to history or gardening as well as wine-making.
Getting to Spring Mountain Vineyard
Spring Mountain Vineyard
2805 Spring Mountain Road
St. Helena, CA
877-769-4637 or 707-967-4188
website
Spring Mountain Vineyard is located above the town of St. Helena. Traveling north on Highway 29, turn left (west) onto Madrona Avenue, then turn right onto Spring Mountain Road. The winery is about a mile up the road, on the left.
