Charge for Tasting: $25 and up
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, by appointment only
Wine Price: Very Expensive
From the moment you arrive at Swanson Vineyards, you know they're different. Their tiny salon-style tasting room - manned by a host so friendly he apologizes three times for not meeting you with your first glass of wine before you got inside the door - looks and feels like someone's elegant home.
Review
"We love wine, but we love hospitality more," our host said, and it shows. The tasting experience at Swanson focuses on the pairing of wine and food and not just on the wines themselves.You won't hear snooty phrases like "bouquet" and "nose" and "notes of vanilla with undercurrents of cassis" here, unless you or one of your fellow-tasters is saying them. Visiting Swanson is like going to a wine-country dinner party, and much more fun than the typical winery experience where visitors stand (or sit), sip and listen while someone else pours wines and talks about them.
Seated around a table in the Salon - a cozy room decorated in the style of a French salon, with watermelon-colored walls and a big bowl of roses on the table - small groups (no more than eight people) enjoy Swanson wines paired with food, and the pourer is more like a congenial host than a bartender. The whole affair feels elegant and the experience is memorable.
Two types of tasting are offered, differing in the type of wine served. Each lasts about an hour. The Harvey Tasting features current vintages and small batch, unattainable wines, while the Jean Lafitte Tasting focuses on Swanson's most famous wines (pinot grigio, merlot and Alexis, a proprietary blend based on cabernet sauvignon). On the day I visited, we tasted four wines paired with French tomette de brebis and cave-aged gruyere cheeses and Swanson's own Alexis Estate chocolate bonbons.
Wine Quality: All of Swanson's wines are estate-grown and bottled, and they only produce 25,000 cases a year. They have a loyal following, and their wines, especially their merlot have won several prizes.
Tourist Experience: Excellent. The hosts are friendly, the setting gorgeous and you'll leave feeling like you've done something special.
Getting to Swanson Vineyard
Swanson Vineyards
1271 Manley Lane
Rutherford, CA
(707) 967-3500
Website
- Drive about 14 miles north of the town of Napa on Highway 29.
- Manley Lane is on the west side of the road, shortly after you pass Oakville Grocery.
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with a complimentary tour for the purpose of reviewing it. 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.
