A Mountain Vineyard in Napa

Napa Valley isn’t known for “mountain “ vineyards, but that’s where you will find Maycamas Vineyards, located up a winding road 2,000 ft above the Napa Valley.  https://www.mayacamas.com/photos-stories/

It’s an adventure just driving up to Mayacamas, twisting and turning on a narrow road through the forest and the 2017 fire burn area. Before you go, call ahead to arrange a tour. They only do a few private tastings at the Vineyard and really only do tastings at their tasting room in downtown Napa.

But thanks to my son Devin, we were treated to an amazing VIP vineyard tour and tasting on a very hot day in August. Let me share some highlights with you.

This was our view as we walked toward the original Maycamas three-level winery. Mayacamas was founded in the late 1800’s and has produced wine on their 500 mountain acres ever since.

We were treated to a tour of this facility, tasting of about 10 different wines and a bouncing ATV ride through the forest and vineyards to the top of  the mountain. 

Let’s start with the wine cellars and the Chardonnay.

As we tasted this cold 2017 Chardonnay, my wine expert son said, “that’s how every Chardonnay should taste!” As a lover of Chardonnay, I couldn’t agree more, this was a Chard unlike the usual oaky buttery chards I know and love. Our wonderful host Tessa explained that at Mayacamas they make wines the old way and for Chardonnay that means finishing this wine in neutral oak for a short time, keeping its taste fresh and crisp. Wow! We loved it!!

But as you can see in the photo above, they have some very old oak barrels for aging their wines so let’s move on. 

Next we walked up to the fermentation level. There we saw concrete basins and not the rows of stainless steel barrels you see in most wineries. Mayacamas uses concrete basin fermentation or “CBF” as I (and no one else) called it. CBF takes more care from the winemaker and produces fine, well loved wines the old fashioned way.

We then headed up to the crushing level where Tessa showed us the new crushing machine they will be using for the first time for the harvest this fall.

ATV Vineyard Tour

Following the winery tour, Tessa packed us and a wine cooler into her ATV for a ride up the mountain to see the vineyards.

Here is a video to give you a look at our tour and the mountain vineyards of Mayacamas.

Once at the top of Mt. Veeder, Tessa parked the ATV at an amazing lookout with a full view of the Bay with the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge barely visible in the haze.

At this amazing location, Tessa pulled out the best, chilled Cabs from 2015, 2014, 2004 and finally a 1995 Cab!  But we started that series with a new 2015 Merlot, a bottle with a fresh taste that bewildered my son Devin.

As we discussed the flavors of each wine, I was inspired to make my first wine review video which could lead to a new career as a YouTube video star. Check this unedited one take version filmed by my daughter Dana who said I should leave the outtakes in!

What else did I learn at Mayacamas Vineyards? Well, they survived the 2017 fire and they are rebuilding their onsite tasting room, the only building they lost. That year, they bottled only 700 cases down from their average 5,000. They have lots of new California root stock into which they will eventually graft French vines. And they plan to continue to make wines of the old Napa style, harvesting a bit earlier yielding lower alcohol content, fresh tasting vintages. 

We left with several bottles and Devin joined their wine club to get a couple of shipments a year. So next time you are in Napa, at least check out the Mayacamas tasting room in downtown Napa at 1256 1st St, Napa, CA 94559. You won’t be disappointed.

And one last big thanks to Tessa for your hospitality and wonderful tour.