Kera W.
Yelp
I truly hate to say this, but my experience at Brown Downtown Napa was quite disappointing. As the first and only African-American winery in Napa, I had high hopes for our visit, but it just didn't meet my expectations.
The tasting is held in a downtown location, and while the upstairs space is cute, it lacks the authentic wine country feel. It felt more like a wine bar than a vineyard experience. We were greeted by Alexis, who provided us with a menu of wine selections. Unfortunately, she simply served the wines without sharing any history about the winery or the wines themselves. Her knowledge seemed limited, and she used vague terminology that didn't give us the insight we were looking for.
At the end of our tasting, she asked if we wanted to buy any of the wines. However, I had already visited five other wineries during our trip and purchased cases from each because those experiences were rich and engaging. Here, I felt like I didn't get the experience that makes wine tasting special.
While we observed a couple nearby enjoying a more informative and engaging tasting, my sister and I felt let down. This experience lacked the depth and connection to the history of the wines that we had hoped for.
I did end up purchasing a T-shirt, and I bought my sister a sweatshirt, but overall, it was a very disappointing visit. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this experience, as it fell short of what we were looking for in a wine tasting. I hope the family behind Brown will consider enhancing the experience because there is so much potential here.