Camelia N.
Yelp
It is no secret that Napa Valley is a very pretty place, but often this leans towards the palatial, the posh, and the power-seeking rather than the quaint, the charming, and the cute. Heitz Cellar's stone-walled, vine-encrusted tasting room, on Highway 29 just south of downtown Saint Helena, is English cottage cute. Provençal French farmhouse charming. Italian Piedmont villa attractive. If you need a visual landmark to locate it, the tasting room is just across the road from the much maligned, thirty-five foot tall metallic rabbit sculpture at the entrance to Hall Winery. The Heitz tasting room exudes elegance and class, not pretentiousness and preening (which cannot be said, sadly, of Bunny Foo-Foo).
Heitz wines, too, fit the "charming" and "cute" moulds perfectly, especially those not named Cabernet. Don't get me wrong. I really do enjoy Napa Valley Cabs, especially those from Spring and Howell Mountains, from Rutherford, Oakville, and Stag's Leap districts, or when featured prominently in Bordeaux-style blends, like Kenzo Estate's "Rindo." But wines like that aren't very well suited for simple, everyday enjoyment beneath the welcome and restful shade of a flower-covered veranda in summer, when the vines are in full green lushness but before the hustle and bustle of harvest season arrives.
This is the time for Sauvignon Blanc in chilled stemless glasses, so you can feel the cold in the palm of your hand; for Grignolino rosé that can be enjoyed with a crusty baguette and paper-thin slices of cured king salmon topped with purple basil and nasturtium blossoms; for Ink Grade Zinfandel enjoyed with buttered slabs of grilled Model Bakery sourdough bread piled high with generous portions of Woodhouse BBQ's delicious Snake River Farms smoked beef brisket (available at the Saint Helena Farmers' Market) and simply seasoned with freshly ground white peppercorns, a local Napa extra virgin olive oil, and aged balsamic vinegar. Or perhaps a healthy pour of Heitz Chardonnay instead, paired with Panevino grissini and smoked trout, served with garden fresh dill and creamy goat cheese from Napa Valley's very own Skyhill Farms.
The complimentary tastings at Heitz are largely a thing of the past, with only a vestigial remnant left (Two small pours, in noticeably shorter wine glasses than those that paying customers receive, from a list of three offerings, all under $30 retail). You'll be happier investing $35 in a Heritage tasting, I think, especially if the 2012 Trailside Vineyard Cabernet is being served.
However, if you are here with a date or an adventurous group of fellow tasters, you could chip in for a $75 Appellation tasting (1 Chardonnay plus all 4 Heitz Cabernets, including Martha's Vineyard), get a complimentary tasting, and a Heritage, and then mix and match your glasses. Grab a spot near the Zen-like, trance inducing millstone fountain, under the shade of the veranda and within sight of the blooming pepper tree and the roses next to the vines.
Pick a bottle or two for your afternoon and evening meals (the farmers' market is a few blocks away and open Fridays in May through October from 7:30am to noon), and hopefully one or more of your tasting fees will be waived. Wait a second. You're not actually thinking of coming here on a weekend, are you?!! Friday is the best day to come, in summer and fall at any rate. So plan ahead, or prepare to get lost in the crowd clogging the tasting room bar.
If in doubt about what to drink, always "think pink" in the summer, and consider a Zinfandel or Grignolino as a more seasonally appropriate red wine over a barrel aged Cab that has rested in expensive French oak for two or more years. Heitz isn't just about the Big Points and critically acclaimed Cabs. It has more class and character than that. And arguably the quaintest and most charming tasting room in the entire valley. Show up early when they open at 11am to get the best experience and secure a prime spot at the pergola by the fountain, before the enervating heat of afternoon arrives.
