The 10 Best Wineries in Napa Valley

Overview: With an uplifting ambience and fantastically genuine wines, this Napa winery is the perfect paradise to slip away to. Owner and founder, Jean-Noel Fourmeaux, strongly believes that one must trust their own individual, personal taste. He focuses on creating wines that are not part of the main stream market, but rather unique wines with a definitive character.

The tasting house and garden offers both food and wine tastings, as well as a fabulous epicurean garden lunch prepared by Chef Ken Frank of La Toque Restaurant (a famed Michelin Starred restaurant).

Overview: Founded in 1895, the Larkmead estate is one of the oldest family-owned establishments in Napa Valley. The 110-acre vineyard grows on a remarkable variety of soils, such as ancient riverbed gravel, clay, and loam.

Other than tasting utterly wonderful wines, the winery also offers visitors a stroll through the vineyards and barrel hall access through their cellar door! If that doesn’t melt your everyday worries away, nothing will.

Overview: Nestled in Napa Valley is this small winery with a true passion to create something special. Originally from Dallas, TX, Jason Moore heard his calling to become a winemaker at just 24 years old. The decision to move to California was a wise one, as he now owns a beautiful boutique winery and produces very harmonious and well-structured wines.

During your visit, you can enjoy a wonderful tasting of 4 to 5 current vintage Modus wine, but also experience an exquisite cheese platter.

Overview: Starting in 1983, the Anderson’s have worked hard to produce world-class wines that reflect the true depth of American wine. While all of their wines are simply divine, they are well-known for their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. It displays dazzling characteristics of black fruit, spice, and earthy notes. This elegant wine ages beautifully, so you’ll want to make room in your cellar for this charming Napa Cab.

The winery is located about 3 miles off St. Helena, but it feels worlds away with picturesque scenery of the rolling Napa hills.

Overview: Offering several different tastings, Bell Wine Cellars’ team is devoted to producing the finest wine that the Napa Valley has to offer through consistent quality and diligence. The winery produces many ranges of wine, including white, rosé, red, and single vineyard bottles.

John Hazek, winemaker at Bell Wine Cellars, believes, “Nurturing quality begins in the vineyards, is harnessed during winemaking, then carefully expressed with artful blending”. John’s artistic expression in the cellar results in long-lasting, balanced wines that become more complex with time.

Overview: Vincent Arroyo, this winery’s namesake founder, began his winemaking journey by purchasing the original 23 acre Calistoga, CA property in 1972. He immediately went to work on transforming the land’s prune and walnut orchards into what ultimately resulted in the winery’s first commercial vintage, released in 1984.

Today, Vincent Arroyo’s winery produces 17 wines on an annual basis. They primarily produce reds, but do make a Chardonnay and a Port (dessert wine). You’ll need to make a reservation before visiting, but it’s absolutely worth it to take in some of their incredible wine. We highly recommend trying their Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Overview: John Anthony Vineyards produces Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Bordeaux-variety reds, and more – there is also a sparkling and a late harvest dessert wine on the list.

The tasting room, open seven days a week, is located in downtown Napa within convenient walking distance to a number of restaurants and hotels. There are both indoor and outdoor seating options and while reservations are recommended, walk-ins are accommodated when possible. There are also private spaces available by reservation for a more intimate experience.

Overview: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignaon are the top wines produced by Parallel Napa Valley. Tasting options include a standard wine tasting or a paired lunch and wine tasting.

Lacking an official tasting room of their own, Parallel uses Brasswood Napa Valley, located in St. Helena, to host these experiences. Parallel also offers an at-home tasting experience that includes bottles of wine and small bites mailed to your home to be enjoyed during a virtual tasting appointment.

Overview: Moone Tsai Winery tastings are available only with an appointment and are held daily at Brasswood Napa Valley in St. Helena. Guests can choose between a wine tasting with cheese pairings, or a more formal three course lunch with wine.

Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah are among the star grape varieties used in wine production here. The producers especially appreciate the hillside fruit sourced from Howell Mountain, and highlight it in their wines. 

Overview: Embrace a truly unique experience by visiting Porter Family Vineyards, where you can sample some wonderful Bordeaux varieties, including Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, some blends, and others. The vineyards that yield their fruit are located in the southeastern hills of Napa and sit on top of clay loam and volcanic derivatives, which result in a unique terroir to enjoy.

Tucked directly into a hillside within the vineyard is the Porter Family Winery – in a cave! Their environmentally-friendly practices are on display as you wind your way through the 17,000 square foot cave winery. Well-lit and very cozy, the cave environment will provide a wine tasting experience like none other.

Viator.com (a TripAdvisor company) is our recommended vendor for finding unbelievable local experiences to complement your time visiting wineries.

Guided tours, hot air balloon rides, and scavenger hunts are just a few of the types of excursions you can find to book on Viator.

Expedia.com is our recommended travel vendor for booking flights, hotels, rental cars, and more.

Great deals and discounted packages are just the start. Expedia will allow you to tailor your trip to fit your needs and preferences.

Whether you’re looking to book a first class flight, to stay at a 5 star hotel, or to book a quaint bed and breakfast, Expedia can help to secure your perfect travel arrangements across their vast network of travel and accommodation providers.