Acquiring a bottle of an elusive allocation wine brand — where coveted, limited-quantity bottles are released to an exclusive mailing list rather than store shelves — remains a prized trophy. Yet the fervor around cult Napa producers such as Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate or Bond is cooling. Thanks to a drop in U.S. wine consumption, Napa Valley is becoming more inclusive.
“The more approachable level of winery has become more accessible than ever,” says Derek Stevenson, the resort beverage manager at Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley. “They’re going back to the walk-in model, which I think is really great.”
Stevenson cites Hall and Chateau Montelena as good examples of tasting rooms that now accept walk-ins. But even wineries that were once exclusively for a select group of collectors are inviting newcomers into their world. “A great example is Hundred Acre, which has always in the past been exclusively open to people who take allocations from them,” Stevenson says. “Recently they’ve dialed that back — they started actually offering a tasting, and they built a tasting room.”
As wineries explore novel ways to engage with consumers, it’s the perfect time to try labels that are usually off limits. Here’s how to taste Napa’s most exclusive wines without being on a list.
Befriend a sommelier
If dining at The Charter Oak or the Five-Star French Laundry is on your Napa itinerary, engage with the restaurant’s sommelier, especially when the establishment has the wines you are after on its list.
“If you know somebody in a sommelier or beverage director role at a resort, hotel or restaurant that carries these wines, there’s typically backdoor access they can get,” Stevenson explains. “For me, if I were trying to get a guest last-minute into a place like Bond, I’d reach out to my sales associate — the person I actually purchase Bond from — instead of the hospitality side, because a lot of the time the salespeople have a little more autonomy and can even host tastings themselves.”
When you become a regular and cozy up to a sommelier on return visits, the well-connected expert is more likely to introduce you to connections.
Join a club
One of the Valley’s most respected insiders is Kerrin Laz, the founder of Yountville’s K. Laz Wine Collection, a retail and direct-to-consumer shop that features sought-after bottles from across the globe.
This fall, Laz is opening the Vintner’s Social Club, a two-building space that’s part wine club and part wine bar. She’s bringing in a select group of member vintners — Bryant Estate, Dalla Valle and Screaming Eagle to name a few — that club members can access.
“The whole purpose of the vintner-member program is that it lets me lean on wineries from a vertical perspective, for older vintages,” Laz says. “Wines with some age on them are actually really good — it’s a testament to the fact that we’re doing good stuff in California wine country, that these wines hold up after 10 or 20 years. It’s nice to showcase them. To do that more readily, I need partnerships with wineries so I can lean on their cellars.”
Laz has robust programming planned for club members: blind-tasting workshops, winemaker spotlight sessions, viticulture and farming discussions, grower talks about vintage seasons, vertical tastings, library wine experiences and post-harvest winemaker recaps.
Take a class
At Five-Star Meadowood Napa Valley, wine education has been a core part of its signature offerings since 1985. Led by wine author and educator Kelli White, The Wine Center at Meadowood offers a variety of tasting classes that last between 75 and 90 minutes.
Each seminar features distinct wines built around a specific concept, such as “Mountains of Napa Valley,” a tasting that examines what makes mountain fruit unique or “Secrets of the Sommelier: Blind Tasting,” where you’ll learn how to identify wines with just one sip.
“We’re not affiliated with the wines we’re serving, so there’s no pressure — people can ask really candid questions,” White says of the classes. “If you’re standing in front of the winemaker or even a tasting room representative, it can be hard to ask really honest questions. At the end of the experience, there’s no pressure to buy anything.”
Most classes are private, which helps students feel comfortable with honest inquiries. Custom classes can also be crafted. “Maybe it’s a specific request or a thematic one: ‘I want to understand this particular appellation,’ or ‘What six wines do you think would reflect this appellation?’” White says. “With enough notice, really anything is possible.”
Hit up a wine wall
There are two unique places where vinophiles can enjoy wines like Dominus, Opus One and Dalla Valle by the taste, glass or bottle. The first is Oakville Wine Merchant. Adjacent to the Oakville Grocery, the facility offers more than 85 Napa wines in a historic, immersive space that teaches wine lovers about Napa’s history and appellations.
The other place is in Healdsburg. “I’d go to The Matheson — I know, a crazy pull, all the way in Sonoma County, but the wine wall there is insane,” Stevenson says. The Matheson is a restaurant, but a section is devoted to a wine wall that features 88 rotating bottles, including rare and vintage selections such as Hundred Acre, Kongsgaard, Littorai and even European labels such as Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Château d’Yquem.
Seek out lesser-known and up-and-coming brands
Napa Valley is an ever-evolving ecosystem, and today’s small producer could become tomorrow’s cult favorite. One unsung wine label is Edge Hill. The St. Helena property is one of the oldest vineyard locations in Napa and the upcoming home for the Memento Mori team’s spin-off labels, Vida Valiente and Ultra Mortem. Later this year, Edge Hill is also opening an appointment-only tasting experience of Vida Valiente.
“The wines are still allocated, but what’s changing is that there will soon be a place for new collectors of our label to experience them in person,” says Hayes Drumwright, the co-founder of Vida Valiente. “You will soon be able to book an appointment, come taste the full portfolio, meet the team and, if something moves you, get on the list.”
Vida Valiente will host guests at an incredible historic building that’s been around since the 1870s on an exquisitely landscaped property. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s because “Vida Valiente is completely off the radar,” Stevenson says. “It’s going to be up there with the best in Napa Valley in the next five to 10 years. It’s just like how Memento Mori was five or six years ago, where you weren’t seeing anything about it, and now you’re seeing it everywhere.”
Ask the hotel concierge
Most luxury hotels in Napa have concierges that can set up appointments at hard-to-get-into wineries. Reach out to the resort well in advance of your trip and let it know what you are hoping to sip. “We rely heavily on connections formed within the industry to help guests gain access to cult-level wineries,” says Citlalli Aviles, guest services manager at Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection. “We have fostered tight-knit relationships with our counterparts at some of the most coveted wineries in the region. For example, we work closely with Donum Estate to not only arrange tastings, but also offer an exclusive experience that elevates a traditional tasting by combining wine and art.”
Hire a private wine educator
The Wine Center at Meadowood also offers half- and full-day tasting excursions where an expert educator leads guests to various wineries with a private driver. “It’s a kind of double access, since we’re using our knowledge of the industry and our relationships to get guests into the most exclusive and appropriate wineries for their tastes,” White says.
The wine educator sits through the tastings as a passive participant, sharing invaluable insight behind the scenes. “Where we really come into play is the before and after — driving between appointments, we talk about the history of the valley, point out geological formations, talk about when the wind picks up, where the shadows are falling, that kind of thing.”
