It’s no secret that wineries in the Napa Valley have found themselves navigating uncharted territory of late.
It’s not only that people are drinking less wine. The typical tasting just isn’t hitting the same way it used to, whether due to the astronomical fees now charged by most tasting rooms or the bafflement some younger Wine Country visitors feel for the beverage.
What’s a Napa Valley winery to do—especially when that Napa Valley winery has been around for a century or more?
This summer, two historic vintners are meeting the moment head-on—one with an out-of-the-box tasting experience unlike any other in Northern California, the other by reconnecting with its roots in a jaw-dropping redesign of spaces never before open to the public.
The atrium in the restored historic winery at Beaulieu Vineyard(Adam Potts)
Beaulieu Vineyard (BV)
This July, the 126-year-old Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) debuted a second act for its original Rutherford winery. Up until then, the stone behemoth on the St. Helena Highway had spent decades sitting quietly, still full of early winemaking equipment and a number of other treasures from the company’s storied history.
Two years of renovations have now transformed the 1885 building, restoring its original architecture and carving out seven different indoor and outdoor tasting spaces. The redwood wine barrels found inside were refashioned into dramatic ceilings, and SF firm BAMO designed the interiors with different combinations of the label’s signature red and gold, including bespoke rugs embroidered with the topography of Napa Valley.
Pieces from a massive archive of BV historical documents and ephemera first discovered in 2023—ranging from mid-century magazine recipes for pairing with BV wines (when that idea was still novel in the U.S.) to an authentic pre-Prohibition bottle from 1919—are part of a new mini-museum in the hospitality center’s front reception hall. A fully restored 1925 Cadillac Imperial Touring Car that belonged to founder Georges de Latour has a place of honor in a glass-walled atrium nearby.
The 1885 Courtyard at BV(Adam Potts)
Upstairs, in the former barrel room, the ceiling is still graffitied with the names and dates of generations of workers—appropriate for a space in which they’re now hosting The Time Traveler Experience, a two-hour tasting with historically inspired bites to pair with different BV vintages. It’s just one of three tasting experiences involving the winery’s first-ever culinary program. The Heritage Tasting ($80 per person, 90 minutes) is the most accessible version. Inspired by afternoon tea, it pairs a wine flight with a tiered tray layered with savory, seasonal bites so delicious you’ll wish they offered them in larger formats. At The George De Latour Table in the elegant library space, they serve a multi-course wine- and food-paired meal.
It is, however, the architecture itself that is the restored BV winery’s most arresting feature. Signum Architecture made it a priority to keep as much of the original building as possible. Now, its two-foot-thick stone walls encircle a main atrium and an open-air courtyard like the ruins of a European castle. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring light, drama, and panoramic views of the vineyards, where guests can take A Walk with the Maestro, a 90-minute guided tour and tasting through vines once tended by legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff (aka The Maestro).
By leaning into its history, Beaulieu Vineyard has created a singular place with a range of tasting experiences that capture not just the story of BV, but of the entire Napa Valley.
// 1960 St. Helena Highway (Rutherford), reservations at bvwines.com
The historic manor house at Stags' Leap Winery(Courtesy of @stagsleapwinery)
Stags’ Leap Winery
Stags’ Leap’s new tasting is a bold move into the burgeoning world of immersive experiences. Leap of Legend reimagines the second floor of the winery’s historic manor house as a literal walk through the past. It’s part escape room, part private movie theater, part multisensory introduction to Stags’ Leap’s catalog of estate-grown cab and petite sirah.
The 30-minute journey created in partnership with ThemeDream Productions passes through several rooms, each representing a different era of the winery’s story: the Napa landscape before the arrival of vine-planting settlers, the period when the manor house was used as a post office for the local community, the speakeasy days of Prohibition, the winery’s era as a darling of Hollywood, and the moment Stags’ Leap bucked the odds to win first place at the 1976 Judgment of Paris.
Is it a bit cheesy? Of course. But embrace the silliness and you’ve got something that’s genuinely fun and absolutely unique—an experience full of puzzle-solving and insights that has you on your feet and conspiring with your fellow tasters (not to mention actually retaining some of the fascinating details of the Stags’ Leap story).
A scene from the 'Leap of Legend' experience (Frank Gutierrez)
While guests taste two wines before and during the experience, four more come afterward in a more classic form: a 60-minute seated, guided tasting accompanied by a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit. The entire Leap of Legend experience is available only by reservation for parties of four to six and, at least for now, only Wednesdays to Saturdays through August 22nd.
// 6150 Silverado Trail (Napa), reservations at stagsleap.com
