Are you seeking an off-the-beaten path wine tour with some of the most stunning scenery in Napa Valley?
Do you enjoy classic California Cabernet Sauvignon?
Are you (and perhaps a small group of friends) looking for a Napa winery with great value Cabernet Sauvignon as well as collectible fine wines?
Then a visit to Chappellet Winery may be a good fit for you!
In 2019, KnowWines visited Chappellet Winery and enjoyed a private tour with tasting. Here’s our review of the visit. And before you head to Napa, check out our free e-course and blog about places to stay in the valley.
Things to consider before visiting Chappellet Winery
This winery tour is good for anyone interested in an off-the-beaten path tasting experience in one of Napa Valley’s legendary wineries.
The tour is great for the following types of travelers:
Wine lovers who want to avoid a bar-type atmosphere that can be found at some wineries on the main roads in Napa County
Wine enthusiasts who want a private or semi-private tasting experience
A mixed group of wine tasters with interests at various price points
Collectors of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines
The winery tour and tasting experience is not ideal for these types of travelers:
Fast paced service in a noisy, vibrant setting
Travelers who need to be on their smartphone nonstop (beautiful rural regions frequently have poor cell service)
Travelers with pets or companions under 21
Wine enthusiasts afraid of narrow, winding roads
Wine tasters expecting a free or discounted wine tasting fee with wine purchase
Before purchasing a Chappellet Winery tour and tasting, you will need to consider the following:
Do you want a private or semi-private experience?
How much do you want to spend on the experience?
Do you want to taste current releases or the more premium wines from Chappellet?
How much time are you willing to spend (most of Chappellet’s wine tastings take 90 minutes)?
Where is Chappellet Winery and Pritchard Hill?
Chappellet Winery is located at the top of Pritchard Hill. Pritchard Hill is located in the Vaca mountains in Napa county.
To get to Chappellet Winery on Pritchard Hill, head north from downtown Napa on the Silverado Trail for about 17 miles. Then head east on 128 for about a mile until you get to Stage Coach Canyon Road, which leads to the winery. This road is winding with switchbacks.
What should I wear to a Chappellet Winery tour and tasting?
The winery and grounds are best described as rustic and elegant. There is a mix of pavement and permeable surfaces like gravel, so sturdy closed-toe shoes like hiking shoes, leather, or rubber boots would work best. We saw most guests wearing jeans and a nice pull-over or wrap as it is always cool in the cellar.
If it is raining on the day of your visit, bring an umbrella to get to and from your vehicle. Umbrellas are provided on the tour. In summer months, you might consider sunscreen if you burn easily. When you check in, there are washrooms and some spaces to store a few bags and coats.
About Chappellet Winery and Pritchard Hill
Pritchard Hill is named for an early Vaca mountains homesteader named Charles Pritchard. In the 1890s he was growing Zinfandel and Riesling among other grape varieties. Early settlers knew that the iron rich and rocky red soils, as well as elevation and aspect, would be great for grape growing. Grape growing and winemaking went on up here until Prohibition, and then it took a backseat to other agriculture endeavors like cattle grazing.
In the 1960s, a new generation of winemakers entered the region, inspired by André Tchelistcheff, a diminutive (4’11) Russian-born winemaker who inspired this generation of new winemakers following Prohibition. Since 1938 Tchelistcheff was Napa’s Beaulieu Vineyards vice president and chief winemaker and helped bring high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and winemaking to the foreground through innovation in the vineyard and cellar.
In the 1960s, a 30-something Don Chappellet had already made his mark in the world, co-founding Interstate United Corporation, which developed and sold the first vending machines that dispensed coffee into cups by using fresh grounds. Before Starbucks and Nespresso were ever a thing, Don was the largest coffee buyer in the world. Don was tiring of the coffee business and wanted a different pace of life for his family. While at Interstate, he had started to amass a collection of Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines. He was a 4th generation Californian and did not want to move to France - he wondered if such wines could be made in California.
Shortly after meeting Tchelistcheff, Andre told Don that high elevation (1800 ft) mountain grown Cabernet Sauvignon and the right cellar techniques might yield a wine very similar to Chateau Latour from Bordeaux. Andre helped Don pick the site of Chappellet. Don left his corporate job, traded his jacket for a tractor, and purchased land on Pritchard Hill. He moved his wife Molly and their five children to the mountain. Later, Molly would establish beautiful gardens near the winery as driving back and forth from town with so many children was a lot of work. She has written several books on gardening, entertaining, and wine caves, including the James Beard Award Winning A Vineyard Garden.
Chappellet is one of few wineries still owned by a family on Pritchard Hill. Today’s owners are descendants of Don and Molly Chappellet. The winery recently celebrated 50 years in business.
Our online booking experience
We booked our private tasting online about five days before arriving in Napa. Those traveling during the peak seasons of Thanksgiving/Christmas and during the summer months may want to consider booking one or two weeks out to get your ideal time slot.
There were three booking options: the Estate Tour & Tasting, the Private Estate Tour and Tasting, and the Signature Tasting and Estate Tour. The Estate Tour is the least expensive, and is for wine enthusiasts who don’t mind being joined by a few others on the tour. The Private Estate Tour is private, and allows you to taste five wines that are typically available only to club members. The Signature Tasting is geared toward the wine collector, focused on collectable wines, and again, is private.
We selected the mid-priced Private Estate Tour and Tasting for 90 minutes. The booking process was very easy. Quickly we received an email confirmation with very detailed instructions on how to get to the winery.
Our tasting experience
When we arrived we were greeted by Theo, the winery’s brand manager. She was very knowledgeable on vineyards, winemaking practices, and retail. It was a rainy day, and she provided us with a giant golf umbrella during our walking tour of the vineyard. (Yes, we had an umbrella in one hand and a wine glass in another!)
Back inside the cellar, we sat down and tasted the following wines.
2017 Grower Collection Chardonnay, El Novillero Vineyard, Carneros
2017 Grower Collection Pinot Noir, Apple Lane Vineyard, Russian River Valley
2016 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon
2016 Cabernet Franc
2016 Hideaway Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
2014 Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
During our tasting we never felt rushed or pressured to join a wine club. We were able to walk around a little in the cellar and watch workers moving barrels and cleaning equipment.
Other Chappellet Winery visit reviews
We wrote this review as we did not see a lot of other wine bloggers writing up a trip report. We did do some online researching before our trip.
The types of positive comments we saw on online reviews were “Pleasant Surprise, Chappellet is great,” “a hidden gem”, and “scenic, best winery of the week.”
Ambivalent or negative reviews included “smaller pours than some other wineries,” “requires credit card deposit for booking,” and “too far from town.”
Alternatives to visiting Chappellet Winery
It is difficult to get wine tastings at other wineries on Pritchard Hill. If you have found a great winery on Pritchard Hill, kindly share it with us in the notes. Chappellet is a little bit of a trek to get to, and other readers might want to book a second wine tasting in the area. If you are looking for some other options for wine tasting in Napa or Sonoma counties, check out our top 15 wineries to visit.
Where to purchase Chappellet Winery Wines
In addition to purchasing wines directly from the winery, one can purchase wines using the affiliate link for our favorite value-priced Cabernet Sauvignon in all of Napa Valley, the Chappellet Mountain Cuvee. Just click the image below for the link:
OR save on any Chappellet Wine by clicking using this link:
Our visit conclusion
When people ask us for recommendations of “mountain wineries” off the beaten path, I often recommend Chappellet (unless they are directions/GPS agnostic!).
This was our second visit to Chappellet Winery and the staff have always been friendly and knowledgable, and the wines, while at a premium and luxury wine price point, are a great value compared to other wines in the vicinity.
We enjoy the quiet, serene drive up and down the mountain. The winery feels truly in a world of its own perched up there on Pritchard Hill.
Enjoy your visit!
Cheers!