Buena Vista Winery and Napa Tasting Room

In the 2010s the downtown Napa area underwent a $200 million redevelopment with over 300,000 square feet of new construction, restored historic buildings, and major renovations for boutiques, wine bars, and upscale restaurants. The best news for wine lovers is the opening of over 40 wine tasting rooms all within walking distance in downtown Napa. Plenty of tasting opportunities are available without visiting wineries, including wine selections typically found exclusively in the winery and not your local wine shop. Tourism websites such as VisitNapaValley.com provide listings and addresses of the many tasting rooms.

Chateau Buena Vista on First Street housed in the 1929 art deco inspired Gordon Building is a tasting room for Buena Vista wines, while the Buena Vista Winery itself is in Sonoma. The tasting room offers a variety of tasting and pairing experiences with their JBC Collection caviar or hand-crafted chocolates while relaxing in a velvet banquette or seated at the bar under the Baccarat chandelier. While this is our first visit to the downtown Napa tasting room, several years ago we visited the Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, a California Historic Landmark and California’s first premium winery, founded in 1857.

Buena Vista’s founder, Agoston Haraszthy, was an eccentric, exuberant Hungarian immigrant with a love of exceptional wine. He fashioned his persona with tales of intrigue and political exile while proclaiming himself the “Count of Buena Vista”. In reality, he was an innovative farmer and winemaker, a brilliant businessman, and committed to California’s viticultural industry. His adventurous spirit led to his early demise in 1869 when he perished in a crocodile-infested river in the jungles of Nicaragua.

If I were to imagine myself drinking Buena Vista wine in the mid-19th century, it wouldn’t have been the Cabernet Sauvignon we know and love today. At that time the only variety of grapes used to make wine in California was Mission grapes. This variety of vinis vitifera came from Spanish missions to the area of current day Mexico in the 16^th century. In the late 18^th century Franciscan missionaries brought the Mission grape to what is now California. During Prohibition the grape largely disappeared, with vineyards being torn out or neglected, and later replaced with international grape varieties. Although Mission grapes were wiped out by phylloxera in Spain, a small amount are still grown in Mexico and California.

We arrived at the Chateau Buena Vista tasting room on a Thursday just in time for Happy Hour with no reservations required. The friendly and knowledgeable Tasting Room Manager, Ali Madrid, provided a custom tasting for us based on our interest in Cabernet Sauvignon and The Sheriff, a red blend.

The Sheriff of Buena Vista, also known as The Legendary Badge, from their Founder’s Collection is a favorite yet hard to find bottle in our home area. Years ago we bought one bottle as an underpriced closeout in our local wine store and quickly returned to procure the rest of their inventory. Since then, we haven’t found it locally. We enjoyed The Sheriff again in 2019 when we visited Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma and again in 2024 at the Chateau Buena Vista tasting room. In addition to The Sheriff, our tasting room host also provided three Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the Appellation Series: Oakville, Rutherford, and Stags Leap. It was an enlightening experience to taste how the same grape can produce such different wines when the vineyards are only just a few miles from each other! It was truly a great lesson on the impact of terroir.

Tasting notes:

• 2020 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. Eucalyptus and cherry on the nose. Rich full body with flavors of cherry and dark chocolate. Lingering chocolate covered cherry on the finish with smooth, silky tannins.
• 2021 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark fruit, mushroom and earth on the nose. Flavors of blackberry, plum, and baking spice with a vegetal note. Full-bodied with firm tannins.
• 2021 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromas of red and black fruits, eucalyptus. Flavors of plum, ripe currant, and licorice. Long finish with structured tannins. Complex and balanced.
• 2022 The Sherriff, a blend of 49% Petite Sirah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, and small amounts of Grenache and Tempranillo. A dense crimson hue with scents of red and black berries, and a floral note. Medium to full-bodied on the palate with ripe flavors of red currant and blackberry, and notes of dark chocolate and herbs. Long, lush finish.

Whether you visit the historic Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma or the Chateau Buena Vista tasting room in downtown Napa, you’ll find some exceptional wines that are not commonly sold by your local wine merchant. Be sure to leave room in your suitcase for a few souvenir bottles or ship a case home to enjoy after your visit.