Tasting Hours open daily 10:00am - 6:00pm
About
Michael Chiarello, Napa Valley chef, Emmy-winning TV personality, author, founder of NapaStyle, has taken his personal flair for layering flavors to a new challenge—making small productions of handcrafted estate wines. His small winery, Chiarello Family Vineyards, makes five estate grown wines from 20-acres that he personally farms sustainably around his home in Napa Valley California.
Chiarello is a passionate advocate for great wines surrounding a great meal and he has always sought perfect wines to complement his own culinary style. Little did he suspect that he'd find a gem of a vineyard in his own backyard. As he tended his property, he found long neglected 94-year old vines, waiting to once again produce great wines.
To create these wines, Chiarello enlisted one of the top "old vine" winemakers in Napa Valley, a master at creating rich, dynamic wines from the ultra-ripe fruit of older vines. The 94-year-old Petite Sirah and Zinfandel vines were revived by Michael and Thomas Brown ("2010 Winemaker of the Year," Food & Wine Magazine) using head pruning and dry farming. These two time-honored methods historically used for both Zin and Petite Sirah in California allow the vines to ripen grapes evenly and flourish in the absence of water.
In its first several years, Chiarello Family Vineyards was named Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Sirah (Wine Spectator) with a 92 Rating; Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Zinfandel (Wine Spectator) with a 90 Rating; Top Ten Bottle From Napa (Food & Wine Magazine) and In Napa, Zinfandels Show Off Their Grace, (New York Times, Frank Prial, 11/13/02). It has continued the high scoring tradition, as 10 years later Chiarello Vineyards receives consistent ratings of 90+ scores.
