Casa Nuestra Winery & Vineyards

Small, family-owned, in a quiet, bucolic setting, a visit to Casa Nuestra on the Silverado Trail in St. Helena (CA) is like taking a step back through time. And the dedication of owners Gene and Cody Kirkham to producing wine from “noble though unfashionable varieties” in the Cabernet Sauvignon rich valley is also considered pretty old-fashioned. The Kirkhams started small and plan to remain that way, producing between 1500 and 2000 cases of wine each year. Even that limited quantity allows winemaker, Shay Boswell an opportunity to make seven tantalizing wines, and two, including the winery’s first Merlot and its oft-rewarded Meritage are produced at a high enough level to allow for some regional distribution. For the rest, wine-lovers will have to travel to the winery.

The buttercup yellow building which houses the tasting room was once a sturdy barn, built in the 1920′s and turned into a tidy farmhouse about 20 years later. Tasting room hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm daily, and there is a $3.00 tasting fee, which may be applied to any wine purchase. There is one unusual and very special wine called Tinto, which a visitor may want to be sure to taste. The grapes for Tinto are grown in a small plot planted to replicate an ancient two-acre vineyard nearly 100 years old. The two blocks are a field blend of sturdy red varietals along with an odd vine or two which no one has identified. All the grapes are harvested together and made into a hundred or so cases of wine. The 2001 vintage should be released in a month or two.

Guests are welcome to stroll down the road from the tasting room to visit the winery. Or, just take a walk around the property to enjoy the beauty of the woodsy vineyard setting. Casa Nuestra Vineyards is at 3451 Silverado Tr., St. Helena, CA.