The Women of Napa Wine Trail

Napa in Spring - Photo by Abe Kleinfeld

I recently found myself in a room full of fascinating women from some of the Napa Valley’s finest vineyards, and I got to thinking: Why not celebrate the female winemakers of Napa by proposing a trail that follows them?

So, here’s my suggestion for finding the feminine (and deeply impressive) side of a traditionally male universe.

When Julie Brosterman, CEO of Women & Wine, invited me to her home for a wine dinner to meet five exceptional women from Napa, I jumped at the chance. We had gorgeous homemade dishes, wines were flowing and talk was of farming, harvest moons over the vineyards and life on the road selling wine to the world. I’ve been to Napa five times over the years, but after meeting these five women, I’d love to bring Adam back to experience the region in a whole new way.

We’d still split tastings, though. We’re only human.

Open this printable map of Napa Valley wineries to see what-and-where.
At the bottom left of the image, click Full Size.

Make reservations ahead of time for tastings.

Each winery’s website has driving directions.

This page has suggestions of private car services (scroll down to the bottom).

Start just north of St. Helena with an 11:30am, 90-minute winery tour, tasting and nibbles at Ehlers Estate.
If you need a more substantial  lunch, stop in St. Helena at Farmstead.
Head to the southern end of St. Helena for cabernets at Corison.
Dipping down into Rutherford, head west out of town to Tres Sabores.
Head down through Rutherford and over to east Oakville and Oakville Ranch.

For extra credit, visit Paradigm in west Oakville. The wine maker here, Anne Vawter, also makes wines for Ziata.

Ziata doesn’t presently have a tasting room, but you can try its wines over dinner in Yountville. Ziata’s wines are served at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Restaurant (707.944.2487) and Michael Chiarello’s Bottega (707.945.1050).

Or, to simply purchase a Ziata wine and pair it with some cheese, head south to Downtown Napa’s Back Room Wines. If you’re lucky enough to have escaped work on a Thursday or Friday, try an evening tasting. This wine store/salon is open 7 days a week.

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Kelly McElearney/ Ehlers Estate
Suggested wine: 2007 Ehlers Estate St. Helena Merlot

McElearney grew up as Kelly Duckhorn, daughter of the couple behind the revered Duckhorn Vineyards, and has seen the Napa Valley grow from a small group of farms into an international destination. (And you thought your childhood was cool.) After working in the fields at Beringer Vineyards and Duckhorn, then helping to make her friend Peggy’s St. Helena Olive Oil Company a success, Kelly’s become the sales & marketing director at Ehlers, a unique philanthropic organization that donates all of its winery profits to the Leducq Foundation, a fund for cardiovascular research.

Ehlers Estate is open Tuesday-Saturday, and reservations are required for all tastings.
Email info@ehlersestate.com or call (707) 963-5972
3222 Ehlers Lane, St. Helena, California 94574

The Ehlers Intensive is a 90-minute tasting experience given twice each morning, 9:30 and 11:30, Tuesday-Saturday.
$45 per person, it features a walk through the winery, barrel tasting and sit-down tasting paired with small bites.

The Ehlers Salon is given between 1 and 4:30, Tuesday-Saturday.
For $25 per person, Ehler’s wines are paired with small bites.

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Cathy Corison/ Corison Winery
Suggested wines: 2001 Corison Cabernet, 2004 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet

One of the first female vintners in Northern California, Corison officially started her career in 1978. Watching her colleagues orbit around this tiny, quiet woman with an easy smile and an artist’s heart, it’s clear that she’s one of the most respected winemakers in Napa. But before I even spoke to her, I tried her specialties — Cabernet Sauvignons from a deep, stony swath of land centered around Rutherford — and she had my undying gratitude. They’re full of olives, violets and spice, the bold offerings of a woman who thinks of wine as a creative celebration of life.

Corison is open 7 days a week, and $10 tastings are given by appointment.
Email bob@corison.com or call (707.963.0826)
987 St. Helena Highway, St. Helena, CA 94574

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Julie Johnson/ Tres Sabores
Suggested wine: o7 Tres Sabores Rutherford Estate Zinfandel

Johnson, one of the original founders of Frog’s Leap Winery and a warm, engaging force of nature, is a farmer in fabulous shoes. In addition to growing pomegranates, olives and Meyer lemons on her 35-acre Rutherford area ranch, since 2004 she’s been releasing Cabs, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, both single-grape and blends, grown on the land to which she feels deeply connected and shares with her husband and children. (A champion of Zinfandel in particular, Tres Sabores is also part of the do-able-in-a-day Napa Zinfandel Trail.)

Private appointments must be made.
Tastings/tours cost $20 per person, waived with the purchase of a case.

Email office@tressabores.com or call (707) 967-8027
1620 S. Whitehall Lane, St. Helena, CA 94574

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Paula Kornell/ Oakville Ranch Vineyards
Suggested wine: 2006 Oakville Ranch Cabernet

Having also grown up on a Napa Valley vineyard (Hanns Kornell Champagne, which closed in 1992), it’s no surprise that Paula and Kelly in particular are great friends, often taking their hilarious senses of humor on the road to promote their wines and raise money for charitable causes. When home in Napa, though, she puts her management experience from Robert Mondavi’s Vichon (since sold to France) and Sonoma’s Carmenet to good use as General Manager of Oakville. She’s the immediate past President of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, and presently sits on the board of the Oakville Winegrowers. In addition to the wines of Oakville Ranch, she loves cheese and her bull mastiff, Romeo.

Private appointments must be made.

Email info@oakvilleranch.com or call (707) 944-9665
7781 Silverado Trail, Napa CA 94558

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Karen Cakebread/ Ziata Wines
Suggested wines: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Ziata Carneros Pinot Noir

Having spent 18 years as a marketing consultant and events director for Cakebread Cellars (her former in-laws’ famous Napa winery), and also served several years on the board of the NVVA, Karen took a well-studied leap in starting her own winery in early 2008. Ziata is named for Karen’s mother, Mary Annunziata. Karen has traipsed across the Earth in the name of wine promotion and scaled Mount Kilimanjaro for charity, but these days, she can be found amongst her vines in Napa.

Note: Ziata’s winemaker, Anne Vawter, also crafts wines for Paradigm Winery in Oakville and Varozza Vineyards in St. Helena.

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