Frank Family Vineyards

Liam is the BEST! Our family was visiting from Colorado and we took a little day trip to Napa for some wine tasting! We LOVE Frank’s Family, so we stopped on by and Liam was pouring the wine! He was friendly and entertaining. I learned so much about wine and food pairings! 10 stars for Liam and 10 stars for Frank’s Family!

Over… oh past ten years I’ve been tasting here. Always friendly staff. Yesterday my friend and I were hosted (poured) by a 9 year employee of Frank Family. Sorry I didn’t take note of his name. He was very knowledgeable, not pushy etc.
Each tasting room is partially screened from the others to offer a more intimate pouring and service.
I highly recommend the Chardonnay, Cabernet and Zin.
5 Stars always.

Went wine tasting here for the first time last weekend after loving their wines for quite some time. We did the premium wine tasting and it was such a good experience! The winery was busy but Liam made sure we were taken care of. He was enthusiastic about the wine, and really took the time to describe it and answer our questions. He also let us try some other wines not on the tasting list!
As for the wine, it goes without saying, excellent. We both really don’t like white wine, but were pleasantly surprised at how good the chardonnay was! Very unique compared to other chards we’ve tried. At the end of the tasting, we left with the Pinot Noir, which was amazing. We’re now saving it for a special occasion, but we’ll see how long we can hold out! :)

Frank Family Vineyards is fantastic! We went here on our California Sonoma/​Nappa family vacation. We had a toddler with us so they were nice enough to let us sit outside which was absolutely beautiful and no one was out there so It was very nice and private for the six of us. They had fantastic wines, the person who was pouring our wine was friendly and gave us a lot of history about the winery. He even put up with my crazy mother in laws random banter without even twitching an eye which was appreciated. We plan on coming back next trip and possibly even being a wine club member. I would recommend going if you are in the area, not only is the wine wonderful but the winery grounds are just beautiful. Wine tasting fee is I think $ 15 a person and their wines will run you a bit more, but they are worth it.

I rarely ever review wineries (I just check into them), because otherwise half my reviews would be just be wineries + there’s such a wide frame of preference for wine. But I love this one so much, I have to share my experiences.
Firstly, try to make a reservation in advance, specifically if your group is big. If it’s all booked, don’t fret! Especially if you’re a smaller group (4 or less), just show up and you’ll have to wait a bit, but you’ll still be able to squeeze in for a tasting.
Got sold on a membership here the first time I visited, and so glad I did. Really enjoy taking my friends here to taste (4 tastings comped with a membership + discounted wines). I love reds, specifically cabs, so when I find a Chardonnay I like it’s very memorable. Franks Family has one of the only chards I like (the reserve on the tasting menu; note: nonreserve chard and cab can both be found in stores). I love their whole tasting menu minus the sparkling, but only because I don’t like sparkling. They recently switched out the cab on the menu because they’re currently sold out of it, but I LOVE the reserve cab if you can get your hands on it somehow. I love the oh so royal and glorious Patriarch as well, but for $ 225 a bottle vs. the reserve cab that’s $ 85, I’d rather buy 2 – 3 bottles of the cab. For gifts, I love to give the reserve pinot noir. It’s a good medium for if you’re unsure about someone’s specific wine preference, perhaps a bit on the darker side for a typical Pinot, and it still has that signature Franks Family smooth and silky finish. If you’re into the sweets, give a go at their port wine as well — a bit on the pricier side most definitely, but a very smooth and flavorful wine as the rest.
What makes this winery extra amazing are the staff members and the atmosphere. Rich Frank (the owner) not only makes fantastic wines, but is also a big time player in Hollywood, specifically Paramount Pictures. In every tasting room, you’ll see his posters, photos, and plaques of his work. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting him once, not even realizing he was the owner because he was so nonchalant and laid back.
The staff, who are all charismatic and knowledgable about the wines/​region, will make your experience here memorable. Very generous on pours (if you want to try something off the menu, just ask and if it’s open you most likely can), and overall really nice and fun people. I’ve had quite a few people help me out here, but Pat, Tony, and Monty are 3 I can pick out at the moment who really set the bar high.
Thanks for the experience, will be returning soon!

Absolutely loved Frank Family. Tony was so gracious and confidently answered any questions we had. He was incredibly knowledgable and easygoing which only made our tasting that much more enjoyable! Thank you for a great time, I look forward to coming back the next time I’m in the area!

I’m not sure where to start with how great this place was.
We decided to take a detour here on our way to another tasting and it was one of the best decisions we made the whole trip!
On our way up to the door we were guided by a sweet old chocolate lab, so cute.
The grounds are so well kept and the house is so cute.
We had a tasting with Pam. She was so personable, friendly, and we could have sat there all day talking to her.
Everything we tasted was amazing. I ended up going home with a bottle of Chardonnay, and I don’t even drink white wine. It was that good.

Definitely a great stop!
We had the «classic» tasting, with their Chardonnay, Pinot Noir (excellent), Zinfandel (wonderful and powerful!), and Cabernet Sauvignon. If you haven’t had Frank Family wines before, then that’s a good place to start, as these show off the winemaker’s style.
Our tasting-​room host, Garrick, was knowledgeable and chummy. He clearly enjoys his job and interacting with the guests.
The grounds are very pretty and the tasting room feels very homey.
Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy some Frank Family wine with your meal. And meet the very cute doggie that wanders the grounds. :)

Our favorite experience in Napa was at Frank Family Winery. We had some special requests and the staff at Frank Family were kind enough to accommodate our needs. A tasting with Dennis is an absolute must! The setting is very nice and quaint, avoiding the commercialized feel some wineries have. And best of all, the wine was amazing!

Our first stop on our wine tour and it was a good choice! Our group was fairly big, so they were able to accommodate us with no problem. The lady who led our group was very nice and knowledgeable! I enjoyed the flight very much and I enjoyed hearing the lady’s stories about the vineyard! If you get a chance to walk around, please do and take lots of pictures! My friend and I took pictures right in front of the Marilyn Monroe portraits! This is also a great place to bring your own food and have a picnic! There is plenty of room for everyone!

Absolutely loved this place
1. Was able to book reservations through Unilocal for CellarPass
2. Was paired with Liam for our group of four; he was awesome — incredibly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and made the experience fun; felt like I came out of it learning a lot! (I don’t know if there’s a way to request him, but if you can, DO IT!)
3. Ended up buying a couple bottles as gifts; tempted to join their wine club — they were the best we had on this trip!

I had a VERY good time here. I loved it so much. Everyone was so helpful, kind, knowledgeable, and patient. Especially Mike. He was such a fun person to be helped by and made our trip so enjoyable. We will never forget our experience there and definitely want to come back when we make another vacation up north. But there is a good chance we’d only come back if he’s working because I’m a loyal customer like that. By the way, OF COURSE the wine was good, duh. I wouldn’t give 5 stars to a winery who doesn’t know how to make good wine. The great service from Mike was just icing on the cake, dessert. People always talk about the dessert :-)
We bought 2012 Reserve Pinot Noir & 2 bottles of 2010 Blanc de Blanc

Ehhhhh. The ambiance is seriously lacking in this place. I was so excited after I saw the beautiful sunlit garden, and then I walked into the tasting room. Small, crowded, kind of lame. Our group of 6 had to squeeze into one of the corner tasting tables. We opted for the classic tasting ($ 20) which included four glasses of wines (chardonnay, Merlot, Chardonnay, Zinfandel). Our sommelier was kind enough to throw in a free tasting of one of the premium wines (forgot the name) which was delicious. He had a great attitude throughout, encouraging us to smell the wine and talk about the different notes in the wines — that was probably the only redeeming quality of our experience.

This was the first winery I ever visited and I was a little disappointed. I’ve done wine tastings before in other settings, and while I didn’t expect all the stops to come out for this, I expected more.
Our host Monty, seemed a little disinterested but gave us some great information. Since we told him it was my very first Napa wine tasting, he very generously opened a $ 250 bottle of Patriarch for us.
All the wines we tasted were pretty good. We did the premium tasting for $ 30.

I can’t remember if I’ve visited Frank Family before, but we stopped in on a recent trip and had a great time. I really wanted to visit for their sparkling because I love sparkling, and unfortunately, the was only one on the tasting, which was a rose, though it was quite good.
We were there alone for a while (as they split you up into rooms), and we were with a very knowledgeable local who was happy to chat with us and provide info on the wines, the winery and the local area.
The wines were good, quite good. I should have purchased a few bottles to bring to our local dinners in the area. The staff was friendly and generous and we had a great time. There’s fun pictures on the walls with the Franks and a variety of famous folks. Also, the grounds are pretty — it’s off a rather nondescript road with an old stone building at the edge of it (one of the oldest buildings in the area, I believe).
Worth stopping in to check it out.

Not your typical winery since you see alot of Hollywood posters. Depending on what tastings you want to do it’s in separate rooms so not ideal if you’re there with friends who want to do a different tasting than yours. Had a big courtyard and lots of parking space.

Fun stop. Great people and grounds too… Wonderful wine !!

Interesting fact — Frank Family vineyards wine is served at Disney’s CA adventure. The owner worked for Disney for years and retired but now has a vineyard and makes a delicious port style wine.
If you like ports, i know its not typical of this region but give theirs a try and i hope you love it. I love it, i purchased some bottles to bring home and really enjoyed our visit.
The staff here is delightful, very attentive and caring.

We came to Frank Family Vineyards for a party the other day and we were threaten to wine and food. We sampled all of their wine and it was all good and it was hard to put a favorite on just one of them.
The food was being served on trays by waiters and they did a great job of getting it to everyone not just the people by the door.
We also walked around the property through the vines and into the house and it was beautiful. We had such a great time and met some new friends.

********************* 1210 **********************
Frank Family Vineyards started out by Rich Frank, one of Hollywood’s executive, a long-​time Disney executive, couldn’t find the time to get away for long vacations. Soon he started coming to Napa on the weekends, realizing it was only a short plane flight away from Los Angeles. In 1990, he purchased a home in the eastern hills of Napa in Rutherford.
Under his leadership, these successful shows were produced «Cheers,» «Taxi,» «Family Ties,» «Shogun,» «Winds of War,» «Entertainment Tonight,» «Golden Girls,» «Home Improvement,» «Ellen,» «Regis and Kathy Lee,» «Dead Poet’s Society,» «Good Morning Vietnam,» «Pretty Woman,» «Father of the Bride,» «Aladdin» and «The Lion King».
Where Frank Family Vineyards right now, it was Larkmead Winery in 1884, the building was refinished with native sandstone from the nearby hills in 1906 and still stands tall today. The massive stone edifice is considered an archetype of California’s wine country; it appears on the National Register of Historical Places and is listed as a Point of Historical Interest in the state of California.
The family focuses their energies on making superb still wines. The winery produces Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Petite Syrah and several distinctively different Cabernet Sauvignons. The Highly regarded Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which is barrel aged for 2.5 years, is emerging as1 of the most sought after wines in the valley and their Carneros Vineyards produced some if the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir available.
The Sangiovese, a rising star, is created entirely from grapes grown on Rich’s property Winston Hill and the Zinfandel comes from the Pope & Chiles Valley. Once owned by wine legend Hans Kornell, the winery originally secured its reputation with sparkling wines.
5 sparkling wines continue to be handcrafted today in the old building: Brut, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Rosé, occasionally the Rouge and Reserve. All of these are made in the traditional French method champenoise style.
Frank Family Vineyards Reserve wines are produced in small quantities and currently only sold at the winery and a handful of selected restaurants and wine shops.
You need to check out the historic building where the thick stone walls, high stacked barrels and rich bouquet of aging wines create the utmost winery ambience.
The main tasting room is the restored 70 year old Craftsman House; divided to several rooms, each room has its owe theme, and a lot of pictures of the Franck family as well as their Hollywood background.
We visited the Marilyn Monroe room this time, and the hostess was the lady name Zahava, she was very nice and offered us to taste a the Winston Hill which was a beautiful Bordeaux blend, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate — 94 Points for 2010 Winston Hill.
She walked us through a few more wines that only can be bought exclusively at Frank Family Vineyards. That was a real treat.
Tasting Fees:
$ 20 Classic Tasting– 4 Napa Valley wines: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Cabernet
$ 30 Premium Tasting– Includes Sparkling Wine and our Reserve Wines
The garden with the large picnic area where you can stay outside on a nice day overlooking the vineyards. You might get greeted nicely by the winery dog, an old soul name Bristol.
I always carry dog treats with me, so Bristol was happily followed us around for a bit. He’s a handsome dog.
If you love Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, you would enjoy the wines here very much. They also offer a very good wine clubs, check it out when you are in Napa Valley.
RSVP can be made online:
Frank Family named «2012 Winery of the Year» by Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine — this is an amazing honor.