Palmaz Vineyards

A simply stellar tour & tasting experience, my brother and I thoroughly enjoyed our morning here. The winery is located fairly deep into the residential area east of Napa proper, making for a fun-​filled drive that got progressively more impressive after we passed the gate and made our climb up to the facility itself. The grounds were stunning and both of us were amazed by the intelligent use of technology in the winemaking and Dr. Palmaz’ desire to produce exceptional wine entailing as little disruption of the structure as possible throughout the process. In line with that, we were equally blown away by our host, Jordan’s, knowledge and expertise…“comprehensive” would be quite an understatement regarding the tour here.
At the end, we were brought to one of the multiple gorgeous tasting rooms to sample the current line-​up that included an outstanding Chard and a couple vintages of the phenomenal estate Cabs. The accompanying bites were seriously good, I still remember the combination of the sweet and savory notes in the goat cheese-​stuffed lamb and richness of the dark chocolate truffle.
Although certainly pricey at $ 80/​person, the experience was absolutely worthwhile and highly recommended for any and all oenophiles.

Ah, Palmaz. If I had to use one word to describe it, that word would be ‘impressive.’
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the grounds here. Adrian showed us all around, gave us a rundown on the property, the winery, and everything in between (including the murder mystery that took place years before it became Palmaz).
It is certainly the most remarkable wine-​making facility I’ve seen. The height of the wine cave is the equivalent of an 18-​story building, and it certainly shows. The views from the top alone are worth the price of admission, but the carousel of fermentation tanks is absolutely fascinating. With projected statistics and analytics, this room is like the NASA space station of wine.
The tasting is a little less impressive, as we were only able to taste three different wines (two of which were quite similar), but they were paired with excellent little bites provided by the kitchen in house. The wines themselves, while good, are also almost prohibitively expensive for a man of my modest means.
Overall, the tour really made me want to be a Palmaz. I assumed they used the facility for weddings and the like, but no, this is just the family home. They entertain guests here, and if you’re lucky enough to be a friend or a member of the wine club, they host cow and pig roasts, parties with 6-​foot paella pans, wine and much, much, more throughout the year.
So get on that wine club thing, and score me an invite.