Failla

We loved the gorgeous cave and personal attention during our tour. Fails is unique to Napa with the Pinot Noirs from Sonoma vineyards and their cement eggs. Our tasting hostess was very knowledgable and friendly. Often tasting experiences can be awkward in small settings if the host is not personable but that is not the case at Failla. It was a very educational experience, we got to meet the owner/​winemaker in passing in the cave, and shipped 4 bottles home. We had a hard time not buying one of everything we tasted! Tour was $ 30 but a couple of extra wines were added to the standard list. We would return on our next visit!

My husband and I visited Failla a few days ago and had such a positive experience tasting with Geoff. He had an impressive breadth of knowledge on the wines and a warm, friendly personality that made for an incredibly pleasant afternoon. The wines — particularly the Hirsch Pinot — was absolutely stunning. Thanks so much, Geoff, for your hospitality and sharing Failla with us.

Ehren Jordan requires no superlatives. His wines are amazing. These props are for Dee. She is the best wine educator in Napa. She always makes our visits amazing.

This place is amazing. My friend and I had Dee for our tour. We called in the morning at 9:30, and they able to fit us in 10am. It was just the two of us in the tour.
Tip:call ahead and be on time.
We rushed up there from downtown napa. It was for my birthday, they printed out cool personal place cards. We walked into the cave and saw the cement eggs, barrels, and tables. They specialize in chardonnay and pinot noir. The tasting is $ 30,but it is waved if you buy two bottles. The tasting was supposed to be only 4, but we got one extra one. Dee was very friendly, knowledge, and fun. The pinot noirs we tried, Lola and Peay, was so amazing I got bought both wines.
It was my first time in napa, and I learned a lot from Dee. I really enjoyed the smaller wineries because they were able to give you more attention, share their knowledge, and help you overall enjoy the wines.

Great wine, terrible experience. The gentleman who was helping us with the tasting was condescending. New to the «wine world» we did not feel welcome. Not a great experience. We will not be back.

Wines were nice and the online reservation process went easily. The woman that greeted us was lovely and poured us a splash of chardonnay as we waited for the rest of our group to arrive. However, our tour guide seemed a little bit annoyed he had to give a tour (cave tour — $ 30 pp) and kept texting and checking his phone during the visit, which was disappointing given the great reviews and the price. He was a bit curt and didn’t seem appreciative of questions.

Excellent wine and excellent tour. Definitely a hidden gem that’s a must see on your next visit to wine country. Dee, was the best and highly recommend her leading your experience at Failla.

Want a dose of wine tasting bliss? Failla is a gorgeous retreat (for fine winos).
I don’t ever really remember wine tasting to be too much fun. Then again, I’m thinking back to the days of yore, when my parents would drag us to wineries where we’d watch them imbibe and nada for us (meanwhile, grandma would always give us a little wine on Sundays, so WTH?). No fun for kids! (are kids even allowed to go to tastings these days?)
Vicky L picked this place out to be our first stop in our grand tour of Napa wineries and what a great start it was! Our gracious host, Josh, greeted us and brought us out to the utterly divine setting out back, where there was a long picnic table set up for us under the tall trees. It was simply dreamy, sitting out there, tasting one wine after another. Josh expertly guided us through the tastings and also gave us the history of this winery and Napa as well. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday. In fact, I probably could have graced the setting even longer, possibly outstaying my welcome, which naturally, I’d never ever do. Hehehe.
This was my favorite stop of the day. The wines are delicious. The setting is perfect. Wins all around.

It had been a while since I’d been to Failla, but I’ve always been a huge fan of their wines. They have added several different types of tasting experiences, but we had the standard lodge tasting, which was similar to what I had done before. Conner did a great job of pour wines, explaining the differences between the various wines and making the entire experience delighttul. Thank you so much. We’ll be back.

As good as it gets. Call ahead to get a tasting with Conner. Been here many times it’s always an incredible experience. Conner took it to the next level. I know more about wine, especially Pinot than ever. Beautiful cave and fun tasting room. Cave tasting rocked. Very exclusive/​private and great value. This is a working winery. Enjoy!

If you love Pinot you need to come to Failla. They had four Pinots on their tasting menu. The cave tasting is perfect and beautiful. It’s a working winery where you see the nitty gritty of how a winery works.
Conner our wine educator made the experience amazing. If you’re not with him reschedule. Toots the wine dog was so cute.
Definitely make Failla a stop on your wine trip to Napa.
Cement eggs, no one else has them in Napa except Failla.

This place is awesome. First and foremost — the wines blew me away. We had a sampling of a few — the pinot noirs are awesome, of course, and since the process is the same but the grapes are different, it is so cool to taste the marked differences between the soils each grape is grown in. The viognier was beyond awesome, as was the Syrah, and we left with a couple bottles of each.
Another note about the experience — Geoff ran our tasting, and he is beyond fantastic. He clearly knows his stuff, and also clearly loves what he does. He is funny, approachable and is fantastic about explaining each wine. So cool when someone’s passions shine through. We also got to spend some time with members of the Jordan family — so down to earth and welcoming.
Could not recommend this experience more highly. Got to taste some beyond awesome wines in what felt like the wine maker’s family room. Def will go back next trip.

I’ve been here a few times for tastings, and I’ve tried their wines at other restaurants, and have enjoyed their wines every time. My last visit was a last minute reservation for just a tasting (yes, make reservations. Napa valley use permits.) Be sure to get there early/​on time because you don’t want to be *that guy*. Their tastings are usually small and intimate, and in a beautiful and peaceful setting (the porch, living room inside, or out in the courtyard). I was in a tasting group of 10 people.
Our host of the day was Josh, and was very kind to wait for *that guy*. So, to entertain us while we waited, he brought out a few extra wines that weren’t on that day’s tasting menu. By a few, I mean a lot. Josh is a great story teller. He told us about their history, the philosophy and where they source their grapes from. And he was quite informative about Napa, wines, and the process of wine making. I am relatively new to all of these things; he was also patient with my questions, especially since some of them were more for my professional development and no one else was really interested.
Pro-​tip: Make reservations and be ON TIME.
Pro-​tip II: Eat before you go.
Pro-​tip III: Spring for the cave tour (where you can have your tasting at too).

I’m not a wine drinker, so I really can’t speak to their wines. I was there to pick up a donation they had generously given to Napa Valley Hospice & Adult Day Services for their big auction/​gala. So, there you go, I’m biased towards organizations who support such beautiful work. What I really want to tell you is how beautiful the facility is. It exudes peace and tranquility. If you want to get off the tourist trap winery circuit, give this place a try. You need to make an appointment, but I suspect it is well worth it! I will definitely put this on the list of places to take my wine drinking friends.

We had an amazing time visiting Failla and taking their cave tour. Our guide Connor was very knowledgeable, unpretentious, and very pleasant. The pours are very small but he was so generous in letting us taste some extra wines not on the list. The thoughtfulness that goes into the wine making here is quite special. It seems to be the trend in the valley among fine winemakers to be truly terroir based, non-​blends, displaying as much of the purity of the grape as possible. I definitely recommend this tour.

This is a mixed review. The winemaker, Ehren Jordan, used to be at Turley with whom I’m a big fan. So I was excited to see what he’s doing with Pinot Noirs. Our tasting was with 2 other couples and the wines were very good. But the best was one we had to ask for and they wouldn’t pour it at our seat. It was close to the top of the hour and they had others coming so we were rushed out of our seats and up to the bar. It’s a shame that they don’t recognize buyers from drink-​and-​dashers. The others paid their fee and left while we bought a case and probably would have bought more but they were too busy showing us the door. So I’m not quite a fan yet!!!

I dont write many Unilocal reviews BUT yesterday I had a great experience with three out of town guests at Failla. I am a winery tour guide for hire; and i am in at least 5 to 10 wineries a week. I see lots of winery staff and endure much pain from staff who fake their knowledge, cop attitude, and generally dismiss the wine tour guide as «just the driver» and dont let me stay with my clients to tour the property. Fail!
Dee Graham however made me and my clients feel so special. Had to let you all know. She strikes a perfect balances between energy, knowledge, generosity and humility. She’s a winner.
I’ll be back, off duty, with all my SF buddies, to taste again. Love the cozy property too. Yer reds were perfect. Bold and spicy. CONGRATS for standing out in a crowded field of small production wineries.

Failla was a bit of an enigma. We came up on a Sunday and reserved the cave tour. It was informative and casual just like our host.
The wines (in my opinion, obviously this is a Unilocal review) left a little to be desired.
Failla biggest point of pride is that they emphasize the farming process, yet they don’t grow their own grapes. And that every batch is different even if it’s the same class of wine.
But their wines just didn’t knock me off my feet. I wanted them to but they fell flat. They were good don’t get me wrong but nothing special. And at 70 dollars a bottle I think it should be special.
If you buy two bottles they waive one tasting fee but we just didn’t want to purchase them. After the fact our host seemed peeved that we didn’t buy any bottles and wasn’t nearly as warm and friendly as he was in the beginning.
At 30 dollars a tasting it’s not to steep but you could still miss this vineyard and have a great time in napa.

I absolutely love Failla. Their Pinots are extremely sought-after…and for good reason. At the time of this review, they don’t have, or require, an e-​commerce site (orders are taken over the phone) to sell out their releases. Crazy.

I had the opportunity to sit with the winemakers during a dinner and got to experience them showcasing what they felt was the best of the current vintages. As someone who has done hard time in France and locally Ehren has a good foundation on what you can and cant do with the soil and crops you’re given. Not quite as outrageious as Abe Schoener of Scholium Project but still looking for those off the beaten path vines that will yield incredible wine with the right amount of attention to detail and care. They drink wonderfully alone and with properly paired food. Perhaps a winery that just chooses to make with what they can and not pay too much attention to what trends and traditions may impede.