Charbay Winery & Distillery

What a welcome! John greeted us, offered to take a picture of us, then proceeded to tell us about the still on the hill. We had a lovely tasting. I learned so much about the distilling process. The ports Charbay had to offer were fabulous. If you are looking for something different, then a stop at Charbay is a must.

Quite possibly the most engaging, interesting, and delicious tasting experience to date! John walked us through a tantalizing experience that started with a green tea apéritif, moved through several big wines, and finished with an array of desert wines and the most amazing ports I’ve ever tasted. Charbay is an absolute must! This is the best of the Napa/​Sonoma wine scene.

We went to several great wineries while we were in Napa and Sonoma, but Charbay was by far our favorite. John spent about an hour and a half walking us through the intricacies of many different types of wines, aperitifs, and ports. Our favorites were the green tea apéritif, the pomegranate dessert wine, and the ports, but they were all great.
It’s too bad that state law doesn’t allow us to buy or sample some of the many spirits they make in their «still on the hill,» but that didn’t stop us from finding them at local stores. We love the blood orange vodka and the R5 whiskey (made from Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA). Definitely worth a your time to stop by.

Don’t miss it! John really welcomed us, from offering to take a photo when we first arrived to telling us about the family history of the distillery/​winery, and with a generous pour.
The green tea apéritif was delicious, they sold out of bottles but offered to email us when they were back in. The pomegranate wine mixed amazingly well with champagne. It truly was a breath of fresh air from the over commercialized and/​or stuffy tasting rooms.
It would have been nice to try their liquors, but can’t blame them for California laws…

I was a little disappointed by the wines and the fact that you can’t taste the liquors they distill. The green tea apéritif was delightful and the staff was really sweet and friendly. The setting is gorgeous.

AMAZING! Do it. Seriously. There is no way you won’t go away buying something. It was kind of nice to have a break from wine after wine. This place serves an apéritif and some cocktails with the different liquors they distill there. And the place is kind of remote, so relaxing.

Charby is a special place– Make a reservation and trek up Spring Mountain road and check this place out. Very cool that it is one of the only distillery’s in Napa.
Great tasting room– very friendly staff, great locale– excellent wine and spirits– this is the important part– they prepare their spirit tastings with hand of Buddha lemons which they grow right outside– very cool.
I am a huge fan of this spot.

This is THE most interesting Spring Mountain place we have ever visited. John took care of us, is part of the extended Karaksavic Charbay family, and spend over a decade in South Africa in the wine business. He is quite knowledgeable and really helps you get into the whole ‘distillery thing’. The only legal ‘still’ in Wine Country.
We learned a lot about the 13 generations of distillers (the newly minted 14^th generation Miles too), the distillery process, saw two ‘at scale’ and one mid-​range, and one ‘tiny still’ machinery and the amazing innovations that have set the ‘distilled’ world on fire.
Who thought that whiskey, brandy, vodka, green-​tea aperitifs from Napa Valley could make such an impact? Their new R5 Whiskey is distilled from Racer 5 beer from Bear Republic Brewery (this ‘beer’ stock is quite an innovation’).
They only pour/​serve 24% alcohol or less (wines, ports and Green Tea apéritif), (one exception — they ‘sell brandy’.
We had two very nice ports — the Distillers’ port (plural possesive) is quite nice.
This is a MUST see place during your Napa Valley trip.

Came here a few days ago because our driver found out that I am a huge whiskey fan! &I thank him for that! Such an amazing experience! I absolutely loved it. the staff was extremely knowledgeable and very friendly! I tried the green tie, loved it! Their port was also so good! so good that we bought a bottle of the green tea and a bottle of their port. we also bought the whiskey peanut butter brittle :) hehe. It’s a pretty small place and the vineyard is pretty high up and located on swirly roads so I would 1. call ahead so they know you’re coming 2. GET A DD! I would of given this place 5 stars if they would start letting the public sample racer 5 whiskey! yes, racer 5! Did I forget to mention that charbay also makes Racer 5 beer?! Wish I lived closer so I could be here all the time!

Charbay’s a fun visit if you’re doing Spring Mountain wine tastings. It definitely has a different configuration of wines than most on the mountain — lots of aperitifs (in my last tasting we had some green tea-​like goodness and pomegranate port). The aperitifs are especially alcoholic; my tasting party was a bit silly by the time we left.
The winery itself is quite pleasant to look at, and the guide was pleasant. What’s not to like?

Love love love charbay! My friend and I recently visiting and were welcomed by our gracious host John by name. Not only is this small family owned winery beautiful and intimate but the wines and spirits were absolutely delicious. My friend left with a bottle of their green tea apéritif which we were shown makes a wonderful cocktail mixed with lemon sparking water and zest from one of their Budda’s hand lemons. I left with a bottle of their 2005 Cabernet which is knock your socks of good! I can not reccomend this place enough! I will be ordering from them in the future. We had a wonderful time. Thank you!

We came across Charbay during our Platypus winery tour and it was an absolutely fantastic place to visit, and our favorite stop by far.
The staff was extremely nice and explained the process of making their hard liquor as well as their wine. The wines were tasty and the liquor was fantastic. There was an easy, go with the flow feeling of the tasting and a great welcoming feeling of being among friends.
Their winery dog was a great addition as well, as he was super sweet and added to the ambiance.
We will definitely be back when we go through Napa again!

Pros: 03 Cabernet is awesome. Quiet place, not crowded and a really friend staff. And they have two nice winery dogs that are really friendly.
Cons: Far from the strip, so I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re on a time crunch and are trying to visit a lot of wineries. Three bottle minimum purchase for the tasting fee to be waived.
Overall: Cool place to visit if you have time to spare.

There was a short program on TV about the distillery last year, so I made a point to find out more about the place in person. They boast a long lineage of Yugoslavian distillers in the family and I never pass up an opportunity to take in some Balkan culture (food/​alcohol).
While visiting my mother in Sacramento, I called and made an appointment for my friend and I to tour the winery; however, things got a bit mixed up, so we weren’t able to take the walking tour and ended up just doing the tasting. The family doesn’t grow its own fruit, so I can’t imagine the tour would have made that much of a difference. But it would still have been nice.
Mark, a family friend and worker, took us on a flavor adventure of wine and aperitifs. Like most wineries, if you make an alcohol purchase then the tasting fee is waived. I ended up with a bottle of the Charbay charbay (chardonnay/​brandy), the green tea apéritif, two low-​ball glasses and a wine bottle travel protect