For a Bay Area leadership team or a small group of serious wine lovers, few team retreat activities compare with tasting alongside the person who makes the wine. This Winemaker's Collection Tasting is a privately hosted visit with the winemaker and proprietor of a family-owned winery in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, within easy reach of the Bay Area, for groups of up to 6 guests.
The experience runs 90 minutes and is priced at $250 per guest. The winery describes it as its most exclusive Napa Valley experience, created for Cabernet collectors, enthusiasts and guests who want something truly uncommon.
What's Included
- A welcome pour of Pops Sparkling Wine
- A private cave tour and barrel tasting with the
For a Bay Area leadership team or a small group of serious wine lovers, few team retreat activities compare with tasting alongside the person who makes the wine. This Winemaker's Collection Tasting is a privately hosted visit with the winemaker and proprietor of a family-owned winery in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, within easy reach of the Bay Area, for groups of up to 6 guests.
The experience runs 90 minutes and is priced at $250 per guest. The winery describes it as its most exclusive Napa Valley experience, created for Cabernet collectors, enthusiasts and guests who want something truly uncommon.
What's Included
- A welcome pour of Pops Sparkling Wine
- A private cave tour and barrel tasting with the winemaker
- A taste of an upcoming Cabernet Sauvignon vintage straight from a French oak barrel
- A seated 10-year horizontal tasting of three single-vineyard 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the 2016 vintage
- A local cheese and charcuterie pairing
The Tasting
The visit begins with sparkling wine and a walk into the caves with the winemaker, including a barrel sample of a Cabernet that has not been released yet. Then the group sits down for the heart of the experience: three 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the same 2016 vintage, each from a different vineyard, Ruppert Vineyard in Coombsville, Howell Mountain, and Brenda's Vineyard in the Stags Leap District.
Tasted side by side after ten years in bottle, the three wines show how vineyard site, terroir and winemaking shape the expression of Napa Valley Cabernet. With local cheeses and charcuterie on the table and the winemaker sharing the stories behind each bottle, it is a deeply personal and highly limited experience.
Why It Works for a Small Team
As wine team building, this is about depth rather than volume. With six guests at most, everyone gets real time with the winemaker and the conversation stays in one place. It is a strong choice among corporate retreat team building activities for a founding team, an executive group or a board, and one of the more unique team building events you can offer a small group that has done the usual wine country circuit.
It also suits milestone celebrations: a partnership anniversary, a promotion, a big birthday or a client relationship worth marking with something memorable.
About the Winery
The host is a second-generation, family-owned winery in the Stags Leap District, in the heart of Napa Valley. The family farms every vine itself, and two of its vineyards, in the Stags Leap District and Calistoga, are certified organic. Wine caves run beneath the estate, and small-lot Cabernet Sauvignon is the focus of the winemaking. The winery is open daily from 10 AM to 4 PM by prior reservation.
Booking Details
- Private experience for groups of up to 6 guests
- 90 minutes, hosted by the winemaker and proprietor
- Request your private tasting directly with the winery
More Ways to Visit
- A private Napa Valley tasting with a cave tour for up to 8 guests, with a barrel sample and a seated flight that runs from Carneros to Calistoga
- A Cabernet vintage retrospective for up to 8 guests that compares the 2012, 2015 and 2018 vintages of one single-vineyard Cabernet after a cave tour
- A 75-minute private table tasting for up to 8 guests with three wines from three appellations and a cheese and charcuterie plate
- Large group formats for bigger parties, including a seated tasting with a guided cave tour, an after-hours Estate House reception and a walkabout wine experience with wine stations
Each experience is priced separately and booked by prior reservation, and the hospitality team can help match a format to your group size and occasion.
Good to Know
- Advance reservations are required
- All guests must be 21 or older; minors, including infants, are not permitted at the winery
- Pets, smoking and outside food or beverages are not allowed
At $250 per guest, the Winemaker's Collection Tasting offers a level of access few Napa Valley wineries provide: time with the person who grows, crafts and curates the wines himself.
