Hagafen Cellars

Hagafen Cellars is about one mile south of the Stags Leap District and alongside the Oak Knoll District.  It is owned and operated by Irit and Ernie Weir who founded the winery in 1979.  "Hagafen" means "the vine" in Hebrew and this is a Kosher winery.  Their wines have been served at the White House, dating back to President Reagan.  The tasting room is very informal, relaxed and unpretentious.

We tasted their Zinfandel at the 2012 Zinfandel Festival, so we decided to visit them during our weekly winery visits. They have about 21 different wines available for tasting and offer three different sets of tasting: five white wines for $5, five red wines for $10, or five tastes of their Prix Vineyards or Library Wines for $15. Please check with the winery for current tasting fees.

At the winery we were offered tastings of the Hagafen 2010 Clarinet Red Rhone Blend at $24, the Hagafen 2009 Crescendo Red Table Wine at $24 and the Hagafen 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Estate Bottled at $45.  Both of us preferred the Cabernet which was cherry on the palate with good tannins and a decent finish.  We were not offered any other tastings because we used the coupon for a free tasting that we were given at ZAP.  Service was fine. If we return, we would probably ask to try the Prix Vineyards and some of the Library Wines instead of the current releases.

Hagafen Cellars
4160 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 252-0781

Date of visit: February 15, 2012