Long Meadow Ranch Winery

Long Meadow Ranch Winery has a tasting room on Highway 29 next to the very good restaurant called Farmstead.  It is open to the public without an appointment.  Both the winery and the restaurant are well worth a visit.  The winery itself is located up in the Mayacamas Mountains.  In addition to wines, they sell their own olive oil.  Tasting wise, they have an Essential Flight of three wines for $10 or a Signature Flight of five wines for $20.  The later includes two older, limited production Cabs.  They also offer various wine and food parings from $40 to the “Napa Valley Dream” at $150 and can customize private events.  We opted for the Essential Flight.

Tasting building

Our tasting began with the Long Meadow Ranch 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Rutherford which sells for $19.  This was more lemon on the palate than grapefruit.  As with many California Sauvignon Blancs, it really did not come together for me on the palate, and I got very little nose and a short finish.  Much better to both of our tastes was the Long Meadow Ranch 2008 Ranch House Red at $29 which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. It had nice fruit, some complexity, good structure and a fairly long finish, making it an interesting wine for the price.  We also had the Long Meadow Ranch 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon which was $45. Our server said that the Wine Enthusiast rated it a 93 and that it was 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 3% Cab Franc. The nose was light while the palate was a youthful bright red fruit with some herbaceousness and some cedar.  It was a decent cab and worth the price, but we were surprised it received such a high rating.  Perhaps it needed more air.

We bought some of the 2008 Ranch House Red and some Napa Valley Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil at $25 which we were also able to taste.  They also have a Prato Lungo Extra Virgin Olive Oil for $49 but we were not offered a taste of it. I would also have liked to taste the Sangiovese, but this was not offered and purchase was available only to wine club members.  With the very good Farmstead restaurant in the same complex, Long Meadow Ranch is well worth a visit, especially after your lunch or dinner.

Tasting bar

Long Meadow Ranch Winery 

738 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574

707-963-4555

Date of Visit: March 14, 2012