Hill Family Estate in downtown Yountville is a wonderful, very friendly winery and we highly recommend that you visit them and check out their wine club. The quality of the wines, the comfortable setting, the friendliness and the highly affordable premium wines (that are even more affordable through the wine club) earn a very strong recommendation for visiting Hill Family Estate.
Their very comfortable tasting room is in downtown Yountville, where they been since 2006. They have been growing extremely high quality grapes for more than 25 years, still sell grapes to some of the finest Napa Valley wineries, and there is a fair chance that if you have been drinking $100 plus cabs from other Napa Valley wineries, that you have been drinking grapes grown by Hill Family. Since 2002, they have been making some of their own wines.
Our tasting began with the Hill Family 2010 Tiara Sauvignon Blanc ($35) which is made with a special clone that gives it more peach on the palate than the usual grapefruit. It is somewhat rounder, softer and less citrus like than most SB, but we found it very appealing. The Hill Family 2009 Carly's Cuvee Chardonnay ($27) was smooth, balanced with a touch of malolactic conversion that complimented the varietal taste instead of overwhelming it. The 2009 Pinot Noir ($42) from Stewart Ranch was good as was the Hill Family 2009 Syrah ($35) and the Hill Family 2008 Atlas Peak Cab ($68). There is not space enough for all of my tasting notes, but we liked the Hill Family wines enough at our first visit that we joined the Wine Club and will be returning in a two days to taste more wines and pick up our first order. The cabs are especially good for the money, but be sure to try the Tiara Sauvignon Blanc, too, which is quite different that your usual SB. Much thanks to Robin for being so pleasant and helpful.
Addendum 11/18/11: Two days later, we picked up our first three wines as club members and were able to taste additional wines while having some tasty complimentary hors d'oeuvres. In addition to an incredibly friendly reception, the winemaker, Alison Doran, came to our table and had a long, very animated and interesting discussion with us. As much as we liked the wines we had at the tasting two days previously, some of the wines we tasted the second visit were even better. This winery is producing some really good Napa Valley premium cabs at prices that are incredibly affordable! If you love Sauvignon Blancs or Cabs and if you enjoy premium wines at very reasonable prices, you should try this winery and seriously consider their wine club. Here are some excerpts from my notes during the second visit: Hill Family 2010 Sauvignon Blanc: At $17.60 for wine club members, this is a wonderful buy. It is fermented in stainless steel and much more of a traditional Sauvignon Blanc than the "Tiara". This is drier than the Tiara, with more grapefruit. My wife loved it. The Hill Family 2008 Origin ($42) is a full luscious cab blend with lots of ripe fruit. More in the style I prefer, though, is the Hill Family 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon ($48). This cab reminds me of cabs in the $100 plus range. Good fruit with full body but nice balanced tannins. This is the type of Cab that made Napa Valley famous but at a fraction of the price that one usually has to pay these days. It is complex, interesting and with substance without being overpowering. At this price it is a great buy. It is drinkable now but will improve with age. Hill Family2007 "Double Barrel" Cabernet Sauvignon ($150 and very limited production). With a nice nose and cherry plus chocolate on the palate, this wine has a long finish. Extremely well balanced with ripe fruit, it will age well but is definitely very drinkable now. If you are a club member you might be able to taste this if they have a bottle open. Much thanks, again, to Robin and the staff for being so helpful and making us feel so welcome.
Addendum 2/16/12: We bought several bottles of the Hill Family 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon ($55) and it is outstanding, even better than the 2008. We did not like the Hill Family 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the 2007 or 2008 but then it is still young. We also tried the Hill Family 2009 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc at $35 which was fairly good and the Hill Family 2009 Barrel Blend at $25 which is light, fruity, rather sweet tasting and did not appeal to either of us. I'd really like to taste the Double Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon again.
Date of visit: November 16, 2011
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