Napa Valley winery pours “big, bold, sexy” wines in its opulent tasting room.
For wine tasting paired with unabashed opulence, schedule a stop at Lewis Cellars, on the Silverado Trail near Yountville. One sip into the Sauvignon Blanc welcome pour, and my tasting partner and I were already bedazzled by the Italian porcelain, vibrant floral arrangements, and expressive Zachary Scott paintings. And that was before we peered into the secluded cabana (below) and private salon (lead photo).
Legacy Tasting with Canapés
We’d booked a Legacy Tasting with optional canapés. Randy Lewis, a former racecar driver, founded Lewis Cellars in 1992 with his wife, Debbie. Now part of The Wonderful Company, the Napa Valley winery continues to produce, as winemaker Jordan Jeffries says in a website video, the same “big, bold, sexy wine[s]” Lewis fans have come to expect. Jeffries was describing the reds, but the same holds true for the whites, whose luxurious mouthfeel is central to their appeal.
Napa and Sonoma Chardonnays
Our flight began with two 2023 Chardonnays: one from the Napa Valley’s Oak Knoll District and the other from Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. Because both whites were made the same way—native-yeast fermentation and 11 months of aging in 65% new French oak—our host encouraged us to focus on the differences between the two regions and on how the Chardonnays interacted with the food (a savory Gougѐre pastry topped with caviar, and a salmon rillette), which mirrored the wines’ fullness.
Dynamic, Juicy Reds
Dynamic and juicy, our tasting’s two reds paired equally well with the canapés: an earthy mushroom arancini with soubise sauce for the 2022 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and a Schmitz Ranch beef roll with Cabernet jus for the 2022 Napa Valley Big Blend.
Coming Full Circle
The bonus pour, the 2023 Full Circle, commemorates the first Lewis vintage, produced on this property (then Robert Sinskey Winery) more than three decades ago. The renovated tasting room opened in fall 2025.
Why go: fruit-forward whites and reds; opulent decor, food-and-wine pairings.
Info
6320 Silverado Trail, Napa, 94558
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