Lang & Reed - Spring house — Attraction in St. Helena

Chenin + Cabernet Franc + Comfort = Lang & Reed

The moment you step in the tasting room in St. Helena, you feel an aura of relaxation 🌊 Pops jokingly said, “Are we home?” as we entered. We were welcomed with curiosity, care, & (most importantly) outstanding Chenin Blanc which immediately set the tone for the rest of the tasting.

There wasn’t a miss in the entire lineup & we tasted some WINES.

The Chenin Blancs were a revelation. Vouvray-esque inw style: they were elegantly delicious and had BODY. Both the Mendocino & Napa were incredible. The Cabernet Francs followed suit with the 2012 T-bar-T being the stunner of the day. Bold but beautifully balanced, it was truly spectacular

I got to nerd out a few cool ways during this tasting that I wanted to point out: Side by Side Chenin Blanc tasting - Mendocino & Napa Side by Side Rosé tasting - rosé of Pinot Noir & Cabernet Franc 2012 Cabernet Franc versus 2021 Cabernet Franc The Pinot Noir was from the Radian Vineyard which I’ve had from other producers so will look forward to side by side tasting those in the future 🍷🍷

But the best part of the tasting was the hospitality. Tracy was an exceptional & knowledgeable hostess with a palpable passion for wine and life. Megan & John punctuated the experience with their passion & joy as well. Anytime the conversation ranges from Chenin Blanc clones to family to rap to aging gracefully to Wu-Tang - you know you’ve had a FULL experience. That’s the beauty of sharing a bottle with passionate people, you end up sharing so much more. We left feeling excited, exhilarated, & eagerly anticipating the next visit 🍷👏🏾🍷

Big props to the Lang & Reed family 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾...

This team seems to think it’s completely fine to ignore bookings made on Sunday’s. We booked and prepaid for a tasting for 10:30am on Sunday September 5th and nobody showed up. We didn’t receive a call or a “sorry we are not open on Sunday” message. I called, emailed and Instagram messaged them and received zero response. Do not book tastings with them as they will not follow up or honor what they have booked and taken $$ for.

Updated: Received a call back after this post, and they really are working to make this right. Very much appreciate a new system and a new process getting in the way of providing the right kind of customer service. Updating the rating for now and will see what the response is in a few...

When I’m in Napa and tired of cabernet sauvignon I usually look for good tips on who makes a good cab franc. I go check them out and usually end up disappointed. Not with Lang & Reed, they make chenin blanc and cabernet franc and both are wonderful. Their standard cab is great and reminds me of the Loire valley but their 214 is like that...