Round Pond Estate Winery — Attraction in St. Helena

First off, lets talk about the winery. It's one of the most beautiful entrances of any winery in the valley. It's not over the top, but tall, palm lined road that heads straight to the winery is an amazing entrance and a subtle mental note of "I have arrived!". Due to COVID, I really haven't spent any time inside the winery or the wine bar, just kind of walk past it to the huge covered timber framed patio (with heaters for the cold days and umbrellas for the warm ones). A portion of the patio is uncovered and has beautiful views overlooking their vineyards and has a huge gas fireplace for those really chilly winter evenings.

Second, the wine. They have a couple whites (sauv blanc) that are incredible. Fresh, bright, crisp and ideal for any summer day. Their reds are big, chewy, tannic, age worthy reds. All cab based...give them time in the glass and enjoy the flavor as it evolves. Most of these reds will age over the next 15 to 20 years. Price you ask? The wines are not inexpensive per se however, in this region, their wines are more economical than many of their neighboring wineries and provide excellent QPR for age worthy Napa cabs.

Lastly, the staff. We belong to a fair amount of wineries and have visited many wineries in Walla Walla, Willamette Valley, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, etc but only join a wine club if the wine is excellent BUT, the experience must also be. I cannot attest to all the staff but my assumption is they are all excellent. There is a very unique culture here that is laid back and the hospitality is second to none. It's not stuffy, but rather fun, relaxed, and interactive. Upon entering the winery, you encounter the BEST HOST I've ever come across, Guy. Guy is a wonderful human, friendly, funny, witty and a helluva character. He passed us off to Juan our tasting consultant for the day and let me tell you, this guy knows his stuff. He's a real study in wine, wine making, and the Round Pond history. He is one of the best tasting room people I've ever encountered and is flat out a fantastic dude. The entire hospitality we encountered at Round Pond made us feel not only welcomed, but like family.

Wine is all about using your senses; sight, smell, and taste. Round Pond also completes the experience with senses as well with their winery, their wine and their staff. Sitting on their patio looking out at their vineyard, drinking their superb wine, and being taken care of by their staff will not only make an incredible experience for you, but also lasting memories of your visit here for...

My wife and I went to Round Pond not for the wine, but for the olive oil. Yup, we went to Napa to taste olive oil. (We had wine in Napa too, but that's not the point right now.) So back to the olive oil...

The olive production division of Round Pond is across the street from the "main" vineyard where they offer wine tastings. Like most places that offer wine tasting in Napa, reservations are encouraged, but they did accommodate our drop-by visit. During our tasting we saw the staff setting up a full tasting for an upcoming reservation, so we can attest that the reserved tastings are more elaborate than the drop-ins.

From the onset we were warned that their tastings were somewhat unusual compared to other olive oil tastings. (Having never done an olive oil tasting before, I had neither expectations nor a basis doe comparison.) Turns out that what makes their tastings so unusual is that you are encouraged to drink the olive oil, versus dipping bread in it, and tasting the oil-drenched bread. Their theory is that you need to taste the oil not the bread, and bread masks the nuance. However, bread is available for the wary/leery.

And what a treat this was! Tasting the oil this way revealed secrets to olive oil that I never previously noticed, for example, I don't recall ever noticing the slightly peppery sensation at the back of the throat that is apparently common with olive oil. The differences in viscosity, bitterness, and flavor were more readily apparent this way than it would have been with bread.

The tasting was also educational. In the course of this tasting, we learned to spot certain markers that distinguish good olive oil from the questionable. We learned the difference between co-milling for flavored oils, versus infusing. We also learned that sugar cubes are an AMAZING way to taste vinegars. But I won't describe that trick - you're going to have to go there yourself to...

This was one of two wineries my family chose to visit during our first time in Napa. Since we were only staying for a day, I searched high and low for good wineries. Round Pond had been mentioned in a Reddit thread, but not a whole lot of articles.

When I first visited their website (which is awesome) I got a feeling in my gut that this place just seemed right. I checked out their tasting experiences and saw that they charge a reasonable starting price (in comparison to others that charge up to $125) so I booked it through the site (very easy and straightforward, requires a $3 deposit so you don't even pay the tasting fee until after your visit!)

The driveway to the building is gorgeous and made for an incredible introduction. The two people at the front desk were very friendly and guided my family to our table outside. The views are seriously breathtaking and indescribable. Our wine expert, Cruz, also knocked it out of the park. He was so informative about the growing/bottling process all the way down to the type of soil used when growing grapes. Any questions or concerns we had, he was happy to answer.

There are also some 1-star reviews that mention that only 3 wines are provided during the tasting and that it seemed too expensive. In my personal experience, we received 4 wines to taste and we were allowed to sample a Sav Blanc when we got on the subject about how it is aged. Along with Cruz giving detailed explanations of each wine and their unique characteristics, I think the price of the tasting is well justified.

I apologize for my verbosity in this review, but it truly was an incredible experience. So much that the next winery we went to failed in comparison to Round Pond. If we had known, we would've just stayed there as long as we were allowed. If I ever find myself in Napa again, I will definitely be...