Piazza Del Dotto Winery & Caves — Attraction in Yountville

It's really disappointing for me to write this review today. I had a lot of high hopes and expectations for Piazza Del Dotto. My family and I flew into Napa to celebrate my wife's birthday and I did a lot of extensive research to find one of the best wineries for her. Piazza Del Dotto had such positive reviews and the pictures online made it look like a dream, but after my family's wine tasting and our experience - it left me yearning for something more. Upon arrival and check in, we were greeted by two lovely hosts. My daughters were so excited to tell everyone it was their mother's birthday and the host gave us some bubbly to cheer for my wife. We were a little early and told to go outside to wait for our guide to come get us. Normally this would be fine, but that day was one of the hottest days in the Bay Area hitting over 90 degrees. Nobody wanted to be outside in that heat, but my family and I didn't complain. Eventually we went back inside to look for our guide and were greeted by Rosanne, Once again, my kids were super excited to tell her it was their mother's birthday and Roseanne smiled and didn't acknowledge it. She seemed more interested in the other group than us.
As we walked to the caves, I was disappointed to see all the construction on site. There's nothing stated online that the winery would be going under some minor improvements. The water fountain wasn't on and you couldn't walk across the pretty bridge. I figured for the price that I spent on a tasting, that would be noted. Once we got inside the cave, it was beautiful. Rosanne asked the group (two couples and my family) if we were wine drinkers. My wife is the wine drinker, my kids and I can drink wine but we're not experts - when we told that to Rosanne she made an obvious reaction and said "oh okay then". It became clear to us right away that she didn't love that we weren't experts. As we moved forward with the tasting and Rosanne gave us some pourings - she would ask us for our reactions. If it was my wife, my kids, or even me - she always questioned what we said. It felt as if nothing we could do or say would make her happy. My youngest daughter is the newest to red wine drinking and took the longest to finish her pours - leading Rosanne to give her smaller portions. Something that truly bothered me because we didn't ask for that, and I felt like we were cutting short of the full experience that I paid for. What bothered me the most about this whole experience was how the other group received such better treatment than my family. Once we moved back inside and got our pizzas, Rosanne completely stopped checking in on us despite her continuing to help the other group. Napa is a beautiful place with wonderful options all around. Piazza Del Dotto has potential but for the price, the treatment, and overall quality - I recommend you take this one...

Amazing venue, world class wine and top notch service! These are big cabernets so make it your final tasting of the day, otherwise tasting after Del Dotto will be disappointing as your pallet will be done. This Piazza location is one of the most expensive wineries in Napa with all the materials, scull, art coming from Italy. The wine barrels tasting is phenomenal. While most are cabernets they do have Zins. Pinots, and sangiovese but save your sobriety for the cabernets. If you’re lucky and on a tour with VIP members you’ll tasting their big cabs behind the curtain. Villa Delago is Pritchard Hill and known as the Beauty. Their Villa Delago tasting location is still under development. The Beast is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from all of their Estate Vineyard. The Beauty, Beast, 887, St Helena and the David are some of the best wines in Napa. Following the tasting you’ll enjoy pizza and salumi in the garden area. VIPs also get their famous tater tots. Overall, an amazing wine tasting experience.

Del Dotto is an upper class winery with the widest range of cabernets (15 versions) ranging from $70 to $500. They have an excellent Zinfandel and pinots, bubbles and port. Construction is ongoing to the $350 million+ project with expansion to include more caves, balcony tasting, crush pad and fountains and bridge on the lake. While membership perks have diminished post-pandemic, the service and quality of the wine is world class. For your expectations, since the fires, the number of barrel tastings were reduced. At one point they literally didn't have any David to barrel taste. So while the tasting fees are high, it is Napa and you are walking on structures built by Italians artisans (saw them working) with stone and materials shipped from Italy. All the cabs are fantastic, big , bold, lots of structure and high alcohol. Make this your last stop otherwise you won't make stop 2 or 3. And the wines are so big you'll get palette fatigue anyways. The nickname for Del Dotto is Del Blotto. Everyone is always friendly and very knowledgeable. Oscar, Simon and Roseanne are my absolute favorite hosts! End our tour food is always awesome and if you're lucky you'll get the tomatoes. Do enjoy the garden if the weather is great and say hi to the chickens and peacocks. Spring time all the blooms are out and the garden is beautiful. We've done Barrels and Beast and that is such an amazing experience. We've also done the food pairing and everyone was matched perfectly. Food pairing is a one stop day event. People coming here complaining about the lake bridge not open or the construction and high tasting fee cost are coming here for instagram pictures not the wine. Piazza is a "must do" experience and you just might see Dave...

This was my first formal tasting visit to Del Dotto Piazza which is a mere 5 minutes from my home in Yountville. The property is beautiful with inviting gardens, a view of their Oakville Vineyard and their aviary is off the patio with peacock, chickens and turkeys.

My tasting started with their Sparkling Rose' and some bread bites with Del Dotto Olive Oil. The Rose' was a lovely color, light and perfectly sweet.

That was followed by a generous plate of tator tots with ketchup and aoili...Great because I was HUNGRY!

Next was their Chardonnay which was a nicely balanced wine, not a butter bomb and just the right amount of oak. Highly recommended based on my opinion.

I was then given a side-by-side of their 2021 Pinot Noir which was a great combo of light and refreshing with delightful acidity and mouth feel. The older 2016 was decidedly dry and while complex I would lay it down for another 5 years to appeal to my taste.

I moved into their Merlot forward red blend which included Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc, Verdot, Syrah, Malbec and the surprise of a touch of Grenache. This was a very easy to drink wine which would likely pair with almost anything.

I then proceeded into Cab country with their '21 Cab Sav which is 80% Cab and was a nicely approachable Cab that is ready to drink now. Then came my absolute favorite Del Dotto creation, their 2021 Reserve...in a word...WOW!!! It presented complexity and simplicity in a single sip...90% Napa Valley Cab with 10% Howell Mtn. Merlot. I'll take a case...thank you very much.

Finally I tried their 100% Oakville Cab and frankly while it was similar to the Reserve, I would choose the Reserve as the best value at Del Dotto.

My recommendation...GO TO DEL DOTTO and note that they have great Napolitano Pizzas if you reserve the barrel tasting and cave...