Priest Ranch Tasting Room — Attraction in Yountville

We first discovered Priest Ranch a number of years ago when we stayed across the street at the Villagio Hotel. We really enjoyed the experience there - the small winery feel, the delicious wines and the friendly welcome of the staff. We ordered a few wines to ship home and fell in love - we became members and now have a steady supply of wine coming to the house. Fast forward 5 years and we made another trip to the tasting room yesterday for the bacon and wine pairing experience. Again, we were welcomed like family by Melissa and Jose. They made us feel so welcomed and treated us like VIPs. The atmosphere is so warm and welcoming, the wine is our absolute favorite (period!) and the bacon and wine experience was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. After heading out for some dinner, we even found ourselves back there for a pottery event - where my wife left with a couple of beautiful custom made bowls. We are here for a week - we'll definitely be back again before we...

The experience

We arrived at a charming tasting room in Yountville, and although seated inside, the french doors were wide open and it was a wonderful day. "The Caviar & Bubbles Experience", it was explained, was a chance to drink Priest Ranches only sparkling wine along with an ounce of caviar, a curiously remarkable amount of crème fraîche, and a bag of Kettle chips.

Although the website doesn't specify, we were served Plaza Baerii, siberian sturgeon caviar, for those of you who care.

The thoughts

The Brut Rosé is definitely the star of, and the point of, this experience. I enjoy caviar immensely, and dry sparkling wines pair well with it.

But everything else after the bottle is opened feels like an after-thought. This isn't a "caviar experience". It's an opportunity to drink an entire bottle of Priest Wine's excellent Rosé with some caviar and chips, and that's ok. Really. But there was really too much crème fraîche and not...

We started with an incredible lunch at The Kitchen then headed next door to Priest Ranch for their “Wine and Bacon Experience”—truly one of the best tastings we've ever had! This unique pairing takes wine tasting to a new level, featuring limited-production red wines perfectly matched with four different flavors of pork belly-style bacon (yes, even better than regular bacon!). Our flavors for August 2024 were: Mango & Mustard, Coffee & Maple, Guajillo Chili and Mediterranean Dry Rub. Each flavor was perfectly crafted to complement the wines, enhancing the tasting experience in such a memorable way. The service was outstanding, and the wine selections were spot on. If you’re looking for an unforgettable wine tasting, this is it. Book it—you...