Porter Family Vineyard : Underground Winery....

Porter Family Vineyard : Underground Winery....

Napa Valley in USA stretches between Sacramento and San Francisco. It attracts thirty lac visitors every year . The simple reason is Wine. Napa Wines shine in the wine racks of wine stores around the globe . Napa is famous for its prized Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and, with more than 400 wineries dotting its fertile soils.

The tasting experience defines the difference between wineries. On this yardstick, Porter Family Vineyards is a superb place to visit next time, it offers the most outrageously cool wine tasting experience, and I do mean cool because you spend most of the time in their unique wine cellar: a man made cave that stretches entirely through their vine covered mountain ! It is truly unique experience. The winery is owned by Tom and Beverly Porter.

Porters claim that their story starts five million years ago when a small sandpiper wandered along the shore ! The tiny tracks the sandpiper left behind were covered with sediment and fossilized by the geological forces that created what is now their Vineyards in the Coombsville of Napa Valley.

From Porters’ hillside vineyards and underground winery, the family makes small amounts of beautifully hand-crafted wines—each one carrying the unique signature of this place.

Porters say that they found and retained the fossilized footprints of the sandpiper on their property as a reminder of the incredible history of their winegrowing site.

In the center of the vineyard lies a prominent hill. Within the walls of that hill, fifty feet underground, lies Porters’ 17,000 square foot winery. Amazing. Vines still stand on and around the hill—the only clue to the winery’s existence are two entrances that come up and out at two ends. It is here, in-cave, and on the adjacent gravity-flow crush pad, that they carefully craft wines.




Porters have installed unique control systems monitor and adjust environmental conditions, control fermentation temperatures, and provide immediate access to winery operations data. But still Porters feel that human judgment is much better because it is based on senses. Amidst the high tech atmosphere, Porters give the artisanal touch of fermentation in small, 2-ton batches, and individually tasted at all stages of winemaking.

The high tech numbers can tell us many things about our wine, but only human organoleptic senses can tell that how the fruit from Porter’s hillsides tastes.

When Tom Porter purchased the vineyard in 2005, he had a dream of creating a Bordeaux-style blend. Keeping the original vines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot he also decided to replant the hilltop crest with Malbec and Cabernet Franc to complete the quintet.

Barre Azure series is their master blend incorporating the five traditional grape varieties of the region of Bordeaux with the fruit and finesse found on our Coombsville property.It has interesting labels , it is created by students at The Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida where the Porter Family has strong connection . Each vintage tells part of the story of the battle of Hastings in 1066.

Winery is on Green Valley Road Napa Valley, California, USA. Best way to reach take flight for SaFo.