About Caldwell Vineyard
John Caldwell came to wine sideways: when a county no-growth policy blocked his plan to subdivide the land in the early 1980s, the former shoe retailer planted grapes instead, including French cuttings famously smuggled across the Canadian border, the origin of the Caldwell Clones. Four decades on, his 123-acre Coombsville estate carries some 65 planted acres spanning eleven varieties and twenty-six clones.
The estate sits 600 feet above the valley floor inside an ancient volcanic caldera near San Pablo Bay, among the coolest, longest-season sites in Napa Valley. Winemaking, once directed by Philippe Melka, now by Marbue Marke, happens almost entirely inside a 22,000-square-foot cave, and Caldwell runs its own cooperage under master cooper Ramiro Herrera, one of only eight wineries worldwide to do so.
Stopped at the border with French vines in his trunk, John Caldwell ate the receipts, Napa now calls them the Caldwell Clones.
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Book the caveVisits are by appointment only, two hours long, at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm, for up to eight guests.
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Own cooperageBarrels are made on site by master cooper Ramiro Herrera, the winery says it is one of just eight in the world with in-house cooperage.
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Deep libraryThe online shop runs to roughly 300 lots, with Silver bottlings back to 1999 still available.
"Coombsville's original character: smuggled clones, an underground winery, and a deep, unusually diverse estate portfolio."
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Featured Wines
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Gold
2006 · Coombsville, Napa Valley
A library release of the estate's top Cabernet bottling, offered direct from the winery.
$290
PROPRIETARY RED
Silver
2006 · Coombsville, Napa Valley
Caldwell's signature proprietary red, with library vintages back to 1999 still listed for sale.
$260
PROPRIETARY RED
Rocket Science
2004 · Napa Valley
The estate's more approachable proprietary red, offered in early-2000s library vintages.
$96
Offerings as listed at caldwellvineyard.com, July 2026; the shop spans roughly 300 lots across a portfolio of 23 estate wines, from $96 bottles to large formats near $12,000.
Tasting Experiences
Visit Website →Tastings in the Caldwell Cave
A two-hour, appointment-only tasting of five current releases with a ploughman's platter of artisan cheese and charcuterie, seated in the underground tasting room; slots at 10, 12, 2 and 4 for up to eight guests.
$130 per person
Sessions with the Smuggler
A 60-minute virtual tasting over Zoom with John Caldwell or master cooper Ramiro Herrera, built around a custom six-bottle pack with a $500 minimum; wine ships with ten days' notice.
By appointment
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