Elkhorn Peak Cellars

Elkhorn Peak Cellars is a family-owned micro-winery tucked into the southeastern hills of Napa Valley, in the quiet folds of Jameson Canyon beneath the 1,336-foot peak that gives the winery its name. Ken Nerlove planted the first vines here in 1983, on hillside land that had previously known only cattle and sheep grazing. At a time when few believed Pinot Noir belonged in Napa, he bet on this cool pocket of the valley, where marine air off nearby San Pablo Bay slips up the canyon and lets the fruit ripen slowly.

Today the estate is run by a father-and-daughter team, Ken Nerlove as grower and owner and Elise Nerlove as winemaker and owner, with longtime guidance from veteran Napa winemaker Kent Rasmussen. Production is deliberately tiny, fewer than 1,000 cases a year, drawn almost entirely from the eight-acre estate vineyard. The lineup centers on estate Pinot Noir, including a barrel-selection reserve, alongside Chardonnay, a rose of Pinot Noir, and a dessert wine.

Visits are intimate and by appointment, hosted by the same people who farm the land. Tastings are held at the winery production space in Napa, a short drive south of downtown, while seasonal estate experiences in summer and fall bring a small number of guests up into the vineyard itself to walk the rows and taste from the barrel. Elkhorn Peak often holds its Pinot Noir back two to three years longer than most Napa producers, giving the wines time to settle into the earthy, red-fruited character the canyon is known for.

Because production is so limited, most Elkhorn Peak wines are sold directly through the winery website and wine club, with a small selection available at V Wine Cellars in Yountville. For travelers who want to see Napa as a working agricultural landscape, guided by the family who shaped it, Elkhorn Peak offers a genuine and increasingly rare kind of welcome.

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