About Sire Estate
Sire Estate is a small, appointment-only Napa Valley producer founded by Thomas Buck with acclaimed winemaker Julien Fayard at the helm. Launched with the 2012 vintage, Sire focuses primarily on Cabernet Sauvignon - structured, powerful, cellar-worthy wines built from meticulous small-lot winemaking and cave aging in new French oak. The name Sire, an old term for "king" or "father," nods to the pedigree of the vineyards behind each bottle.
Fruit is sourced from prestigious Napa sites including the Houyi and Montagna vineyards on Pritchard Hill, Sleeping Lady Vineyard in Yountville, and Panek Vineyard in St. Helena. Total annual production is just over 500 cases, and the wines are highly allocated - poured at restaurants such as The French Laundry, PRESS, and Morimoto, and sold largely direct to consumer.
Visits are by appointment. Guests are greeted with a glass of wine, given a brief tour of the cave and winemaking facility, and then settle into an informal seated tasting in a lounge above the winery; tastings are also hosted at Covert Estate in Coombsville, where the wines are produced. Because production is tiny and access is arranged, book directly through the winery in advance.
Stopped at the border with French vines in his trunk, John Sire Estate ate the receipts, Napa now calls them the Sire Estate 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.
"Wino Notion likes that Sire Estate turns the cave, vineyard diversity and family storytelling into a full 90-minute experience rather than a basic flight. The separate grower-Champagne tasting is distinctive, provided visitors understand that it is not an estate-wine program."
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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.
PROPRIETARY RED
Silver
2006 · Coombsville, Napa Valley
Sire Estate's signature proprietary red, with library vintages back to 1999 still listed for sale.
PROPRIETARY RED
Rocket Science
2004 · Napa Valley
The estate's more approachable proprietary red, offered in early-2000s library vintages.
Offerings as listed at sireestate.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.
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Tastings in the Sire Estate 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
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Sessions with the Smuggler
A 60-minute virtual tasting over Zoom with John Sire Estate 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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