Open: 10am-6pm
Appt required? No
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011
Directions:
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Tasting:
The Hill Family tasting room sits along Washington Ave in Yountville. We stopped at Hill Family at the end of our day and following a great tasting just down the street at Hope & Grace, so the bar was set high and our palates not at their peak -- the lack of pictures points not to a lack of picture-worthy material and more to my lack of ability to take them at that point. Nevertheless, the tasting experience was worthwhile. The folks at Hill Family trumpet the fact that they sell their grapes to some of the well-renowned wineries in Napa Valley, including Silver Oak, Stag's Leap, and Duckhorn. I personally would have preferred they sell their wine on their own merit rather than use the success of others, but I’ll let it slide.
For our tasting, we were asked to choose 4 wines from their list for a $10 tasting fee. We took a seat in the room, made our selections, and our host brought us a taste at a reasonable pace. For our choices, we chose their Stewart Ranch Pinot Noir, Clarke Vineyard Syrah, Origin red blend, and Atlas Peak Cabernet. There wasn't a bad wine in the bunch, and my personal favorite waffled between the Syrah and the Origin.
In addition to pretty good wine, Hill Family has an interesting collection of memorabilia and art, much of which is sports-related and tied to a few unexpected sportsmen. They had a wine associated with local San Francisco Giant Cody Ross and one connected to future hall of famer Greg Maddux. But then they also randomly had memorabilia from Rick Ankiel and (surefire hall of famer) Bronson Arroyo. Bronson Arroyo? Huh? It turns out all are represented by the same sports agency (TAG), and that the winery partnered with the agency to make wines for those athletes, the sale of which would support charities of the athletes' choice. Nice. They recently released a Matt Holliday Red and a Johnny Damon Red ("Johnny Damon, you've got the best ass in the league!" - Stephanie Barlin quoting Fever Pitch) just in time for the 2011 MLB playoffs.
Overall, this isn't a bad stop and one I might try earlier in the day at some point in the future. If you're going to make the trip to Yountville to go to Hope & Grace (which I'd highly recommend you do), stop on down and see the folks at Hill Family as well.
The Hill Family tasting room sits along Washington Ave in Yountville. We stopped at Hill Family at the end of our day and following a great tasting just down the street at Hope & Grace, so the bar was set high and our palates not at their peak -- the lack of pictures points not to a lack of picture-worthy material and more to my lack of ability to take them at that point. Nevertheless, the tasting experience was worthwhile. The folks at Hill Family trumpet the fact that they sell their grapes to some of the well-renowned wineries in Napa Valley, including Silver Oak, Stag's Leap, and Duckhorn. I personally would have preferred they sell their wine on their own merit rather than use the success of others, but I’ll let it slide.
For our tasting, we were asked to choose 4 wines from their list for a $10 tasting fee. We took a seat in the room, made our selections, and our host brought us a taste at a reasonable pace. For our choices, we chose their Stewart Ranch Pinot Noir, Clarke Vineyard Syrah, Origin red blend, and Atlas Peak Cabernet. There wasn't a bad wine in the bunch, and my personal favorite waffled between the Syrah and the Origin.
In addition to pretty good wine, Hill Family has an interesting collection of memorabilia and art, much of which is sports-related and tied to a few unexpected sportsmen. They had a wine associated with local San Francisco Giant Cody Ross and one connected to future hall of famer Greg Maddux. But then they also randomly had memorabilia from Rick Ankiel and (surefire hall of famer) Bronson Arroyo. Bronson Arroyo? Huh? It turns out all are represented by the same sports agency (TAG), and that the winery partnered with the agency to make wines for those athletes, the sale of which would support charities of the athletes' choice. Nice. They recently released a Matt Holliday Red and a Johnny Damon Red ("Johnny Damon, you've got the best ass in the league!" - Stephanie Barlin quoting Fever Pitch) just in time for the 2011 MLB playoffs.
Overall, this isn't a bad stop and one I might try earlier in the day at some point in the future. If you're going to make the trip to Yountville to go to Hope & Grace (which I'd highly recommend you do), stop on down and see the folks at Hill Family as well.
Recommended wine: My favorite of the bunch was actually the Clarke Vineyard Syrah, but the Origin was also quite good.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.25 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.00 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 3.75 |  VALUE | 4.00 |
 OVERALL | 4.00 | ||
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