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Open: Four tours and tastings each day: 10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm and 4:00pm
Appt required? Yes
Last barlinwine.com visit: 2012 (May 16, 2012 Itinerary)
Directions:
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Tasting:
To say that the tasting room and wine production facility at Quixote defies convention is a grand understatement. There is certainly nothing remotely like it in the Napa Valley, which is precisely what they were going for when they brought on the possibly crazy and certainly creative Friedensreich Hundertwasser to design the winery.
I arrived on a Wednesday morning for my tasting with Lynn, and I was the only person up for the early 10:00am weekday bell. Having me to herself, Lynn set a measured pace and started the tasting with a splash of 2004 Panza Claret in my glass and a walking tour of the facility. During our stroll around the property, Lynn shared many bizarre Hundertwasser stories with me. I’m by no means an art aficionado, but apparently Hundertwasser is fairly well known in Europe. Quixote is his only structure in North America, however, and so the winery gets many visitors as interested in architecture as in wine.
Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian man who made the average eccentric look boring. Beyond just his bizarre looking structures – which feature no straight lines, uneven floors, and bright colors – he had even crazier personal and artistic quirks. He apparently only painted outside in the nude, and so spent Austrian winters in New Zealand in order to (in Lynn’s words) “save his bits from frostbite”. After a lengthy recruitment process, Quixote finally got Hundertwasser to the property. According to the stories, Hundertwasser apparently stripped off his clothes and carried around a pile of rocks until “the land sent vibes to tell him where the building should be”. He dropped the rocks, declared that would be the site of the winery, and proceeded to go swimming in the reservoir.
But what about the wine? After the tour and several other Hundertwasser stories which had me hating Hundertwasser and in awe of owner Carl Doumani's patience, it was time to try their product. The winery owner, Carl Doumani, also owns Stags’ Leap Winery (note the apostrophe...if you're not sure which one this is, refer to my SLWC review). Doumani is a man who loves Petite Sirah, and so it should come as no surprise that this is what Quixote is known for and what they do best.
We went inside to sit at a long tasting table (which looked quite abandoned with only my lone glass waiting). After the 2004 Panza Claret, which was just so-so, Lynn poured me their 2008 Cabernet. This was a solid effort, but not nearly worth the $90 price tag. As mentioned earlier, Petite Sirah is Quixote's specialty, and that was what was next. On the day of my visit, Quixote was pouring two Petite Sirahs: the 2005 and the 2008. I asked for a second glass so I could try them side-by-side, and given it was only me, Lynn was happy to oblige. These were both very good wines and it was nice to be able to try a Quixote Petite with some age on it to see how it might evolve over time. I had a tough time choosing between them, but ultimately found the 2008 to be my favorite.
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience. Lynn couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating, and it was interesting to learn about how the winery came to be. The wines were good but awfully pricey for what they were. I would recommend this as a worthwhile stop for anyone interested in architecture or the certifiably insane; the wine is a nice bonus at the end.
As I was leaving, Lynn left me with one final Hundertwasser gem, and I shall do the same for you, fair reader:
"See the massive crack in this column?" she told me. "When Hundertwasser finally finished the winery, several years late and millions of dollars over budget, he stopped by to examine his work. He asked to have a sledgehammer brought to him -- who fulfilled that request baffles me -- and he proceeded to start whaling away at this column. He was stopped before he could do any more damage, and it turned out to be the last time he was at the winery. He died before he ever made it back."
Rest in peace, you lunatic. Rest in peace.
I arrived on a Wednesday morning for my tasting with Lynn, and I was the only person up for the early 10:00am weekday bell. Having me to herself, Lynn set a measured pace and started the tasting with a splash of 2004 Panza Claret in my glass and a walking tour of the facility. During our stroll around the property, Lynn shared many bizarre Hundertwasser stories with me. I’m by no means an art aficionado, but apparently Hundertwasser is fairly well known in Europe. Quixote is his only structure in North America, however, and so the winery gets many visitors as interested in architecture as in wine.
We went inside to sit at a long tasting table (which looked quite abandoned with only my lone glass waiting). After the 2004 Panza Claret, which was just so-so, Lynn poured me their 2008 Cabernet. This was a solid effort, but not nearly worth the $90 price tag. As mentioned earlier, Petite Sirah is Quixote's specialty, and that was what was next. On the day of my visit, Quixote was pouring two Petite Sirahs: the 2005 and the 2008. I asked for a second glass so I could try them side-by-side, and given it was only me, Lynn was happy to oblige. These were both very good wines and it was nice to be able to try a Quixote Petite with some age on it to see how it might evolve over time. I had a tough time choosing between them, but ultimately found the 2008 to be my favorite.
As I was leaving, Lynn left me with one final Hundertwasser gem, and I shall do the same for you, fair reader:
"See the massive crack in this column?" she told me. "When Hundertwasser finally finished the winery, several years late and millions of dollars over budget, he stopped by to examine his work. He asked to have a sledgehammer brought to him -- who fulfilled that request baffles me -- and he proceeded to start whaling away at this column. He was stopped before he could do any more damage, and it turned out to be the last time he was at the winery. He died before he ever made it back."
Rest in peace, you lunatic. Rest in peace.
Recommended wine: The Petite Sirahs were my favorite, particularly the 2008.
Ratings (out of 5):
 WINE | 4.00 |  TASTING ROOM | 4.75 |
 ATMOSPHERE | 4.50 |  VALUE | 3.50 |
 OVERALL | 4.19 | ||
So you're not going to believe it, but my mom is Hundertwasser's #1 fan. She went to the winery last year and had perhaps even a more extensive tour that you received. Now you have to wonder who is more insane, the artist or the fan?
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