October is when Napa Valley feels most like itself. We arrived amid the late-season harvest, breathing in the familiar scent of crushed grapes and earthy pomace. Stretching across the hills, the vineyards had already turned copper, amber and deep red, a view that never fails to dazzle. Winery staffs tend to be hard at work during this period, and tasting rooms can get busy, too.

Just as I test out the service at hotels and resorts I review, I like to give our own Travel Office the occasional challenge. This time, I asked my travel advisor to arrange visits of exclusive wineries not open to the general public. Working together with Andrew Harper’s wine concierge, my advisor orchestrated private tastings at four high-end wineries across the valley, each with its own appeal.

Sullivan Rutherford Estate

As we turned onto a quiet lane off Highway 29, the manicured landscape and lush gardens of Sullivan Rutherford Estate gradually came into view. Our delightful host, Eddie Gutierrez, greeted us with glasses of crisp Chardonnay and led us around the property’s romantic pond toward an elegant timber-and-glass California Craftsman structure. From the comfort of the studio of the original owner, Jim Sullivan (the estate was acquired by Juan Pablo Torres-Padilla in 2018), we tasted select wines from the J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve. A Chardonnay from this collection was more reminiscent of a Chablis, restraining the expected buttery notes while achieving focus and balanced acidity. As we sampled the Merlot, the estate’s clay-rich soil became apparent. It produced a powerful red that reminded me of a Pomerol from Bordeaux’s Right Bank. Most illuminating was the vertical tasting ranging from 2015 through the 2020s, which revealed the distinctive character of each vintage. (The 2015 was especially well structured, with rich notes of ripe plums and brown spices.) This winery champions Merlot and delivers the goods — take that, Sideways.

Sullivan Rutherford Estate
1090 Galleron Road, St. Helena. Tel. (707) 963-9646

Dana Estates

Tucked against the western slopes of the Mayacamas, Dana Estates (pronounced dawn-ah) lies beyond an unmarked gate, a place we would never have found on our own. We followed a vineyard path to a high-walled stone courtyard redesigned by legendary Napa architect Howard Backen, where Chinese pistache trees spread a fiery red-and-yellow canopy over a long fountain. Dana encompasses four vineyards across the valley, each with its own vinification room, and produces single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. Its sister brands widen the lens, blending fruit from different plots. In a nod to proprietor Hi Sang Lee’s Korean roots, every label features lotus flowers and/or traditional white-clay half-moon jars. We sipped a fresh, slightly spritzy Vaso Sauvignon Blanc as we toured the cavernous contemporary winery, built around the stone ruins of an 1883 structure, with a gravity-flow production facility. Past a templelike wine gallery with Jeroboam-filled niches, we entered our private tasting room, where a glass wall pivoted open to the courtyard. The Onda 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon was our favorite, reflecting both Old World structure and New World richness.

Dana Estates
1500 Whitehall Lane, St. Helena. Tel. (707) 963-4365

Kenzo Estate

Having savored a memorable kaiseki dinner at Kenzo in downtown Napa, I was eager to visit the source of the wines that had so beautifully complemented the Japanese cuisine. A winding half-hour drive up the slopes of Mount George brought us to the sprawling Kenzo winery. Comprising more than 3,800 acres, of which only 170 are vineyards, this vast mountain estate looks more like a nature reserve, where abundant birds of prey wheel overhead and deer graze around the many water sources. Video game entrepreneur Kenzo Tsujimoto and his wife, Natsuko, started planting grapes in 2002 and opened the winery in 2010. The slow ripening of grapes at an altitude of 1,550 feet produces wines of striking purity, most notably the flagship Asatsuyu, a bright and fresh Sauvignon Blanc with notes of white peach and lychee and a minerally finish. The property is calm and inviting, though the estate’s steep, curvy drive makes Kenzo best enjoyed as a first stop, when your head is still clear.

Kenzo Estate 
3200 Monticello Road, Napa. Tel. (707) 254-7572

Château Boswell

Set along the sensationally scenic Silverado Trail, Château Boswell was tragically destroyed in the 2020 Glass Fire. The estate proved resilient, however. Its 11,000-square-foot wine cave survived, allowing production to continue. We had great fun exploring the network of tunnels dug directly into volcanic rock, exposing honey- and charcoal-colored layers. Our gracious host, Jeff, led us through a tasting in a dramatic circular foyer with obsidian-inlay floors and a gorgeous mother-of-pearl table at the entrance to the caves. (A new building with a tasting room is nearing completion.) The winery’s director, Susan Boswell, works closely with growers across California. One Chardonnay block has been under Boswell’s stewardship since 1969, a tenure that lends remarkable continuity to the wines. Two exceptional 2022 Burgundy-style Chardonnays stood out: True Course, with bright lemon notes and Meursault-like grace, and UV Vineyard from the Russian River Valley, reminiscent of a Mâconnais. We also tasted an ocean-influenced Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills of Santa Barbara County, an Old World-style wine with earthy undertones and a lush, leathery taste. But our favorites were the easy-drinking Tapestry, a multilayered Cabernet-Merlot blend, and the 2021 At Anchor, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon with ample dark fruit and an incredibly long finish. Château Boswell’s carefully crafted bottlings reveal the unique nuances of each terroir.

Château Boswell 
3468 Silverado Trail, St. Helena. Tel. (707) 963-5472

To reserve a private Napa wine tasting, contact an Andrew Harper travel advisor at (800) 375-4685 or email us at [email protected].