Trinchero Napa Valley: Vines Interwined With Family Legacy

CALIFORNIA, FOOD + WINE, UNITED STATES | Carmen Edelson

Whether you are an experienced wine connoisseur or just love wine, the elixirs bottled in Trinchero Napa Valley can be enjoyed by all. Trinchero Napa Valley boasts both expertly-crafted, flavorful wines and a spirited family legacy. The Trinchero Vineyards include 200 vast acres of vineyards stretching across Napa Valley, California. Overseen by winemaker Mario Monticelli, the attention to detail and careful deliberation in choosing the right soil, grapes, and barrels are apparent in every sip.

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Central Park West Vineyard — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Central Park West Vineyard

The history behind the Trinchero legacy began In 1948, when a young Mario Trinchero made the daunting journey from bustling New York City to Napa Valley to support his family; there, they renovated an abandoned winery. The Trinchero name got its claim to fame through their original White Zinfandel under the Sutter Home label in the early 70’s. Overtime, the Trinchero vineyards acquiesced more land and wine-experts, such as the purchase of the Folie à Deux Winery and the entrance of renown winemaker, Mario Monticelli. Today, the story continues: Trinchero Napa Valley proudly introduced their Heritage Collection this year, including Mary’s Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Mario’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Forte Red Wine and BRV Cabernet Sauvignon.

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Mario Monticelli Barrel Room — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Mario Monticelli Barrel Room

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Heritage Collection — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Heritage Collection

All six vineyards are meticulously cared for, rain or shine. In order to harvest robust, flavorful grapes, the land is farmed by hand. The location and soil quality of each vineyard determines the type of wine that will be produced by that plot of land.

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Vista Montone Vineyard — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Vista Montone Vineyard

Mary’s Vineyard, named after the founder’s wife, is located in the sunny appellation of Calistoga in Napa Valley. The strains grown there are the Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Musqué, and the Semillion varieties. Mario’s Vineyard can be found in Napa Valley’s St. Helena, where a river once ran, making it ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon varietals. The Central Park West Vineyard (you guessed it, a reference to the Big Apple) shares the loamy soil of St. Helena to produce Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties. It is tied with the Haystack Vineyard for largest acreage. Conversely, Vera’s Vineyard, named after Mary and Mario’s daughter, is the smallest of the vineyards. Also found in Napa Valley, Vera’s Vineyard benefits from a white, chalky soil. It is the sole vineyard that produces Chardonnay varietals along with Merlot.

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Haystack Vineyard — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Haystack Vineyard

1,500 feet above the valley floor, Cloud’s Next Vineyard is serenely nestled on steep Mt. Veeder. In comparison to its sunny valley counterparts, the harsher conditions of Cloud’s Nest Vineyard yields a diversity of flavors that result in Malbec, Petit Verdot, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon varieties. Similarly, on rocky Atlas Peak, Haystack Vineyard vines haves survived their tumultuous terrain to produce red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Petite Sirah.

Trinchero Napa Valley holds daily tastings that are offered from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and seminars are available by appointment. The Art of Oak invites guests to undertake the history of winemaking through barrel tastings of a single wine from four to five different French oak barrels. This includes a tour and some snacks to go with the wine. A Taste of Terroir offers guests to try four single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines. During this seminar, you learn about how the climate, soil, elevation, and sun exposure changes your wine experience along with a cheese plate and tour of the winery. There is also a Heritage Tasting, Single Vineyard tasting, and Featured Flight of the Month, featuring four wines that rotate monthly.

Trinchero Napa Valley New Tasting Room Facade photo by David Matheson Photography

Trinchero Napa Valley New Tasting Room photo by David Matheson Photography

A little bit about the wines themselves: there are multiple collections, all celebrating different facets of the Trinchero wines. The Heritage Collection commemorates the family tree. It contains Mary’s Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (a mix of stone fruit and tropical flavors), Mario’s Cabernet Sauvignon (light with candied black currant and notes of blueberry), Forte Red Wine (a sweet Bordeaux with dark black fruit flavors), and the BRV Cabernet Sauvignon (dark berries and violet with tones of licorice). In the Single Vineyard Collection, each bottle of wine epitomizes the flavor produced by each individual vineyard; emphasizing the unique personality developed by the location and soils of the different vineyards. The Wine Club Exclusives is a special collection only available to Legacy Club members that is comprised of Bordeaux varietals with less than 12 barrels of each offering in the collection. This includes the Cloud’s Next Vineyard Malbec, Central park West Vineyard Cabernet France, Central Park West Vineyard Petit Verdot, and the Haystack Vineyard Petite Sirah. Lastly, the pride and joy of Mario Trinchero is the Signature Blend Napa Valley. A Cabernet Sauvignon blend, it is extremely limited and comprised of about 8 hand-selected barrels

Characteristics of the Winery:

Cold grape storage
Sorting equiptment
Small fermentation tanks for isolation
Grapes are hand-picked and sorted into the cellar
Wine is aged in oak barrels from coopers in France
Mario Monticelli personally oversees all operations

Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley - Private Dining Area — Photo by Trinchero Napa Valley – Private Dining Area

Trinchero Napa Valley Tasting Room Bar photo by David Matheson

For those truly invested in their palettes, the Legacy Club is an all-access pass to limited-release wines and private events at their estate winery and tasting room in Napa Valley. You can be the first to try new releases: the wine is delivered right to your doorstep three times per year, and you have priority access to purchase additional bottles of the exclusively rare small-lot wines. Other options include the 12 Bottle Club, the Cabernet Collectors Club, and the 4 Bottle Club. Trinchero wines can also be purchased on-line.

Carmen Edelson

Carmen Edelson is the Founder of Carmen's Luxury Travel. Carmen has been traveling the world for over a decade. Our travels allows her the opportunity to pursuit her itch to travel to the best luxury destinations, and experience those first class tastes from around the world.