Keplinger: A Favorite!
This is exciting news! For years, I have followed and loved the wines made by Helen Keplinger. My first taste of her wine was the 2006 Red Slope, a Grenache based wine that I can still recall. It was lush with mouth watering fruit – so much so that I needed to join the mailing list. It was a great decision!
I’ve written about Helen’s wines several times in the past out (check it here and here). The challenge has always been how to introduce the fine art of her winemaking to my friends. There was no tasting room, and the busy schedule of Helen and her husband/business partner, DJ, made it hard to schedule a tasting. The wait is over. This is the email they sent me! Read on, and…
Enjoy!
Check Out the New Keplinger Tasting Lounge!
Harvest is that magical time of year when all our work throughout the growing season starts to pay off, and so many meaningful small harvest and winemaking decisions add up in the making of our wines. It is crazy to think we really only get one shot at making these wines each vintage, so we are very thoughtful about every single choice and action. We love watching the wines evolve in the tank – from delicious, humble grape juice into gorgeous young wines with layers of fruit, spice, and nuance, and finally dialing in the texture. It is an incredible time to visit wine country – to see the early-morning lights of night harvest dotting the vineyards, the trucks laden with bins of grapes, smell the sweet aroma of fermentations in the air, and witness the focus of all on the vintage unfolding.
As you may or may not know, we’ve been making our wines housed in another winery, Cuvaison’s Estate Winery in Carneros, since our first vintage in 2006. They have been an amazing home for and friend to us, allowing us to do our own work, have our own fermentation room for our small tanks and barrel chai to barrel age our wines. They have put up with our meticulous methods and penchant for doing things the long way – we essentially have a winery within a winery. We have hosted many informal tastings in our little barrel chai, but have always dreamed of being able to offer a much more comfortable and special tasting experience in a space that didn’t require a winter jacket!
After watching the revitalization of downtown Napa over the last few years, we have finally found the perfect private space for the new Keplinger Tasting Lounge at 926 Franklin Street, tucked away on a side alley in the heart of downtown. It is a beautiful, intimate space that we have personally designed and curated, with the goal of offering the most comfortable, elegant, authentic tasting environment to provide our guests with the most meaningful experience possible. Every detail of each room, including the library wine cellar, has been hand selected to make you feel like a guest in our own home while enjoying the line up of wines you’ve come to know while discovering details and wines you didn’t.
Managing every detail of this unique space is our new Private Client Manager, Amanda Luke, who we are thrilled and lucky to have with Keplinger Wines. Amanda is a native of Ventura County, California, and a graduate of UCLA. During college, she spent two semesters living in Tuscany, becoming steeped in the rich culture of food and wine. In California, she worked seasonally for her cousin’s winery in Carmel Valley while pursuing her presumed career in finance. After living and working in finance in both New York and San Francisco, her ever-increasing interest in wine won her over, and she moved to Napa Valley to work for Chappellet Vineyards as their Membership Services Ambassador. Always keen to learn, she recently received her WSET Level 2 with distinction, which has only expanded her knowledge and deepened her passion for wine. Amanda has quickly helped us fine tune and elevate our guest experience in the new lounge and will custom tailor your tasting visit to make it truly memorable.
We welcome you and your friends to join us in our new space. Please email amanda@keplingerwines.com or call 707.815.7824 to schedule your Keplinger appointment and for assistance with your wine country itinerary.
Helen & DJ