Piña Napa Valley

Hooray for Janie (Janey?). We had a blast at Pina, the wines were terrific and Janie kept us entertained for over an hour with her stories of the Royal Family.
If you love big Napa vineyard designate Cabs, you’ll love their wines.
Thanks, Janie!

Pina was may favorite tasting experience of our entire trip. It is was most rustic décor that we encountered but something about the basic design of the tasting room in a warehouse with all their barrels around created a fun, laid back, unpretentious environment that I loved. The tasting hostess was extremely knowledgeable and so much fun to talk with. They produce all 100% Cabernet Sauvignon except for one Chardonnay. We enjoyed tasting the variations in the Cabs from the different vineyards and learning about why they taste unique. We left with a bottle of the Firehouse Cab and we wished we could have taken more. Don’t miss this hidden gem! Tasting was $ 25 and we were allowed to share thankfully because they were extremely generous with the pours, pouring 3 of the 5 twice!

DO NOT COME HERE!!! TASTING ROOM WINE EDUCATOR IS RACIST!!!
This was the worst experience I have ever had in Napa Valley! My boyfriend surprised me with a napa getaway for my birthday. What started off as an amazing weekend quickly came to a end when we visited Piña Napa Valley.
We arrived at Piña at the suggestion of our driver (he’s Latino). He said they were a Latino family owned winery and had some amazing wines. Familiar with some mexican wineries in the area (Ceja in Sonoma) we decided to go.
While trying to have a conversation with the pourer, Claire Palmer, I believe. While tasting he completely ignored my BF and I, unaware that my BF works in the wine industry as a marketing mgr for one of the biggest wine importers. When I saw a picture of the pina family, I asked if they were from Mexico. The look on his face changed immediately and he he shouted «absolutely not!!! They are SPANISH!». Everyone standing around the barrel went silent. He then continued to emphasize how they are of Spanish origin, not Mexican (I don’t think he knows most Mexicans come from Spanish decent). We quickly said thank you, paid cash and left.
Being Mexican myself, I was very offended. While in the parking lot 2 other women came out who were standing at the same barrel. They said that they too were very offended and not coming back. They worked at Dickhorn down the road.
Terrible experience, will never go back!!!

Blink and you’ll miss it. The sign is sparse as is the tasting room, so keep your eye out for the entrance! The wine… oh my goodness, they have 100% cabs that taste like nothing else you’ll find on Silverado Trail. I fell in love with Pina and joined their wine club. We had a blind tasting with friends and people were shocked that Pina’s much younger wine out-​did older wine from a famous winery nearby.
Don’t be put off by the appearance of the place or the rather grumpy older gentleman doing the tastings. He has a quirky sense of humor and is clearly passionate about the product. Pina is a hidden gem. While we were tasting the wine, one of the owners walked in. This has only happened at Vizlay and Graton Ridge before! Both are also excellent wineries to try out.

A drab exterior, simple interior, with beautiful boutique wines and very limited production, there are no great «Napa experience» expectations here. This is a small tasting room with absolutely no designer ambiance and absolutely no reservations needed. You get a taste of «quaint» by observing the rusting yellow tractor sitting in the small parking lot. Just waltz in, say howdy, then hunker down for an unassuming but good wine tasting experience. Our pourer was Clair, proud senior citizen, a really patient man and experienced wine pourer who was quite knowledgeable of his wines.
Piña (yes, spelled with a tilde for the proper pronunciation) has no vineyard, they purchase their grapes from 5 different vineyards. The Cabs are not blends, but 100% Cabernet grapes.
Our personal favs on their tasting list were (of course) the 2009 Mimbre Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, @ $ 150, which no self-​respecting retiree is ready to pay for, and the 2013 Low Vineyard Chardonnay @ $ 34, which we did pay for.
But by far the best, the 2012 Firehouse Cabernet Sauvignon @ $ 85, was not listed. We only heard of it because of a customer who happened in to pick some up while we were there schmoozing, and whose eye rolling description was reason enough for us to want to try it. Glad we tasted it, it was exceptional and the other one we purchased.
The tasting fee is $ 20. Since we shared our tasting, and since we did make a purchase, the tasting fee was waived.
This is a good little winery, enjoyed our visit.

Piña is one of my favorite go-​to wines and I’d never had the chance to visit until recently.
Lovely tiny winery hidden away off Silverado Trail. I couldn’t even figure out where the tasting room was once we drove up. Yes, I was sober (though not for long).
The five stars rating is not for the actual tasting, but for the wine. The SINGLE VINEYARD cabernet sauvignons are incredible. Their Yountville and Howel Mountain Cabernets remain my favorites. The tasting itself is very simple and to the point. You walk in, taste 5 – 6, hear a little bit about the origins and you are done. No bells and whistles so don’t expect much in terms of that. I did get to do some (clumsy) punching of the grapes as you can see by the video I uploaded. Probably not a very good job, but it was very interesting and a whole lot of fun.
For the most part, you won’t find most of what you are tasting at your local wine shop and it has a little bit of a cult following. Although we did originally find the Yountville one at our local Total Wine, we found out during our last visit that South Florida is the exception for some unknown reason. You can mostly buy it as part of their club. It’s not a sales gimmick. They are just THAT small. Quality over quantity. Skip the crowded touristy wineries and head here for some outstanding wine!

We first tried Pina at our local Total Wine after some associates suggested a sample based on our preferences. We were sold and bought a bottle of cab from the D’Adamo Vineyard. While we were recently visiting Napa, we spotted their tasting room on our way to another winery and decided to stop by on our way back down the Silverado trail.
There tasting room is a chilly barrel room. Katherine was a pleasure to talk to. This is her family’s business and the pride in what they do showed through as we answered lots of our questions about their wines and vineyards. We tried a chardonnay and I think 3 or 4 cabs (all from different vineyards). She had to leave at the end of our tasting, but she left us in the good hands of her father, Larry Pina, and had him open a bottle of their dessert Cabernet wine as she left. We hung around a bit longer with Larry and he took us out back to try some of the freshly pressed grapes that had been sitting in a tank for about 3 days. Yummy cloudy grape juice! We ended up buying a bottle of the cab from the Buckeye Vineyard, Howell Mountain and their cab dessert wine. Larry was kind enough to sign our bottle and the winemaker, Anna Monticelli was coming in as we headed out and she was kind enough to sign our bottle of cab as well. This was a truly memorable experience.

The wines were pretty good and at a good price point for the quality. It was convenient location right up the trail going north on the right side.
On the other hand,
The older gentleman that was pouring our glasses was snarky and unapproachable. He danced around the questions about the wines and made the entire tasting room area feel awkward. The other couple, the solo gentleman, as well as my friend and I sat in silence and tasted. This man would shut down everything you said to point that you didn’t know what to even talk about anymore. Very pessimistic judgmental person.
We ended up leaving along with the other couple who shared mutual issues with some racial comments he was making. We will not be back.

This winery was recommended to us and what a great find! Tasty cabs and the co-​owner was informative with a huge history in Napa Valley. His knowledge and stories were great and the dogs loved chillin’ on the cold floor.

Knock your socks off, crisp Chardonnay. Several lovely Cabernets, all of which are from different terroirs within the Napa valley, so each has a unique flavor & nose. You really get a sense of how different wines can be even though they are grown within 10 miles of one another. The tasting room is in a chilly, utilitarian working cellar full of barrels. But. Helen. She is a total riot and makes the whole experience a fun, gossipy, friendly party. I will go back to Pina just to see her. Love her!

Not a fancy tasting room. We were in the warehouse where the barrels are stacked to the ceiling. Bring a sweater if you get cold easily. We had a fantastic time tasting. More than 2 groups and it would feel crowded inside. Luckily a group was finishing as we came and by the time we left, a group happen to walk in, so for the most part, it felt like a private tasting. The ladies pouring were super chill and unpretentious. They made wine very approachable.

I have tried their wines through a friend who loves this estate so when we got an offer to walk the vineyards with the winemaker it was a no-​brainer…
So we met and drove to Howell Mountain and walked the vineyards, sans mud courtesy of the rain the night before and got to sample the grape on the vine through all the different rows and slants of the vines to the sun… It was also an educational experience walking o the extremely knowledgeable and obviously smart wine maker…
We then went back to the vineyard and sampled the wines, which were also awesome! The highlight was the tasting of the 2014 ‘wine’ while in fermentation, s well as the punching of the vats containing the fermenting grapes… pretty cool, very memorable. I think the 2014 vintage will be a superb year… buy when ready!

Delicious wine, fantastic, customer relations. Janie is wonderful! :)

I have enjoyed many wines, and my stop in at Pina was no disappointment! People come to Napa & Sonoma for 2 reasons. wineries with views or wineries with Wine. Well my choice is the Juice. I like to find the Next Best thing! So Cohorts, & 2010 Wolfe Vineyard, out of Yountville to die for. This wine will go down for another 10 years before even ready to sip on, Huge Dark Fruit wrapped by gentle vanilla oak flavors, tucked in by lush lingering finish. This is one to age to benefit the rewards of cellaring and patience. If you get a chance buy a case and put it down tasting one bottle every year until you know there is no doubt. So be prepared to buy 2 cases
Cheers Deano!
I’ve been back 4 times I live here.

Of our Winery visits last week. this was right in the middle of the day right after lunch so our palates were certainly not up to perfection. With that said another small producing Vineyard with one of the smallest tasting rooms I’ve ever seen. Certainly should require an appointment as anything over 4 persons is stretching it.
Very knowledgeable staff especially the young lady from Scotland who handled our tasting and a young guy who was new to the vineyard but knew his wines.
Wines themselves were fairly pedestrian except for the Buckeye Cabernet which was outstanding. Not much to see and certainly no view… The people were nice, wines OK except for 1 in particular… but certainly would believe there are better options out there.

I love to cook and drink good cabs, sometimes doing both at the same time… does that make me a winenedextrius home chef? Anyway, the Cahoots by Piña Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 is a fine bottle if red! I paired it with a 28 day aged porterhouse on a bed of Sautéed shiitake mushrooms with a ground mustard, Marsala wine reduction, topped with a olive oil and citrus champaign vinegar arugula salad and baby heirloom tomatoes. Well enough about the meal the wine is superb!!!

It amazes me that this place doesn’t require an appointment because the tasting room is so small that even 6 guests make it feel crowded. The tasting room is really just in the chilly barrel room so you get a nice ambiance (but bring a sweater, it’s cold in there)! If you like big red wines, you should try to stop in for a tasting.
Our hostesses were very friendly and seemed to be having fun pouring the wines. One even entertained us with a couple of songs on her guitar. The tasting was a little too leisurely for me but after reading the other reviews, your mileage may vary! The hostesses were professional and answered all questions about the wine (no matter how elementary or advanced). I was also impressed when we finished our tasting they asked if we’d like to revisit any of the wines (nice touch).
The wines themselves were very good but great gooly moogly were they OVERPRICED. I’m sorry but none of the wines tasted like they should be priced over $ 50 — $ 60 max and there were some super pricey bottles (in the $ 150 + range) that didn’t warrant their price tags. I’m not saying the wines were bad, they were just overpriced. And there’s not much I hate more than an overpriced wine!
The tasting is $ 20 per person (sadly, that’s a «normal» price for a wine tasting in Napa Valley these days) but at least it includes a very nice souvenir wine glass. We shared a tasting (no problem to do this) and I gave my glass to a nice newlywed couple who were tasting next to us. I believe they did waive the tasting fee if you purchased wine, but it had to be a fairly expensive bottle.

Had a lovely time with our tasting room host, Dave. He was knowledgeable about the wines. He also suggested places to eat.
I was delighted to find not only do they have some full body cabs, they carry a port made with the Cabernet Sauvignon and brandy that is not overly sweet.

If you like Napa Cabs and a small intimate experience that’s about the wine, Pina is great. Tasted 3 Cabs and all were very good; typical Napa style — big, complex, fruity. They were rather high in alcohol (15+) but that didn’t take away from the wine and its fruit.
The host was knowledgeable about the wine and the wineries history. The tasting room was very small, made up of a table just big enough for the wines and a few tasters at a time, which I liked.
If you’re looking for Cabs and an intimate experience, Pina is great.

Pina is small and intimate. I haven’t read the other reviews about it but, I’m sure they all mention that it feels like you’re tasting in someone’s garage. You basically are. I actually really like it. It focuses you on wine, and not beautiful tasting rooms and gimmicky distractions. Not that I object to beautiful tasting rooms but, I’d rather taste in a parking lot and have amazing wine then in a gorgeous tasting room with unimpressive vino.
Pina focuses on cabs from various vineyards around the valley. Although they do make a cab blend and a chardonnay, they are Cab focused.
Tip: I recommend any good vintage of their Howell Mountain wine. Phenomenal! Costs about $ 80 a bottle.