I don’t really drink wine. Sure, I had a wine phase when I was 22 (who doesn’t have a wine phase the summer after graduating college?), but fortunately I realized within a few weeks that drinking a bottle of wine every night while reading stupidly long “masterpieces” of fiction on my front porch was less charming than pretentious as all hell. And so I recommitted myself to drinking (too much) beer, and ultimately (too much) whiskey and rum. I’m a cocktail guy. I drink cocktails. I don’t drink wine. C’mon.
Obviously, then, Napa Valley was never high on my “to visit” list. Wineries, vineyards, that Californian thing where people somehow combine the most annoying aspects of both yuppies and hippies… none of it felt like my speed. Nothing against anybody who digs that stuff, but I’ll be happy over here drinking Mai Tais or ginger and bourbons.
And yet earlier this month I found myself spending a few days in downtown Napa, drinking wine with every meal and touring a ranch that grew many of the grapes that went into that wine. And, as you have no doubt predicted by this point, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, leaving with both a new appreciation for wine and a few bottles of the good stuff.
I also met two very good dogs, had a couple of fascinating conversations with people I will never see again at a dive bar that’s been open since the early ‘60s, and found a fantastic tiki bar right on the edge of downtown. Napa’s alright.
My newfound appreciation for this scene can largely be credited to the Prisoner Wine Company and its brand SALDO. The Prisoner Wine Company’s tasting lounge on Highway 29 in St. Helena, Cali., bucks some of the aesthetic trends you associate with Napa; yeah, there’s lots of reclaimed wood, but it’s in a dark space with an almost industrial vibe, with a mural on one outdoor wall and a curtain of chains behind the bar—the most visible link to its name and its ongoing commitment to prison reform. Inside guests can sample The Prisoner Wine Company’s portfolio of wines, alongside a range of food pairings and tasting menus.
Semi-hidden within The Prisoner Tasting Lounge is a separate lounge dedicated to SALDO, one of a few brands managed by the Prisoner Wine Company. This homier environment is a relaxed, luxurious hangout spot, with large orange couches around a fireplace, magazines and books available for anybody to read, and, of course, a selection of SALDO wines available to taste or purchase. (Supposedly record players, headphones, and a curated selection of vinyl will soon be installed, so guests can discover new music—or revisit old favorites—while sipping on their carbonic zinfandel.)
Obviously it’s not uncommon for people to fall in love with any wine they drink at a winery. That’s not quite what happened to me. Yes, everything tasted good from the second they put a glass in my hand, but it wasn’t until we had that wine alongside food that it started to make sense to me. I don’t have anything resembling the palate of a professional—you gotta talk to Paste’s main drinks expert Jim Vorel for those kinds of notes—but somebody would have to literally have no taste to not pick up how the wine contrasted with and played off the different dishes in the Prisoner’s dim sum menu, or how the tangled coolness and spice of the kampachi tostadas at SALDO brought out new elements in the Falanghina.
SALDO especially impressed me, both with its Tex-Mex themed menu and its unique collection of wines. I had never heard of a carbonic zinfandel before, and had no idea what “carbonic” even meant in this sense. Winemakers Sally Nightingale and David Cunningham explained the process, which involves flooding a tank of zinfandel with carbon dioxide for 10 days. I don’t have the language or experience necessary to explain how it tastes different from SALDO’s standard zin, but it absolutely does, and is all the better for it. Another of its signature wines, the Red Blend, reveals why they chose the name SALDO; as Cunningham explained, the word saldo can mean both “I join” and “I weld” in Italian. Both meanings are relevant to SALDO’s mission, with wines heavy on blending and a focus on hospitality and community outreach.
Not far from The Prisoner Wine Company lies Serres Ranch, which has been growing grapes under the care of the Serres family since 1924. They’re a major supplier of grapes to SALDO, with vines that date back decades spread across 130 acres; you can taste their handiwork in SALDO’s zinfandel and carbonic zin. While giving a tour of her family’s vineyard, Taylor Serres explained how the land was once owned by General Joseph Hooker; her great great grandfather, a hotelier in San Francisco, purchased it over a century ago, and gradually built a 200 acre ranch that reached its current size in the 1920s. The Serres family has grown grapes here ever since; Taylor herself is fifth generation, and in 2024 they’ll be celebrating the business’s 100th anniversary.
Lashed tight to trellises, vines crept out in long parallel lines across the ranch, with different plots dedicated to different types of grapes, which hung in bunches in various states of maturation. Two small dogs, one wet from a recent jaunt in a nearby creek, ran wild amid the vines, rooting through the soil, sticking their heads entirely into holes in search of who knows what. It was a crisp day, the noontime sun directly overhead, with warm reds and yellows just starting to peek through the green on the surrounding hills. Nearby a steer named Sun King stood proud in his pen, his horns glinting in the early afternoon. On a day like this I could see why this region has so thoroughly enchanted people for so long.
Napa has far more for drinkers than the wine it’s famous for. Wilfred’s Lounge is a glorious tiki bar with a superb happy hour menu and a lineup of exquisitely crafted original mugs. Legendary dive bar The Green Door has been slinging cold beer and cheap cocktails for over 60 years; it was packed full of younger patrons on a recent Wednesday night, many of whom seemed to work in the local service industry. Napa Valley Distillery and Prohibition Spirits Distillery serve locally crafted spirits and custom cocktails. And downtown Napa is a charming little town with a bevy of fantastic restaurants, local retailers, and the Oxbow Public Market, which is open daily and features a couple dozen vendors.
Still, it’s known for wine for a reason, and the local wine culture is inescapable. And even if you don’t think you’re a wine person, as I did, it’s hard to resist its allure when you’re in Napa. I think anybody who tries the food and wine pairings and other culinary experiences at The Prisoner or SALDO would fall in love with wine, even if only for the duration of that one meal. The joy of drinking obviously hinges on the drink itself, but the right setting and a pleasing environment can add tremendously to the experience, and I don’t know if there’s a better place to drink wine in America than Napa.
I returned home with four bottles of SALDO wine, including that magnificent carbonic zin. I haven’t had a reason to open them yet (they’re fancy, y’know) but I’m sure they’ll taste about as good here as they did at the tasting room in California. I doubt it’ll feel the same drinking a glass on a back deck in Georgia in the winter, though. I might not be a wine person still, but I think I’ll have to return to Napa soon anyway.
Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and anything else that gets in his way. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.