Tag Archives: We started our 8th anniversary with Freemark Abbey (read here). Like Stags’ Leap, Freemark shares fame for breaking the French 40 years ago this Spring at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. Since then, both

Back to beginnings this week with one of Napa’s originals: Stags’ Leap Winery (not to be confused with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars).

The Chase family built the stone Manor House in 1890 and planted vineyards in 1893.

Stags Leap PatioOur visit feels part historic home tour, part winery tour. We enter and get a glass of 2014 Viognier (dry, pale, soft pear, white peach, lemon blossom: very good 4 of 5 $32). Stags’ interior oozes Victorian oak and moodiness. I feel like I forgot my top hat, pipe, and misogyny.

Stags Leap Victorian StaircaseIn 1913, widowed Mrs. Frances Grange bought and turned Stags’ into a resort for Hollywood elite. Prohibition halted wine-making but didn’t halt Frances. She sold fruit to other producers and turned Stag’s basement into an underground speakeasy with a trap door.

Stags Leap Prohibition CellarTo absolve patrons’ sins, both lawbreaking and religious, widow Grange built a non-denominational church. Today, church Grange serves as winery: Continue reading →