A beautiful winery. Gorgeous grounds and yummy wine. Emma explained the winery's history and of the art collection. She was delightful, informative, gracious and fun ta boot. Swoon both the wine and the art. read more

Wonderful winery! Location is stunning, and it's fun to look around at all the artwork! Edgar was very helpful and offered exceptional customer service!! Good luck on that Econ degree Edgar, oh we really enjoyed small world so thanks for that tip too! :) Every interaction any employee had there was exceptional really, so job well done to you all! 100% coming back to Hess! read more

My boyfriend and I were able to come in on a reservation for a Tour of the Palate to celebrate my 25th birthday yesterday! I just have to say, this was our first ever wine tasting experience and I can honestly say, we can't wait to come back!! Our hostess Cindy was hands down the best!! She was an absolute sweetheart and so easy to talk on and on with and you can tell she loves what she does by the way she talks about the artwork and people she works with. Then Chef Chad served us some great dishes and boy was that a treat!! Each dish was so savory and yummy, I wish we had more food and time lol Lastly, Jason served us up a Peaches 'n Cream dessert which was both beautiful to look at and flavorful to enjoy! We can not wait to come back and tour again! The grounds to walk around are so beautiful and with it being by reservation only, you really get that personal experience by doing so! Oh & best part, Cindy sent us home with a bottle to enjoy read more

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Exquisite food, art and service! I highly recommend this experience. It was great to visit during Covid when Hess was not at full guest capacity, and it felt very private and relaxing. Our host, Michael, was amazing and knowledgeable. I give the overall ex4.5 stars! The other half star is due to the busy bees we briefly endured. Staff responded wonderfully but must mitigate the problem with the bees! read more

This was my first winery experience in Napa and it did not disappoint. This location is pretty commercial, but all of the people we encountered while there were very personable. I appreciated that our pourer was knowledgeable, but not pretentious. The property is absolutely stunning and I love that they have an art studio inside. The tasting was $25/ pp or they have a vertical tasting of cab for $40. I really enjoyed their wines as much as I enjoyed the beauty of the place. You can make reservations online. FYI: there are 2 addresses with this property name. We accidentally went to the distribution center on the way, but they were very accommodating when we called and said we would be a bit late for our reservation. I would definitely recommend stopping here while in Napa! read more

This vineyard is remote from the center of Napa, but it's a nice place with a wonderful view. The vineyard looks very modern and has a lot of art inside, very interesting! We went there with family and our toddler and get a VIP tour down in the vine cellar with a nice plate with assorted delicious cheese. Our wine instructor was very nice and professional. It was very interesting and We had a lot of fun. read more

Hess Persson Estates - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

Were it not for the fact a wine steward friend asked my husband and me to pick up a case of wine here for him, we would not have trekked the long and winding road to Hess. The astounding contemporary art collection and gorgeous grounds and setting alone are worth the beautiful drive. The wine tasting is an added bonus. THIS N THAT: 1) Picnic space: On grounds. BYOF. (Bring your own food.) 2) Accessibility: As I recall the art display encompassed three floors and there as an elevator between them. 2) Hendry Winery is drive by: On your way to Hess. But that's another review. read more

What a lovely place! We wine tasted with Ian, who was awesome! I found a few reds I liked. The most fun was after the tasting exploring the facilities. It's a must see. read more

6 or 7 miles off the beaten track, an absolutely gorgeous and windy road that will you drive you wild with anticipation. Perhaps a little underwhelming upon arrival, a koi pond and modest with a small yet lovely and rustic garden with seating area, is a combo art-gallery and wine tasting in one in an impressive 3 story building. Truly feels like a museum on the first 2.5 floors, filled with pop and modern art, you eventually come upon the tasting room with very large paintings surrounding. A beautiful and truly unique setting that must be experienced. 20 choices of wines, pick 4 tastings for $20 for some of the best wine on the planet. I chose, and loved them all: 2013 Small Block Gewurztramminer, 2012 Small Block Malbec, 2011 Collection Mount Veeder 10 Block Cuvee, 2012 Allomi Vineyard Cab Sauvignon. I walked away for 4 bottles for $130. Not a deal here, but A M A Z I N G wine. I love it, and highly recommend. PS. No cell reception. read more

The venue is beautiful, very picturesque. Hess was our first stop because we didn't realize that most other wineries require you to have reservations. I've been to Hess before when I was in college and I remember it was okay. And even to this day the wines here were just okay. My friends and I didn't really like it, not some of our favorites compared to the other wines that we tried during the day. The customer service was really helpful and she surely knew her wines. There wasn't a lot of people here. They had their wine tasting in their gallery on the 3rd floor. Tasting for 5-ish was about $25. Since this was our first winery of the day, we were just too sober to make the most of it. Haha read more

First stop of my surprise birthday weekend, and far flung from the beaten path, though not overly so. Approaching from Napa via Redwood Road is half the fun, whizzing by pines, redwoods, and a tattered pirate flag. If you're onward and upward (northward) bound after stopping here, I recommend taking the scenic back route up Mt. Veeder Road to the Oakville Grade. The views are incredible, the road windy, and the canopy thick. Stopping at Hess, however, is essential for any modern art lover, oenophile, and backcountry wanderer. The tasting room is approachable and doesn't sneer at handpicking your own choices to comprise your flight. Sue, our tasting guru, was exactly what I want in a wine pourer-knowledegable, genuine, not an overseller, and gave just the right amount of information while my boyfriend and I swirled and swished to our palate's content. Ended up with two special bottles-one their Artezin Dry Creek Zin which has already been enjoyed at a very special dinner, and their Hess Allomi Cabernet Sauvignon, which screams 'bacon cheeseburger', and comes at an incredible price for a rich Napa Cab. The art collection is just the right size and can be enjoyed at your own pace. I've always been a sculpture lover-I always find that modality the most emotive and intense of the different media, and there are some incredibly intense sculptures here that are worthy of many repeat visits. Also in house are some Andy Goldsworthy installations, Francis Bacon paintings, and Robert Rauschenberg works, to name the big names. Luckily the wines are worthy of repeat sips, and the estate worthy of repeat oohs and ahhhs, so there are infinite reasons to return. Didn't get a chance to stroll around the grounds much, but the koi pond is lovely. read more

I'm happy to say that, Hess took my wine tasting virginity! I came here on Valentines day with my boyfriend and I had such a lovely experience. First off, the location is amazingly gorgeous. This hidden treasure lies deep within the foresty hills and can only be reached by traveling through a narrow winding road. Parking was a breeze; there were a good handful of spots available, and that is taking into consideration that I went on a holiday. We arrived a little earlier than our wine tasting appointment time and had about 45 minutes to kill. Conveniently, Hess is also part art gallery, so that was an awesome way to kill some time. The gallery has 3 stories and each floor had some interesting pieces of artwork; they ranged from paintings, to sculptures, to videos. I also liked the dramatic windows on the 2nd floor; it made for an awesome photo-op. Onto the wine tasting! It was finally our turn and we were greeted by Erin, who was very lovely and sweet. It was my boyfriend and my first time wine tasting and she gave us awesome recommendations. Also, she made us feel comfortable, saying that anything we don't like, we don't have to force ourselves to drink it and that we can simply pour it out. Being the non-wasteful Asians that we are, we just chugged it anyways! We ended up buying 2 bottles and with that, our tasting fees were waived! Overall it was a lovely experience at the Hess. It's totally worth coming up here as a stop for your Napa visit. read more

Honestly we came across Hess by accident, we were greeted with such wonderful hospitality and decided to stay. We took a tour of the winerie with Sue and she was awesome. Sue informed us with wonderful knowledge of how wine is made and the history of Hess Winery. Love her passion for wine. $20. For 4 tastings and if you check in with Yelp it's b1g1. The pinot noir is a must try. You can also view Mrs. Hess art collection here! Thank you Sue and everyone at Hess for making our first tour so enjoyable. read more

Hess Persson Estates - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

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This was our favorite winery in the Napa area. We loved the Small Block series of red wines and found the service at the winery to be outstanding. Hess is tucked away along a winding road up Mount Vedeer and the grounds are stunning. There is a quiet garden and a seating area covered by an arbor out front. We enjoyed a wine and cheese tasting outside before our tour of the winery. The tasting was $10 pp for three of their higher-end varieties. The cheese plate was $10 for a variety of three cheeses and the portions were so generous that we couldn't finish between the two of us; the cheese plate would be enough for up to four people to share. Following our wine and cheese tasting, we enjoyed a tour of the property and a walk through the private art collection. Afterwards, we stopped by the wine bar to taste a few more varieties. The red wines were by far our favorites, such as the Small Block Syrah; the white wines were just ok. Our visit to Hess lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was a great start to our Napa trip. It was so great that we found no other winery quite compared! (We also visited Sterling, Schramsberg, and V Sattui in Napa). read more

Hess Persson Estates - Entrance and path leading to main building at Hess; July 2011 - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

Part 2 Hess secured the land on Mt. Veeder from the Christian Brothers order of the Catholic Church & has a 99 year lease arrangement. You may recall a couple of decades ago there was a Christian Brothers Winery on the site where the Culinary Institue is now located. I visited that spot while it was still Christian Brothers and met Brother Timothy a few times. He literally had the largest corkscrew collection in the world at one time. Back to Hess & Safra.. Safra acquired four pieces of adjoining properties at the current site of Spring Mountain Vineyard several decades ago. One of the last land acquisitions was from Mike Robbins, a legendary pioneer in the industry many decades before.Founded in 1968 by Los Angeles developer Mike Robbins, Spring Mountain made exemplary wine in its early days but faltered in the late 1970s. In 1990, after trying to sell the property for nearly a decade, Robbins filed for bankruptcy protection. Robbins asked $18 million for the operation at one point. Tire kickers came and went.Western Farm Credit Bank seized the property & the bank sold it for an undisclosed amount. One source said the 262-acre property--winery, mansion, 24-acre vineyard and 22,000 cases of wine--went for $5.5 million. This was the last acquisition by Safra group that completed what is today the Spring Mountain Vineyard. Speculation time...wonder which bank called the note in forcing, Mike Robbins into bankruptcy? Hmmm. Or how about this for speculation ... the name Safra means yellow, or gold, in Arabic.Convenient. Especially since the illustrious family has had their hand in the gold trade since the Ottoman Empire, facilitating trade throughout the Middle East.Notorious for their stable yet clandestine banking operations, the mysterious Safra family continues today as a fortress of banking successes.But the real question on everyone's mind is this: how has such an illustrious family, at times seeped in scandal, managed to remain so mysterious to the public eye,& what transpired to cause the untimely death of its golden boy, Edmond Safra? Reads like a mystery novel does it not? Back to the wine icon comparison.. I love to parallel indsutry icons so that is why I added this story,but the Hess Collection wines are amazing. Leaders can reach the finish line many different ways. I am glad Donald Hess enjoys New World wines & I actually believe Napa area benefits from this by the Hess group also playing in the weeds in Argentina and Napa as both styles of fruit are terrific. Many nuances are experienced with the many varietals. While visiting take a look at the glass display case that reveals the layers of soil down to its rocky core. I love root stock that has to struggle & fight because of elevation and drainage; the way a man has to up his game when meeting the "love of his life". Women prefer men with root stock structure but also a bevy of finesse about them!A side bar story..When you are long on wine inventory what do you do? I recently bought many cases of the Artezin brand of Zinfandel at Costco for $14, & the retail on this at the Hess Collection location is $38.To figure out what Costco's cost is for a product,take 85% of the retail price and that is what Costco paid. So Costco paid $11.90 a bottle. Ouch. Hess was long on inventory & moved it out on an "in & out" basis to Costco.Once this inventory is depleted, that is it. Look for these offerings and use QR Scanner app when trying to get information about a bottle in any store.When I purchased the several cases of Artezin recently,the data did not show this was part of Hess Collection and scoring those bottles for $14 each was a coup.Costco will even tell you the number of bottles available at each building, 385 bottles near me so I drove to that building and snagged quite a few of those bad boys.This hurts branding strategy due to extremes on retail pricing. Hope you liked the history lesson,but visit Hess Collection & stop by Spring Mountain Vineyard as well, so you can compare what the 2 icons have forged. Elevate! "When you don't have a shared vision, you end up confusing activity with accomplishments. Because you haven't defined or, worse, prioritized your interests & investments, years later you end up just waking up tired, without any accomplishments " Cheers, Vino Geno read more

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A little off the beaten path, Hess Collection Winery offers beautiful grounds with a lovely stone tasting room. Eye catching art can also be found all over. For $10, you can enjoy a tasting of Hess Collection current release wines. And since we love their Cabs, we were ALL about it :) Unfortunately the last time we came, it was just after 5pm and were only able to taste 2 of the 4 wines before they closed. Our super friendly server happily refunded our 10 dollars since we weren't able to finish the last 2 wines. Bummer but we appreciated our refund. Next time, Hess will definitely be moved up on our itinerary so we can fully enjoy our experience. read more

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Not only the most welcoming winery but also the most hospitable winery...ever! If you read my previous review, you knew that one of the bottles rolled out of the box in the trunk of the SUV and when my husband opened the door, it rolled out and broke in the driveway. Totally our fault for not securing it properly. We shrugged it off as a lesson learned. Earlier this week I received a Yelp message from James Caudill, Director of Public Relations & Hospitality saying that if I gave him my shipping info via e-mail, he'd send me a replacement bottle of the Zin that broke. Wow, really? Today I received not one but two bottles of wine. The Zin replacement plus a new one to try! How cool is that?!!! Thank you James! We will thoroughly enjoy the wine as we fondly remember our trip to Napa. Cheers! read more

Hess Persson Estates - Replacement Zin & Charbono to try. - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

Part art museum, part winery. All impressive. Current release tasting: four wines for $10. Complimentary pinot grigio to start. No discount on the tasting if you buy a bottle. Their 2008 Hess Allomi Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is excellent. Must try. FYI: You're not allowed to take pictures in the museum. read more

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Summary: Beautiful grounds and art complement wonderful wines and friendly staff. Good amount of parking. Off the beaten path a ways, so prepare to into the middle of nowhere to find it. Went here Friday late morning with my wife and her parents. We had to drive through many windy roads surrounded by forest to get to the winery. Once we arrived, we parked and made our way toward the tasting room and museum. There is a beautiful entry garden area with a long Koi pond and orange dragonflies flying around. A covered tasting area for cheese pairing purchasers sits in the garden along the building wall. Inside the museum we were greeted by a friendly receptionist that explained the tasting options and recommended we do a self-guided tour through the museum, which had a variety of sculptures and some contemporary electronic pieces. There is also a barrel room just to the side of the receptionist's desk where private tastings occur by reservation, but you can go inside and experience the wonderful smells. We decided to do the standard tasting in the tasting room and made our way to the bar. It took a few minutes for us to be served despite there being only a few other small parties around the bar, but the two people doing the serving were both helping people that were already tasting and swapping out newly dried glassware from their dishwasher. The cost is $10 for four tastings currently, and there were around six whites and 10 reds to try. All of the wines we tried were good, though there certainly was a range in our personal preferences. The pourers we had (they swapped in and out) were very helpful and informative. The wine prices themselves were on par for Napa, which is pricier than I'd like, but we got a cuvee and one of the cabs. It was a nice first visit. read more

Being that Hess was our 3rd and final winery visit of the day, naturally we had a good time here! We love that there was a Yelp deal to receive a 2 for 1 tasting and that was part of the lure. The grounds were enchanting and opportune for some lovely pix to remember our day. The tasting was good and included 4 wines from a very helpful gentleman at the bar (all tastings done indoors). Couldn't say that there were many wines here that I loved as compared to other wineries, however, one of my favorites for the day was found here and I purchased the bottle (and a wine skin for safe transport) to bring home with me to the East Coast. I highly recommend trying the Artezin Mourvedre ($32 in the wine shop)- very unique red wine. After our tasting we also spent a considerable amount of time upstairs in the art gallery and I suggest you do, too! read more

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Full disclosure... it has been a while since I visited Hess, but upon reflection, I thought I should write something up for it because I have such fond memories of my visit. I loved the wine, the tour, the grounds, and the art was a nice touch as well. There are a ton of vineyards to visit in Napa, but make sure Hess is on your list at some point. read more

Hess Persson Estates - Beautiful grounds - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

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On our way to this place, SIRI shut down and we juct continue driving straight until we saw the signs.. Its a very modern winery place. Free tour! And they have a wide range of wines for tasting (cheap at $20 for 5) they have an art museum. They also have a video/picture clips you'll watch on a widescreen movie theater style at the end of the tour.. I have a 2 yr.old and a 5 yr.old and we made it out alive without breaking any piece of their art gallery read more

Went for the comprehensive Wine Analysis Course and Tour with Bob. Bob is a master teacher and certified sommelier who enthralled us with his vast knowledge about the vines and the wines. His passion and enthusiasm, a very appealing and admirable quality, shone through and made us truly engaged in the class. Overtime? Nobody even took notice of the time because we were learning so much and we were too fascinated and engrossed with all the fun facts Bob shared with us. I highly recommend this fun-filled wine education course with Bob. Suggest that you arrive early so you can also enjoy Hess' famous contemporary art collection as well as the relaxed ambience in this gorgeous winery. Everyone we met who works here is so friendly and accommodating. Thank you Ahna for your patience with me as I was paranoid about Nascar traffic (which was non-existent). Super charming Judy, also with Hess, joined us in our tour and she was such a delight to be with. We bought a bottle of their 2012 "Allomi" Cab Sauv to enjoy at home. Prices of their reds are very reasonable. This was the only winery we visited in Napa that day and it was so worth it. read more

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WINE AND ART!!! (4 stars) "who are you?" "stop looking at me." "what are you doing here?" "look at your own eyes?" "what is your name?" -- yah you will only understand those lines if you've been here. Tasting room Tasting room shop 3 Floor Art collection Pictures in the courtyard Not sure how wine would inhance the art... could be such a cliche line of thought. Perhaps the art inhanced the wine, because i was having a great time starring at some interesting art with a quick buzz. We came up here to Napa from SF with no direction. We just decided to drive and pick wherever the wind blows us. Saw alot of signs for The Hess Collection Winery and decided to check it out because it had an art museum. We pulled up and saw a beautiful courtyard - totally reminded me of "HS Senior Portraits" backdrop. Walked in to the building and saw a good handful of people in the tasting room. Was greeted by the front desk and was tipped to get some wine and then go t the third floor of the museum and work your way down. TASTING ROOM. 4 tastings for $10. However, we received a free tasting if you checked in through yelp. So basically, 8 tastings (between two people) for $10. Scored ourselves a deal. My goal was to try the expensive RED wines on the list. I'm not a guru in wines so I'll keep my thoughts simple. - 2009 Hess Small Block Balbec (retail $50): liked. smooth tasting - 2009 Hess Allomi Petite Sirah (retail $36): very smooth and light after taste - 2007 Hess Small Block Auction Lot 11 (retail $50): smooth. 72% cab, merlot, sirah and they only have 11 barrels and only a couple cases left. this was my favorite from this winery - 2007 Hess Collection Mount Veeder Cabernet Suvignon (retail $48): sweet smell, light intake, sharp after taste. TASTING ROOM SHOP. Brittle ($10.95) - they had samples out. one bite brought me back to sneaking for more bites. Then i just decided to buy a bag of it. The brittle is mixed with wine, go figure. deliciousness. ART COLLECTION. "who are you?" "stop looking at me." "what are you doing here?" "look at your own eyes?" "what is your name?" ..... yah, that was just one piece of art work out of 3 floors of art work. your thinking that i'm nuts and what am i talking about. this 20th century art they have just reminds me of an independent film that makes no sense and is about one person's boring life. I was attracted to some art pieces and some just made me chuckle and say "HUH?" Overall, my experience was great. This was my first time in Napa and my first winery... impression last and I was glad to have kicked my Napa experience with starting here and trying others. Will I be back? I shall return one day. JABA APPROVED. Until the next review.. read more

Quite possibly the ideal winery location. If you like the outdoors and quiet places, then this is the place to go to. Even the long drive up to get to this winery is amazing. Took a tour here and the guide, Larry, was very knowledgeable, nice, and a good salesman. If you like red wines, this is the place to get some at. The prices are moderate, but wine is excellent. And really price of wine never equates to taste. They have some good whites too. The wine tasting area here is very spacious and the distance it takes to drive here, makes it so you get the perfect wine tasting atmosphere, which is calm and relaxed. Now, if you're not really into wine tasting, but some of your group is, its cool because the grounds are really nice to just walk around in and they have a fairly extensive art exhibit there too. I definitely would come back here again. read more

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My Super Hot amazing wife made reservations for us on our 3 year anniversary and WOW what an amazing place! A feast for the mind, body, and soul with an amazing food pairing by a world class chef with fabulous wines, and a tour of the beautiful museum. This was probably our 10th winery visited in 3 days but most certainly the best and most valued experience of our weekend! read more

Off the beaten path and it was somewhat a ways away (no cellphone reception in the area). We didn't make an appointment to do a tasting but it was a Friday afternoon and they were able to accommodate the five of us. Our host was excellent. She was engaging, knowledgeable and made it fun. We weren't planning on purchasing any bottles of wine however we ended up walking away with three which pays for one of the tasting. read more

Very nice and helpful staffs. The wines, courtyard, and museum are all awesome. Definitely worth spending the entire afternoon here! read more

Hess Persson Estates - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

A little off the beaten path, but well worth the trip! day trip to Napa. I really loved this place. We were given this recommendation by the hostess at R+D Kitchen and were very happy with it. Would absolutely visit again. Even the walk from the parking lot was beautiful. The gardens were lovely. I just wish we hadn't come AFTER lunch and had more time to explore or just sit outside. It was during a mini heat wave and the temp 102 degrees, so maybe that was just as well - lol! We were greeted inside by a lovely woman (whose name I forgot) with beautiful silver hair with fuchsia toned highlights. She was so super friendly and you could tell by the way she spoke that she absolutely LOVED where she worked (maybe she is an owner...hmmm) The art collection was a terrific addition to our visit, we spent some time exploring the gallery. Also a good place to spend time waiting for a tasting if they dont have room and you need to wait. The wines were delicious and we brought home a few bottles. Next time we come we will def make a reservation and do a tour! read more

Hess Persson Estates - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

I was not impressed by Hess winery. The site was ok and the tour was very commercial. Everybody talks about the art but one I didn't like it that much and two, I was more interested in the Napa experience than modern art. The staff was friendly but I felt like if I was in a theme park at times. I am giving only three stars because this wasn't a bad visit neither a good one. I would definitely spend my time at other nicer wineries with better wines. read more

Hess Persson Estates - Ok place to visit if you have time to spare. Not a top choice - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

My only wish was that we had more time there than the couple hours we spent. We had a long drive in from LA so we got in right before the last tour at 3:30..So, we barely had time to fly through the amazing and unexpected [FREE] art collection at Hess! My new phone allowed me to edit and make some pretty cool collages from the pics I took walking through the art exhibit and the [FREE] winery tour! Our tour hostess was graceful, and patient with some pretty rude visitors who seemed to interrupt her every word. She made it a smooth and pleasant presentation for the rest of us besides them :) I appreciated how she repeated guests questions so everyone could hear what was being said before she answered them. I'd say this for this being our only stop in Napa on that visit it was the best choice! I loved the Small Block Reserve Cab Sauvignon & Mt Veeder Cab Sauvignon! For checking into Yelp we received a twofer! Two for one on tastings which were very affordable in the first place compared to some other wineries :) and as others also had a complimentary tasting which made me even more willing to buy a membership but wasn't even asked until I brought it up. There was no pressure but maybe that's because we already decided to buy a couple bottles.... and either way it seemed to be the least of the focus on our tasting even though we had a twofer-I would def buy more! The long drive up was worth it! Only confusing if you don't have gps, or a map to reference...there are signs along the way but you do need to pay attention or be willing to ask directions in case you get lost because it's off the beaten path from the main Napa. They also suggested another winery to try- Leap Frog and the restaurant across the way to be a good waiting spot if you don't have a reservation which I thought was pretty cool of them! That's where I will start with next time I go! Disclosure: I'm not a big wine connoisseur so I'm open minded about trying off beaten places, boutique wineries or people's suggestions but, our wine choices were based on the group I was with-we all thought they were the best and some of them have more refined palates than myself....just as an FYI :) read more

Hess Persson Estates - Hess Collection Winery - Museums Near Me - Napa, California

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Frankie was absolutely amazing and gave us a wonderful time during our tasting! Would definitely return again'

One if the smaller private wineries. Nonetheless, a gorgeous Swiss facility, outdoor garden, rectangular fish pond, and complimentary modern art gallery. Unfortunately, we did not come here for wine (because it wasn't free) so I can't comment on that. However, the site itself holds some interesting history that you learn about on the free tour. Our guide was informative and took us through the history of Hess and process of winemaking in less than an hour. Hess vineyards, as we were told, stand on Nappa's mountains rather than valleys; hence, the grapes are smaller but give the wine a unique spicy flavor-- something I would've liked to try if I wasn't a poor college kid. Abstract modern art was beyond my comprehension. D: Nonetheless it's a classy scene ripped out of an expensive modern museum and fixed above a winery for boujie effects. Two floors of modern pieces that leave you wondering what these artists were on while doing "art". read more

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Did the 4 wines for $15 tasting. Wines were ok, I tried all white wines and liked the Viogner the most. Nice property. Tables and chairs outside for you to sit and relax. There is even a pond with koi fishes. Cool they got a small museum inside the building. Interesting stuff to look at. read more

Heard they were awesome and they exceeded the bar! A delightful, entertaining gentleman welcomed us and led us in for a tasting. Our somellier (Cindy, I think) was gracious, personable, friendly and informative. The wines are amazing. The grounds, stunning. Wonderful modern art gallery as well. Now when we think Cabernet, we think Hess--our new standard. This gallery was our #1 experience in Napa. read more

My friend and I went to visit today. Cindy was fantastic and gave us a private tour and tasting. The best part was lots of wine. She was so knowledgeable about the winery and the wines and her passion reallyshowed through. The art and the movie were a nice touch too. Would definitely recommend this winery to any art lovers who love a good glass of wine. read more

A bit of a drive away from Highway 29 with winding roads. The winery is very pretty with a museum in the same building. There was interesting art work from Hess's private collection. Try to find a 2 for 1 coupon for the tasting. A tasting is $10. The pinot was horrible and tasted like water with a light red tint. read more

I do not recommend making the drive back down those winding mountain roads immediately after the tasting. That's why our tour bus was perfect. The view is breathtaking, the wine is fabulous, especially their sweet, summery Orange Muscat. As if all that weren't enough, they even have a modern art museum where everyone is sure to find at least one piece they can connect with. If you have time for a side trip and a designated driver, Hess is a great place to try! read more

Yes, the art is definitely...eclectic, but having two floors and a beautiful estate to browse while you sip on some amazing wine isn't something you can do very often. I do have to warn you, though, that prices here are very high. Tastings for 4 pours are $25 if you pick any of what they have to offer. A selective $35 Mt. Veeder tasting of their 4 specialties comes at $35. Hefty for sure, but the Mt. Veeder selection just has some amazing stuff. I fell in love with the small auction lot, and of course, their small block malbec is still stellar. At $58/bottle for the latter, you're going to be paying for what you get. The former is $55/bottle, and if you want to do food pairings, etc., you have to book 72 hours in advance. Happy drinking! read more

After our experience at Hendrys I remembered the great time I had at Hess. I wanted to see their museum again. Donald Hess is an avid collector of modern art. Upstairs is an art museum that's open to the public. Their flaming typewriter is hot! Their molten rock formations brought out my inner child. It reminded me of mud pies and burnt cookies. Notice how I relate everything to food, haha. There's also a dark painting of a man. It's slightly morbid, but very cool. You can't miss the group of headless figures. I remembered their delicious tastings and friendly service. I chose their vintage cab.s which are half off on Wednesdays. My favorite was the 2001. I also tasted my friend's glasses. Their chardonnay, charbono, and shiraz were good. We finished with their late harvest chardonnay. It tasted like apricots and lychee. This winery looks like a villa with a picturesque courtyard. There are scupltures and a man made pond with fish. There is also a huge bronze bowl sculpture in front. After our tasting Vanessa and I climbed in to take a picture. Someone came out and asked us to get out of the bowl. It seemed like a fun harmless spur of the moment thing. I can't act on anymore brilliant ideas I have after drinking. I love Hess. Hopefully they won't remember me by the bowl debacle. I'd love to go back. read more