William Cole Vineyards: Passionate Wine Making Family

Recently, we had the pleasure of visiting William Cole Vineyards in St. Helena.  This passionate wine making family creates exquisite Napa Valley wines.  

Winemaker William and Jane Ballentine acquired this sensational vineyard in 1999.  They renovated the original 1873 building and opened in 2004. The property was marked as a historical landmark and became the first stone winery in Napa Valley to be a fully functioning winery.

Their son Cole is William’s assistant winemaker.  They dedicated their fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon to their daughter Claire who works in Sales and Marketing.

Our knowledgeable and passionate host was Marli. We began with the 2021 100% Cuvee Jane Marie Chardonnay named after William’s wife while taking a tour of the facility. It was a wonderful way to start our tasting experience.

We were then treated to an elegant tasting of their great red wine in the renovated stone building complete with a fireplace that warmed the room on this chilly Napa morning. 

We began with the 2019 Stonemaiden perfectly blended with 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petite Verdot that was sensational.

We then sampled the 2020 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Claire named after daughter Claire. It was a rich full-bodied wine that soothed your senses.  We especially enjoyed the Cuvee Claire and took a bottle home with us.

We would highly recommend that you schedule a visit to enjoy these world class creations from this passionate wine making family.

For lunch, we met friends at the iconic Bistro Don Giovanni and enjoyed their deep-fried olives, cool crisp Caesar salad, lamb kabobs on a bed of fresh risotto and Branzini also known as Mediterranean Sea Bass. They have recently opened a second restaurant, La Scala in downtown Napa that will be added to our ‘must do’ Napa experiences. 

For more information and to make a reservation at the winery go to:

https://williamcolevineyards.com/

 

Top Ten San Francisco Bay Area Restaurant List

Recently, we published our Top Ten Winery List. We have enjoyed trying to visit all of the 600 Napa, Healdsburg and Sonoma wineries 400 and counting.

At a recent lunch, I also created a Top Ten  Bay Area Restaurant list having been to over 1000 dining establishments and counting.

For more information and to make a reservation go to their web sites.

Finally, It is always great to finish these meals with a famous Buena Vista Irish Coffee (picture above) brought to the United States from Shannon Ireland in 1952.

In no special order, enjoy our Top Ten  San Francisco Bay Area Restaurant list.

Kokkari

Moussaka, wood fired barbecue lamb, chicken and pork and the  sensational Lemon Soup.

Crustacean

Drunken Crab and Garlic Noodles. A ‘must do’ San Francisco experience.

Pebble Beach Tap Room

Tap Burger, Fries, frosted glass Guinness, and Coconut Cake. Voted Top 19th hole in the United States.

Rutherford Grille

French Dip, Ribs, Fries and Grilled Artichokes. Always packed and full of energy.
No corking fee on your first bottle of wine.

John’s Grille

Home of the Maltese Falcon and serving many foodies and famous people for over a 100 years.  Petrale, San Francisco Sour Dough bread, Perfect Manhattans and Escargot soaked in garlic sauce.

House Of Prime Rib

Succulent Prime Rib sliced at your table serving loyal patrons and famous people since 1947.

Scomas

Serving famous San Francisco Cioppino and Sour Dough bread on the San Francisco Wharf for many decades.

Thomas Kellers World Famous French Laundry and Bouchon bakery.

3 star Michelin Atelier Crenn

Dominique Crenn is known as the best female chef in the world.

Model Bakery 

Famous English Muffins baked fresh daily and a variety of heavenly sugar treats.

Bon Appetite