I've always loved the history and culture surrounding the relationship between wine and monasteries around the world. This one I've been wanting for visit for many years due to its ties to Sierra Nevada Brewing nearby and also the story of the abbey stores from Europe. Mix that with the original owners of the areas, murder, and ghost stories in Hawaii, it makes for a fascinating visit! I'll spare the long history to be enjoyed on your visit. This entire region is fruit orchards and beautiful fields. New Clairvaux sits as part of a vineyard that was much larger long ago. The current vineyard is easy to get to with clearly marked signs and plenty of parking. Inside the barn you'll find the wine shop and gift shops, which you can also do tours and tastings. It's also an event space. The monastery is nearby down a shaded path, but visiting is restricted. The church is also nearby, which incorporates stones from an ancient abbey in Europe that themselves took an amazing and long journey to and up here. The gardens and vines are worth walking through, it's a beautiful area. We all decided to do the basic tasting tour where they share the history and stories while you taste. If you're a wine or history buff, this one is worth visiting. read more

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Peaceful, beautiful architecture and a piece of history. Excellent wine tasting at a fair price and great unique wines with a member discount. read more

Lacey and the staff were incredibly knowledgeable and accessible. A definite place to stop if you're in the area. I ended up buying some reds, whites, and the Angelica for gifts as well as tee shirts because of my incandescent time as a retreatant, but I must also encourage you to go at a time when the gift shop is open because the jams, honey, and walnuts they sell there are DELICIOUS. You'll have to walk out of the tasting room and up the walkway alongside the vines to the gift shop during their hours of operation, which seem to vary, but are customarily 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. They don't offer tastings of the walnuts, jams, or honey. When I got home and tried them, I wish they had since they are absolutely scrumptious and I would've bought more. I really wanted to buy raw walnuts because I had walked alongside the walnut trees during my retreat. However, they only sold the candied walnuts in the gift store. The candied walnuts are grown and made by the monks of New Clairvaux and the ingredients are: roasted walnuts, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. I gave some to my friends in Berkeley who said they were "delicious and slightly addictive." I agree! The cayenne pepper is subtle, but the mix of the cardamom and cayenne is perfection. If I tried them in the gift shop, I would've bought every one they had on their shelves. The creamed honeys for sale are prepared by the Cistercian Nuns of the Redwoods Monastery. When I saw "almond," because I'd never seen honey from almond blossoms, I bought a few. I should've bought some of the other flavors. I didn't realize until I opened them that they had crushed almonds and orgeat or almond syrup in them! I love orgeat in cocktails, steamed milk, in pretty much anything so this creamed honey is absolutely divine. Again, if I'd known, I would've bought every single jar of it. So, as you'd expect at the Abbey, because they don't have tastings at the gift store, you'll have to purchase the food items on faith. I recommend you do. read more

Jeff and his staff have a beautiful place: New Clairvaux Vineyard, right here in beautiful downtown Redding, California. It's a hidden gem in an up-and-coming town full of happy folks, Americana charm, and good times. I really miss it here. And let me tell you -- I have a feeling you'll find the best red wine in all of Northern California right here. Go see my man Jeff today. Bring your cat, your dog, your llama, maybe even a friendly wildebeest -- everyone's welcome. It's that kind of place. read more

Not sure why it took me this long to visit but all that I needed it to be ! Great tasting ! Awesome service and the ambiance .....stellar. Lots Of history which makes it all the more memorable! read more

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Wow!! This is an absolute MUST DO! Parking, staff, wine, wine tasting!! Everything is absolute five stars. This place is absolutely gorgeous !! The monks on property to all of the pruning of the vines and wow does it Show! The tasting they set up for us, was absolutely gorgeous! The staff was not over, bearing or snooty... They just kind of let us do our own thing after we were set up. That's my kind of tasting! The staff was extremely knowledgeable. The place was ridiculously clean. And the wine .....welll let's just say I bought a few bottles... Lol Definitely put this on your wine tasting list!! The experience is worth the wait . read more

We visited last weekend for some casual wine tasting and it was very nice! I love how they are making it work outside although they can't assume business as usual. We made an appt. the week before and they were expecting us when we arrived. He set up our table, wines, and they even provided a cheese menu if you wanted a snack while you taste. They had a little card for each tasting that you could scan with your phone and it would bring you to a YouTube video all about the wine. I loved that part! It still felt like we got the whole tasting experience with that. They also have heaters next to the tables since we've had some chilly days lately. They made a big difference and were much appreciated as someone who gets very cold! Afterwards, we were able to go inside, pay for the $10 tasting, and purchase wine and other goodies. With a purchase of a bottle of wine, they waive the $10 tasting fee, so I left with a bottle of wine, a stopper, and having done a full tasting for only $23. Highly recommend if you are looking for a mellow activity to do or have a friend in town. read more

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So educational...great wine. The tasting is only $10.00 and it would be hard to leave without at least one bottle which means your tasting is free. read more

This winery is amazing and huge! I love when the monks are there serving wine on some of the select weekends. They have a space to grab some wine and hang out but also do events in the back room for new releases. Their wine is amazing and they have done a partnership with Sierra Nevada previously too. Worth a stop if you're doing a wine tour in the area! read more

A surprise literally in the middle of nowhere. This was recommended by someone we met while tasting wine in Chico. Definitely worth the drive. An old monastery with a history you would not expect at this location. We had a flight of six wines and thoroughly enjoyed three of the six. Loved the The two whites served and the Primitivo which was similar to a Zinfandel. The service was friendly and knowledgeable and the history intriguing. The charcuterie was simple but worked with wine. If you are searching for hidden treasure, this might be the place. Call ahead so you can tour the monastery and book store. It was closed when we were there read more

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This winery is one-of-a-kind! Amazing! Great history. Take a very short stroll through the tasting room to view pictures. There are even free recipe cards with food to match with wine. Awesome! Any questions you have can be answered. Staff was so kind and helpful! Plenty of wines to choose from. read more

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Wonderful afternoon tasting in a beautiful environment-purchased several bottles to take home - such nice vineyards to drive through Ontw to tasting room read more

The location of this winery is in a very old brick building on monastery property and monks can still be seen doing chores around. The winery itself is not run by monks. The land has an interesting history starting around 1850's when vineyards were planted (unsuccessfully) and includes ownership by Leland Stanford. In the 1950s, after several changes of ownership and land usage, it was purchased for the monastery and vineyards were re-planted. It is a charming, dusty, quaint location, and fun place to visit. After reading reviews about some of the events hosted by this winery, it would definitely be a great experience. Since I am not the wine drinker, I can only say that Mr. B enjoyed several of their wines, bought their library wine, an 07 Syrah, which was a gold medal winner and the syrah cab blend. Actually he stated he was not going to share the syrah cab blend with our daughter who usually is the beneficiary of many a wine purchase, and it should only be opened on a very special occasion. I said, get two. Hint to daughter....still waiting for grandchildren...and then you might get lucky, Annie! 09/2015 update: Our daughter Anna announced her pregnancy just days after my writing this review in 2011. And since she could not imbibe until post pregnancy, it gave the wine a chance to lay down. I think this was all cleverly planned on her part. read more

Question: Does wine taste better if you know its history? Answer: No, not better. Deeper. Richer. More meaningful, perhaps. But not necessarily better. Actually, New Clairvaux wines are excellent, if you can find them. Outside of Chico and neighboring towns and cities, the distribution is fairly limited, unless you are a wine club member. Add in the Napa Valley wines sold under the "Aimée" label, sourced from the family-owned Nichelini vineyards outside of St. Helena (http://www.nicheliniwinery.com), in addition to the range of red, white, sweet, and rosé wines that are estate grown on the monastery grounds here in Vina (a 15 minute drive from Corning), and you still don't have a production large enough for statewide or nationwide distribution. The history, however, is deep. The estate was growing grapes in the nineteenth century, as part of a property operated by Leland Stanford. The Cisterician monastic order (aka the Trappists) that operates New Clairvaux can claim a lineage that includes winemaking innovations going back many centuries in Burgundy, Champagne, Spain, and Germany. So the fact that you can taste great Tempranillo here, or savor an award-winning Syrah-Cabernet blend named in honor of a former head of the monastery (the Abbot's Reserve), or enjoy a wonderfully light and refreshing Albariño that retails for under $15, this may not exactly be news - just all part of keeping the legacy of fine wine making alive in the early twenty-first century. Note: when you wine taste at NCV, you are trying wines from Tehama County, one of the least known AVAs in California, as well as wines from the most famous region in the state - i.e. Napa Valley. The difference will be obvious in terms of price and style, but the winemaker is the same: Aimée Sunseri, an extremely talented female winemaker who somehow has managed to combine her family's Italian-American wine traditions with those of the monks at New Clairvaux and of the larger history of the old Stanford-owned estate. You can sample white Angelica here, a fortified white wine (100% Muscat fortified with pure grape brandy), and a great Vino Dolce that is portlike in character. This is how wines were often enjoyed back in Leland's day. But you can also try top-notch Napa Valley Merlot (the 2015 vintage is exceptional), or interesting blends that use New Clairvaux Petite Sirah grapes blended with Tempranillo ("Petite Temptation"). And the whites - especially the Albariño - are extremely good as well. The price range goes all the way from under $15 to over $50, and a $5 tasting fee will likely give you a chance to sample 5-6 wines, depending on what is open. If you're returning to the I-5 corridor, you can also buy New Clairvaux wines at the Olive Pit in Corning, even tasting some of them there if they are on the menu that day (the OP has a very good local wine and beer section; it's not just for olives). Visiting the New Clairvaux tasting room is fun: this is a working monastery, with wine as only part of the package. It ain't Napa, even if some of the wines are. Given the location, the wines on offer will vary a lot - Tehama County gets scorchingly hot most summers, even if the monastery grounds themselves are well irrigated by the Deer Creek and Sacramento River watersheds. It's best to come with an open mind and find a few wines to your liking. They may not be your usual favorites, either. The New Clairvaux Vineyard may be one of the most unique tasting experiences in all of California, which is saying quite a lot. If the wines weren't good, this would not be worth the journey. But they are. And that makes it a perfect road trip destination, the next time you are just passing through. read more

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A little gem hidden away!!! By far one the best vineyard in been too. We were on our way home from Redding and decided to take a little detour. After looking up wineries we found this one. The staff is extremely friendly and told us the whole history while enjoying some wine. Another great thing is when I usually go wine tasting I only taste about 3-4 different wines but here I tasted almost 7! I ended up leading with a few bottle of Fantastic wine and a sadness that my day there was coming to an end. But before you leave you must see the church. It's walking distance from the winery. I do look forward to coming back here again! read more

I have lived in Butte County for 34 years, and I only recently learned about, and made the short drive out to Vina, north of Chico by 25 minutes, to visit the charming and impressive New Clairvaux Winery where the wine is made by the monks living there in the monastery. A LOT of fascinating history involving early wine growing in the north state, the involvement of prominent Californians, including W.R. Hearst, the original location and history of the monastery that now stands in Vina. AND...we enjoyed all the wines!! A special thank you to the general manager, John who noticed we were there on our first visit and quite literately, grabbed me and our party and shared with us every aspect of the winery's history and uniqueness. I look forward to running out of wine now and having the excuse on a Sunny afternoon to take the short drive to Vina for a little wine tasting and several more bottles. read more

Great vine and venue! The cheese is BOMB and the monastery is beautiful! I will definitely be going back again!

What a beautiful, peaceful place. It's off the beaten path, once you turn in keep drive past several buildings, you'll see a sign and turn right to park. Go inside for tastings. I wish we had more time to spend here but we were on out way out of town. The staff are extremely friendly and knowledgable. Tasting is $5 and free if you by a bottle. I enjoyed the Monk's Choice (a blend) and also the 2010 James Temperanillo, had a fruity smoky oak flavor with a cherry aroma. The grounds are beautiful so go walk around. There is something called the Stone Project that's about a 3 minute walk from the tasting room. It's incredible. They using both new limestone from Texas and old limestone from Spain that was brought in about 1190. Together these are just beautiful looking, they're building an abby. I hear this place is just as popular as some Napa vineyards, however we were the only ones there at the time. But then again it was Monday at 11am, so maybe we just beat the crowd. Next time we're in town hopefully we can spend more time here. read more

New Clairvaux Vineyard - Built with new Texas limestone & limestone from Spain from 1190 - Wineries Near Me - Vina, California

Though it's tough to see the signs to get here, the struggle is worth it!! Very kind people serving wine here. Tasting is 5$ (waived if you buy a bottle or for special occasions like Father's Day) We packed a picnic but people abused the picnic tables they used to have so we just laid out blankets in the shade and it was marvelous! Twirl about the historic monetary they're building on the grounds (collecting it piece by piece after its been scattered) and enjoy the views of the California hills. PROs: a wide variety of wines, (some of never heard of) kind people, pretty grounds to tour CONs: tough to find, no picnic tables read more

New Clairvaux Vineyard - Biking there - Wineries Near Me - Vina, California

Looking for a place to take your friends and family who visit Chico? This is it! It's only a 20 min drive north of Chico. On your drive, you get a beautiful view of Mt. Shasta on the west and Lassen Peak on the east. If the timing is right, come for their monthly complimentary winery tour and wine release! In fact, my friends, e$, MB, C, and E did just that! We ventured here for the first time for their 2013 Poor Souls Petit Sirah wine release on the Saturday before Valentine's Day. The tour was more than just a series of free wine tastings (e.g. petit sirah, petit temptation) and cheese/cracker pairings, though I'd have been fine with just that! Our guide, John, also gave an especially informative slide presentation about the history and the role that the Trappist monks and the Stanford and Senseri families played in the development of the vineyard. This was followed by a tour of the vineyards and wine storage lots. We also took home the New Clairvaux wine glass for free! I also acquired a new liking for 50/50 blends of petit sirah red and tempranillo (petit temptation)! My only qualm is that we didn't get to see the actual wine-making process, or visit the spaces for monks, which were off limits to visitors. There's enough parking to accommodate up to crowds of 250 for wine release weekends! Pro tip: Sign up online for their mailing list to get notified of wine releases. read more

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Nice tasting room, nice staff, nice wine! Enjoyed the Wines we tasted- a white and then their Barbara - very good

Unique experience. Learned that William Randolph Hearst is entwined here. $5 tasting for a flight of five and one tasting fee is waived per bottle. I loved the old brick used in construction. Site had cheese, crackers and grapes to taste. We bought 4 bottles. Nothing was "WOW!" but it was good. Grateful for the experience. read more

Beautiful 12th. Century charter house and EXCELENT wines and beer for purchase. A visit to the Abby is a memorable and pleasant experience, for the whole family. read more

A must visit ! You have a tranquil drive in the country. Good wines and you'll see monks creating the wines and looking after the vineyards. The spectacular recreation of Hearst's shipment of a monastery from Europe and it's painstaking recreation here is amazing! A world class European mason supervised the reconstruction. This is a gem in the country ! read more

Numerous people told us to go to this winery. I was very excited because it was out of the way and it was at a monastery. The staff was very friendly and informative but the wine wasn't as great as I was expecting. I did buy a couple bottles but I feel wines in the Paso Robles Area are better. read more

The wine is really great but not for enjoying in the tasting room. The staff are incredible but it is too hot in the summer where you will end up sweating more than if you'd just stayed outside. I wouldn't recommend bringing elderly or small children during the hottest time of the year until they get proper air conditioning. History is awesome, wine is great but most everyone I was with had a similar complaint about the heat. I hope this review helps you out in deciding to drive out to Vina. Peace. read more

New Clairvaux was everything I hoped it would be. After tasting an amazing wine made by Nicholini Vineyard in St Helena last year, I did some research into their wine maker and found that she'd moved to New Clairvaux. Later I saw Tom's review of the Vineyard here, and had been meaning to go since. So over the long weekend, on the way back from my parent's house, P and I stopped in. The monastery itself is simple but beautiful, with lots of old trees and even older buildings. The wine making facilities are all run by a large stretch of solar panels. We started in the tasting room. The staff is divided between thirty-something white guys who live in Chico, and older monks. Both were friendly and P got in a long discussion with one of the monks about his work on pesticides and how the monks are apparently getting sprayed (this was actually kind of sad). After we'd tasted everything in the tasting room, we were ushered off by the wine maker, Amy, to tour the barrel room. This was really the highlight of the vineyard. We were able to taste five wines from the barrel, ask tons of questions about the wines and the monastery, an ended up buying some futures at a discount (we get sucked into things like this...give me lots of good wine and I'd buy anything). I really enjoyed myself, and loved the wines, but I'll agree with Tom that these might not be for everyone. They do seem to have a good variety of wines, some more approachable to a mass audience than others, but overall the single varietal, vineyard wines are different than most of what you'd find elsewhere in California. read more

I heard about the abbey and winery after drinking a Ovila Belgian ale from Sierra Nevada. After Googling the abbey I read a write up in the NY Times. I made plans with an old friend in Chico that we had to pay New Clairvaux a visit. It's a tranquil little winery that was once owned by Leland Stanford back in the 1800's. It was actually the largest vineyard in the world at that time. The tasting room is in an old brick building that's 112 years old. The wines were all excellent with varietals that aren't common to the US. They had a Tempranillo and Albariño which I've never seen outside of Spain. The monks pouring the wine were very informative and really made us feel welcome. The tasting of 5-6 wines was only $5 and was taken off the purchase price if you bought a bottle, which we did. The abbey being rebuilt from the stones brought from a Spanish Monastery was amazing. I won't go into the whole history but definitely worth checking out. A great place I would never have dreamt existed. My friend has lived in Chico for 26 years and he never heard about it until I mentioned it. I highly recommend checking out this place if you're anywhere in the area or even a weekend trip from the Bay Area. read more

I took my boyfriend to the 4th annual lobster feed at New Clairvaux Winery. The event took place in the winery's above ground cellar originally built by Leland Stanford back in the 1890's. The room had a vaulted brick ceiling, which is held up by massive timber columns. While they were serving the appetizers, they had a wine consultant of Corti Brothers come up and talked about the wines they were serving and offered wine tasting classes. They served Albarino, Petite Syrah, New Tempranillo, and Barbara. My favorite was the Petite Syrah. To prepare the food, huge vats were filled with corn, Italian sausage, artichokes, lobster, shrimp and much more. The concoction was boiled together, cooked, and poured across the table's right in front of us. It was a "No holds Barred" fight to the finish.......... NO forks, NO napkins...... bibs, and shell crackers were the only weapons. This event is not for the faint of heart, there were shrimp, and lobster juice flying everywhere. No one was spared. So much fun! At the end of our feasting, they gave us hot towels to clean up. Next, they proceeded to pour their reserve port, and we happily ate it with a Chocolate "Its It". read more

My boyfriend and I came here for a wine tasting which was $5. The wines were all excellent, the server (Bryce) was very engaging and told us about local Chico hikes and places to check out. Super friendly, knew all the history of the winery and was engaging in conversation. We even got a little extra wine at the end to sample. Bought two bottles before we left because it was just so tasty! read more

New Clairvaux Vineyard - Wineries Near Me - Vina, California

What a great place. The people and vineyard is so nice you're sure to enjoy it. They have a small bookstore but the entire place is huge and could take a day to see it all at least. Worth a shot if you have some time. Loved it read more

New Clairvaux Vineyard - Wineries Near Me - Vina, California

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My first time here and I will surely be back. The Red and whites were refreshing and the dessert wines....oh my. Fantastic! I'll be back. Kira was our wine tasting specialist. I hope I got her name right. She knew about the wines and I felt she really like her job. The grounds, church, koi pond and welcome center brought a very peaceful feeling whilst walking around. Thank you. read more

Honestly hands down this is my absolute favorite winery in all of California! Actually my favorite winery I've ever been too. This winery is located in the small town of Corning, CA and the only reason why I discovered it is because my fiancé's grandmother lives close by and she recommended this winery to us since we LOVE wine. It's is a beautiful winery that has their church right next door that you can visit and see the beauty. The church is the prettiest church I've ever seen that I posted some pictures of. I've tasted a few of their wines from the Syrah, table red wine, Sauvignon bland and Barbara and all have been amazing! My favorite wine that I've tasted is the Barbera 2016 one! My fiancé and I actually ended up buying 4 bottles of it we loved so much and it was very in expensive only about $20 which is a steal for such high quality wine. We went to Napa and bought bottles that were about $100 each and still the Barbara wine from New Clairvaux was the best out of all the wine we bought and was the cheapest! I would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone that wants to visit a winery in the Northern California area! read more

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Amazing Barbera! Though I am by no means a wine expert, I have spent a good amount of time tasting it in places like Napa, Sonoma, Calistoga, Lodi, and Livermore. And between my Girlfriend and I have spent more than I can count on quality wine for the house. I didn't have high expectations for any local vineyards, but I was surprised at how much I liked the New Clairvaux wines as well as the vineyards in Vina CA, which is just a 15 minute drive from Chico. Every wine I tried was above average, and there wasn't a single one I wouldn't have finished an entire glass of. The property has an amazing history, and their partnership with the catholic monastery on the property makes everything more interesting. Do yourself a favor and take the trip to Vina to check it out. They even have villas for rent if youre not a local. read more

This unassuming little place out in the middle of nowhere was recommended to us by our tour guide over at Sierra Nevada, so we drove the 15 minutes from Chico to check it out. Monks who work at an entire vineyard offering $5 tasting of 5 wines? Too good of a deal to pass up. And I thought I had it good with the sip of wine with the Eucharist at mass! The vineyard is small & quant sitting on a large piece of land. When we were there is was actually pretty poppin' & we had to wait about 10 minutes for a tasting. The pourer told us about the history of the monks and vineyard & was very knowledgable about the wines. The monastery is so old & rich in history, if only their wines were as rich. I personally wasn't the biggest fan. But the vineyard is lovely & it's a nice little getaway from Chico! read more

Been a member for years. Been tasting outside by making reservations. Husband and I went out today spent 100 bucks. No signs of having to make reservations again. Sign with arrow inside Wine tasting. Two tables used 10 at least empty and they couldn't sit us. It would have taken half hour if that to do a tasting. Very disappointed that wouldn't even try. read more

Another great day at New Clairvaux. Everybody is friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. A big shoutout to Kira!!! Thank you for making our visit, and wine tasting so enjoyable. read more

Hello Stephanie, wanted to get back w/you regarding our group tour on Saturday past. Simply put...double most excellent..., maybe even bordering on super double! and that is an accolade this crusty ol mariner does not toss around lightly. John was assigned guide and educator. By that I mean we all learned a lot about the whole process, which was most interesting in and of itself, but equally entertaining was the manner in which John detailed the how/whys of property heritage. I mean Peter Lassen & Leland Stanford, 2 CA giants of their time, actually were a part back in the day. Who knew! John was jovial & articulate, kept the tour light with QA sessions, entertaining and informative is an understatement. We had, at my count while in tasting room...which may be skewed...was 29 of us for the tour. I think most bought wine because at our reunion gala that evening there were lotsa bottles on tables. I know for me, buying a $32 Merlot was a big jump, but dang it is gooood. OK, its time to move on fm bevMo style on sale wines and move into the big boy arena of Clairvaux quality wine. TOPS, one of our supermarkets here in Redding actually has a very good selection of NCV wines. We thank you and your staff collectively and John specifically for a really really good day. Our goal of having folks walk out of there saying dang that was fun, I believe was met. Best wishes for continued success. Charles & class of '67 read more

If you are looking at going back in time, this is the place. Beautiful grounds and tasting room. The monks serve he wine. History galore within its buildings. I recommend everyone stop by this beautiful winery. read more

New Clairvaux Vineyard - Divine experience with a walnut tree - Wineries Near Me - Vina, California

spectacular place to visit ,so tranquile and solemn,have been there a couple times ,and its beautiful,,wines are perfect ,and all emplyees are very courtious,the imported church is beyond awesome,,this is a NUST STOP if in the area and worth a drive,CHEERS read more