Thanks to Mr O'Brien for being such a stand-up guy! I am really impressed with his response both personally and as the "owner's comments". I thought about just removing the entire one-star review, but I think it actually reflects better on him to leave it all up. Great "customer" (read: wino) service! Now I'm really disappointed I didn't meet him in person. Next time, sir, next time..... read more

While we thought the wines were phenomenal and the atmosphere delightful, overall our experience was not what we expected. We reserved a tasting that was supposed to include a walk through the vineyard, a look at the barrels, and a tour of their bottling line. We were walked to the edge of the vineyard, only about 50 feet from the tasting area, and then back to a table where we stayed for the rest of our time. When the tasting ended, the person who hosted us (who had been nice before) just walked away. Our 90 minutes they say visitors have was up, and we had other places to go, so we had to leave. But- no real walk through the vineyard, no barrels, no bottling. We wondered if they even knew what tour we booked. We planned our day around it, wanting a different and educational experience, but really only got a tasting. Just my advice- keep track of the time and what you paid to see, and ask them to confirm the details of your reservation. read more

Can't believe I didn't write review of our first trip here back in February. I wrote a review on Trip Advisors. Our second trip here (5/10) was just as wonderful. Julio greeted us as returning friends. He was our host on the first visit. As wine club members we have chosen to pick up our wine allotment rather than have it sent as we only live 90 miles away. The wines that come from this vineyard (they all do) are absolutely amazing. The setting to enjoy the wines is beautiful. When we were there in February the mustard was growing between the rows. This time the roses (they have a purpose) were blooming at the end of the rows, The "tour" is sitting comfortably in the vineyard while your host brings you tasting of 5 different wines along with a cheese and cracker plate. You are not rushed but encouraged to enjoy your time here (plan on about 90 minutes). On our first visit we were not pressured or even asked to join the wine club, but their wine is so good you will want to join. If you do join, your tasting fee ($40/pp) is not charged. Even if you don't join, I would say the tasting fee is will worth the experience and enjoyment of the wine in a wonderful setting read more

We visited O'Brian Winery through the the advise and recommendation of our friends. I must say, my wife and I were impressed. The winery atmosphere is personal and not that of a large corporate owned winery - this a good thing. Mrs O'Brian (Barb?) was excellent and made us feel like long-term customers. Thank you for this. Fascination, Chardonnay and their Subduction wines were excellent. Highly recommend O'Brian. read more

Oh my god, where to begin? This was an amazing wine experience! Or guide, Luis, walked us through innumerable wines as well as the entire operations of the estate, from the grapes to the bottles. We even meet the owner, Bart, who was extremely inviting as well. I would strongly recommend this visit to anyone visiting Napa; it's like no other tour/tasting out there. read more

Thank you Julio for the amazing experience! Top-quality wines at hard to beat prices, plus non-distributed. Whats not to love!

Steve was so amazing. Such a nice guy very knowledgable of the wine and vineyard. Felt super relaxed and just a low key down to earth place to be. Ask for Steve. He was Amazing!!!!! Oh and the wine was great. read more

O'Brien Estate Winery - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Napa, California

See all

This estate winery has a fantastic family vibe and a truly spectacular merlot. Our wine coach, Luis, could not have been more knowledgable and indulgent of the many obscure questions presented by my group...oh and fun! read more

Sit down tasting -- Just go! - Intimate tasting w/ loads of attention - massive departure from the huge commercial places - Scrumptious wines (really - every single one) - Beautiful setting (our tasting was in the vineyard...in between the vines!) - Ask for Julio - he know's his stuff and is extremely pleasant/accommodating - Not rushed one bit - The owner came out to greet us personally - serious customer service the whole way through read more

I am not a wine rookie so don't worry about my credentials. O'Brien's is an outstanding winery. The wines they produce are outstanding and a great value. Our host on our visit was Luis. He was wonderful. A handsome Argentinian that has been at O'Brien's for several years and very knowledgable. The wines and snacks we sampled were outstanding. We purchased a mixed case on the spot and do not regret our purchase. In fact, I am enjoying their fine 2012 Merlot as I am writing this review. P.S. Don't forward this review, otherwise this small vineyard will not be able to produce enough wine to satisfy everyone's desire for great wines and a friendly experience. read more

This was my favorite of the wineries we visited while in Napa. It is the most relaxed, laid back, unpretentious spot we visited. The tasting included 6 generous pours as well as a cheese plate, all while lounging in the backyard under shaded umbrellas. We were encouraged to roam the vineyard at our leisure. The experience was our favorite as well as the wine. We loved every wine we tried and O'Brien was the only wine club we joined. Looking forward to receiving our very special wine in the year to come. read more

With over 400 wineries in the Napa Valley, the choices can seem endless. Upon arrival at the O'Brien Estate Winery it had an immediate familiar feeling, like home. The backdrop for this winery is majestic. The hospitality manager, Rena, was not only knowledgable about their wines, but was so gracious in sharing her ethusiasm for these inspiring wines. The romantic theme and history of the wines can truly make your heart feel warm. Definitely worth a visit! As a chef, I look forward to pairing these delightful wines with many lovely dishes. read more

Spent three days in Napa and this was by far our favorite Winery. It was so relaxing to just sit back on the lawn chairs (made of old wine barrels) and enjoy some great wine and cheese. Julio was awesome to deal with.... yes we joined their wine club! read more

We had an amazing time here! Personal service fantastic views, I highly recommend it!

Well I can not say enough about the wines, the tour guide (Tyler Jackson), the owners or the property. I am a local born and raised Napan and I was so impressed by the quality of the wines and the quality employees that O'Brien has. Tyler's knowledge of not only the history of the owners and the property but also of the wine's and the region was amazing. I can not thank them enough for the great hospitality. I have now found my favorite winery in the Valley. Thank you so much. read more

Damn you Yelp! I think trusting these rankings with restaurants is one thing... but there are a lot of high scores on so many bad wineries. We went through their whole line, including Seduction and was shocked....first of all the color, lack of clarity, sophistication from wine to wine was astonishing. I live in the Santa Cruz mountains and don't think much of many of those wines, this leaves less to be desired. Too fruity, no body, balance, sophistication to these wines. The staff everywhere was nice, so nothing personal - but come on! 5-stars!? No way. It was the lowest quality wine we tasted in 6-7 stops today. Maybe tomorrow a low-end wine will kick this up. Sophisticated tasters - this isn't a undiscovered gem, believe me. read more

My friend and I had a wonderful time here! Everything is beautiful, the wine is delicious and both of the gentlemen who assisted us were hilarious and friendly. I highly recommend making a stop here - just be sure to make a reservation! read more

What a fabulous estate, so beautiful, and quaint. Their grapes are on about 30 acres, so I think that must be a smaller vineyard. They do not distribute commercially at all; if you want their wine, you need to go to the vineyard, or one of the restaurants where it's available. My favorite was their Chardonnay, so I picked up a bottle for $38. I had the fortune to be there when they were harvesting white grapes. It was fun watching them load the grapes for crushing. Their backyard is a peaceful place to enjoy a picnic and just hang out. They also do not charge a fee for picnicing, which I thought was very nice and low-key of them. read more

This is as good as it gets. I LOVE this place. A local friend made an appointment for us, and we went here one morning. I don't think we realized how nice of a time we were in for. Every single wine we tasted was outstanding. Really, all of them. The guy helping us was also helping another group. We noticed he was able to change his entire demeanor to match the people he was working with as he rotated between the groups. We had a lot of fun with him. We are now members and plan to visit each time we're in the area. I just love this place. read more

Our certified sommelier, Jason was patient, knowledgeable, and (at times) humorous. I appreciated not only his delivery and introduction to the estate wines but also the relaxed and beautiful property on which it resides. Be sure to say hello to Heidi the brindle pointer whom roams throughout the vineyard, and make sure to ask for Jason! My husband and I both enjoyed both the Chardonnay and "red reserves".... read more

Took some great friends to this most charming winery. The wine like Louis who works there was magical. Picture this, four of us drinking their flagship wine SEDUCTION outside in their beautiful vineyards as the leaves are raining on us. It was absolutely perfect. Thanks again Louis for making our visit extremely memorable. Will be back soon. All the best, Glen read more

What a great winery! We recently visited from the Chicagoland area and had O'Brien Estate on our list. We chose it mostly for fun because it's my maiden name and boy are we happy we fell upon it. Jason was our wine ambassador and he made it all worthwhile. It was very enjoyable hearing the stories behind the wines and most of all tasting them. He seemed to be very knowledgeable of all of the wines and was a very fun guy to talk to. We learned some fun tips from Jason as well. It was a great visit! read more

Wonderful wines and the nicest of people. We came in for a tasting a few weeks ago and were met by great hospitality. Barb was accommodating and helpful even though she also had a large private party in the back. I was not disappointed with any of the wines and only wish I could have afforded to buy them all. Highly recommended as a great stop in Napa for tasting!! read more

Despite my failed attempts to appear sophisticated, I can't honestly say that I'm a huge fan of wine, with my knowledge of the drink limited to my 8th grade report on wine-making. However, when my two friends and I took a day trip to Napa, we figured we should break up our gluttonous foodfest with some wine tasting because that is what you do in Napa. Isn't it? Yelp led me to the O'Brien Estate and once again, Yelp has not betrayed me. With Richard as our goofy tour guide, we had a great and educational time. Our tour came with four different types of wine which we sipped while Richard led us around the estate. Although I probably lack the palette to appreciate the quality of the wine, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful estate and found wine-making process very interesting. Richard even provided us with entertainment as he read us the poetry that accompanies each bottle of wine. After the tour, we sat on a picnic bench overlooking the vineyards and finished our wine (and leftover Bouchon pastries) while we admired the gorgeous view. Richard never rushed us and for that matter, never pressured us to purchase any wine either. O'Brien Estate probably didn't transformed these three wine newbies into wine enthusiasts but I think we definitely developed a deeper appreciation for it. I think this qualifies our experience as successful. read more

Great place with a group of people or with ur special someone. Wine is amazing and staff makes you feel right at home.

O'Brien Estate is one of our favorite wineries in Napa. I'm not a fan of the cattle car tasting rooms and this certainly one of those. We started the tour tasting wines at a table in the center of the vineyard. Blair, our tour guide was very entertaining and knowledgeable. My wife if and I enjoyed every one of their wines, in fact this is the first winery my wife has every wanted to join the wine club at. It was a great experience with great wines, what more could you ask for? read more

just the average winery. we bought 1 bottle back home, but felt neglected coz other 2 couples with us bought more. tour guide was new himself .. and gave us the same info any other guy will give. but yes we met with owner n his wife , she was very enthu and asked what we do where we can from etc etc .. guy was either bit rude or they were getting late to go somewhere . they were adjusting , we had 4 o clk appt. got stuck in traffic . thus called to tell them we will be bit late. we reached by 4.10 to discover we were in 4.30 batch... arghhh nthing to do except stand around there for 20 minutes. read more

DO NOT MISS! By far the best wine and winery! Our guide Brandon was the most informative guide we had during our three days of touring wineries in Napa Valley. He is a STAR* It so happened we started with O'Brien and every where we went was down hill from there! The Seduction (the name says it all) still has me smiling, the Merlot superb and we came home with a jewel of a desert wine, Reflection. I do not sign up for wine clubs but I did at O'Brien Estates and I can't wait for my first shipment. Beautiful winery that matches the excellent wine with outstanding people ~ can't get any better than O'Brien! read more

Wow! We had such a great time there. I will come back to California just to visit here again. Wonderful time. My family and friends rented a limo and went to 8 wineries on one Sunday... wished we would have just stayed ere rather than going to all the other overprices places with poor service. We brought a picnic basked of cheese and meats - so much fun! read more

Wonderful winery, wonderful wine. Bart is a great host, gave us a private tour. Love the marketing. Can't recommend this highly enough.

Checked out this little winery that's off the beaten path. It was definitely worth the stop. The tour of the winery (by appointment only) was great and the tasting superb since you can taste the wine throughout the tour. The tour guide mixed humor with his presentation which was also good. The wines were great, albeit a little pricy, but I supposed that's expected from a small winery. read more

After reading the Yelp reviews on this small winery we decided to make this the "highlight" of our Napa trip. How disappointing! We kept reading of the nice picnic area and tables so we thought it would be perfect for our group. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT HERE!!! What good is a picnic area if you can't have a picnic. Although the facilities are old and quaint, there's not much here to see. You do get to taste four of their wines for a $20 fee NOT the $15 fee as advertised. Their wines are average tasting and cost $30 to $50+ a bottle. I'd give this place a pass. There are so many much nicer places to spend your day. We should have listened to our limo driver! read more

A nice place to visit if you're in the area. Incredibly friendly staff, nice surroundings and a fair representation of Napa wines. The labels may be a bit cutesy for some, but it's not so kitsch that it would turn you off. Interesting that they're not much into distribution -- more about the wine club, so be prepared for the pitch. read more

So, is it possible to fall in love with a winery? Well, if so, I did, and this was IT!! O'Brien Estate is a very romantic, intimate family owned winery. It is so simple that it is perfect. The wines are all great as well. Our tour guide, "Rich-ARD" was hilarious, ask for him and tell him the Miamians sent you. We also got to meet the owner, Mr.O'Brien himself and he was a very nice guy who told us more about the names behind the wines which is the love story between he and his wife. Love love love this place and will go back for sure when in Napa again. read more

I recommend for everyone to come here once or twice and but a bottle or 2 of the Chardonnay and the Merlot. These are delicious wines and are expensive but worth a few tastes and they are small production wonderful wines. The staff here is friendly and we have been here twice over the past 3 years, consistently good wines and a great place to visit in Napa. read more

Extravagant & romantic!! The Merlot was my favorite!!!! This is a reservation only estate. The experience is unique and memorable. I've been to over 30 vinyard in the area and this is in my top 2! The merlot was my fav' I appreciate that they are 100% private producing limited edition wine only. We did pa organics in photos below so we could both be in photo, Haha! read more

I visited the O'Brien Estate a few weeks ago on a lovely Saturday afternoon. We rolled up to the winery fairly late, without a reservation (eek, we didn't know that this winery is typically by appointment only). The Folks were kind enough to accommodate us and gave us the tour anyway. The grounds are beautiful and peaceful. We loved hearing the story of the couple that fell in love and purchased this vineyard. We also enjoyed several of the wines that we tasted. The best part was that we were able to use our Buy One Get One Free coupons connected to our Change of Greenery bike rentals so it was a great deal as well! read more

This place was great! We were greeted at the door with a glass of white wine to start the tour and they were very generous in making sure we had enough to drink during the entire tour. The guy wasn't too interesting, but the wine was decent enough. read more

Such a beautiful, quaint winery. Their wine tastes absolutely delicious. Our wine guide was the daughter of the O'Brien's and she was lovely, interesting and a lot of fun. Smaller winery and smaller wine tasting groups.. definitely more intimate. 5 stars hands down ;) read more

O'Brien Estate Winery is in the Oak Knoll district in northern Napa. The famous 1973 Chateau Montelena that won in Paris in 1976 came from grapes on the Hanna vineyard which is adjacent to O'Brien Estate vineyard. Our tasting began with the 2010 Chardonnay at $40. (They were out of their Sauvignon Blanc.) Although it sees 100% MLF or malolactic conversion, it has only a hint of butter to it. It had a nice nose and was crisp and well balanced on the palate with some lemon and perhaps pear, followed by a good finish. This sees 30% new French Oak and 30% year old oak. It is not one of those buttery overly oaked Chards. They happened to have a bottle open of their 2009 Reserve Chardonnay at $65 so we were able to sample this next. It is one of only two reserve wines. Again, this receives 100% MLF but I would never have guessed that from tasting it. I asked about this and was told that their Chardonnay grapes have so little malic acid in them that when it converts to lactic acid the wine ends up better balanced but without all of that popcorn butter which can ruin a nice Chard. The Reserve Chard is even drier than the regular one, very crisp, with some minerality, more in the style of a white Burgundy. We liked both of them, but I definitely preferred the reserve, whereas my friend preferred the softer regular release Chard. Our reds began with a very nice 2009 Merlot at $48. This had better structure and body than most Merlots with good tannins. It is a big Merlot with a cherry nose and blackberry and black cherry on the palate with a touch of cedar and a mouthfeel more typical of a Cab than a Merlot. It was our favorite of the wines sampled. We were not able to taste their Cab reserve which they call the Unrestrained Reserve, but we did try the three Cab blends. O'Brien makes three red blends in the Bordeaux tradition. Their 2009 Romance of the Heart ($50) is predominately Merlot (65% with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Cab Franc) and is softer and easy to drink. It had a pleasant cherry nose, with blackberry and cherry on the palate along with a nice body, good tannins and a decent finish. There 2009 Seduction ($55) is their flagship wine and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It was my favorite of the three blends, with its cherry aroma, full-bodied palate and integrated tannins. The 2009 Passion of the Soul Cabernet Sauvignon ($65) has 95% Cabernet Sauvignon with 5% Cabernet Franc and is a decent Cab for the price. Each of these three blends comes in a lovely bottle with excerpts of the owner's love poetry to his wife written on the back. Our host told us that Bart O'Brien sometimes reads his poems to visitors as they sample the wine. O'Brien Estate is a small winery well worth visiting that requires an appointment that can easily be made by phone or email. They recently submitted some of their wines to Robert Parker for review and you may read excerpts here. https://www.obrienestate.com/pages/Robert-Parker-Reviews.html read more