I had taken some wine-making classes, and bought the equipment..I must have done something right .. my second vintage was an award winner.

The Graeser Winery on Petrified Forest Road, high above Calistoga and the valley floor, is a hidden treasure. Named in 1886 by its founder Richard Beverly Cole "La Perlita del Monte", it is truly a little pearl of the mountain well worth the extra effort required to get there. Winding up the wooded driveway, off Petrified Forest Road, a visitor to Graeser Winery might be moving back through time into the 1800's. The house, the barns and other outbuildings are vintage in their own right. In an atmosphere so evocative of the past, a visitor must remind himself that Graeser Winery is very much a part of the 21st century, and was bonded, in fact, so recently as 1985. The vines that look native to the hillsides they cover are producing superior fruit. Elevation and locale give the Graeser ranch its own microclimate, and with no other wineries nearby, it can truly be called unique.

Graeser Winery provides a perfect setting for the enjoyment of tasting some of Napa Valley's award winning wines. Richard Graeser has planted Cabernet Sauvignon for the most part, with some acres of Merlot and Cabernet Franc for blending. The vines yield a classic, Bordeaux-style Cabernet, a wine increasingly popular with California vintners and consumers. Your host is often the winemaker and owner himself who gladly shares his experience, historical knowledge and his vintage wines.