Chappellet Winery is not just someplace you pop into on your way to somewhere else. Being there is never a fun bit of serendipity, never a surprise. You have to want to go there. In fact, you should want to go there.

That’s appropriate given the Chappellet family’s pioneering role in today’s Napa Valley wine industry. Since 1967, when Donn and Molly Chappellet left Los Angeles, five children in tow, and traded in a comfortable, some might say more civilized, way of life for a new beginning half way up Napa’s Pritchard Hill, the Chappellets have been a mainstay in the growth, development, and increasing popularity of Napa wines. With the founding of their eponymous winery in the Vaca Mountains on the eastern side of the valley, they proved that great wines can be made from the bold and concentrated fruit that thrives in such a setting, paving the way for many of Napa’s finest wineries to follow their lead and do the same.

To continue reading my review of Chappellet Winery. . .

http://www.americanwineryguide.com/winery_reviews/chappellet-winery/861/