Robert Craig Winery Tasting Salon

I found these guys on Instagram first and quickly went to Unilocal to check them out. Reading the reviews for RCW is interesting here. Most of them say the wine is fabulous because, well, the wine is fabulous. Since their vineyards are all way up in mountainous areas, they have this «downtown» tasting room which some here don’t seem to like. It makes sense to me however. I love wine and I love mountain driving but not always at the same time.
Approaching the tasting room, we were a bit underwhelmed. It’s in an industrial type building and it’s way in the back. The website said «by appointment only» but we called and said we’d like to taste in 10 minutes and they said «come on over.»
As soon as we walked in, any apprehension about the location melted away. It’s a very nicely appointed room that looks out on a gorgeous wooded area and an inviting lawn. Yes, as some have pointed out, you can see a bit of parking lot but jeebus, you can suspend reality to see past a tiny bit of asphalt for all the awesomeness of the tasting room, nature and great service. Tia (I think her name was) was very knowledgeable about the wine and charming as well.
But isn’t this really about the wine? I’m all for watching baby deer and nymphs frolic with unicorns in fields of clover but if the wine isn’t good, I’m wasting my time.
The wine is amazing! Since they do grow at higher rocky elevations, they get awesome little fighter grapes that are determined to make an superior bottle of wine (I think there’s a fair amount of science beyond that but it’s my mental image and I’m sticking to it). The sauvignon blanc was great but it was the Cabs and blends that soared. My favorite was the 2012 Affinity. My socks blown off, we had to take a few bottles home.
I highly recommend this place. Because of the location (and great wine), you should hit them on your way in.

This is not your normal wineries/​vineyards in Napa valley. This is basically a tasting room in part of a commercial business building. By appointment only. Wines here are mainly reds. Not much service here. You get your pour one after another and you’re done. I thought with being reservations only you would get more knowledgeable insights about their brand/​wines. Basically this was an in and out… and I’m not talking about burgers, which would have been more satisfying. Not worth the price

Really enjoyed our visit. Hostess was very friendly and knowledgeable about the wines. The atmosphere was very relaxed and laid back. I’ve been a fan of the wines for a long time so it was great to visit and try the current releases. Highly recommend if you enjoy Cabs

I was not a fan of this place. It is indoors, in a parking lot, with very little greenery– not really how I want to be wine tasting in Napa.
The wine was fine and we were able to try 6 (I think), however, I had to put my credit card information down for a reservation and was going to be charged if we didn’t show, but we went and it was very empty and weird atmosphere.
I wouldn’t come here again.

Robert Craig. The Mountain Man! This winery has some spectacular wines! I tried their 2010 Affinity last year and I could not stop thinking about it! Their wine is smooth and fruit foward. Especially their affinity.
When we came to the tasting room we were late for our appointment and informed them and they were more than accomodating to have us come in even though they already had someone schduled. This is tasting room where they pride themselves in 100% attention to you. Usually they only take 1 tasting at a time but they were willing to accomodate my girlfriend and I. When we arrived, to our delight the other folks that was schduled at that same time was running late as well! (There was a TONNN of traffic everywhere that day!) The tasting room attendant poured our wines and engaged in productive small talk and asked us where else we were headed. I told her Twenty Rows across the street and she automatically hooked it up with free tastings at about 5 tasting rooms along with Twenty Rows! Now THAT is service! We eventually took on of the free tasting waivers and used it later that day. It was a wonderful personalized tasting and I did not feel rushed. The décor was nice and homely. All wines were spectacular! I eventually bought a few bottles of the Affinity and a bottle of their Zin! All so well priced for the quality of the wines they are producing! Can’t wait to come back soon!

Not going to lie, I definitely felt like we had exclusive all-​access passes to Robert Craig when we visited. A classy experience indeed! We pretty much had the place to ourselves when we stopped in on a Saturday afternoon. Tia behind the counter was lovely. Very knowledgable about the wines. Our favorites were the two cabs but honestly, I was pretty happy with the entire flight. We’ve have a bottle of their cab laying down for a few years now, seems we can now open that one up since we replenished our RC inventory this weekend :)

This review is not about the tasting room but about the wine. When we were visiting Twenty Rows for wine tasting they recommended this place. While we were there Robert dropped in for a chat and, we were introduced to him. Unfortunately we were short of time and could not make it to the cellar door for tasting. After the evening I was a bit disappointed that we did not do so.
That evening we were at the Village Pub and there was one of his wines on the list, a 2011 Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon. I decided to pick it as a wine to try considering what had happened in the morning.
This is a great wine and we all loved it. Not too big, complex nose and great tasting and it was the perfect wine for the Muscovy duck we had. The sommelier was also very excited about this wine and was pleased we chose it.
I like to acknowledge good things when I see them and this is one of those occasions. I would happily consider adding this wine to my collection and I believe it has excellent cellaring potential. I reckon this wine will be a cracker in another 5 years time :-))

I visited Robert Craig this past weekend on a winery tour with 8 other women. It was our very first stop. I had heard that it was a great place downtown to kick off a weekend of tasting, and it definitely was. It is a small and intimate setting. They had set us up outside on the patio which was perfect. This was the only place we went to on our first day and we went in the afternoon as a stop before dinner downtown.
We had the BEST time and it was mostly due to our wine expert, Tia. She was hilarious and gave us a «Wine Tasting 101» since some of us were newbies to Napa. She made us laugh and let us know what to expect without talking down to us or making us feel silly for asking any questions. The wines were wonderful as well. We ended up buying a couple of bottles for our house for the weekend, as well as shipping some home from Robert Craig. I would definitely go back to this downtown gem!

Friendly and interesting. This was our first tasting booked due to its proximity to our hotel. The wineries were good. Not a bad value but not a deal either.

Affinity & Howell Mountain was why we put Robert Craig on our itinerary… was a bit concerned with the location, but as others have said, the inside was very comfortable and relaxing, and Jeff was absolutely a delight to talk with and he expertly guided us. Was a great start to our trip!

We had the pleasure of trying one of their earlier vintages which drove us to visit. Their tucked away tasting room location near downtown Napa speaks of the hidden gems in this region.
Tia was extremely hospitable, knowledgeable, and spent ample time with us telling us the history behind the wines. We had no idea they produced a very tasty Chardonnay that is not high in the vanilla, oaky flavors often reminiscent of the area’s production styles.
However, the Affinity drew us here and continued to be our preferred wine. Smooth, fruity, and will age well. The spicier flavors in the Howell Mountain vintages will beg for food pairings.
Definitely something to try, bring home, and share with others.

Robert Craig is a member of Gems of the Valley, an exclusive wine membership club of nine prestigious wineries in the Napa Valley. The tasting room is located in downtown Napa. The vineyard is not open to visitors or tastings. Delicious, fruit forward Cabs!

Elegant reds and blends. On the drier side.
Off the beaten path and service was very friendly.
I bought a bottle and look forward to drinking it.

I’ve been a fan of RC for many years — love the Mt. Veeder and Howell Mt. The folks that work there are fantastic and really make you feel welcomed. Not your typical wine tasting experience at a winery– it’s all about the wines. I do appreciate making by appointments only tastings as you do get a more intimate feel.

The tasting room at RC has a modern but warm vibe and almost has a cozy feel to it. As for the wines, they seem to be well made. The Chardonnay was tropical and creamy with good acidity, but for what it was it was pricey. The cabs are BIG. Tasting 2008 & 2009 vintages, it was hard to determine if I liked them. The tannins punched you in the face and it was hard for me to get past that. In addition, these have pretty high alcohol percentages (14.5%+), which is why they were so hot.
There is definitely an audience for the wines served here and I can see people enjoying them.

These are some of the best cabs in the region hands down. The tasting room operates by appointment only and the customer experience is not the most informative out there. But these wines are a breath of fresh air compared with the overripe fruitpunch many Napa wineries are making. Dry, structured, sophisticated cabs are what you will find here and if that’s what you’re after, you won’t be disappointed.

If you love terroir driven red wines, especially Cabs, you will find Robert Craig wines to be exceptionally good with much character. Robert Craig has been referred to as a Napa Valley «mountain man.» He produces Cabernet Sauvignon from some of the highest areas above Napa Valley, including Mt. Veeder and Howell Mountain. Robert Craig Winery is located up on Howell Mountain at 2300 feet and was opened in 2002, but they have a very modern looking tasting room in Napa near Central Valley Builders Supply. The tasting room is open by appointment and charges $ 20 for a tasting. Short notice appointments are sometimes available if they are not too busy, so if you are in the area, and love serious red wines, be sure to call them and they might be able to accommodate you for a tasting. Staff is friendly and helpful.
Robert Craig Cabs are noted for their emphasis on terroir, each wine having the unique characteristics of the soil, microclimate, vines, etc. where they are grown. They are also well known for their consistently high quality red wines. These are serious wines intended for those who really love red wine.
Our tasting began with the 2010 Durell Vineyard Chardonnay at $ 48. It has no malolactic conversion and is a good fresh, crisp wine with just a hint of oak. This was followed by the 2008 Affinity at $ 50 which is a Bordeaux type Cab. It was a good cab with some cherry on the palate and mellow tannins. A step up was the 2008 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon for $ 70. This is not too big at all for a mountain cab. It had some blackberry with nice fruit and soft, integrated tannins and a long finish. I don’t think it will cellar that long, so drink it soon. Possibly even better was the 2008 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon at $ 80, a darker fruit cab with some spice and smooth tannins. At only $ 50 the 2009 Howell Mountain Zinfandel from Black Sears Vineyard was very nice and possibly our favorite for the money. It is a bright Zin but still smooth with good Zin spice. Quite good for only $ 30 was the 2009 Mt. George Cuvee which is a Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot blend.
Robert Craig wines do not overwhelm you with huge, late picked, super ripe fruit. They are more about complexity and subtlety. If you are an experienced Cab lover, you will certainly want to visit them and you will undoubtedly want to make some purchases.

The tasting room here is kind of randomly in a commercial plaza, easy to miss. But, the wines here are pretty good if you’re a red wine fan. The reds were very flavorful, and the prices do reflect that ;) I did end up picking up an $ 80 bottle of red because my fiancé loved it so much, he was seriously get excited just smelling the wine over and over again. I have to say, 5 stars for their wines.
In any case, the tasting room is definitely more posh in the sense that they do have very nice furniture, not extremely comfortable, but great to look at. The lady that helped us was fairly helpful as well, explaining a lot about the vineyards that they own. But we walked in without an appointment, so when their 3:30pm appointment (group of 4) walked in, there was definitely little attention for us since she was the only one working at that time. However, their wines are good and I would recommend stopping by to try their reds. The experience just felt less personal and maybe because of the posh décor, it felt less relaxing for me.

When you go wine tasting in major vineyards a lot is lost when tasters serve big parties or lots of people (unless you have a private tour) but Robert Craig was excellent. It was a small building that catered to small groups and our taste master Jeff was the best maestro yet. He broke it down to us and told us about every vineyard region in this area, dropping vital wine knowledge in our brains and we learned so much as rookie winos. Not only did he drop beverage knowledge he also helped guide our hunger palate as well, letting us know the ins and outs of what’s good food and whats a tourist trap in Napa. Thank you Jeff.
But to get back to wine I loved the Affinity Cab and for those in a budget the cuvée is definitely a must for an everyday drink!

Definitely off the beaten path, but great wines overall, we didn’t turn a nose up at a single one. RC owns quite a bit of land that he bought in the 70s in the upper regions in the hills and mountains, so he tends to get some great grape blends. They’re in an office building right outside of downtown Napa building, not what you’d expect for a winery, but actually has a great view of a small wood clearing so you don’t notice after you’re settled in. Just remember to make an appointment!