Frog's Leap Winery
Two generations of Williams family winemakers on the same Rutherford ground, and a $50 seat in the garden behind the Red Barn. Closed Wednesdays.
Why go
The house works the Rutherford AVA for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc, with two generations of the Williams family in the cellar.1 The Rooted in Rutherford tasting spends ninety minutes on what that appellation does to those three grapes, $100.1 Behind the historic Red Barn there is a frog pond, and behind that a walled garden where the $50 tasting happens outdoors.1 As the winery approaches fifty years it has started opening library bottles: Time in a Bottle runs Friday to Sunday at four, $100.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: Rooted in Rutherford if you want the appellation explained with the wines in front of you.1
- Order: the Family-Friendly Garden Tasting if you have children along. Adults get four wines and the kids get a seasonal drink.1
- Avoid: a Wednesday. The two daily tastings do not run and the afternoon ones start Thursday.1
Good to know
- Hours: the daily tastings start at 10:30am, closed Wednesdays. The 4pm tastings run Thursday to Monday and Friday to Sunday.1
- Who gets in: four of the six tastings are 21 and over. Children and dogs stay out of the winemaking buildings.1
- Booking: through the winery's own reservation pages, and the visit page carries the phone number.1
- Hygiene: not established. No inspection instrument for this county is on file here.
Verdict
should-visit — Two generations of the Williams family work the same Rutherford ground for Cabernet, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc, and the tasting called Rooted in Rutherford is built to explain exactly that for $100 and ninety minutes. Fifty dollars gets you the garden behind the Red Barn instead, which is the cheapest real seat in this part of the valley. It is also one of the few estates here with a tasting written for people who brought their kids. Time in a Bottle pulls library corks on Friday through Sunday afternoons. No critic was read on the wine, which is the only thing keeping it off the top rung.