Regusci Winery
The Cellar Lounge sits inside the Occidental, a gravity-fed ghost winery, and pours library bottles among the barrels. Ten to four, by reservation, off Silverado Trail.
Why go
The building came first. The Occidental is a gravity-fed ghost winery, one of the pre-Prohibition places that stood empty for decades, and the Regusci family put its most serious tasting inside it: seated among aging barrels, library and limited-production wines, a host talking through how the family makes them.1 The Ranch Tour walks the property instead, through selected Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blocks and the culinary garden, and it warns you about uneven ground because there is real ground to cover.1 Five generations have farmed here, and Laura Regusci runs a bouquet workshop out of the gardens on 3 and 4 September for $25 with a glass of rosé.1 The winery also keeps a second room downtown at 948 Main Street; the estate is the one on the trail.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Cellar Lounge if you want the ghost winery from the inside, with the library bottles.1
- Order: the Terrace Experience on a warm day. Four wines in carafes, self-poured, nobody narrating.1
- Avoid: bringing food or anyone under 21. Nothing from outside comes onto the property, and the garden terrace is 21 and over.1
What locals & experts say
- Regusci Winery, on the Ranch Tour:
Led by a knowledgeable host, guests will explore select Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot vineyard blocks, visit the culinary garden, and gain insight into our historic gravity-fed Occidental 'ghost' Winery.
1 - The same winery, on the estate:
At our historic Regusci Winery in the Stags Leap District, step back in time at one of California's original Ghost Wineries and explore the vineyards, gardens, and estate wines that define our family legacy.
2
Both lines are the family talking about the family. I found no outside writer on these wines this pass, so I have no critic's call for you.
Good to know
- Hours: 10am to 4pm, reservation only, booked through Tock or by calling and texting 707-254-0403.1
- Prices run $45 to $125, and the winery's page lists them without saying which experience is which, so ask when you book.1
- Two doors. The estate is 5584 Silverado Trail; Downtown Regusci is 948 Main Street in Napa. This entry is the estate.2
- Hygiene: not established. No inspection instrument for this county is on file here.
Verdict
could-visit — The Occidental is a gravity-fed ghost winery, one of the pre-Prohibition buildings that sat empty for decades, and Regusci pours its library and limited bottles inside it among the barrels. That is worth the stop on a trail where most tasting rooms were built this century. The Ranch Tour walks you through named Zinfandel, Cabernet and Merlot blocks and the culinary garden rather than pointing at a hillside, and the Terrace is four wines in carafes with nobody hovering, which is the version to take on a hot afternoon. Prices run $45 to $125 and the winery does not say on its page which format costs what, so ask when you book. No outside palate was read on the wines here, so the rung is the property and the visit.