We first heard about Italics Winegrowers from Carrie Underwood. She posted photos with her husband, Mike Fisher of her wine tasting experience on her Instagram account, stating, “Napa Valley, you are my happy place!” We couldn’t agree more.

This was a winery we had not heard about, which peaked our curiosity. We have been to Napa Valley many times, how did this one slip under our radar? What was so special about this one to attract a celebrity? Well now, we can tell you. Italics has been one of our most incredible and favorite wine tasting experiences to date. Read on to find out why.

Italics Winegrowers is a fairly new winery, established in 2014, opening their cave doors in 2016. Located in Coombsville, East of Downtown Napa, it is surrounded by the Vaca Mountains, which creates a gorgeous background to your views.

It was obvious as soon as we arrived, that this was unlike most of the traditional wineries we had been too. Built into the hillside, the entrance has a modern exterior with huge glass doors. We were welcomed with a friendly smile from our host, who handed us our first wine tasting. Then we loaded into their Austrain Pinzgauser, much like a Jurassic Park jeep you’ve seen in movies, and headed off to a vineyard and wine making tour.

They drove us for a fun ride through the vineyards explaining the differences in soil and the unique and very interesting history of the winery. Once we arrived at their wine making facility, it was time for our second tasting.

This is what they call winery tailgating, because we were being poured from the back of the jeep. It was so much fun to pick a grape directly off of the vines from the vineyard that grew the wine we were sipping.

In the facility, they were busy crushing grapes and going through the winemaking process and we got to meet the winery’s dog, which you know was a highlight for me! Soon enough, the ever so laid back and charming owner himself, Ken Martin, came to give us a further tour of the process and told us the heartwarming story about how he bought his wife, Sue, a new piece of wine making machinery for their 50th anniversary! 

After the tour, we climbed into the Austrain Pinzgauser and headed back up to the winery to explore the 16,000 sq. ft. caves, where we had the most gorgeous private tasting.

Our host was very knowledgeable and kept it fun! We tasted the 2016 Proprietary white and the 2015 Proprietary red, both were very good. We also tasted Petit Verdot and the 2015 Cabernet, but our favorite was the Sixteen Appellations. We purchased some of our favorites and headed outside to enjoy a picnic style lunch by Bouchon Bakery, by far, the BEST sandwich I’ve ever had!

If you are planning a trip to Napa, we highly recommend you include Italics on your itinerary. The wines are fabulous, the view amazing and the team exceptional!

Tell them SippnSunshine sent you, cheers!

Winery: Italics Winegrowers

Address: 40 Rapp Lane, Napa, CA 94558

Phone: (707) 258-0106

Visiting Hours: 10am - 4pm

Reservations: Tastings by Appointment Only

Tasting Fee: $50 - $150

Duration: 60 min / 90 min / 120 minutes

Website: Italics Winegrowers

Cancellation Policy: 48 hours in advance

Our experience: The Vineyard / Cave Tour & Tasting with Picnic Lunch

You can view and purchase Italics wines here.

Please drink responsibly.

If you are planning a trip to Napa and would like information on where to stay, eat and sip wine, check out our Guide to Napa Valley here.

If you would like to see more Wine Wednesday posts, click here.

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