![_San Francisco's Emergency Warning System To Play Tony Bennett At Noon? [Tragic Update]](http://sfist.com/assets_c/2012/02/Tony-Bennett-young-and-we-thumb-250x250-693953.jpg)
Wednesday Wine Tasting: Hess Collection
After admitting our preference for the Sonoma side of things, we'll give a little attention today to Napa, where both a winery and a world-class art gallery sit atop Mount Vedeer at the southern end of the Valley.
The Hess Collection winery and art collection, both owned by Swiss entrepreneur Donald Hess, is a well established landmark in California winemaking. You arrive in a stone-walled, European castle-like tasting room to taste a few excellent wines, and you are free to stay and wander upstairs to a two-story art gallery that includes some fantastic late-20th-century pieces by Francis Bacon, Robert Motherwell, and Magdalena Abakanowicz.
Highlight wines include well-balanced and classic Cabernets and Chardonnays, as well as some solid and reasonably priced blends and other basic varietals like Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. In particular, be sure to try the Mount Vedeer 19 Block Cuvée ($36) and the Small Block Syrah Rosé ($18).
Though the price points for the 4+-year-old Cabs tend to rise into the range we can't abide (over $50), the newer vintages are well balanced with mixing grapes, not overly tannic, and well worth saving for a few years. But honestly, what keeps us coming back to Hess when friends are in town is the whole experience of the place, and this rich man's considerable, personal art museum tucked into the hills overlooking the Napa Valley.
Hess Collection Winery, 4411 Redwood Road, Napa, CA - See map here.
PREVIOUSLY: Wednesday Wine Tasting: Preston of Dry Creek
SFist Drinks: Cline Cellars