Sinegal- Elegant Wines and a Secret Garden
Who should go to Sinegal?
Welcome to Sinegal…here is the key to the secret garden!
You go for the wines - balanced and beautiful. Sinegal is for individuals who are on a quest to taste superior wines. This is the kind of experience you seek out if you take your wines seriously and you hope to add some very special bottles to your cellar. I am not saying there is a hard sell-there is not- but certainly there is an expectation that if you make an appointment here, its not just for a fun time. You are a wine connoisseur, and you also can afford it. You also go for the tranquil and elegant setting and the “secret” garden. This 30 acre certified organic property is well off the beaten path and away from the hordes of tourists, yet it is only 10 minutes from St. Helena. Sinegal to me is romance; both in the bottle and on the property…and this is the vibe I got when I went with three gal friends! Imagine being there with a partner, boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse?
What to Expect?
Tastings are private and safely outside on a lovely patio just in front of a small but nicely appointed tasting room. This little room will be lovely on a cooler day, but on a warm day, the patio with a Feng Shui fountain softly gurgling, and the view of the gardens beyond, is perfection. You are greeted by your host with a glass of bubbles to take with you on a stroll around the property. I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, a glass of bubbles is the very best way to begin any activity.
The intimate tasting room, just for you.
Note: I do recommend shoes you can walk through garden paths comfortably. First you will walk through the lovely gardens and then a visit to the farm animals- that you can feed, if you want (who doesn’t want to feed goats, they are so darn cute). A winery that has playful goats and a big fat adorable piggy gets extra points! The tour continues up to the original residence, an old 1881 home, built by the first owner of the property. Alton Williams purchased the 30 acre property, known as the Inglewood Estate, for $7,500 in 1879. It was first home to the Williams Family who then passed it on to the Jaeger family, who in turn sold it to the Wolff Family. Since 2013, it is a second home to the current owners of the property, the Sinegal Family, who bought the property and winery for a mere $20 million dollars.
Next, we doubled back down past where we started, then up a sloped path and as we came to flat ground, a stunning and unexpectedly beautiful vista was revealed. I almost don’t want to write it here, because it will spoil the surprise. On the other hand, my readership is so curated and VIP, that we can all rest assured that this little nugget of insider information definitely doesn’t have a chance to go viral! If you read this, and plan to take a friend or partner there, maybe keep this surprise to be spontaneously experienced on site. What you come upon as you come up this little hill, is a gorgeous little lake, complete with a wooden swing and romantic gazebo. The gazebo can also be accommodated to host a wine tasting of two to four people. Monet would have been in heaven here. If anyone is planning a romantic wine tasting, or proposal spot - this just might be your winery of choice! I certainly would love to come back here for a tasting with my husband!
The Beautiful Wines
After the tour you will settle in at the patio table for a very special tasting served in lovely Austrian crystal SW glasses ( self proclaimed The Perfect Glass. ) These glasses really are quite fabulous and would make a perfect Christmas gift for a wine loving person on your list. We have a few at home and they can safely be run through the dishwasher (on the crystal setting if you have that).
The Sinegal wines are gorgeous. The label depicts an antique key, and is a representation of the actual key to the old Victorian home. The actual physical key itself is framed as a piece of art in the tasting room. The label is simple and elegant, a nod to the balanced properties of wine. I also love the idea of this old romantic key as a symbol of the wine and the brand, and the meanings one can assign to that. It makes me think of one of my favorite tales as a child, The Secret Garden.
It was fun to learn the story of the wines and the property from our host, Doug White, a Napa local who knows almost everything going on in the valley. Doug used to offer bespoke wine tours around the valley, and is locally known as one of the top tour guides, so you know he has some great stories to tell! As to the owners themselves, a very quick Google search reveals that the owners are the father and son founders of Costco, James (the father) and David Sinegal. This is not an uncommon story for younger wineries these days. In the Valley many of the oldest wineries were started by immigrants from Germany and Europe. In the 70’s it was trendy for hippies to relocate to the Valley, ready to turn on The Man and choose a pastoral life, while in the 80’s and beyond we find wineries started by successful business people in different industries who, now retired and flush with cash, are able to follow their dreams to buy or develop a winery. Porter Family Vineyards (Hewlett Packard), Palmaz Vineyards (the Stent), and Swanson Vineyards (Swanson Frozen Foods) are just a few examples of these newer wineries that come to mind-and all of them are excellent and worth a visit. I think it is important these days to know who is behind the wine you drink. I was therefore very pleased to read in Wikipedia that David Sinegal is a big supporter of Democratic causes- and I feel like buying their wine is putting money towards a company that I know treats its employees fairly and supports the same values that I do. That feels good. Another internet nugget: David Sinegal is also behind the launch of the fantastic and successful Wine and Spirits division at Costco. (If you don’t already know, the Costco wine selection is quite extraordinary. It will come as no surprise then, that Sinegal has two labels; a pricier label (a black background) and a label that is more affordable the white background). All of the wines we tried are delicious and the creations of winemaker, Ryan Knoth. I absolutely love the Sauvignon Blanc, which I already need to re-purchase, and the estate Cabernet Sauvignon is velvet. Whether you choose the key with the black background or the key with the white background, you truly can’t go wrong!
