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Jennifer S. said: "One Name... RED. She definately made this place. Besides the wines, which were really good. She made the experience for my girlfriends and I. We ended up buying a bottle, and taking it back to our hotel and finished out our wine…" read more »
22 reviews for Gustavo Thrace
22 reviews in English
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Review from Roger H.
San Francisco, CA
10/12/2011
Old world style wines grown by one of the most famous grape growers/wine makers in both valleys. It's either a love or hate experience because your palette may have certain expectations of certain wines.
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Review from Tammy C.
(See pics)
Review #1038.
After eating at Fatted Calf across the street, we were ready to try some wines as lovely Yelper Julie K has suggested.
Such a neat cool wine tasting room with an enthusiastic lady describing wines and a fun wall of Bottleshock history, a pinball machine. Eclectic setting.
Wines were fun to taste and very decent prices. It feels almost like someone's home game room. -
Review from Steve N.
9/15/2011
Gustavo Thrace is a must visit for any level of wine enthusiast. Long story short, Gustavo was raised in the vineyards and has wine in his blood. Thrace is the partner with a deep love of viticulture and has business talent. Together, we all have the benefit of Gustavo Thrace wines that can be found near the Oxbow market in Napa.
We were lucky enough to taste wines with Thrace herself. Personality for days and knowledge to share, we enjoyed the visit as much as the wines themselves. We tried a number of wines, but only left one bottle of "The Third Bottle" red. However, we did take home a white, but that was Toolbox. Thrace also has another wine making partnership that benefits Habitat for Humanity and shares the same tasting room.
Really, there's a lot that could be said. Bottom line, it's a great stop during your visit to Napa Valley or on your Bottleshock tour. -
Review from Tracy A.
Oakland, CA
12/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
We took a cab downtown and this was our first stop. The pourer was really nice. We had a Living Social deal so we got a free signed bottle of wine and a copy of the DVD Bottle Shock with one of my favorite actors from Six Feet Under: Freddy Rodriguez. They share the space with Toolbox.
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Review from Jenn N.
7/9/2011
We were lucky enough to be hosted by Thrace herself. She is a wealth of knowledge and a joy to chat with.
Gustavo? This man knows how to make wine. It was tough to decide on a purchase. The Syrah was sublime. Thrace told us that when Gustavo first stuck his nose in the Rutherford Cabernet, it reminded him of riding his bike through the vineyards as a kid.
There is no mistaking, he was born to be a winemaker.
The tasting room is bright, clean and inviting. It's conveniently located across the street from the Oxbow market.Listed in: Bottle Shock Tour
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Review from Elizabeth H.
Irvine, CA
6/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Essentially hole-in-the-wall, added to my Napa for Beginner's List for a number of reasons:
1) It's conveniently located across the street from Ox Fam market, which is a lovely stop to buy handmade Napa chocolates, fresh bread, and cheeses (see review).
2) It's in downtown Napa, which has the Napa Welcome Center (maps, publications, magazines etc). Though a stop by the Welcome Center isn't necessary. At Gustavo Thrace, we were given a thick Napa Valley guide / manual (a wonderful keepsake in itself) that listed EVERY winery in the valley, along with address, number, and hours. It was by far the most referenced resource of the day.
3) Gustavo Thrace is mentioned in the movie Bottle Shock (which my father says is really "essential viewing" for a Napa - newb). They have a whole wall dedicated to the film, as well as some promotional freebies.
4) This is the only location you can buy Gustavo Thrace wine. It is boutique - exclusive. So if you want a bottle, you must stop by. The Third Bottle red and whites are particularly outstanding for a table wine.
5) Having downloaded the http://Wine.com application, and after mentioning the complimentary tasting promotion, our group of three was treated to a very large variety of wines. Including the new Toolbox wines, a Thrace venture. I believe we tasted seven varieties, the largest tasting of the day. Especially generous since it was complimentary.
6) One of the owners may be on site. Thrace was there and she was lovely. She gave us some background on how she met Gustavo, and her personal thoughts on wine. We took pictures, we joked, she was very welcoming and not at all a pushy saleswoman. I appreciated how she let the wines speak for themselves and only spoke about them to answer our questions.
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As noted, this is a downtown location with little curb appeal. The interior is not minimal like most, or plushly decorated like some. It presents like a storefront with a tasting bar in the back.
This is a great way to start off the day in Napa as it poses such a contrast to the estates you will most likely be visiting. Getting a variety of experiences is as essential as getting a variety of tastes. -
Review from Jeremy G.
12/13/2010
I wasn't sure how Gustavo would compare to the other wineries I had been to earlier in the day. The storefront did not create the same type of atmosphere as the estate houses I had already been to. However, this by far was the best wine tasting I had out of the entire day in the Napa area.
My friend was on a mission to snag much wine from this place and we almost missed them, but the gal working on Sunday was nice enough to stay open for us. She was funny, friendly and made sure we got to taste all of the wines. She even brought out chocolate truffles when the subject of truffles came up. I really liked all the wines I tried here and we even got dragged into a game. My friend had a glass of the Gustavo Cab and I had a glass of the Toolbox (their more economical line of wines) Cab and our tasting guide marked them and we had to blind taste to see which was the expensive vs. the cheaper Cab. My friend and I both got it wrong, but it was really fun to try and use our palates.
All in all, Gustavo Thrace has great wine and even better customer service. The entire process rejuvenated me as it was our fifth winery of the day. Additionally, they had chairs! That made me tremendously happy.
If you are going to wine country, don't miss this place. -
Review from Jason L.
Wauwatosa, WI
10/1/2010
When we think of wineries and tasting rooms the last place I bet any of us picture is a storefront/strip mall-like location. But for some reason Gustavo Thrace is located in one and definitely off the beaten path of many of the other wineries in the region.
We arrived and were the only ones there on a Sunday afternoon so we had the dedicated attention of our server. On her suggestion we decided to split a tasting of 10 wines though she gave us an additional couple wines to taste. All of the wines served were from the Gustavo Thrace label and a new label of wines called Toolbox. None of them were spectacular but they were good.
We ended up buying one bottle of chardonnay and if it wasn't for the great service I would definitely have given it 2 stars as there are other wineries that provide a better overall experience combined with better wines. -
Review from Ophelia H.
Oakland, CA
7/14/2011
We visited the Gustavo Thrace tasting room and got complimentary tastings served by Thrace, who was great to chat with (and also dished some fun behind-the-scenes info on the movie Bottle Shock, which Gustavo is portrayed in). At one point, when we were discussing the difference between two cabs, Thrace mixed the two into a glass for us to taste -- which I've never seen any winemaker do before! It was definitely an entertaining experience overall. Both the Gustavo-Thrace and the Toolbox lines featured some delicious and very reasonably priced wines. We purchased the Gustavo Thrace Third Bottle red and the Toolbox Pinot Grigio and Merlot.
For our wedding (which was just a week later), we decided to use bottles from wineries or tasting rooms that we have visited instead of table numbers. A bottle of Gustavo Thrace graced our head table. :-) -
Review from Anya R.
5/5/2010 2 photos
This is the place that has a movie about them! Bottle Shock! It made me want to watch this movie!
We got two free tastings of the bottle the lady had open so one red and one white.
Lots of art pieces and some fun things to look at but didn't seem like a place to just lounge around at.Listed in: Napa Wine Country, Yountville,…
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Review from patricia patti p w.
San Diego, CA
6/1/2009
We staggered off of the Wine Train and came here. Having just watched Bottle Shock prior to our trip (funny movie), we decided to check it out. Yes the wine is VERY, VERY good!! Charming inside and the owner, lovely Thrace was there with a friend who also owns a winery.
I am giving them five stars because Thrace was cool and was very friendly. Lady KNOWS her wine quality also. She was so candid and open about the movie too, I really loved hearing stories. Hell, both of those ladies there were nice enough to laugh at my husband's lame jokes.... Anyhow, don't miss this one, just get in there.
I am off to order two bottles on line...rather order them pants-less, you can't do that in stores these days...:P! -
Review from Erica L.
Santa Monica, CA
9/8/2009
Yep, they were also both here when we came for a tasting (and signed our bottle). Seriously delicious wines. Charming service.
go now.Listed in: Napa Valley
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Review from rosquete b.
Belmont, CA
8/7/2010
Jesus was the perfect host.
Gustavo Brambila (nice guy) worked for Grgich Hills for many years and was played by Freddy Rodriquez in the movie "Bottle Shock" (where the California wines kicked booty in an international wine competition).
Great chardonnay, barbera, merlot, and cab.
Put on do not miss list. -
Review from M C.
San Francisco, CA
4/18/2010
Came here because they had a nice clean and welcoming entrance so decided to go in for some tasting. The gentlemen was fairly friendly in welcoming us. As I tasted the wine I didn't really think much of it, nothing really special about their flavors. And the price for their bottles were, overpriced.
As we finished the tasting, that was when he told us the price of the wine tasting. $5 per person was bad, just would had been nice to have him say so before hand. If it was anymore than that I would had really been upset. -
Review from samanta v.
Healdsburg, CA
11/19/2008
Came here yesterday after our trip to Oxbow Market. Met Thrace (co-owner)
Wonderful Hospitality! Had an amazing time chatting with her, and learning about thier wines and also about the winepod.
The Barbera is incredible. So is the Cab. The other wines were nice too, but those were my favorites.
They have some pretty cool stuff that is bottle shock movie related too, but the main reason to go here is the wine. It's a solid choice.Listed in: al pan pan y al vino vino,…
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Review from Andrea C.
8/7/2009 1 Check-in Here
Gustavo and Thrace were both here when I came and they were so welcoming. I told Thrace that I found a coupon online for complimentary tasting, but that I couldn't print it out and she said it was fine. Therefore our tasting = free! Yaay! We tried 5 wines and they also had chocolate truffles and pretzels (more exciting than the crackers that every other place has!).
I'm no wine drinker, but I would have to say of all the 8 places I did wine tastings on my trip to napa, I enjoyed these wines the best! On my wine tasting experiences I learned that my favorite was sauvignon blanc.. and i LOVED it here! Dang, I should've bought myself a bottle. I even enjoyed the red wines (which I usually dont..).
Usually the tasting is $10, and I think you get to keep the glass if you pay for the tasting. I WOULD pay the $10 to come back here again if I didn't have a coupon. It's worth it. -
Review from Jim O.
Gilroy, CA
1/10/2011
Visited the Gustavo Thrace tasting room on Saturday, Jan 8, 2011. It was our second visit. The first time was a couple of years ago, and both owners, Gustavo (winemaker) and Thrace (her card says "Marketing Queen") were there. Our experience was very good, so we decided to visit and taste again.
The tasting room is in a store front, about a block from the Napa Wine Train station. It's not a fancy edifice, like some Napa wineries, but we were there for the wine, not the superficialities. (It's also within easy walking distance of at least four other tasting rooms.)
Neither Gustavo nor Thrace was there. Lacey was behind the tasting counter. She was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and represents the winery very well. We tasted wines from two labels: Gustavo Thrace, and the newer Toolbox label, which is a partnership of Thrace and two other people. The Gustavo Thrace wines were as good as we remembered them. The Toolbox label is designed to be very affordable -- several different wines, all priced at $14/bottle. We bought some of both.
I hope that Gustavo and Thrace know how good Lacey is. If I owned a winery, I'd hire her for my tasting room staff in a minute! -
Review from Krystal R.
Anaheim, CA
2/18/2010 1 photo
Our cousin, Bruce, had told us to watch the movie Bottleshock prior to our Napa trip. It's a great movie that tells the true story of the events that led to Paris wine tasting of 1976, where Napa won over the French wine. Chris Pine aka Captain Kirk plays a wacky hippie, and Gustavo Brambila is a friend and co-worker of his at Chateau Montelena. Gustavo had the keen taste for wine, and was working on his own wines. I knew that we had to stop by and see his boutique. It's a cute little wine boutique right in the middle of Oxbow Square, so it's not hard to find at all. I'm only sad that we didn't get to meet him or Thrace, but we were still welcomed by their employee, which I forget her name...but she was a wonderful host. She was very charming and sweet, and we had a great end of the day wine tasting. You would think after the entire day of wine tasting, we wouldn't have the palate for it...luckily we had stopped by Oxbow Public Market for some good treats. We enjoyed all the wine here, and got some good recipes that would pair nicely with the wines as well.
We bought the 3rd Bottle Red Table wine & Tessera, which were both priced fairly decent. We were happily pleased with our purchases.Listed in: Napa Faves
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Review from Jessica O.
Washington, DC
2/11/2010
Very good wines - one of my husband's favorite wineries in Napa!
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Review from ascheras g.
San Francisco, CA
3/2/2010
This place, although not on a vineyard, has a very authentic and homey vibe. I believe this comes from the owners and employees. I came with my mother and we were the only customers that rainy early afternoon. We sat at the bar and tried some of the better wines in the county. The barbarossa is stunningly great and moderately priced. And, although I usually avoid whites, the Chardonnay is unlike any I've tasted before. Not oaky. Not buttery. You can go try it and assign your own flavors.
Neither Thrace nor Gustavo were present when I went in, but that was no matter. One of the younger local women served us. She was apt for conversation and completely non-intrusive. Very humble and knowlegable.
I highly recommend a tasting. I think it was $15-$20 and it's two for one. -
Review from Wayland W.
Rocklin, CA
10/18/2009
5 stars! I'll be back
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Review from MaryFran L.
San Jose, CA
2/17/2010
My husband and I were wandering around the Oxbow Public Market when my husband spotted the Gustavo Thrace tasting room right across the street. While I had watched Bottle Shock, I have to admit that I missed the connection until after we walked in. We were greeted by a very charming woman (I guess it must have been Thrace) who, aside from being very knowledgeable about the wine, was also very helpful in suggesting places to visit while we were in Napa. We ended up buying the Barbera, a wonderfully spicy red that we'll have with a great Italian meal, and a few The Third Bottle varietal white. I was amazed at how affordable it was. It has to be the best buy in the valley and is a wonderful summer wine. This place is definitely worth a visit.
