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Hagafen Cellars
Rating Details »
4160 Silverado Trl
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 252-0781
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 252-0781
Two People Taste for Free!
Go to http://www.hagafen.com... for free tasting passes
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Sponsored Result
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82 reviews for Hagafen Cellars
The service at Hagafen really surpasses that of any winery that I have visited. We printed the coupons that are available on their website and our group of 8 received about 5 free tastings each. The ladies that worked the tasting room were more than happy to talk about each wine we tasted and we were impressed by their friendliness.
The winery has a homey and comfortable tasting room, complete with a cute little gray cat. While looking around the tasting room, we realized that Hagafen is the wine served at the White House. No wonder, because the wine is absolutely delicious.
Located right on the picturesque Silverado Trail in Napa Valley near Yountville, Hagafen Winery (as in borei p ree hagafen, when saying the Jewish prayer for wine) was 1 of 4 wineries open on Christmas Day that I was lucky enough to experience. I was super skeptical thinking their wine would taste similar to Manischevitz wine, which is super gross! Thank goodness I was wrong!
The tasting room is small, cute and has lots of windows facing out directly towards the vineyards. The pourers were friendly at the beginning, but became busier as it started to get packed after our first 2 or 3 tastes. The prices were right - It was $5 to taste any five or $10 to taste any five of the reserve wines. We went with the reserve wines, and he even let us taste all 10! Their Sauvignon Blancs and Rieslings were keepers; I even ended up purchasing a bottle of the SB.
Overall, an OKAY experience. We had the coupon, so it was free wine tasting. The wine wasn't that special. I don't remember it being complex or anything, but more simple. Maybe more earthy feel.
The wine tasting room was not extravagant or grand like some of the other vineyards. It's cute and small. There was a cat running around. I guess this place can be called 'reasonable'.
Take it for what it is. Don't have high expectations, but have 'real' expectations. Whatever that means. It's a good pit stop, as long as you have other vineyards to go to afterward.
Cute tasting room. Tasty reisling (both the regular and reserve). Otherwise, kinda meh. Not sure why their wine has been served at the White House so much.
This was the last place we stopped at so I was already full of wine. All the previous wineries we visited were the bigger, tourist filled places so how refreshing it was to visit Hagafen!
A small tasting room with very reasonable prices for tasting. Our wine guide was a silly man, he mentioned drinking wine with cheetos and other various junk foods.
Hagafen is what they serve at the White House and i've seen it featured in a magazine. It's pretty good!
This place was our first stop on the wine bus, I think we did about 5 or 6 maybe (record was something like 10). However we were all really drunk at the time and wanted to go to more, but seriously I think it was a good thing we stopped!
This place is one of the smaller places for a tour, great starting point. Very cute and quaint, exactly what you would want/expect from a winery. The reserve Riesling is really good and it's kosher.
Definitely a place to visit if you are up in Napa!
3 1/2 stars
Came to Hagafen last weekend to give their Riesling a try. Our pourer let us mix and match 5 different wines from the red and white tasting lists. I ended up choosing the Chardonnay, Roussanne, Syrah, Cab, and ended with their Lake County White Riesling. I had a really hard time deciding on what to rate this place, because I loved the whites, but really didn't care for that reds. The whites were excellent, and my favorite was the Riesling. I normally prefer reds over whites, but I was pretty disappointed by the reds here.
Hagafen does have some nice perks though. If you go to their website prior to visiting, make sure you print out a coupon for a free tasting for 2. Also, our pourer informed us that if we purchased 6 or more bottles, we'd get a 5% discount. I know it's not much, but any little bit helps right? This worked out for us because we were planning on buying 7 bottles to give to our friends. The prices for their tastings and many of their bottles are pretty reasonable to start off with.
Our pourer was decent, but not the most informative or personable. Maybe it was because the tasting room was a bit packed that day. Anyways, I would recommend stopping by, especially if you're able to get a hold of the free tasting coupon. I would probably return on my next trip to give some of their other whites a try.
Thanks to the Yelp offer, or any of the Napa Valley wine magazines, you can taste for free, which we did. The tasting room is quaint and nestled right among their vineyards, littered with ribbons and awards for their wines. Actually it felt a little cluttered and a miriad of different tasting lists accumulated on the tasting counter. The wine was disappointing, a little tinny and completely forgetable. Our pourer was friendly but seemed preoccupied with cleaning up even though we were the only two in the room. We asked a few questions and were given short answers where we would have welcomed more information. If you want to taste for free with a coupon, check it out. As for me, I'll keep exploring.
The white wines I tried were all really good. I bought a bottle of reisling for $18. I think I did the $5 tasting, but the fee was waived because i bought a bottle.
small, intimate place with nice vegetation outside. Very friendly employees.
The wines were tasteful, and I walked away with a bottle of the Merlot. I enjoyed the walk through the vineyard, and the tasting menus were very reasonable. You can even take a glass outside and have a look around.
The $5-$10 tasting menu offers people with price points various options. They say to end with the Riesling... and I'm a fan of Riesling usually, but I can't say I wasn't such a fan of the overly green-apple version of their Lake County Riesling. Stick with the Reds, or the Sauvignon Blanc and you will not be disappointed.
I'm not into wine persay, but I am into this place. Understated but wonderful, this place has quality stuff. I came here in '08 and it soon became my favorite winery in Napa. $5 for 5 tastings and the friendly staff threw in another. Plus if you take something home that fee is waved and you get a free glass! I throughly enjoy the sav blanc and the riesling ($16-19 per bottle), even a year later I went back for more...and got another glass! They have served at the White House....yeah its that good.
Being the resourceful planner that I am.
I yelped around this place since it was nearby to our first pit stop in Napa, Hendry Vineyards. We were able to get the free coupons for tastings here and not only did we get 2 free tastings.. we got 5 tastings instead! We were all pretty surprised. No reservations needed but we rolled in at a good time since we just missed a group of 50 students apparently.
Our hostess was this sweet lady that came from Denmark. Her accent was wonderful and she has been working there for about 20 years.. We were astounded by all the medals and honors that Hagafen Cellars received in international and local competitions! What impressed me was how they served a lot of representatives at the White House. She guided us through our tastings, knowing that half of our party were new to Napa.. We went through the Syrah, Pinot Noir, 2 types of Zinfandel(which i love), and the Cabernet. I enjoyed the Zinfandel and Syrah the most.
I enjoyed my short time here.. It is a small family owned vineyard.. more than enough parking.. and one bathroom! I don't know if i would come back here for my future visitors for scenery but hey if coupons are still around.. why not?!?
Afterwards, we were off to Mumm Napa for our last pit stop!!! Tata!! :)
Got a free tasting here as well with the help of a winery magazine. Again, be sure to check your local mags for these coupons.
Hagafen has one of the cheapest tastings I have ever seen, Temecula Valley included. Their regular tasting is 5 tastings for $5; their reserve tastings is $10 for 10 tastings.
Their Syrah is nice & we were generously given both the Napa Estate & other Riesling since George, our very kind pourer, wanted me to try both of them. I still liked the Napa Estate Riesling better.
George told me that through connections, they send their wines to the White House for their private consumption. That's just awesome... to have your wines be consumed by some of our world leaders. I'm just not sure if their wines are better than some of the other wines I've had in the valley though.
Went on a wine tour and wow!
The owner Ernie has had his wine served in the White House for years- you know it must be good!
We had a free tasting and even received one more than we were supposed to. Associates were very friendly and funny as well. Be on the lookout for one of the guys- he has the best descriptions of the wine such as grab you by the ears type of wine haha.
Prices were reasonable and they were very accomodating. Must stop. If you are one of those people who like to get pictures of the signs, take note it is in the front of the long road back so make sure to stop on your way in or out.
This little gem is producing some incredible wines! With so much Big Business it is great to find the small guy winery doing great things! When you walk in they make you feel very welcome and share their story and knowledge freely!
It is cheap here for tastings and pricing on wines are very good too...The Syrah is very nice and even coming from Oregon with some great Pinot there Pinot is VERY good too!
Can't complain too much given that we had a coupon for a free tasting here. The wines aren't bad, but didn't blow me away. The one I liked the most was the merlot...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing given that I usually go for big cabs or zins. This was the last winery we visited on our last day in Napa so maybe we were pretty wined-out at this point.
The staff is pretty friendly, and the atmosphere was pretty chill. Felt like we were tasting in a small winery in the south bay instead of Napa. They had some good taste in music too.
But yeah, can't complain too much 'cause it's free!
sis and i stumbled here, after getting lost trying to find a different winery.
we read about hagafen in lonely planet - it's kosher and jew (hagafen means "fruit of the vine"). we thought it would be lame and passover-esque, but we had time for one more winery and this was the closest.
WELL, we were so judgemental! it is the best kosher wine i've tasted. the wine wensch was very impressed with our judaism knowledge, i circled what i wanted to taste, but he let me taste every wine they make. it was actually really chill inside, not too many jewish star or religious items. mostly just wine gifty things.
they name their good wine "prix" (as in "pri hagafen") which is totally cute.
got some wine for my mom for her bday, which she will LOVE.
jew crew!!! :)
#2
Driving back towards Highway 29 we are rewarded with great views until we get to the actual city of Napa. How come nobody ever told me it wasn't that nice? Well we quickly forgot about that as we drove north and made a right on Oak Knoll Ave. towards the Silverado Trail. The drive on this road was spectacular. Wifey and I were cruising and enjoying the tree lined streets with vineyards as far as the eye could see. Everything was perfectly manicured and the green hills just added to the dramatic views. When we finally got to the Silverado Trail I knew we were in wine tasting heaven. Everything is perfection and there are wineries on both sides of the streets for miles and miles. There are even street signs before each winery so you know where you're going. It doesn't get any better than this folks.
We finally reached our first destination and the drive into Hagefen Cellars wasn't paved but it was well taken care of. The drive in is about a quarter of a mile lined with of course vineyards. We drove up to see 2 cars. This was perfect. It looked like a small mom and pop winery and that's what it turned out to be.
The grounds were nothing spectacular but the setting was. Once inside we were greeted by both hosts. It was a small tasting room but since there was only 1 more couple in there it worked out great. A shelf was lined up with ribbons they had been awarded so we couldn't wait to taste. Wifey liked their choices (Reislings) more than I did but that was a good thing in my book since she isn't much of a drinker. They had some sweet wines that were good but ok good. We made notes of the ones she liked but somehow we ended up losing those. The guy that took care of us seemed to know his stuff. I don't recall his name but he had a Bob Marley shirt on. I do recall him drooling over my wife. If anything it got us a lot more tastings than what we paid for. Anyhow this is a small place and I liked the personalized service we got here.
After our tasting we walked around and discovered a couple of picnic tables in the back next to the vineyards. Very nice. As we were about to leave the Bob Marley shirt guy popped out of nowhere and was like "hey you guys want to check out the warehouse"? We were like "ugh hell yeah". We chilled among the barrels and he gave us some lessons on how it all works. Then he took us out back to see the giant metal things that hold wine and the grape crushers. Sorry but I honestly don't recall the name of those contraptions. Then it dawned on me this fool only did that cuz he wanted to check out my wife! Perv. Oh well it's all good cuz we had a good time.
On our way out we saw the owner chatting with the couple we saw earlier in the tasting room. Who knows what language they were speaking but it seemed like they knew each other. That was really nice of him and that made this winery that much more quaint. Stop by if you get a chance.
* $5 tasting gets you a free wine glass. Check their website for free tasting coupons.
Groups of 6 or more are generally really hard to accommodate without a reservation anywhere. Luckily for my group of 11, I called the day before and asked if they could take us in the morning, and they were able to take us! We weren't rudely dismissed because of our large group, which has happened to me in the past at other wineries. So, it was our first stop on the Napa itinerary.
I'm glad that it was our first stop because for most people in the group, they had never been wine tasting, and our server was full of knowledge about wines and about the winery. It was great! Of all the wineries we went to that day, I feel like Hagafen paid the most attention to telling us about their winery, which is a good thing. Everyone else just wants to pour you the wine. What is also great is that they have free tasting with the coupon from their website! The glass is $4 if you want a souvenir glass... otherwise, you get the glass with your paid tasting. The tasting room is small though, so when the tour bus came with another large group, it was very hard to fit all of us in the same room. Lucky for the next group we were just about done tasting.
Worth stopping by. The wines are also very good. I'm not a big wine connoisseur... but I do know what i like and don't like. They have a very light Pinot Noir and some good reislings.
Very reasonable $5 tasting fee. Their sauvignon blanc was a nice way to start on a hot day - clean, crisp, tart, and sweet. None of the other wines truly stood out on my mid-afternoon visit, but the server was very knowledgeable and personable. I find that as the day wears on while tasting wine, my palate gets a little less sharp - after, say, the 3rd visit, I lose a little sensitivity, so perhaps there was something I was missing out on, or maybe the reserve tasting has their best. Free glass with tasting fee, and if you go to their site there is a complimentary tasting coupon to print out for 2 or 3 tastings.
This would be a great place to start if you're coming from the south and making your way farther north to Calistoga, for example . . .
I really appreciate how Hagafen Cellers sometimes post coupons on their website for free wine tasting, especially during this economic time. It seems like common sense for other wineries to do, but then again can you only imagine the stress you'd get after your free tasting to buy something? I was not pressured at all to buy anything after our tasting!
The woman that helped us out was truly a sweet heart. She understood that I was a newb to wine and suggested to try clears first. I'm really thankful for her help because in other wineries no one would really go out of their was to help someone understand the value, taste and process of producing their products. She did not seem annoyed at all with my questions and was more than happy to suggest other bottles and tastes to try out.
Print the free tasting coupon from the website. Overall I was not very impressed with the wines and the place was packed bc a party bus just dropped off. I was also getting a little wined out by this point. However, the vineyard and tasting room are very pretty.
This is my new favorite winery! It is the epitomy of the phrase "quality over quantity" making only 8,000 cases of wine per year compared to Gallo's 75 MILLION! Their wines were so delicious and the service was excellent. Many presidents have served Hagafen wines at White House dinners including President Obama a couple weeks ago. You would think the wine would be super pricey because of its executive branch experience but it was totally affordable! Carl from Napa Wine Shuttle spoke very highly of this place and its owner Ernie, too bad we did not get to meet Mr. Don Ernesto himself.
My sister dropped her bottle of riesling when we got back to the hotel and she was so sad. I took her back there on the way home the next morning so she can buy a new one. They ended up giving her and two of my other friends free glasses for coming back. I thought that was pretty cool. I will definitely be visiting Hagafen every time I make the trip up to Napa.
Friendly staff, affordable prices. You can find a coupon on their website for a free tasting, but the regular price for the basic tasting is only $5 anyway. I liked all the wines we tried, which is more than I can say for some of the more upscale wineries. Overall, very drinkable selection of wines.
I love Riesling. Not many wineries in Napa produce it, so it's nice to come across one that does, like this one.
Hagafen is a small family owned winery, which I prefer. They set up a private tasting area for our group of 20 outside, which was really nice. They offer a tasting of 6 whites or 5 reds for $5, or $10 for your choice of 5 reserve wines (tasting fee waived with purchase). Our pourer customized a tasting to our liking and let us taste a few reds and a few whites. I was looking forward to trying their Roussanne, but unfortunately it got replaced with a red.
While the Rieslings were nice, none stood out enough to make me compelled to purchase a bottle. We had a great time hanging out there though, and never felt rushed through.
The Silverado Trail is less traveled in my book, so I'm going to make sure to hit up this place again and others next time.
We visited 4 wineries this wkd, but this was the only one I really care to write a review about. They were fabulous.
For $5 we got to taste about 7 or 8 different wines, a bunch of reds which I did not care for and 2-3 Rieslings. I am a sweet wine lover, so of course I loved the last few... one so much we took it home. The Napa Valley riesling was our winner at this winery.
Affordable wines at about $18-30 dollars per bottle. George, our host, was excellent. He setup an outdoor area for us under a grape arbor so our group of 20 could sit, chat and bask in the lovely warm sun...all at our own leisure without interference from others.
The service was a little slow from time-to-time, but there were 20 of us and it was a busy Saturday for only one person on staff. Thanks, George, for a great first tasting experience on our afternoon...honestly it set the stage for the other 3 wineries, and IMO they were all lacking after this little family-owned gem.
This was our first stop on the Silverado Trail and George took care of the bday crew and made sure everyone had generous pours.
Hagfen Cellars is family-owned, boutique, and intimate winery. That was one of the reasons why we liked it. We had a 20 person table set for us on the side of the winery which was very nice and considerate.
I wasn't a fan of the reds, but the reislings were decent and I would return for a good-priced bottle.
Tasting fee is reasonable at $5.
Not a snobby place, just friendly and not bad overall.
Not good for big groups. Which is probably why they don't let you make reservations for big groups on Saturdays.
The service was very off - probably because they were so overwhelmed with our group of 16. I felt bad for the other patrons there since the tasting area is so small so we drank up our tastings and scurried on out so we didn't really get a look at the whole area.
Take away - do not come to Hagafen without a reservation. I learned this the hard way...
This was a cute small vineyard with a very friendly staff. Their Rieslings were very delish. I ended up purchasing their 2008 Estate Bottled White Riesling. It has stony apricot, mandarin, and white peach. This bright, effervescent wine bursts in the mouth with a mingling of stony, sweet fruits, including apricot, papaya, mangosteen, and hints of durian. This wine is suppose to be great with spicy type foods like Indian or Thai, that's just perfect for my taste buds.
They also have a 2008 Lake County White Riesling which was similar in taste, but just a tad sweeter.
Those were my favs, but the rest were really good also. They won plenty of medals to show them off on their shelf and even the white house has their wine for dinner.
Definitely a stop to make.
Having read favorable reviews about this unique kosher winery in the heart of Napa Valley, I was compelled to try this place. I'm also a fan of rieslings so that's all I sampled, given that many Yelpers gave favorable reviews for them.
My experience here was mixed. The winery was small and intimate, which was a refreshing break from the big commercial operations in Napa (e.g., Mondavi, Artesa, etc.). I personally prefer the smaller family owned wineries over the big boys because you feel more like a participant rather than just another customer. Having said that, our pourer was very friendly and having indicated that I was only interested in trying their rieslings, he poured me a flight of about 3 of them which also included a late harvest (sweet dessert wine) riesling. Tastings were also quite cheap for Napa ($5 for a flight, which can be waived with bottle purchase).
However, the rieslings were just not very good. It lacked acidity and tasted rather flat, and the late harvest one was just syrupy sweet without any semblance of balance between sweetness and acidity, which is the hallmark of a great riesling wine. One main reason is the climate--riesling grapes grow well in cool climates (such as Washington, Oregon, and coastal Mendocino County) and Napa Valley is just too damn hot. Overall, California's rieslings still far behind those produced in Germany and in the Pacific Northwest, but I've had some decent California ones (from Anderson Valley in Mendocino, for example). But Hagafen's rieslings were pretty disappointing.
Overall, four stars for the experience, and two stars for the wine quality, which averages out to three. Probably won't be coming back anytime soon.
We had a lovely experience at Hagafen. We had 3 people in our party, and when we arrived, there were no other visitors besides us. Unlike the bigger wineries in Napa and Sonoma, we really got a lot of attention, and the woman was very nice, taking the time to explain the wines to us. Also, she even pointed out that there was a free wine tasting coupon in one of the brochures that we took near the bathroom, so all 3 of us got to do the wine tasting for free, which we really appreciated.
I agree with the other reviewers that if you have a big party, Hagafen is probably not the best choice for you. The place is definitely small. But if you're looking for a more personalized and intimate experience, I highly recommend them! Their Riesling is also great.
What is there to say about Hagafen??? I cry when the last bottle is corked. At least until I remember I now have a fabulous excuse to go back. This is an intimate little vineyard and tasting room and the wines literally improve every year. The only tiny little peice of snobbery this place comes with is the White House menu collection on the walls telling the whole world that thier wine has been featured at the WH. Whatever, dude! Just stick to the good wine. Maybe invest in a prettier label that does your wine some justice (I say this as a label collector-dont judge me).
This is absolutely one of my favorite places on the Silverado Trail!! YUM
We really enjoyed this winery!
PLUSES:
Free tasting passes on their websites/Inexpensive Tastings
Friendly and attentive wine-tenders/owners
Gave us 2 souvenir glasses when we bought two bottles
Small and cozy
MINUSES
I would suspect this isn't a great group-place. It's a very tiny room without a lot of room to sit down. You could probably get a reservation but this struck me as more of a couple's tasting room.
3.5 stars
none of the wines really stood out but it was a nice place to visit. the silo/water tower thing was cute and it was pretty there. the tasting room has the doors open and it was nice and airy, although a bit crowded.
my favorite thing about this place is the resident tabby. a gorgeous, friendly tabby sought out the choicest patch of sun and streeeetched out. totally loved the petting. (:
This is a great little vineyard. The reserve tasting is the way to go. They have a fantastic Zin that is to die for. We will be back to get more. The staff are very friendly.
Cheers~
Organic, Kosher, and delicious!!! I recommend the 2007 Pinot and any Riesling. I've tried other wines from other wineries in Napa, but Hagafen is tops. Once you sample the wines here, you'll likely consider that most other wineries pale in comparison. The secret is out, so come before they are inundate with tourists! They have coupons on their website for free tastings. Auf Wiedersehen.
This has gotta be one of my favorite wineries in Napa. Its off the Silverado trail, tucked away behind some large field of grape vines. Then again, aren't they all.
I especially love the Riesling here, its one of my favorite. The tasting room is intimate and the people are extremely friendly. It doesn't have the pretentious feel like those other bigger more showy vineyards. And don't be afraid to ask for more during tasting, they don't mind pouring you other wines.
This is one of my must stops everytime I'm here in Napa. I somehow always end up buying 4-5 bottles when I leave.
Hagafen is a unique kosher winery in Napa. The tasting area is really small and can get crowded if there is a big group. I went with a group of 18 so it was challenging to fit everyone in. We called in advance to make an appointment and they were ready for us. They had already poured the first wine for us as we were arriving. They tried their best to accomodate us and we felt very welcomed even though it was extremely crowded. The winery is so homey - they even have a little kitty that hangs out there with you.
I absolutely LOVE their White Riesling! It's a small family run company, and while there is not much to see, their wines are really good. Our group didn't call ahead, but our group still got to chat with the owners as we had our wine tasting. Wonderful people and definitely a stop worth making on your trip
Cute family-owned winery and the pourers were quite friendly. My previous stop was at Domaine Carneros where it felt like a tourist operation, so it was nice to come here and relax with some nice whites and reds.
I was a fan of their 2005 zin and 2008 Mayeri riesling, which I got a bottle of. Also Iiked their series of 3 riesling tastings, to check out the different flavors and smells.
Would come back again to revisit their collection!
