Buena Vista Winery

Buena Vista Winery Review

The ebullient Jean-Charles Boisset, whose family owns wineries in France and elsewhere, purchased Buena Vista in 2011 and quickly set about transforming the site where modern California wine making got its start into an entertaining homage to the accomplishments of 19th-century wine pioneer Count Agoston Haraszthy. Tours, sometimes conducted by the count himself—as channeled by actor George Webber and others—pass through the original aging caves dug deep into the hillside by Chinese laborers. Tastings take place in the former press house (used for pressing grapes into wine), which was built in 1862 and stylishly renovated in 2012. The best wines here are the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Los Carneros AVA. On the mezzanine above the tasting room you can view reproductions of period photographs and prints of the winery.