Fodor's Expert Review Stags' Leap Winery

A must for history buffs, this winery in a bowl-shape microvalley at the base of the Stags Leap Palisades dates to 1893. Three years earlier, its original owners erected the Manor House, noteworthy for its castlelike stone facade and redwood-paneled interior. The home, whose open-air porch seems out of a flapper-era movie set, hosts seated appointment-only tastings best booked a day or more ahead. Some tastings take place on the porch, others inside. Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the calling cards, along with the Ne Cede Malis Petite Sirah, from vines planted in 1929. The winery also makes Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier,  Malbec, and Merlot.