Charnu Winery

We moved to St. Helena in 2001 because we loved the town and the area. Over time, we became friends with a lot of people in the local wine industry. Like many others, we thought that it would be fun to try making wine ourselves.

In 2004, we purchased almost a ton of high-quality St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon and did everything by hand a true "garage wine". Having been through the whole process, we decided we'd like to make wine that we could sell. Although our home wine turned out well, we had no illusions that we had the experience to make a commercial brand. Luckily, we were able to find a great young winemaker.

Our first vintage was 2005, released in Fall 2008. Our production has gradually risen to around 500 cases per year, still very tiny by Napa Valley standards.