St. Helena a Home of the Wine Industry

St. Helena and wine clubs

St. Helena wineries

St. Helena, “Napa Valley’s main street,” is one of the centers of the wine industry or St. Helena wineries. Winery tours are devoted to this town and its more than 80 wineries and numerous wine clubs. If you’re planning to go there, be prepared to spend several days. Look for hotels and St. Helena wineries with at least 20 Yelp reviews and at least four stars. Get out into the Napa Valley countryside and explore the complex topography that creates the many terroirs of Napa vineyards.

In 1981, the Napa Valley was named California’s first American Viticulture Area. These days 16 different AVAs are recognized within the valley. The St. Helena AVA, at the northern end of the valley floor, is a little warmer and drier than the southern parts of the valley. Its soil ranges from gravel-clay soils on its southern and western borders to rich volcanic soils in the north and east. Deep, ripe Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Francs and Merlots all come from St. Helena wineries.

A winery near St. Helena

Some of the best California wines come from Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley. Just a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards produces world-class wines at affordable prices. The vineyard is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain. The microclimate of Conn Valley is cooler than many other parts of the valley, although warmer than Howell Mountain itself, so the grapes they grow are closer to mountain grapes than the grapes in the St. Helena American Viticulture Area proper. At the vineyard, you will have the chance to meet the owners and wine-makers and taste excellent wine stored in the vineyard’s cave.

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards has been owned and operated by the Anderson family since 1983. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations across the nation. By ordering six bottles or more per year, you can join the Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Wine Club. Club membership will get you a discount on many of their finest wines, such as their Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is possibly the best Estate Reserve Anderson’s Conn Valley has ever created, arising from a perfect year of moderate growing weather and a cool late September. It is dark purple and red, with an aroma of super-ripe red raspberries, cloves, mocha and licorice. The wine has a silky mouthfeel, with a flavor layered with expressive dark red fruit, spices, licorice and new leather and hints of white pepper and orange peel. Its complexity comes from the different Cab clones and rootstocks used to make it. Try a bottle of ACVV wine today.