We drove north on Highway 29, following in the footsteps or wheel tracks of many an area visitor who has taken this popular side trip out of San Francisco to Napa Valley, otherwise known as The Wine Country. But the usual similarities to the everyday tourist ended at the intersection of Redwood Road where we took a left and headed onto the back roads of Napa County.
I have driven up and down Highway 29 many times, dragging out of town visitors, both family and friends, to the Wine Country. In the past I’ve always started at the top, in Alexander Valley, meandering down the two lane highway through Calistoga, through Rutherford and the town of Napa, hitting wineries both small and large along the way. Spending my day getting drunk on the wine and the beauty of the landscape, and full on baguettes and cheese as payment for enduring the role of tour guide.
This day, my friend B. and I took the left onto Redwood Road. In the early afternoon the heat was already quite intense. The car meandered on the winding road through the trees and as it did so we watched the light play in the leaves and took in the scent of the country. The aroma was of the heat on oak and then redwood, all mixed with earth.
We were headed to the Hess Collection. A winery owned by Swiss-American business man Donald Hess that sits in the Mt. Veeder district above Napa Valley. Hess is an art collector with a formidable personal collection. The fact that he is as avid about collecting art as he is about making wine is evident from a statement that appeared on his web site – At The Hess Collection we embrace both art and wine passionately …
It was nice to be in an environment dedicated to two very important things in life, the making of wine and exhibiting of art. The surroundings made us feel relaxed and welcome. The building that houses the winery reminded me of some that I have seen in Europe. Plain, simple and vine covered on the outside, the stone construction of the building had been built in the early 1900s. The building had housed a few other labels before Hess acquired it in 1986 to hold part of his art collection and to create his wines.
We walked through the three floors of art that was more like visiting a small museum, rather than a private collection. There were pieces by well known artists such as Goldsworthy, Bacon, Rauschenberg, Louis and Stella and some dynamic work by Magdalena Abakanowicz. Included in an exhibition of Lyn Hershman’s works were a couple of interesting voyeuristic pieces. The amusing yet profound, given the political statement, flaming typewriter by Argentinean artist Leopoldo M. Maler entitled Homage sat at the entrance to the second floor gallery.
After we viewed the art, we took a peek into the cellar where the barrels were kept. Second generation oak barrels were stacked one on top of the other and filled the large dark room. The spicy, pungent scent of wine and oak was at first overwhelming and slightly intoxicating. A wonderful aroma to be surrounded by and not one that would be found in steel tank production winery. We sat on a bench in the cellar for awhile, taking in the aroma and cooling off, until we were ready to head on down the road.
The Hess Collection Winery
4411 Redwood Road
Napa, CA USA 94558
Open Daily from 10 AM – 4 PM
T: 707.255.1144
ShareThisSimilar posts that you might like:
- >> Survey 5: Favorite Winery For A Tasting?
- >> 20 Years Later Wine Train Makes Historic Stop
- >> The Big Trees of Muir Woods
- >> THERE! New Art from Oakland At The di Rosa
- >> Reaves Gallery Presents: Wine Class: “Wines On A Budget”
Tags: art, gallery, mt. veeder, napa, north, road trip, wine, winery
