Casa Nuestra Winery and Vineyard

Open Year Round

History:

Casa Nuestra (which means "Our House") has produced about 2,000 cases of hand made wine annually since its establishment by the Kirkham family in 1979. Gene Kirkham aka the "Happy Farmer" continues to oversee all operations now in its 28th year.

Casa Nuestra crafts several wines including Meritage, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, dry Chenin Blanc, White Riesling, Petite Sirah, Charbono, French Colombard, Rosado, a dry rose and two proprietary red wines called Tinto Classico and Tinto St. Helena - unique wines made from rare, one-of-a-kind " field blend" vineyards. All of their wines are award winning and very limited.

The original vineyard producing their Tinto Classico was one of the first hillside vineyards planted in the famed Oakville region. It was planted sometime before 1956, at a time when some famous vineyards, which now surround it - such as Martha's Vineyard, Far Niente, Screaming Eagle and Harlan, were prune orchards or cow pastures. This vineyard is a field mix, which means that it is not a homogenous vineyard planted to a single variety of grapes. Rather, it is planted to a collection of grape varietals, some of which mystify identification experts. It is a wine recipe planted in the ground, reflecting the traditional Old World practices that were common several generations ago. The Kirkham family acquired this unique vineyard in 1956. It was due to the industry's growing desire for commercial, single-grape vineyards that these once common field-mix vineyards too quickly disappeared. In 1994, to keep the history alive, the Kirkhams took cuttings from the original Oakville vineyard and t-budded them onto vines in St. Helena until the entire vineyard was successfully reproduced there. Wines from the cloned vineyard in St. Helena are labeled "Tinto St. Helena" while wines from the original Oakville stand are labeled "Tinto Classico."