Sequoia Grove Winery is named for the towering coast redwood trees that shade the tasting room building on Highway 29 in Rutherford. The winery produces Cabernet Sauvignon from multiple Napa Valley sub-appellations and offers one of the most genuinely educational tasting programs in the valley: the bench tasting experience compares Cabernet from different AVAs side by side, demonstrating how terroir shapes flavor in a format that works for both beginners and collectors.

History of Sequoia Grove Winery

The Allen family established Sequoia Grove Winery in 1978, taking advantage of the mature coast redwood grove that had been planted on the Rutherford property decades earlier. The distinctive trees became the winery’s identifier and the source of its name. The estate built a reputation for Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon while gradually expanding the program to include Cabernet from other Napa Valley sub-appellations.

The winery was acquired by Kobrand Corporation, which also has ownership interests in Taittinger and Domaine Carneros, maintaining the estate as a standalone brand with its own winemaking team and identity. The educational bench tasting program was developed to differentiate the Sequoia Grove visitor experience from the standard pour-and-buy model.

Most Napa Valley winery visits teach you about one estate. The Sequoia Grove bench tasting teaches you about Napa Valley as a whole by pouring Cabernet from Rutherford, Oakville, Atlas Peak, and other sub-appellations in the same flight. You leave understanding not just whether you liked the wine but why different parts of the valley produce different characters.

Rutherford terroir and multi-appellation program

Sequoia Grove farms estate vineyards in Rutherford and sources from established vineyards across multiple Napa Valley sub-appellations including Oakville, Atlas Peak, and Coombsville. The multi-appellation sourcing gives the winemaking team the raw material for both the blended Napa Valley tiers and the AVA-specific expressions used in the bench tasting program.

The Rutherford estate blocks on the benchland produce the dusty mineral tannins associated with Rutherford Dust, while Atlas Peak fruit from the volcanic eastern hills brings higher acidity and mountain mineral character. Oakville benchland provides the concentrated dark fruit and fine-grained tannins of that celebrated sub-appellation. The side-by-side comparison of these expressions is the educational core of the bench tasting experience.

The wines of Sequoia Grove Winery

Cabernet Sauvignon is the focus across multiple tiers. The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the entry tier, a blend of AVA sources that demonstrates the collective character of the valley. Single-appellation expressions from Rutherford and Oakville demonstrate how the same winemaker and the same variety express differently across sub-appellation terroirs.

The Cambium red blend, a Bordeaux-style wine made in strong vintages, is the prestige expression from the best estate and contract sources in the valley. Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc-based white round out the lineup with white wine alternatives for visitors who prefer to start with something lighter.

Food pairings with Sequoia Grove wines

Sequoia Grove Rutherford Cabernet has the dusty benchland tannins and dark fruit concentration that suit the classic pairing of Rutherford wine and Napa Valley food: rack of lamb with herbed Dijon crust, dry-aged ribeye with roasted marrow, or duck leg confit with roasted root vegetables. The Rutherford Dust tannins need fat and protein to open, and these preparations provide exactly that.

The Oakville-sourced Cabernet at the same tasting is more immediately accessible and works with a broader range: grilled New York strip, braised short ribs, mushroom pasta with aged parmesan. The educational bench tasting teaches these distinctions in context, making the food pairing section of any visit genuinely useful rather than theoretical.

Sequoia Grove Winery: common questions