Jarvis Estate Winery is unlike any other Napa Valley producer in one dramatic and literal sense: the entire winery is built inside a mountain. William Jarvis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, purchased land on Monticello Road in Coombsville in the late 1980s and decided to build his winery underground rather than on the surface. The excavation of over 45,000 square feet of cave, including a natural underground stream that runs through the facility, took years and cost far more than any conventional winery, but the result is a production and storage environment of extraordinary natural stability, with temperatures and humidity controlled entirely by the mountain rather than by mechanical systems. Above ground, the 1,600-acre estate is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Chardonnay, and Petit Verdot.

Building a Winery Underground

William Jarvis made his money in Silicon Valley before purchasing a 1,600-acre Coombsville property in the late 1980s. The decision to build the winery entirely underground was driven by both practical and aesthetic considerations. The mountain provides natural temperature and humidity stability that no refrigeration system can fully replicate, and the underground environment eliminates the vibration, light, and temperature variation that accelerate aging in surface storage. The excavation was one of the most extensive private winery cave projects in Napa history, and it includes a genuine natural underground stream that runs through the facility, adding to the cave’s natural humidity regulation. The project took years to complete and resulted in a production facility that is essentially invisible from the surface of the estate.

Building a winery inside a mountain was William Jarvis’s most dramatic choice, and the natural thermal stability of the cave produces storage conditions that few surface wineries can match.

Coombsville Terroir and the 1,600-Acre Estate

The Jarvis estate occupies 1,600 acres in Coombsville, a Napa Valley sub-AVA on the southeastern slopes of Napa Valley that received official AVA recognition in 2011. Coombsville is cooler than the main Napa Valley benchlands, influenced by Pacific air and morning fog that flows in from the south through the Carneros gap. The cooler temperatures extend the growing season and preserve natural acidity in the Cabernet and Chardonnay. The Jarvis estate plantings cover a relatively small portion of the 1,600 acres, with the rest left as natural hillside, and the vineyards are farmed with minimal intervention in a property that essentially operates as a private nature reserve with a winery attached.

The Wine Portfolio: Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Bordeaux Blends

Jarvis Estate produces a range of estate wines focused on Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Bordeaux blends. The estate Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship, showing the cooler Coombsville character of freshness and mineral tension alongside the natural concentration of estate-grown mountain fruit. Lake William, named for one of the estate’s natural ponds, is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec. The Chardonnay is produced from estate blocks and fermented in French oak with natural yeasts, reflecting the Coombsville coolness in its preserved freshness and acidity. All wines are produced and aged in the underground cave facility.

Food Pairing and the Estate Table

The Coombsville character of Jarvis Estate Cabernet, with its natural acidity and mineral tension from the cooler growing zone, makes the wine particularly food-friendly at the table. The freshness that distinguishes Coombsville Cab from warmer Napa appellations allows it to work alongside a wider range of preparations than more powerful valley-floor wines. Roasted lamb with herbs and root vegetables, duck breast with cherry reduction, and beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce are all excellent pairings. Lake William, the Bordeaux blend, is particularly well-matched to preparations with richness and aromatic complexity, including braised short ribs, osso buco, and aged hard cheese boards.

Jarvis Estate Winery: Frequently Asked Questions