When you enter the driveway to Tres Sabores you will have passed through a portal into a very special place. In Napa Valley, there is nothing quite like it. Not just a winery, Tres Sabores is the certified organic working vineyard, farm, gardens, orchards – and home of founder and proprietor/winemaker, Julie Johnson.
Upon arrival, take a moment to hit reset and start taking it all in. Every aspect of Tres Sabores is part of an interconnected world of grapevines, cover crops, wild land and critters, goats, sheep, fowl, bluebirds, owls, bees, flowers, insects, ancient olives, rare species of pomegranates, fruit trees and vegetables and farm dogs. Everywhere you look is a view into the sustainable interaction of farming and nature. Julie eschews the use of any chemicals on her ranch and even uses the natural ambient yeast from the environment to ferment her wines.
And what beautiful wines they are! Meaning “three flavors”, Tres Sabores represents the taste of the grape, the land (terroir), and for Julie – the spirit. Tastings of Julie’s wines are typically hosted under the huge ancient olive trees or in the gardens surrounding the winery and tasting room. Your view looks out over the legendary stretch of Napa Valley known as the Rutherford Bench and the Vaca Mountains to the east. This is a prime Napa Valley setting that you will hate to leave! The diligent farming here is implemented to create healthy living soils that drive the ideal ripening of grapes. The signature style of Julie’s estate Zinfandel from her 50 year-old vines are fine tannins, complex aromatics of berries, black fruits, stony earth, spices, and lasting flavors: everything is in balance – just as the ranch’s environment itself.
