Off the Beaten Path at Naggiar Vineyards: Estate Wines, Family Roots, and Saturday Night Music
If you like your wine with a side of story, Naggiar Vineyards delivers—estate-grown grapes, a family that farms for quality, and weekend concerts that turn a tasting into a night out.
Terroir First: What Grows Here, Belongs Here
Naggiar farms ~60 acres planted in 1998 with grapes that actually thrive at foothill elevation: Sangiovese, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Barbera, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, and more. The philosophy is simple—hot days, cool nights, and varieties that match the Sierra Foothills climate. That’s why you won’t see much Chardonnay here: they love to drink it, but they’ll only bottle what the site does best.
House style: terroir-driven, faithful to the region, and farmed for concentration (about three tons per acre, with hard fruit-dropping when needed). Result: structure, freshness, and that back-lit, foothill fruit you taste before anyone tells you what’s in the glass.
From Vine to Wine (Literally)
The beauty of an estate is control—from the vine to the wine. Naggiar produces about 5,000 cases a year, keeping the scale small enough to protect quality. They reserve their best blocks for the Reserve program and blend when it makes the wine better (see: “The Beast”), but you’ll also find proud, single-varietal bottlings.
Don’t miss:
Petite Sirah — inky, bold, teeth-staining deliciousness with a trophy case to match (past scores include 92 from Wine Enthusiast).
Barbera — lively acid, food-friendly, a Foothills classic.
Reserves — best-block selections that show the site at full voice.
Family Story, Global Roots
The vineyard began as Mike and Diane Naggiar’s retirement project after a one-acre starter plot in Saratoga. They brought in a UC Davis consultant, planted the Foothills estate in phases, and sold premium fruit to Napa and Sonoma before putting Naggiar on the label in 2003. The extended family brings a genuinely international table—Egyptian, Greek, Italian, and French-Canadian roots—and a shared belief that hospitality isn’t a script; it’s how you show up.
Resilience in Real Time
When the world went sideways, Naggiar didn’t go quiet. They adapted, kept the community engaged, and came out the other side with the same focus on place, people, and wine. Short version: fewer press releases, more doing.
Taste Here: Hours & Flow
Tasting Room: Fri–Sun, 12–5 PM. Flights, glasses, or bottles.
Saturdays: Doors close at five and reopen for evening events. Expect food trucks, room to spread out, and a crowd that came to enjoy themselves.
(Always check their site for seasonal changes.)
Winefest Weekends: April–October
Naggiar’s Winefest is a summer-to-fall tradition: tribute bands, jazz, dance parties, even dueling pianos. Think Eagles, ABBA, Bruno Mars, Santana, BG’s Gold, and local favorites like Mariachi Bonitas. You can buy single-event tickets or go hard with a season pass that gets you into everything.
Walk the Rows
The estate rolls over multiple aspects and exposures: whites like Roussanne and Marsanne on one side, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc tucked into cooler, north-facing slopes, and Petite Sirah marching up a hillside where stressed vines and draining soils concentrate flavor. There’s even a small orchard—figs, persimmons, pomegranates—because of course there is.
Why It Stands Out
Estate control: farming decisions made for flavor, not volume.
Right grapes, right place: Southern European varieties that love heat by day and cool at night.
Small batch, big personality: around 5k cases, hands-on, no factory vibes.
Community energy: tastings by day, concerts by night, and a team that remembers names.
Planning Your Visit
Book the daytime flight and hang for the evening show—two totally different moods in one trip.
Photographers: catch golden hour over the pond and the hillside Petite Sirah.
Food: Saturdays bring multiple trucks; otherwise check the day’s offerings and policies.
Pro tip: if wind’s up, bring a light layer—clear evenings cool fast in the Foothills.
Final Pour
Naggiar is what people mean by “destination winery” without the theme-park nonsense: an estate that grows what it should, makes what it loves, and invites you to be part of it. Come for the terroir-driven wines; stay for the music, the views, and the kind of hospitality that doesn’t need a script.
Heard on site: “Mention the Wine Snob and we’ll take good care of you.” Your mileage (and discount) may vary—but the welcome won’t.
