Turnbull Wine Cellars

Turnbull Wine Cellars is an Oakville estate that marries artistic sensibility with serious winemaking, a combination that produces wines and experiences of equal polish. Founded in 1979 by William Turnbull, the renowned San Francisco architect who designed the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and the Deere & Company headquarters in Moline, Illinois, the winery reflects its founder's belief that architecture, art, and wine are all expressions of the same creative impulse. The estate changed hands in 2019, and the new ownership has invested in both the vineyards and the tasting experience while preserving Turnbull's artistic legacy.

The estate encompasses 200 acres of vineyards on both sides of Highway 29 in Oakville, one of the most prestigious vineyard addresses in the world. The western vineyards sit on the benchland soils that have made Oakville synonymous with great Cabernet Sauvignon, while the eastern holdings provide fruit of a slightly different character. This diversity allows winemaker Peter Heitz to craft wines that blend the best of both sides of the highway, creating Cabernets of complexity and completeness.

Peter Heitz produces a focused portfolio led by the Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that captures the appellation's signature richness with a level of refinement that reflects the estate's artistic roots. The Black Label Cabernet, from the estate's finest blocks, is a reserve-quality bottling produced in limited quantities. A Sauvignon Blanc from the estate's cooler vineyard sections provides a white wine option of genuine quality. The overall style emphasizes purity of fruit and seamless integration of oak, producing wines that are as polished as the architecture that houses them.

The tasting room on Highway 29 features rotating exhibitions of contemporary photography alongside the wine program, maintaining the connection between art and wine that William Turnbull established. Tastings are seated and guided, with the art providing conversation points that elevate the experience beyond a simple wine flight. A downtown Napa satellite tasting room on Main Street extends the brand's reach to visitors exploring the walkable downtown scene. Both locations offer thoughtfully curated experiences at moderate price points.

Turnbull demonstrates that a winery's aesthetic choices are not separate from its winemaking philosophy but an extension of it. The attention to design, the commitment to art, and the precision of the wines all reflect the same sensibility: that the details matter, that beauty has value, and that the experience of tasting wine should engage all the senses, not just the palate.