The Hess Collection Winery Reviews

Love this winery!! Had a fantastic experience with the wine and cheese pairing. I would highly recommend! Thank you for great service during the pandemic.

It would easy to describe this place with a simple "wow" but that would just not do it justice. The drive up to Hess in mid-fall is amazingly beautiful. When arriving on the property the vibrancy of the fall color is inspiring, Lovely experience as a whole, worth the trip.

Couldn t have picked a better winery for my trip to Napa. Super friendly staff and no pressure to join the wine club. Free museum. Gustavo was an amazing guide and knew his wines. Definitely recommend!

Came here with a reservation for a tasting and the whole thing felt very rushed. Felt like they just wanted us in and out as quickly as possible considering that we were done with our tasting in just 20 mins. Our wine tasting host didn t seem very knowledgeable in some of the basic wine questions we had. Overall unimpressed. Feels like they re focused more on running a profitable business versus creating a quality wine product.

Fantastic scenery and museum. History of vineyards established by the Christian Brothers in 1936 is awesome. Yes. The same religious group that actually made Christian Brothers brandy back in the day for us old timers. Truly enjoyed the wine and knowledgeable staff. One of the best cabernet and blends in Napa. Had to take some home. Thanks Gustavo!

I have some fine bottles stored in my wine cellar and can highly recommend a visit to the Hess Collection Winery. The winery is not only recommended because the then Donald Hess has Swiss roots, but above all because he had promoted biodynamic viticulture early. In addition, the winery is beautifully located.

As the first of the Hess Family Wine Estates wineries, Hess Wines is now releasing its True to his vision of what a New World wine should be, Donald Hess established his winery on the volcanic slopes of Mount Veeder in the Napa Valley and defined a whole new approach to winemaking.
Along with its mountain vineyards, Hess Wines has won acclaim for its other estate vineyards in Pope Valley and near the Carneros growing region of the Napa Valley and has long-standing partnerships on the North Coast with family-focused growers who share Donald Hess vision of sustainability and quality, Hess Wines offers three distinct tiers of wines from Mount Veeder, from Napa Valley, and Hess Select, which sources fruit from the North and Central Coasts of California. Hess Wines has distinguished itself as a premium producer of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay

Had a really awesome experience here. Being out of town and unfamiliar with the area - some places felt super pretentious but we felt right at home here. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and we had a fabulous tour.
Will definitely be stopping back again one day soon.

Very special winery, combined with the art gallery. Tasting for $20 is an interesting experience.

Took the tour for $45 and it was most enjoyable. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. He made it a lot of fun. Tasted 4 wines ranging in price from $65 to $125. One white. One Pinot. Two Cabs. Liked them a lot. And he had very generous pours. You get 10% off if you then buy a bottle. They also had a nice museum of modern art (emphasis on *modern*). The place is in the middle of nowhere so just follow the GPS and have confidence that you aren't lost.

An amazing experience and a beautiful drive to the winery. I do a lot of research and glad we came to Hess. If you are looking for a winery off the beaten path and not off a main highway, this is your spot. The setting is so serene and the courtyard is a beautiful place to enjoy wine. The art collection is very interesting as well. It s a two for one!! Thanks to Steve our wine educator for making us feel comfortable from the get-go. He was great!!! We are telling everyone to come here now because of him!

A friend recommended we visit Hess Collection Winery. We were so pleased with our visit. Alexandra led us through the tasting process. She was absolutely amazing.

Best Of Wine Tourism Awards 2014

Global Winner
Art and Culture
San Francisco | Napa Valley

The Hess Collection winery is a historic site in a native stone building hewn by masons in 1903. Donald Hess is recognized as one of the top collectors of contemporary art, and his passion is shared without charge for visitors to the Hess Art Museum at the Hess Collection Winery.

Gorgeous location. I mean, how can you go wrong with Mt. Vedeer? The wine is fabulous. But, of course, you know that if you'd tried it. The art gallery is well worth the trip up the hill from the regular Napa tasting rooms. I haven't been back since the earthquake but I'm hoping that Hess wasn't damaged too much. it's such a gorgeous place with one of the most informative tasting rooms around.

Excellent stop. Great wine, great service, the art is great too! Beautiful drive up, but no views once there.

Had a great tasting with Deb. Lots of great info and history. And great wine!

I recently enjoyed a fabulous tour of the winery and vineyard grounds followed by a pairing of reserve wines with select cheeses. The tour and tasting was very well done. Michael, the wine educator did a wonderful job. Thank you!!

Spectacular building, arts, and wine tasting. WiFi available albeit pretty weak cell signal.

First stop on our last trip to Napa. Only knowledge of Hess was from grocery store wines but went for the winery visit and art collection. Loved the wines and joined the club. Modern art collection had very interesting pieces.

Wow! We fell in love today with the Hess Cabernet. The 2012 was our absolute favorite and couldn t leave without purchasing a bottle. The art was fun to see after our tasting. Thank you for a great start to our day.

Fantastic customer service and beautiful grounds. They even brought us some cab and Malbec our for us to try. Loved both!

A must stop along your Napa journey, we will continue to revisit again and again! Please treat yourself to the 'Small Block Petite Sirah', you will not be disappointed. Oh yeah, there's a phenomenal art gallery on site too...

Very interesting art collection. The wines were very good.

Run don t walk to this winery. We signed up for the ATV tour with wine and food pairing and it is truly one of the highlights of 2020 for us. This experience was highly personalized, professional and thoughtful a one of a kind treat for the wine enthusiast or novice.

We were greeted at the front gate by friendly faces (in masks) and had our temperatures taken. We were then introduced to our host for the day, Michael, who took us to the ATV for our tour. Each ATV is outfitted with plexiglass so participants can feel comfortable taking their masks off if they do choose. At each stop, Michael shared with us detailed information about the grape growing and wine making process. We felt immersed in the culture and heritage of the winery immediately. After a wonderful tour, Michael took us to meet the chef and pastry chef for an incredible meal paired with Hess wines. The food alone was worth a trip out the winery AMAZING.

Highly recommend this experience for all wine and outdoor lovers. Special thanks to Michael for a wonderful excursion making us feel welcomed; he went above and beyond to create an amazing tour for us. We could ve ended our Napa visit here we felt so pleased with our experience.

This place is fantastic. We showed up at noon on a Wednesday to a fairly empty winery. Austin poured us some wine and shared some of his deep knowledge of Hess as well as wine and the industry in general. By the end of our tasting, the whole crew was with us talking about wine and life. Once we finished our wine, we moved onto the beautiful selection of contemporary art. I would go to either of these separately. Having them both under the same roof makes this a uniquely special place.

Donald Hess, is a Swiss and owns this beautiful huge winery with modern wine tasting room plus an art gallery. Hannah took care of us, she was professional and knowledgeable. We joined the club!

Very nice art collections. The surroundings are beautiful.

Nice art exhibit. Great tasting experience with Steve.

Disappointed with the wine but the art gallery was on the whole fantastic.

Hess makes my favorite not-too-pricey Cabernet in the valley (about $50 a bottle). It's so good. The samplers are well priced and the art gallery is a trip. If you're in the valley, I definitely recommend visiting this place - for the wine and atmosphere.

Fantastic wine! Big, bold cabs. The art was intersting.

It's a nice place. They have a good selection but charging 20$ "bottle service" for bringing the bottles outside is definitely not acceptable.

We had a fabulous time here. The grounds are impressive and the wine is even more so.

Great red wine, staff helpful but they said only basics a out the wine.
Location is nice, check out complimentary modern art gallery and the neihbouring monastery for views and garden.

Art and wine. Service was great, bit of a hard sell on the wine club membership. Good wines. Fantastic art collection.

Summary: Beautiful grounds and art complement wonderful wines and friendly staff. Good amount of parking. Off the beaten path a ways, so prepare to into the middle of nowhere to find it.

Went here Friday late morning with my wife and her parents. We had to drive through many windy roads surrounded by forest to get to the winery. Once we arrived, we parked and made our way toward the tasting room and museum. There is a beautiful entry garden area with a long Koi pond and orange dragonflies flying around. A covered tasting area for cheese pairing purchasers sits in the garden along the building wall. Inside the museum we were greeted by a friendly receptionist that explained the tasting options and recommended we do a self-guided tour through the museum, which had a variety of sculptures and some contemporary electronic pieces. There is also a barrel room just to the side of the receptionist's desk where private tastings occur by reservation, but you can go inside and experience the wonderful smells.

We decided to do the standard tasting in the tasting room and made our way to the bar. It took a few minutes for us to be served despite there being only a few other small parties around the bar, but the two people doing the serving were both helping people that were already tasting and swapping out newly dried glassware from their dishwasher. The cost is $10 for four tastings currently, and there were around six whites and 10 reds to try. All of the wines we tried were good, though there certainly was a range in our personal preferences. The pourers we had (they swapped in and out) were very helpful and informative. The wine prices themselves were on par for Napa, which is pricier than I'd like, but we got a cuvee and one of the cabs. It was a nice first visit.

I love their wine! They also have a very cool art museum - definitely worth adding it to your list if you are planning a CA wine country visit!
I went to one of their exclusive dinners couple years ago that they held at their own museum. It was a fun filled night with delicious food & wine and music!

I can't think of a better place to walk off that wine and cheese than in the art gallery of the Hess Collection. The wine is good, too. I liked the sculptures in the garden as well.

Great experience for wine lovers.
Value for money

One of the most beautiful vineyards in Napa. Make sure you tour the art museum after trying the wines.

Great experience at the Hess Collection. My wife and I did the ATV Tour with the cheese pairing. Amazing views within the vineyards and great wine. HIGHLY recommend doing the ATV Tour with Gustavo. He was very knowledgeable about the wine and the history of the vineyard.

Awesome wine & incredible art collection...the drive was so worth it!!!

Wonderful wine experience. The staff was great, the wine amazing! 15 wineries, THIS was the only one we became members of their wine club!

The drive up to Hess is beautiful, the grounds are very unique, the art gallery is one of a kind. If you have never made the drive it is worth while.

Good wine and atmosphere. They have an interesting modern art collection. Try to get outside sitting.

My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to visit this exquisite winery in the Mount Veeder district of Napa Valley. The drive up to the winery is a beautiful winding road about five miles up the hill. Unbelievable scenery of trees, canyons and hills all the way to the winery. Once we arrived we were greeted by two hosts that asked us Covid related questions, took our temperatures and gave us each a flute of sparkling wine. Then we met our wine educator and guide, Alexandra, but we immediately knew her a Alex. She was AMAZING! During our walk to our private table, which was actually inside the fermentation room, she gave us insights to the art, flora and trees that we passed along the way. Our tasting experience included a pairing and tour, and we were so happy that we spent the extra money. This was a great way to start our Napa trip! Alex poured us five (generous) tastes of wine... Chardonnay, Block 19, Syrah, Zinfandel, and Cabernet. When she found out that my girlfriend loves Chardonnay, she brought out a Reserve that was probably the best Chardonnay that I've ever tasted!!! Our pairing tray included estate grown figs, several cheeses, nuts, crackers and dried fruits. Alex described each wine to perfection and we learned so much during our time with her. Our tasting experience lasted over 90 minutes and not once did we feel rushed or that we were taking too long.

After our tasting we were escorted to the barrel room where we learned even more about the wine making business and took some great photos. Then Alex took us to the art gallery. WOW! Not only was the art incredible, but Alex was so knowledgeable about every piece. I actually think she knew more about the art than the wine... and that's a lot! We spent another 20-30 minutes talking to her about art and enjoying the gallery. It was so fun and we felt so welcome by our fantastic guide that it was hard to leave. We wound up buying seven bottles of wine- 3 of that incredible Chardonnay, 2 Zinfandel, 1 Syrah, and 1 19 Block Cuvee. Not once were we pressured to join their wine club; although, now that we're back home, I most likely will anyway. I have to give a HUGE shout out to Alex, who made this experience so much better than it already was. Thank you.

Great winery! Carlos poured us a great tasting and will be going back again. Mostly on the red side of wines and they do not disappoint. The drive up there is amazing and you might feel like your going the wrong direction but stick with it and you will make it. I did not take the tour but they offer a self guided tour through the art collection. The wine is worth the drive and if you like art it will be even better for you.

Very nice wine tasting experience, friendly staff and relaxing atmosphere.

Superb service during this wine tasting. Really appreciate the amount of distance maintained by the staff as well as how the tables are set up to distance guests. I m sure we will return as this winery has a lot going on. Between the tastings just inside their doors of their tank storage area, art gallery, and make your own wine experience it is really a cool place.

I just drank one of your wines. It was a delicious zinfandel.

Friendly staff; great art exhibition; wondeful wine; all worth a visit.

Worth the trip even just for visiting the art gallery alone.

Good tastings, nice wines, yummy... + beautiful outdoor shaded seating area with wisteria, koi pond, 3 story art/sculpture privately owned exhibit

Hess Collection Winery sits on the hillside of Mount Veeder approximately 15 minutes from Highway 29. You wouldn't just stumble upon this winery while driving along the highway; it's a destination you have to seek out. The mix of wine education and art make Hess Collection Winery a worthy drop-in for novice wine enthusiasts or tourists in search of something more than a tasting room.

The Hess Collection Winery features a tasting room with moderately-priced $10 flights. The walls of the tasting room highlight the soil and unique features of each source vineyard. See the soil composition of each vineyard and read about its climate while sampling the product of its grapes. Adjacent to the tasting room you will find a small gift shop with winery-branded wine accessories (corkscrews, stoppers), local products (coasters, lotions), and of course wine.

Explore the stairways for an overview of how wine is made including a 12-minute video highlighting a year in the life of the winery. An elevator is available for persons unable to take the stairs.

Upstairs you will find a large art collection in spacious viewing rooms. Take a break from your day of wine with a free tour of paintings, sculpture, and abstract art.

Top class wines, friendly staff, world class gallery.

We had the best time tasting wine and enjoying the art after. Austin was a great host, knowledgeable and fun. This place is a gem and we highly recommend a visit!

This place is amazing, the grounds, the artwork and the wine. All supurb.

I've been to this facility twice and it is quite lovely. The location, the history, the facility and especially the art is all top notch. You will notice the one thing I left out is the wine. Personally, I find their wine fairly ordinary. Its all perfectly drinkable, but really lacking in complexity. These wines are meant to be drunk now however, not sit in a fridge for years (their comment, not mine) We took a private tour on my latest visit and that was worth the time/expense. Just nice to get that personal touch. The malbec was probably my favorite wine, which is surprising because I am usually a cab guy.

nice place, wine was poor, started very good, but lost too fast the taste. 35$ to taste 5 wines ( in total 0,25 l) - the man who gave me the wine was not at all helpfull; not really interested - can not recommend this wine

I used to come here all the time. I decided to no longer come here due to the culture change. The sales reps only care about selling their wines more so than just simply allowing their guests to enjoy their time wine tasting and enjoying the scenery. It was never like this. I now only go to domaine carneros, or robert mandavi winery or other wineries. They ask you for all your personal information which I dont like giving out and again all they care about are their sales. Here's some advice. Stop putting so much pressure on your guests. If they want to buy a bottle, they will buy one or two. If you continue to provide this type of culture- you will lose business.

Delicious wine, friendly service, and interesting art pieces make this a great place to visit on a Napa trip. Even though it is kinda far from the main "strip" of wineries, Hess is worth trying for its reasonably priced tastings (2 for 1 with yelp check-in) and art collection.

Secluded twenty minutes away from the main Napa highway, Hess Collection is on a little corner up in a hill. The grounds are beautiful, with a nice courtyard enclosed in brick walls and a koi pond. There are a few tables underneath hanging vines where you can picnic and observe the abstract sculptures.

The interior is contemporary but comfortable, a unique mix of feeling like you're in a living room but with varying art pieces dispersed throughout the venue. The first floor has the store and merchandise, bathrooms, and a few art pieces. The second floor has art installations and a small theater. The third floor has art and a room where the tastings take place.

My tasting experience was great: I've been twice and had friendly and knowledgeable wine experts each time. Some favorites include the Malbec, the German white wine, and the Cab. The wine here is better quality than most wines I've tasted.

I especially recommend this place when weather isn't so great because everything is indoors. And be prepared to navigate ahead of time since cell service usually dies. But they also have wifi when you get to the tasting room/gallery! (Also, you should call and see if they are closed for a special event, once I drove all the way to find on the sign that they were closed for a private event).

For a small winery, their wine and service is fantastic. One of the best Napa wineries to experience when you get the chance.

Ask for Roderick to be your guide. He is a perfect balance of knowledge, levity and oenilogical wizardry.

The collection, while quite a tight edit, is astounding.

Well worth every penny!

Sort of disappointing wines after visiting a few others in this price bracket (e.g. Caymus), I also didn t find the tasting rooms particularly intimate or luxurious, but the art museum redeemed it. Excellent Francis Bacon.

Visited 16 Vinyard in the week that my family and friends visited Sonoma and Hess was the most disrespectful people I've ever met. The person pouring never explained any of the wines and actually had to ask someone else to finish our tasting because she was ignoring us. Finally, the check out lady stopped my wife for not paying after I had just paid for her. The best part of the experience is when we left.

This has fantastic location and excellent art works

It is an interesting winery. They have a Contemporary Art Collection that is interesting. It is kind of far from Napa Valley but worth the visit if you have the time as it is super different from the other places in the area. Wine is ok, not the best though. Staff is friendly.

Excellent wine tasting. We tried the Mt Veeder cab selection. The wines were excellent, but the history lesson and background on the winery and wine in general were unexpected pleasures. A very well-done tasting led by a knowledgeable person.

Another highlight is the museum collection much of which is from the personal holdings of the winery founder. Some very interesting and beautiful items in the museum - don t miss the large Franz Gertsch photo of the young woman on the 3rd floor.

A winery that produces famous Hess wines
On the 2nd and 3rd floors, modern works by famous writers are exhibited and you can freely view them.
Next to the first floor, you can enter the wine aging warehouse and watch the wine mature silently.
On the other side, there is a bar where you can tasting wine
Depending on the type you choose, you can have about 4 tastings priced at $25-$35.

Hess wine has a certain reputation, so it is not very high as a wine that can be purchased at Costco in Korea, but it seems to be of an excellent level~~

The bartender's friendly response makes you feel better, but if you evaluate the same wine while tasting it with your colleagues, it will be a more interesting winery tour~~

Awesome location, brilliant wines and fantastic art gallery.

A really welcome and nice winery in Napa Valley. Known for its mount veeder Cabernet Sauvignon. But I personally prefer the Chardonnay!

We had an amazing experience at Hess! The drive alone is worth it, winding up the mountain among the afternoon mist until you break out above the layer into the sunshine. The views are some of the best in the Valley. The tasting is wonderful; Sue was awesome! She was very knowledgable and passionate about the cabernet line. We love cabs, and she tweaked the tasting to our exact liking. The Mt. Veeder reds are probably our favorite in Napa, and no one does them better than Hess. We had a blast, and will be coming back as often as possible!

The Hess Collection winery is short drive from downtown Napa in a picturesque spot, down a narrow winding road. Its surrounded by wooded hills feeling far removed from the valley center. Hess Collection is known just as much for its contemporary art collection as it is for its wine. The space has 3 floors of art, the largest contemporary art collection displayed at any of the Napa based wineries. Hess made our list of musts since we could taste and explore the art galleries.
Tours of the art galleries are self-guided. The collection his highly eclectic; examples include a typewriter with real flames coming out of it.
Hess offers a great array of grape varieties, wine styles and price tiers. The entry-level tasting experience ($25) allowed us to pick four wines to enjoy while chatting with the bartenders in their standing tasting room. We even got to taste the grapes themselves here. I was pleasantly surprised by how sweet and fruity some varieties were.

Great experience and amazing art and wine. Only wish weather was bit less warmer. 101 degree is not the right weather to take vineyard tour

Great winery with a unique atmosphere.

I was here for the final stop of a Place tour and had a lot of fun. The wine tasting took place both outside and in the cellar. We started outside, walked part of the grounds and learned some of the history of the winery. From there we headed to the cellar to finish the tasting.

In addition to the great wines, the main building and grounds are both home to a fairly large art collection which you can view.