Round Pond Estate’s Christina Blandon With Thomas Henthorne
Round Pond Estate is one of my favorite wineries in Napa County to visit. Set on 362 acres in the acclaimed Rutherford Valley region, Round Pond is famous for their Cabernet Sauvignons but also produces a variety of impressive wines including their Sauvignon Blanc, Nebbiolo and Rosé varietals. The estate also features a state-of-the-art olive mill, where Spanish and Italian olives grown on the property are made into delicious oils. The setting is so gorgeous it was actually featured on the opening credits for the 1980s television drama “Falcon Crest.”
Constructed in 2007, siblings Ryan and Miles MacDonnell built the winery and olive mill on land purchased by their parents, Bob and Jan MacDonnell, in the 1980s. After selling their grapes to some of the region’s most impressive wineries, they decided to construct their own and Round Pond Estate was born. Their wines are exceptional with Wine Spectator awarding their Cabernet Sauvignon 92 points and their new Gravel Series wines scoring 91-97 points in Antonio Galloni’s Vinous.
Today it is one of the finest winery visit experiences in Napa, with a focus on hospitality and quality instilled by the family’s personal attention to the operations at Round Pond. The building itself is impressive from the moment you enter the gates. The entry drive is lined with towering Washingtonian Palms. The building itself is reminiscent of the wine estates I have visited in Tuscany, Italy and the Provence region of France, but combines modern details like steel and glass doors with rough-hewn wooden beams and re-purposed wood tables.
The Wine Tasting Deck at Round Pond Estate – What A View!
I cannot go on enough about the setting: it is simply spectacular. The second-floor tasting room opens onto a deck overlooking the valley and the mountains in the distance. In an area with many gorgeous wineries, Round Pond Estate stands out.
In Their Own Words...
“Because our gourmet items are defined by their freshness, purity and the meticulous care that goes into making them, at Round Pond we strive to control every step of the process. The product of our own vineyards, orchards, mill, and winery, every item we make reflects our passionate, hands-on approach from soil to bottle. At Round Pond, we believe that excellence is achieved through a seamless blend of Old World traditions and state-of-the-art innovation. We walk the vineyards and orchards daily and carefully tend to our grape vines and olive trees. All of our fruit is sustainably farmed and hand-harvested. And though our mill is equipped with the finest modern technology, we perform all of our blending and bottling by hand in order to ensure the highest levels of quality. By combining the best of the old with the best of the new, Round Pond strives to create modern classics.”
