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If you drink California Chardonnay, then you know Far Niente Winery in Napa Valley. We enjoyed this bottle at the Mirage, Las Vegas’s Otoro restaurant. Never underestimate how well a crisp dry Chardonnay pairs with sushi and sashimi. We couldn’t have asked for a better food and wine pairing than the one this 2019 Far Niente Chardonnay provided.
The Far Niente estate dates back to 1871 when John Benson, a forty-niner seeking his fortune in the California gold rush, purchased 300 acres in what is now Napa’s Oakville District. Benson planted Muscat grapes on the property and sold his first vintage in 1876.
Despite making his own wine, Benson didn’t build his own winery until 1885. Prior to that, his wines were produced at a separate property roughly a mile away from Far Niente. Sparing no expense for his new project, Benson hired renowned architect Hamden McIntyre, who also designed the wineries for Inglenook, Eschol Winery, which is now Trefethen Vineyards, and the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone building.
When the winery was completed, Benson named his new building Il dolce far niente, which translates to the sweetness of doing nothing.
Like a lot of Napa Valley wineries, Far Niente was shuttered when Prohibition shut down wine production, and caused many vineyards to rip out their vines. While some vineyards were able to sell their grapes as sacramental wine to local churches, many were not so lucky.
For almost 14 years – (as a wine lover, can you imagine 14 years without a glass of wine!?) – the production, sale and importation of alcohol was prohibited. But, that’s only half the story. Once Prohibition was lifted, every winery that wasn’t able to stay open had to start from scratch. That meant sourcing new vines, waiting for those vines to mature enough to bear fruit, and then reintroducing their products to the marketplace.
As you can see, the true effects that Prohibition had on US wine production went well beyond the 14 years that law was in place.
In 1979, brothers Gill and John Nickel, along with attorney Robert Lieff and Doug Stelling, purchased the estate and were determined to restore it to its former glory. The new team produced their first vintage in 1979, although crushing and production happened off-site until 1982 when the Far Niente winery was fully restored.
The Nickel brothers and their partners went on the create several other wine brands within the Far Niente family including: Dolce, Nickel & Nickel, Enroute, Bella Union, Post & Beam.
Wine caves are always a draw for wine lovers, and Far Niente has some of the best wine caves in the entire Napa Valley. While a number of properties have created wine caves as architectural features, Far Niente is one of just a handful of Napa Valley wineries to actually age their wines in functional, on-site wine caves.
The Far Niente wine caves were a late addition to the property. Initially, Gill Nickel suspected that the winery’s original owner had built wine caves behind the estate’s prominent stonearch, which was constructed in 1885 and set against a large stone wall. When Gill and his team took over the property, they decided to blast through the wall, thinking there was an intricate series of caves that had been sealed inside.
Ultimately, there was no wine cave behind the stonearch, but that didn’t deter Gill. Between 1980-2000, four wine caves were built at the estate, and together they add up to 40,000 sq ft of wine aging space!
California, USA
Napa Valley
Chardonnay
14.3
Nicole Marchesi
49–55°F / 9–12°C
Chardonnay
Not Necessary
Now to 2025
Far Niente
Far Niente describes their 2019 Chardonnay as alluring, and they’re not wrong. We liked everything this wine threw at us; it was everything a well-made California Chardonnay should be.
In the glass, this Chardonnay is a brilliant lemon color, with a crisp clarity, and medium- viscosity. The nose has layers of perfume. Apple, butter, melon, aromatic honeysuckle, and lemon rise from the glass.
On the palate the wine is wonderfully balanced. The lemon and lemon zest are apparent, we also picked up notes of Bosc pear, apple, wet gravel, and wisps of oaky vanilla. With medium- acidity, body, and alcohol, and a longer than expected finish, this bottle has all of the classic qualities of a high-end Napa Valley Chardonnay.
We scored the 2019 Far Niente Napa Valley Chardonnay a solid 92 points, and a 4.5/5 for value at $51 a bottle (retail, $100 at the restaurant). It’s definitely a bottle worth revisiting.
