Mia Carta is a downtown Napa tasting room that is perfect for wine lovers who want to sample multiple producers all under one roof. The property, nestled in downtown Napa, offers a unique opportunity to try wines crafted by eight distinctive, family-owned wineries, each creating their own version of Napa and Sonoma wine.
History & Founding
If you’re looking for a unique wine-tasting experience in downtown Napa, look no further than Mia Carta. What’s cool about this tasting room is the community-driven concept. The space is home to eight different producers, each of which makes a slightly different style of wine. These aren’t your mega-producing wine brands, either. Each brand producers no more than 150 cases a year. When Mia Carta says that their winemakers craft micro-production wines, they mean it.
The current line-up of wines features selections from:
- Earthshine Wines
- Art House Wines
- Essere Franco Wines
- Ilsley Vineyards Wines
- Majuscule Wine
- RARECAT Wine
- Redmond Wines
- Sciandri Family Vineyards
The concept was a no-brainer for the families behind these wines. It’s impossible for micro-producers like this to share their wines with the public in their own standalone tasting rooms, so they pooled their resources and opened Mia Carta.
One other feature that sets this tasting room apart from others in Napa is that the winemakers behind these labels (and their families) are often in the tasting room interacting with guests and pouring their own wines.
The Property
There are a lot of high-end luxury tasting rooms in Napa, and sometimes, all of the fancy refineries you find in this California wine destination can make the idea of stepping inside and sipping feel a little intimidating. Mia Carta takes a slightly different approach to Napa wine tasting. Everything about this space says, come inside, grab a table, and enjoy a glass of good wine without all of the bells and whistles.
Mia Carta is housed inside a historic building that dates back to 1914, and the atmosphere here couldn’t be better. The ceilings are airy and elevated, exposed brick adds a quaint rustic quality, and they have a number of good seating options, from large communal-sized tables to comfy couches and free-standing tables for parties of 2 to 4. The building also has a bartop counter and sidewalk patio seating if you want a more low-key experience.
Despite its location right in the heart of downtown, you won’t have to worry about struggling to find a seat. The tasting room has two levels, so there is no need to fight the crowds to grab a spot.
This wine is firing on all cylinders and is an outstanding example of a balanced Napa Valley Cabernet.
Tasting Options
You have a few options at this tasting room in downtown Napa. You and your party can try winery-specific flights that feature a mix of red and white wines – these range in price from $35 to $55. The other option is to do the All Things Chilled ($45) or the Cabstravaganza ($80), which allows you to taste multiple producers and styles of wines.
Tasting Experience
We wanted to try as many different wines and producers as we could, so we chose the All Things Chilled and Cabstravaganza tastings. As you can imagine, with so many different producers, there was quite a bit of variation in terms of quality.
Before we get into what we thought of the wines, it’s also worth mentioning that while most of the producers source fruit from around Napa Valley, a few also work with grapes from the Sonoma Coast, Carneros, and Bordeaux.
Each wine we sampled during the Cabernet tasting was overall very good, and a few were simply outstanding, but the far and away favorite was Earthshine Wines’ 2019 Moone 1000 Vines Cabernet Sauvignon ($140/bottle). This wine is firing on all cylinders and is an outstanding example of a balanced Napa Valley Cabernet.
Coming in at a close second was the 2018 Essere Franco Cabernet Sauvignon from Coombsville ($125/bottle).
When it came to white wines, the Majuscule Wine Cuvee Blanc de Noir Sparkling from the Sonoma Coast was the best. We scored this wine a 91. The bottle retails for $65.
Also in Napa: our reviews of Alpha Omega Collective and Knights Bridge Winery.
Wines to look for
A rotating lineup from eight micro-producers, mostly Napa Valley Cabernet with Sonoma Coast, Carneros, and Bordeaux-sourced wines in the mix.
- 2019 Moone 1000 Vines Cabernet Sauvignon (Earthshine Wines), $140 Red Our far and away favorite; an outstanding example of a balanced Napa Valley Cabernet.
- 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville (Essere Franco), $125 Red A close second in the Cabernet tasting.
- Cuvee Blanc de Noir Sparkling, Sonoma Coast (Majuscule Wine), $65 Sparkling The best of the white wines; we scored it 91.
Our verdict
★★★★☆
Cork & Journey: 4 out of 5 stars. This is a really nice tasting room, and if you're staying downtown, you will love it even more because it's walking distance from just about every hotel. The prices are reasonable for Napa, especially when you consider a few of the tasting rooms surrounding Mia Carta are double or triple the cost. We found the service to be a bit hit or miss, and it was no surprise that with so many producers, some were better than others. Overall, we think many wine lovers would enjoy an experience like the one these winemakers have cultivated.
