Even with Yountville’s already bountiful roster of excellent tasting rooms and restaurants, Stewart Cellars is a welcome addition. The town requires all tasting rooms to devote a substantial portion of their square footage to some sort of non-wine retail business. Stewart Cellars primarily complements their excellent wine with Gather Cafe.

Yountville is a Mecca of fine dining. It also has plenty of casual restaurants serving highly caloric delights. There are several options for picnic take-out too. But there hasn’t been anyplace focused on fast and healthful, but imaginative, meals in an informal setting. I have also longed for a great, 5-minute coffee stop in the area. Gather Cafe meets both of those needs well. It’s chef is Sarah Heller who has previously worked at Bouchon, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and the Restaurant at Meadowood.

I ate at Gather in November and was very happy with all the dishes I tried. The restaurant has just launched an updated menu, so it doesn’t make sense to describe the dishes I had in detail. But the current menu continues the previous direction. The focus is on salads to which avocado, roasted mushrooms and proteins can be added. There’s a daily soup too. The Belgian waffles at breakfast are a great choice.

Beyond Gather, the wines and tasting experience at Stewart Cellars are well worth the visit. There are two different venues and tasting experiences. The tasting hall, a beautifully architected room with a large, horseshoe-shaped counter offers non-private tastings of five Stewart wines for $35. Guests may also choose to take their wines outside to the large porch where there is comfortable seating.

People looking for a private experience may book the elegantly rustic NOMAD Heritage Library for $85 per person. Those tastings feature library wines and also Stewart’s flagship wine, a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon.

Stewart Cellars opened their tasting rooms and Gather Cafe in the latter half of 2016. They are located at the north end of Yountville at 6752 Washington Street.

Stewart Cellars Wines

2014 Stewart Chardonnay Sonoma Mountain 90+ 14.1% 750ml $40

Measured aromas of poached pear, green apple and baking spice precede tangy, powerful and long-lasting flavors of apple, pear and ripe stone fruit. Medium+ body with a very fine-grained, slippery mouthfeel.

2013 Stewart Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 91 14.5% 750ml $50

Tangy black cherry, dried orange peel, spice and a touch of charred wood. Medium-bodied and juicy with fine-grained texture.

2013 Stewart Merlot Napa Valley 90+ 14.5% 750ml $50

Warm, ripe red plums, carob, spice and dark chocolate on nose and palate. Medium+ body with matching fine-grained texture that has some grip. Long and juicy.

2013 Stewart Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 90+ 14.5% 750ml $68

A three-vineyard blend with black currant and dry, forest floor led by charred wood on the nose. Full-bodied and black cherry-centric in the mouth with fine-grained, chalky texture.

2013 Stewart Nomad Napa Valley 92 14.5% 750ml $175

100% Cabernet Sauvignon all from the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard in St. Helena. Black currant and huckleberry jam aromatics, black currant-huckleberry pie and spice on the full-bodied palate. Good concentration and well-structured with fine-grained, firmly chalky texture. Enjoy now through 2026.

Note: The original version of this article had a lot of errors regarding to the menu. I had looked at the wrong one… Please use the link above to view the correct menu.

Copyright Fred Swan 2016. Gather Cafe photo by Bob McClenahan. Tasting room photos by Rebecca Chotkowski. All rights reserved.