Bet you didn’t even know you wanted to drink wine in a fairy circle at a ghost winery, huh? Do you even know what a fairy circle is? I didn’t, until I drank wine in one and had a magical moment. Keep reading to hear about the incredible wine tasting experience I had at AXR – a new Napa Valley winery right outside of St. Helena.
AXR is a winery that I kept hearing about from friends–they would tell me you must go there, it’s amazing, etc. etc. Well being in Napa, I hear this a lot, as we have tons of really great wineries. However, I get why they couldn’t shut up about it! AXR lands a spot on the very special list. It’s different – in the best ways possible.
Rosé in hand. Let’s do this.
As soon as I got out of my car I was greeted with a smile and glass of Rose. The way to my heart, how did they know? Upon walking up the stairs into an old victorian house, I was surprised with a trendy, hip and modern interior. A man that brings me wine without asking and an incredibly chicly (is that a word?) designed place – CAN I LIVE HERE!?
Absolutely stunning interior. We had our tasting in this room.
All the rooms are private at AXR which offers a very intimate wine tasting experience.
This is my new dining room…
And this is my second new dining room…Jokes aside, major props to AXR on their design!
What I didn’t realize was how much dang history this place has. This estate has seen a lot. As the AXR staff puts it, if only these vines could talk! The estate was a winery in the early 1800’s, then once prohibition hit it turned into an inn, a restaurant, a saloon…a brothel, you name it. It’s been said that the property is haunted…which if I was a ghost, that’s where I would be too, duh. Wino for life or er death? Man my wine jokes suck…
However, what really made this experience was being hosted by David. My dude! He makes you feel like a long time friend and is an incredible story teller, keeps you laughing and fills your glass frequently. Plus he brought us potato chips with a mountain of shaved cheese on top, so he’s good people. My fellow cheese lovers understand.
Our new wine bestie, David.
When David asked us, “want to go drink wine in the fairy circle?” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But of course I said hell yeah because I’ll drink wine anywhere and I was intrigued. For those of you who don’t know what a fairy circle is (I didn’t either until this weekend, don’t worry) it’s a circle cluster of giant redwood trees in the middle of a forest. They aren’t very common and are thought to be a place of magical happenings. Yep, stood right in the middle sipping on my wine hoping to see allllll the fairy orbs. Maybe I needed to drink more wine first.
First step to seeing fairies in a fairy circle? Drink AXR Chardonnay.
Searching for fairy orbs in the redwood fairy circle.
The wine is just as phenomenal as the experience. A few of my favorites included their V Madrone Rose, 2014 AXR Cabernet , 2014 V Madrone Cabernet and 2016 AXR Napa Valley.
Both their AXR and V Madrone wines were delish.
There is truly something for everyone here. As I mostly gravitate towards red wine, they did have some wonderful Chardonnay’s, so both the white wine and red wine fan alike would be happy campers here!
The wine, overall experience and generous hospitality completely blew me away. This winery quickly worked its way up to my top 10 list and I will be recommending this over and over again. David, hope you don’t mind seeing me again soon because I’ll be back! 🙂
