For those of us who drink wine we all relish the experience-good friends, quality wine, amazing environments. And New Clairvaux has it all, plus it has history, an amazing story, a well known wine maker and incredible views. I was seriously in awe of the winery from the minute we rounded the road and found ourselves surrounded by a vineyard.




If you are like me and have ABSOLUTELY no idea where Vina is, let me help you. It is a tiny little "town" and I use that word loosely. It is west of Chico (kind of) and East of Corning (I think) and it can be accessed from the 5 or the 99. And yes, it is truly in the middle of nowhere, but it is so worth the journey.

The winemaker, Aimee Sunseri, a 5th generation winemaker, is very well known. She also works as a winemaker at her families winery, Nichelini. However, at New Clairvaux, she has two labels, one named after herself, Aimee, and the other that represents the winery, New Clairvaux.


The winery produces 5,000 cases and they specialize in old world styles with modern technology. The winery is the home of the Abbey of New Clairvaux, which is an order of Trappist Cistercian Monks. This particular order started in 1955 when it branched off from a group in Kentucy. They purchased the 600 acres on which the live, work and pray. However, the Cistercian Monks have been involved in wine making in Europe since the 12th Century and have been credited for introducing well known grape varietals such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Tempranillo. New Clairvaux was the first Cistercian winery in the Americas.


They planted the grapes in 2000, however they do source some of their fruit. The land itself had grapes on it as early as 1843, when Peter Lassen received the land as a Mexican land grant. In 1853, the property was sold to winemaker Henry Gerke and the vineyard production grew. In 1881, Leland Stanford bought the land and planted 55,000 acres of grapes, creating the Great Vina Ranch, which was the largest winery, distillery and vineyard. The ranch was bequeathed to Stanford University, who sold it at the beginning of prohibition.


On our visit we had the pleasure of tasting the Pinot Grigio, which is a very light, crisp and citrusy Pinot, which would be perfect for a warm summer evening. We also tried a Syrah Rose, which was a dry rose with a lot of flavor. As for my favorites, it was a toss up between the Tempranillo and the Syrah, think I am leaning towards the Syrah. The Tempranillo was light, but flavorful with a hint of vanilla and cherry. I was impressed with the fact that it was extremely smooth and almost dissipated as soon as it hit your palette. The Syrah was more fruit forward with a lot of spice. They were also pouring a dessert wine, however I did pass on that one so I can't give you a report. We did bring home a bottle of the Petite Sirah Reserve and it was good, a tad bit on the dry side, but a very nice traditional style Petite Sirah.


If you make it to the property definitely take the time to check out the Chapter House. It is this amazing building that is being reconstructed on the property and it truly feels like you stepped back in time. It is an incredible work of art and it is being rebuilt by a man who spends half of the year working on the Egyptian Pyramids and the other half refurbishing the Chapter House.


The building was originally built in Spain as an abbey between 1190-1220 and it was purchased and dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. However, he never completed the rebuild project and the "sacred stones" were scattered through the Golden Gate State Park. Father Thomas tried for years to get the stones to the abbey and was eventually successful in getting the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco to gift them in 1994. There were over 800 stones, however in order to truly reconstruct the building this project includes creating additional stones to match those that are missing.


This building is truly a work of art, a masterpiece of history and by far one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever had the honor of stepping foot in. As you all know I love wine, however the journey is definitely worth it, just to see this building. Here is the full story of the sacred stones if you are interested: http://www.sacredstones.org/


The tasting room is open daily from 11-5 and they are located at 26240 7th Street. Their wines can also be purchased on-line, but they do not sell all of their wines from their web page. They also have a wine club. Check out the web page for additional information: http://www.newclairvauxvineyard.com/