Our Winemaking
Best in Class
Terroir Driven
With a Colt Following
As Vintner Barry Waitte puts it, Tamber Bey’s wines reflect “property rather than process.” That is, each wine is a unique expression of varietal, vintage, and vineyard. Grapes are harvested by hand and painstakingly crafted into limited releases in small lots.
Our Winemaker
Taking the Lead
Winemaker Sally Johnson Blum takes our winemaking as seriously as we take our horsemanship: That is, with graciousness and grit. Sally has earned many high scores in her storied career, but she achieves excellence through finesse rather than bluster. In the cellar, she takes a gentle approach, favoring gravity over pumps, a light hand on the press, and restraint in the use of new oak. A keen scholar of wine with an international palate, she is always exploring and learning. Out of every challenging vintage, she emerges with a new toolkit of winemaking approaches.
Our Trail
To Excellence
Barry Waitte founded Tamber Bey Vineyards in 1999, when he acquired the 60-acre Deux Chevaux Vineyard in the Yountville Appellation and the 11-acre Oakville Estate property in the Oakville Appellation. Thomas Rivers Brown served as founding winemaker for the first decade. In 2012, the Waittes purchased a 22-acre equestrian ranch in Calistoga and converted it into a world-class winemaking facility. Here, Winemaker Sally Johnson Blum crafts Tamber Bey wines and Assistant Winemaker Hayley Bowman oversees production for our custom crush clients. Visitors are welcome by appointment to tour the ranch and winemaking facility, meet the horses, and enjoy our ultra-premium wines.
Our Winery
State-of-the-Art
Our winemaking equipment maintains the quality and integrity of each berry. The extremely gentle Oscillys destemmer uses inertia to separate whole berries from their stems, avoiding any extraction of harsh stem tannins. Optical sorting using compressed air removes any berries that are damaged or under- or overripe. Our numerous small tanks allow us the flexibility to harvest and ferment each vineyard block separately. Careful cap management, as well as precise temperature control, allow us to modify flavor extraction in response to vintage characteristics. The final step of fermentation is gentle separation of free-run and gently pressed wine fractions via our gentle pneumatic press.
Our Collections
The Mane Offerings
We offer two collections of wines that encourage continual exploration and discovery. Our Vineyard Series wines are balanced, delicious, and priced within reach. The portfolio includes vineyard-driven single varietals and blends that allow our winemaker to layer flavors and textures in order to create a complete expression of the vintage.
Our Signature Collection is a showcase for the most stunning wines from our cellar, made from the best blocks and rows of vines. These wines are concentrated, powerful and expressive, built to age beautifully but also to show well in their youth.
Featured Wines
Explore Our Estate-Grown Wines
and Vineyard Designates
Our Commitment
To Sustainability
Being sustainable means growing high-quality grapes, producing excellent wines, protecting the environment, being a responsible neighbor and employer, and maintaining a thriving, long-term business.
