Frog’s Leap Winery

Unlike many of his haughty neighbors, owner John Williams injects some fun into the often staid Napa wine scene, from the name of the winery and its classy, black-and-white deco-style wine labels, to a wine called Leapfrogmilch (a blend of riesling and chardonnay, and a perfect picnic wine) and the ever-present winery motto “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”

Frog’s Leap was actually formed by Williams and partner Larry Turley in 1981 near St. Helena on a former frog farm that once supplied the little amphibians’ legs to restaurants throughout California. The winery’s name was also a take on Stags’ Leap, that famous winery farther south where Williams was once winemaker (and from where he reportedly spirited away grapes to make his first independent wines). It was not until 1994 when the partnership ended that Williams moved the winery to Rutherford and restored the huge red barn that was home to the Adamson winery a hundred years before.

All along, organic farming practices were used by Williams, and Frog’s Leap is now regarded as a champion of organic practices in the valley. It also has a big organic vegetable and fruit garden, and visitors can usually help themselves to produce or simply picnic on the huge expanses of grass. Even on a busy summer weekend, Frog’s Leap never really feels crowded.

Although you can visit the winery free and taste the wine of the day (and perhaps luck out with some fresh fruit), an appointment is required for the two or three free tours each day, which highlight organic farming and end with a tasting of four wines. Almost half the 60,000 cases of wine made here each year are the excellent and well-priced sauvignon blanc, but Frog’s Leap is also known for its cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, and the flagship Rutherford, a bordeaux-style red blend that highlights the unique fruit-meets-earth characteristics of Rutherford appellation wines.

The portfolio also includes merlot, chardonnay, syrah, and a wine called (appropriately enough) Pink, which is another fun and cheap picnic wine (8815 Conn Creek Rd., off Silverado Trail, Rutherford, 707/963-4704 or 800/959-4704, www.frogsleap.com, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Sat., free tours twice daily).