How do I taste Aum Cellars wines?

Look, smell, sip, and notice structure — then compare bottles by grape and site. On the estate, reserve a private tasting. At home, start with current releases or the Signature Trio from Wines.

Do you publish tasting notes for each wine?

The shop describes grape, appellation, and whether fruit is estate-grown or sourced. Collections add a little house language — freshness, elegance, spice, richness, structure. This note does not invent aromas the cellar has not written.

What is the difference among Aum’s reds?

Pinot and Grenache are sourced reserves and sit lighter in the Three Shades of Red set. Coombsville Malbec is estate fruit. Atlas Peak Cabernet and the Coombsville Cabernet–Malbec blend are the estate red argument. Allocation Cabernets are barrel-select and not in the open cart.

Should I taste on the estate or at home first?

Either. The visit adds vineyard and cellar context. The shop lets you pour at your own table. The beginner’s method for any wine is a separate guide.

Blog / Wines & Pairings

How to Taste Aum Cellars’ Wines

August 12, 2026 · Coombsville, Napa Valley · Aum Cellars

Aum Cellars Om-label bottle with a decanter — Aum in the glass — grape, site, and a quiet cellar

Tasting Aum Cellars wines is less about a scoring sheet and more about noticing what Pete Hoffmann left in the glass: grape, site, and a cellar that prefers native yeast and restraint over makeup. On the estate, that happens after a vineyard walk and a seated pour of current and library bottles. At home, start with the shop — or The Aum Signature Trio if you want the Gordon Valley white, Russian River Pinot, and Coombsville Malbec in one set.

What should I look for in the glass?

Hold the stem. Tilt the wine over something pale. Aum’s white is a Sauvignon Blanc–Sémillon blend from Gordon Valley; the reds run from Pinot and Grenache through Malbec and Cabernet. You are looking for clarity and weight, not for a color story we have not published. Library bottles poured on a visit may sit older beside current releases — that is context, not a defect. Wines here are left unfined and unfiltered; do not expect a factory polish.

On the nose, take two quiet passes: fruit, then everything that is not fruit. Pete’s rule of thumb is blunt — Cabernet should taste like Cabernet, Malbec should keep the qualities that make Malbec itself. If you start inventing a perfume list, you will miss that test. On the palate, notice acidity, tannin, fruit, and finish as structure, not as a contest. Draw a little air if you can do it without comedy. Eat something; the estate also bottles olive oil, which belongs on the same table as the reds.

How do Aum’s wines differ from one another?

Use the catalog, not a fantasy wheel. The Aum Signature Trio is built as a progression the estate already names: bright freshness in the Gordon Valley Sauvignon Blanc–Sémillon, elegance in the Russian River Pinot Noir (Calera clone, sourced fruit), then depth and richness in F’ing Fabulous Malbec from Coombsville. Three Shades of Red keeps you in red and adds Sierra Foothills Grenache — bright fruit and spice in the house description — between the Pinot and the Malbec, lighter-bodied toward darker.

The Heart of AUM is the estate-red set: Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon, the Coombsville Malbec, and the Coombsville blend (thirty percent estate Cabernet, sixty-five percent estate Malbec). The collection is described as Napa Valley fruit and structure. That is the verified difference to taste: Atlas Peak Cabernet versus Coombsville Malbec versus the two together, not a paragraph of invented black-fruit poetry. Sexy Bastard, Sexy M.F., and Sexy Bitch are estate barrel-select reserve Cabernets; they leave by wine club and allocation, so a home tasting of those three is a membership pour, not a grocery flight.

What might the vineyard show — and what it will not?

Aum’s vineyard is organically farmed and dry-farmed, with living soil and roots asked to search instead of waiting on a drip line. The cellar uses wild yeast and leaves vintage variation in the bottle on purpose. What you may notice is difference between sites and years, and a texture that was not fined into uniformity. What you will not get here is a published barrel recipe, a sulfur number, or a tasting note we invented to fill space. If you want a first-visit primer — reservations, whether you must finish every pour, what to ask — use the beginner’s guide. If you want the appointment that puts these wines next to the rows, reserve a visit.

Explore the wines. Pour what matches the table you already cook, and let the bottles argue among themselves.

Questions, answered

How do I taste Aum Cellars wines?: Look, smell, sip, and notice structure — then compare bottles by grape and site. On the estate, reserve a private tasting. At home, start with current releases or the Signature Trio from Wines.
Do you publish tasting notes for each wine?: The shop describes grape, appellation, and whether fruit is estate-grown or sourced. Collections add a little house language — freshness, elegance, spice, richness, structure. This note does not invent aromas the cellar has not written.
What is the difference among Aum’s reds?: Pinot and Grenache are sourced reserves and sit lighter in the Three Shades of Red set. Coombsville Malbec is estate fruit. Atlas Peak Cabernet and the Coombsville Cabernet–Malbec blend are the estate red argument. Allocation Cabernets are barrel-select and not in the open cart.
Should I taste on the estate or at home first?: Either. The visit adds vineyard and cellar context. The shop lets you pour at your own table. The beginner’s method for any wine is a separate guide.

Taste it on the estate

Private tastings at Aum Cellars are by appointment — a vineyard walk, cellar time, and a seated pour in Napa.

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