Blog / Estate Notes
How to Taste Aum Cellars’ Wines
August 12, 2026 · Coombsville, Napa Valley · Aum Cellars
Taste Aum Cellars wines on the estate if you can: reserve a private visit, walk the organically farmed vineyard, sit in the cellar, and let Pete Hoffmann — or the family table — pour current and library bottles at a human pace. If you are not in Napa, shop the current releases or open The Aum Signature Trio so the first three glasses still have a shape.
On the hillside
The Signature Estate tasting is ninety minutes and $85 per guest, for up to eight people. It is not a queue. You move from rows to barrels to a seated flight, with estate olive oil and local cheese. Other experiences add food pairings, harvest work, or classes when the season allows. Bring curiosity, not a scoring sheet. Cabernet should taste like Cabernet; Malbec should keep its own grain; a cooler year should be allowed to look like a cooler year.
At your own table
Start with the Gordon Valley Sauvignon Blanc–Sémillon if you want lift, the Russian River Pinot if you want red with less weight, the Coombsville Malbec if you want the estate’s dark-fruit argument. The Cabernet–Malbec blend and Atlas Peak Cabernet ask for food. Sexy Bastard and the other barrel-select Cabernets are allocation wines; the wine club is how regulars taste them without pretending they are grocery SKUs. Use a glass you can swirl. Eat. Do not ice a red into silence.
- Aum Cellars tasting room — book first; this is the method the wines were grown for.
- Aum bottles at home, in the order of a trio or a single estate red.
- A crowded Napa bar flight, only after you know what Aum tastes like in the quiet.
A beginner’s map of any tasting is here. The Aum-specific map is the appointment. Visit.
Questions, answered
- How do I taste Aum Cellars wines?
- The best way is a private tasting at the Coombsville estate: reserve on Visit, ninety minutes, vineyard and cellar. Away from Napa, shop the current releases or the Signature Trio.
- What is poured?
- Current and select library wines, chosen from the cellar that day. Estate olive oil and local cheese are part of the Signature tasting. Allocation Cabernets may appear when they are in house.
- Can I taste without a reservation?
- No. Aum is not a drop-in bar. Book a time so the visit stays private.
Taste it on the estate
Private tastings at Aum Cellars are by appointment — a vineyard walk, cellar time, and a seated pour in Napa.