People often wonder how Cabernet Sauvignon became the quintessential varietal of California wine grapes. I’ll give you a little bit of history that should help explain the mystery. Cabernet Sauvignon is actually a bit of a love child, with a purple parent and a white parent. It is the cross [...]
Your friend pops open a magnificent bottle of 94 point 2013 YAO MING Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, pours herself a glass, and starts swirling it around. She's not tasting it. She's not even looking at it yet. Just swirling it around and around her glass. Is this the ultimate in [...]
Summer’s in full swing, which means it’s time for beach trips, camping, pool parties, or just lounging away in the backyard, enjoying the longest days of the year. Of course, summer also means light, crisp refreshing white wines to pair with all that lounging and partying. At Yao Family Wines, [...]
Working in the tasting room at Yao Family Wines in St. Helena, perhaps the second most common question we receive from both beginners and experts alike is, “what's the difference between tannin and acid?” (the first most common is, “How tall is Yao Ming?”). This is a critical question, as [...]
Washington State has become home to some of the finest wine country in the United States. Recently, it was revealed that "Cab is King" in Washington just as it is here in Napa: Cabernet is now the number one selling varietal in the state. So, we were thrilled recently when [...]
Like many wineries around the Napa Valley, every spring, Yao Family Wines releases a Sauvignon Blanc. This year's release, the 2016 Napa Crest Sauvignon Blanc, has many of the distinct characteristics found in classic Napa SBs. It's crisp, with a vibrant acidity in the mid-pallet. There are aromas of melon [...]
With the first buds of spring fast approaching, Rose season is just around the corner. Rosé is typically the first release of the year for most winemakers, due to its relatively quick winemaking process. If you've explored the joys or Rosé, then you're as excited as we are for this [...]
Springtime is coming! It’s late February in the vineyards. To the naked eye, it appears nothing at all is happening on the vines. None the less, it’s a very important and beautiful time of year in Napa Valley. This winter, we had an unprecedented amount of rain: One of the [...]
It may seem trite to some big name bloggers to feature a “celebrity” winemaker. And, indeed, there are those celebrities with so much cash to spend that they’ll simply slap their name on a label of pretty much any product. So, it would stand to reason that a celebrity-named wine [...]
The year 2016 has been a gratifying one for retired basketball legend Yao Ming. Despite a career cut short by injuries, the 36-year-old former Houston Rockets center—and eight-time All-Star—was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in September. It is also the year the Shanghai native’s California winery, Yao Family [...]
