The Hess Collection

Barrel room, The Hess Collection

Reached via a winding road up the flank of Mount Veeder and through a redwood forest, this mountain estate is known for its contemporary art collection. Displayed in a two-story gallery, the international collection includes works by European artists as well as renowned masters, and is considered one of the finest in California. The Hess Collection’s winery makes use of sustainable techniques for the production of wine and offers opportunities for wine tasting during tours. The estate’s landscaped garden, studded with sculptures, has a wild and natural aesthetic.

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The Winery

The ivy-covered, three-story stone winery was erected in 1903 by wine merchant Colonel Theodore Gier. In 1930, it sold to the Christian Brothers religious order and was renovated by Donald Hess after he leased it from the order in 1989.

The Visitor Center

Housed in one of the original winery buildings, the visitor center features a wall of glass that offers a peek into the cool, dark Barrel Chai, a cellar where wine is aged in huge barrels.

Contemporary Art Museum

The private art collection of winery proprietor Donald Hess displays about 150 works, such as Cornelia by Anslem Kiefer, and other names such as Frank Stella and Robert Motherwell, alongside other international artists.

Hess Collection Wine Shop

The store sells the Hess Collection labels of Mount Veeder appellation wines, Hess Select, and Hess Estate labels from appellations further afield. It also stocks small production wines from their small block series, only available at the winery.

Self-guided iPod® Audio Tours

There are no organized guided tours of the art collection, but you can pick up an iPod^® and earphones at the visitor center and take a free self-guided walking tour at your own pace.

Tour of the Palate

This six-times weekly tour option, offered Thursday through Saturday, combines a guided tour of the art museum with a tasting of three release wines paired with dishes prepared by the winery’s executive chef.

The Garden

The terraced winery garden is planted with native and exotic grasses and ornamentals, plus fern groves that edge up to redwood forest. Installations include various sculptures and a reflecting pool by noted landscape architect Peter Walker.

Auditorium

A 15-minute video presentation is given in this modern and comfy 40-seat theater. It gives an in-depth introduction to the winery, vineyards, and eco-sensitive, organic techniques, such as the use of goats for under-growth management.

Hess Collection Wines

The winery’s signature label wines are known for their complexity and elegance, exemplified by the flagship Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon and the Mount Veeder Chardonnay.

Wine Tasting and Tours

Options for sampling Hess wines include a private tasting of current releases, wine and cheese pairings, and tutorials by certified sommeliers. Themed winery tours are also offered by reservation and include tastings.

Tip: For the most in-depth knowledge, book the Wine Education Tour & Tasting Experience, which takes participants into the fermentation and barrel rooms, followed by a tasting tutorial in the executive dining room. Check the website for dates.

Tip: Check the weather forecast before booking the Wine & Cheese Pairing Tour, hosted in the garden courtyard, which is weather permitting.

Know Your AVAs

American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) are distinct geographical areas recognized for having unique conditions of terrain, soil, and climate distinct from their neighbors, resulting in characteristic wines. Although often referred to as appellations, the two terms are not synonymous. Appellations describe a generic geographic area rather than one defined by unique grape-growing characteristics. Thus an appellation can be an AVA, but not all are.

Visitor Information

4411 Redwood Rd., Napa, 94558
707 255 8584
Open 10am–5:30pm
Free winery and museum tour; $10 for wine-tasting; Specialized tasting events and tours for a fee by advance reservation
www.hesscollection.com

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Artworks in The Hess Collection

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Self-Portrait (2010)

Self-Portrait, Yue Minjun

Chinese artist Yue Minjun depicts himself cloned in mirthful multiple mirror images in this painting. His cynical guffaw is considered a commentary on contemporary China.

Elegy to the Spanish Republic (1979)

One in a series of canvases by Robert Motherwell (1915–91), a founding member of the American School of Abstract Expressionism, this painting has splattered black ovals and vertical bars against a white background.

Cornelia (2003)

German artist Anselm Kiefer’s life-size depiction of a woman in a wedding gown with her upper body imprisoned in razor wire is a haunting reference to the Nazi period. The sculpture is housed in the garden, in a prison-like hut with rectangular viewing slits.

Johanna II (1985–86)

Swiss artist Franz Gertsch’s hyper-realist painting, of a young woman gazing hypnotically at the viewer, is based on a projected slide. Pointillist technique (using small dots of pure color) has been used to achieve creative depth.

Staying in the Water (1987)

Carved from camphor wood, Japanese artist Katsura Funakoshi’s poetic sculpture depicts a human figure from the waist up, dressed in a buttoned-up shirt with a cummerbund. The crown of the head is left unpainted and the grain of the wood serves as the hair.

Homage (1974)

Homage, Leopoldo Maler

Argentinian conceptual artist Leopoldo Maler’s Homage is a paean to his uncle – an esteemed writer – who was assassinated for his inflammatory essays. The installation is an antique Underwood typewriter with a hidden gas burner.

Surface Tension (1991)

Created by famed British environmental “sculptor” Andy Goldsworthy, this work is an ad hoc lattice created from chestnut leaf stalks held together with hawthorn needles, which also attach it to the walls, ceiling, and floor. Surface Tension reflects a passion for environmentalism that Donald Hess and Goldsworthy shared.

Tundra (1959)

This wild tricolor – red, green, and cream – by Greek-American painter Theodoros Stamos (1922–97) lets the viewers conjure their own conception of what the work depicts.

Crowd I (1986–87)

These 19 life-size, naked, and headless figures seem to advance from one corner of the room. Fashioned from resin and burlap by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz, they reflect her experience growing up in communist Poland and symbolize the mindlessness of living in a totalitarian state.

Silverstone II (1982)

A three-dimensional image by American painter and print-maker Frank Stella, this mixed media piece uses aeronautical grade aluminum and automobile paint to depict the Silverstone racetrack in England.

Donald Hess

Donald Hess was born in 1936 in Bern, Switzerland, into a brewing and hotelier family. He took over the family business at the age of 20 and refocused it as a bottled mineral water company. In 1978 he bought his first vineyard at Mount Veeder in Napa; today, Hess Family Estates own eight wineries on four continents. Hess began collecting art in 1966, when he bought a print that later proved to be an original Picasso. He has since amassed what Art in America magazine has called one of the world’s top 200 private collections. Virtually all contemporary media are represented, from painting and sculpture to photography and installation, many of which are provocative mirrors of the cultural values of each artist’s time. As a self-taught patron of the arts, Hess’s purchases are driven by a passionate response to each piece – often he wakes up at night thinking about a work he has seen – and a personal rapport with the artist.