KRON 4 special offer from SALVESTRIN ESTATE VINEYARD AND WINERY for our Viewers:  A $50 gift certificate for only $25, this offer is available ONLY at www.kron4.com. Gift certificates is good for one bottle of Salvestrin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon at the Winery.

Our family has been growing wine grapes in Napa Valley for 75 years, since the day John Salvestrin arrived from northern Italy and began farming a 26-acre vineyard originally planted in 1860. For us, this historic St. Helena vineyard is home and making great wine a family value.

Located in the heart of Napa Valley, just south of the town of St. Helena, our 26-acre estate vineyard was planted originally in the 1860s by Napa Valley pioneer George Crane. Viticultural innovators, Yount and Crane were among the first to plant European grape varieties in California. Two blocks of the vineyard's old zinfandel vines planted by Crane survive to this day.

Beginning in 1932, three generations of our family have farmed this unique vineyard, which today is comprised of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sangiovese, petite syrah, and zinfandel vines. The vineyard's warm microclimate and gravelly volcanic soils give us fully ripened fruit with an ideal balance of flavor, tannin, and acidity.

For many years, we sold all our grapes to other Napa Valley wineries. However, in 1994, we began making our own wines. In 2002, we completed construction of a new winery on the site, which blends state-of-the-art technology with traditional old-world methods, enabling us to expertly vinify our hand-crafted, estate-grown Napa Valley wines.

For many years, we sold all our grapes to leading Napa Valley wineries such as Freemark Abbey, Raymond, Rombauer, Robert Biale and Rutherford Hill, which turned them into award-winning wines. In 1994, we began making our own wines from a portion of our estate vineyard, so we could control every aspect of the grape growing and winemaking process. In 2002, we completed construction of a new winery on the estate, which enables us to combine state-of-the-art technology with traditional old-world methods to produce a small quantity of handcrafted Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese blend Retaggio, Sauvignom Blanc, and Sangiovese.

Cabernet Sauvignon, the "king" of red wines, is a variety ideally suited to our vineyard's gravelly, volcanic soils and warm, dry microclimate. Our fully ripened cabernet grapes produce rich, complex, flavorful red wines boasting a silky texture and lush berry and cherry fruit flavors. Aging in French and American oak barrels further enriches and refines these delicious, world-class wines, which have earned many accolades, including a Gold Medal for our 1999 Cabernet at the 2002 Los Angeles County Fair, one of the world's most prestigious wine competitions.

We also make a small amount of estate-grown Sangiovese, the noble red of Italy's Tuscany region. This is a rich, fruit-forward red wine, ideal with a broad range of Mediterranean cuisines, that reflects our family's Italian heritage. Because we produce less than 100 cases annually, it's available only to our mailing list and tasting room customers.

We invite you to visit us at our new Napa Valley winery, which is right off Highway 29 just south of the town of St. Helena. (Click here for directions from San Francisco.) Built of redwood and designed to facilitate the hand-crafted production of our estate-grown wines, the winery features a handsome second-story tasting room affording great views of Napa Valley, as well as a spacious outdoor patio area where you and your friends can enjoy the beauty of wine country while sampling Salvestrin's award-winning wines.

Tours and tastings are available by appointment. Just give us a call or send an e-mail to let us know you're coming.

If you're looking for a comfortable place to stay during your visit to Napa Valley, please consider our family-run Sunny Acres Bed-and-Breakfast Inn, housed in Doctor George Crane's original 19th-century Victorian home. Run by Ed and Susanne Salvestrin, it features three comfortably appointed rooms and a delicious country-style breakfast prepared by Susanne, a former pastry chef.

For more information on Sunny Acres, click here.