On a recent drive to the Napa Valley, I saw something I don’t remember ever seeing before: empty lands once blanketed in vineyards that had been recently plowed over.

With U.S. wine sales falling every year since the onslaught of the pandemic in 2020, it’s understandable why that may become an increasingly more common sight, unfortunately.

So, when I was invited in as a guest at Sequoia Grove Winery in Rutherford, I was heartened to find so many visitors — on a weekday no less — who were there enjoying tastings and purchasing bottles of wine to tote home.

Yes, they were more middle-aged, not the twenty-somethings that wine producers have been hoping to lure who have been increasingly shunning wine and even other alcoholic beverages.

Yet, this was a happy bunch, lounging at patio tables underneath a canopy outfitted with fans, so that even on an exceptionally warm day, as when I visited, it felt comfortable.

Then again, it’s hard not to have a lovely time at this winery, which gets its name from the soaring sequoias on the property that are more than a century old.

The winery may be right off bustling Highway 29, where cars whiz by nonstop. But in the midst of those breathtaking trees and all that lush greenery on this 24-acre estate, you feel like you’re ensconced away in a hidden forest.

The original working winery was established here in 1979 in the century-old barn that still stands. Today, the winery is owned by the Kopf family, whose extensive portfolio also includes Cakebread Cellars, Louis Jadot, and Champagne Taittinger.

Sequoia Vineyards produces 30,000 cases annually, two-thirds of which is Cabernet Sauvignon. Its largest market for all that Cab? Japan, according to winemaker Jesse Fox.

Fox came to Sequoia Vineyards in 2022. But he wasn’t always a winemaker. In fact, he started out as a chef, and worked for a time at none other than Michelin three-starred The French Laundry in Yountville.

With a mom who loved to cook, he knew at a young age that he wanted to be a chef. He enrolled in the hotel school at Cornell University, and later attended Le Cordon Bleu Paris before going to work at acclaimed Trio in Chicago and Aix Brasserie in New York. Upon learning that Per Se was opening in New York, Fox Fed-Ex’d his resume to Thomas Keller, only to learn that he was hiring only for The French Laundry. With that, Fox packed his bags and headed to the Napa Valley, where he spent a year as a chef de partie, meticulously preparing canapes and VIP courses at The French Laundry.

“I had to be more organized and work harder there than I ever had before,” he said.

After a while, it took its toll, and Fox wondered if this was truly the path he wanted in life.

He stepped away, and started working harvests and in tasting rooms. After taking wine classes at the University of California at Davis, it began to dawn on him how similar cooking and winemaking were. So, he dove all in to the latter, and he never looked back.

“To be a chef, you have to believe that what you love is what everyone else will love. The same is true with making wine,” he said. “In both, complexity and balance are the biggest factors. Every time you go back to the glass, you should taste something different. Otherwise, we’d all be drinking Coca Cola instead.”

Of course, the best way to appreciate his philosophy is by indulging in a tasting, of which there are a few different ones. All require reservations.

“A Taste of Sequoia Grove” ($60 per person) offers up six different wines (two whites and four reds). It also comes with a spread of noshes prepared by the winery’s chef, Bryce Palmer, former executive chef of Napa’s Bistro Don Giovanni.

On this particular afternoon, that included a summery tomato salad with burrata; arancini; super crispy polenta fries; and a delicious sweet-savory flatbread topped with roasted pork belly and peach preserves. Olives, Marcona almonds, and pimento cheese rounded out the spread.

You’re encouraged to mix and match alongside the pours: a juicy, lush 2025 Oak Knoll Sauvignon Blanc; 2024 Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay with lemon curd, orange, and vanilla notes; 2022 Napa Valley Merlot with mouthwatering cherry and pomegranate flavors; 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Franc with its smoky, peppery quality; 2021 Rutherford Bench Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon teeming with blackberry and cocoa powder; and 2022 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon with more blackberry plus an edge of graphite on the finish.

Before departing, I sprang for a bottle of the Merlot ($65) to take home. After all, when the tasting room server describes it as a great go-with-anything wine, how can you resist?

What is his favorite dish to enjoy with it? He smiled, laughed, and answered: a Costco rotisserie chicken. Of course, it made me love this wine even more.