Our Story

Richard Partridge Wines is a small, family owned winery in the Napa Valley with just around 500 cases of Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay produced each year. Our low production and small operation keeps us from many mass marketing techniques, and it means we have to have a big story, luckily we do! 

Richard grew up around soybeans and wheat on the farms of Indiana, a far cry from the crops he would someday be cultivating. As an electrical engineer in Illinois he met his wife, Cris, and they soon moved to southern California to start up their own company, R.F. Partridge & Associates, Inc., which supplies large electrical generators and other backup power utilities to data centers, hospitals, military bases, and other large entities. From his experience, you could say Richard knows how to bring the power!   

With their home in Orange County and a passion for visits to the Napa Valley, Cris and Richard decided to buy property in Napa. The rest is history. A chance introduction to Bob Egelhoff began a winemaking relationship built on teamwork and creating the best possible wine from the best fruit in the Valley. Bob’s exceptional winemaking resulted in our premiere release, 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, receiving the second highest rating for a ’98 Napa Valley Cab from James Laube of Wine Spectator. From our early days, we knew Richard had brought the power once again.

Beginning in 2005, our wines have been made under the careful care of winemaker Jeff Fontanella, an expert at his craft. Additionally, our 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon vintage represents our first estate wine, and the goal is to continue producing a small amount of the very best wine possible from our St. Helena vineyard.

We are a boutique winery, and we never want to be large. We want our label to continue to represent quality, and by keeping production small we can continue to keep our eye on every part of the winemaking process, from grape growing to seeing our bottles on the shelves of your favorite retailer.