At Royal We Wines in downtown St. Helena, wines spanning six brands are all crafted by the same duo: winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown and viticulturist Matt Hardin. Together, they bring a meticulous, nuanced touch to wines from Caterwaul, Matthew Wallace, Aston Estate, Switchback Ridge, RIV and Maybach Family Vineyards.
The story
Thomas Rivers Brown likes to keep a low profile, yet he’s considered one of Napa Valley’s top winemakers. His wines have earned more than 60 perfect 100-point scores from critics — not bad for a South Carolina native with no formal enology training.
Brown entered the wine world in 1997, taking an entry-level cellar job at Turley Wine Cellars in St. Helena, where he worked with winemaker Ehren Jordan. After several years, he moved into consulting, making wines for cult Cabernet Sauvignon brands like Schrader Cellars and Pulido-Walker. The prolific winemaker now works with 50 clients in addition to helming his own brands.
Matt Hardin represents the farming side of Royal We. As a sixth-generation Napa Valley farmer, he grew up among the vines. After working under his mentor, viticulturist Jim Barbour, for more than a decade, Hardin founded his own vineyard management company in 2021. He is married to fourth-generation vintner Alicia Regusci, co-founder with Hardin of the Matthew Wallace brand and founder of RIV Wines.
After years of collaboration, Brown and Hardin founded Caterwaul Wines in 2014. In the fall of 2025, the friends opened Royal We in St. Helena. Along with their own brands, including Brown’s Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir project Aston Estate and Hardin’s Matthew Wallace, the tasting room features rotating selections from their clients.
The vibe
Yao Family Wines closed its downtown St. Helena tasting room in 2020, and the space sat empty for four years before Royal We moved in. They revamped the tasting room to tone down the Vegas-style décor and added rich tones of royal blue and orange. There is plenty of seating at the circular bar, flanked by two smaller rooms for seated tastings. The atmosphere is sleek and understated. Stylish, but not stuffy.
Royal We does not serve food but encourages tasters to take a bottle next door to Gott’s Roadside for the world’s most elevated burger pairing. The restaurant’s buzzers work in the tasting room, and corkage at Gott’s is just $5.
On the palate
You may wonder how a winemaker who works with so many brands — and mainly with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — keeps them from tasting the same. The distinctions lie in the vineyards. Brown and Hardin avoid overlapping sites between their brands, and each vineyard has its own variations in clones, soils and row orientations. Made with minimal intervention, the resulting wines lean toward power without going overboard.
The 2024 Matthew Wallace Hardin Ranch Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($40) has a flowery, peachy aroma, with vibrant citrus flavors and subtle grassy notes. At the higher end of the price spectrum, the 2023 Caterwaul Regusci Vineyard Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon ($125) is a gorgeous wine with a deep, opaque color and aromas of tobacco spice. It has enough acidity for aging, but it’s already delicious.
Tastings range from quick bar samplings ($25) to more leisurely seated options ($50-$75). If there’s a particular brand or focus you’d like to explore, they’ll gladly create a customized tasting.
Beyond the bottle
Love Italian markets? Check out the newly expanded — and quite spectacular — Mercato del Gusto at V. Sattui Winery. It has everything you could want for a Wine Country picnic, from prepared salads to panini to charcuterie boxes. Oh, and did I mention the house-cured salumi and 200 cheeses from around the world? The market also sells harder-to-find Italian deli meats like mortadella, guanciale and bresaola.
For a simple Italian market, Napa Valley Olive Oil Manufacturing Co. is just five minutes away. Hidden on a quiet St. Helena back road, it has been run by the same family since 1931. The space is small, cramped and wonderfully authentic. Along with jugs of housemade extra-virgin olive oil, the market is packed with imported pastas, sauces, cured meats, condiments and candies. Matt Hardin says the place smells like his childhood, but he is wrong about that. It smells like my childhood.
Royal We Wines is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. 929 Main St., St. Helena, 707-339-2492, royalwewines.com
Tina Caputo is a wine, food, and travel journalist who contributes to Sonoma magazine, SevenFifty Daily, Visit California, Northern California Public Media, KQED, and more. Follow her on Bluesky at @winebroad.bsky.social, view her website at tinacaputo.com, and email her story ideas at tina@caputocontent.com.