Hourglass is the Smith family's winery, named for the shape of the narrow valley where their original vineyard sits just north of St. Helena. The family bought the Hourglass Vineyard in 1975 and planted four acres of Zinfandel in 1976, and Jeff Smith later replanted it to Cabernet Sauvignon and released the first Hourglass wine with the 1997 vintage. In 2006 Jeff and his wife, Carolyn, added the Blueline Vineyard in the Calistoga appellation, which expanded the range to include Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc alongside the estate Cabernet. Bob Foley was the founding winemaker for the first vintage made in the family's own winery, in 2009. The winery has faced real adversity: in 2020 a wildfire destroyed the outside of the winery and the old guest house. Hourglass remains a family-run label prized for structured, polished Cabernet Sauvignon from the northern end of Napa Valley.