Monticello Vineyards was founded in 1969 by John Jay Corley and his wife, Marilyn, making it one of the older family wineries in the southern Napa Valley. The first vintage came in 1980. The winery at 4242 Big Ranch Road in the Oak Knoll District is easy to spot: its administration building is a one-third-size replica of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, a tribute to Jefferson's love of wine. Jay Corley died in 2016, and the Corley family continues to run the winery, owning or managing about 135 acres of vineyards, with wines also bottled under the Corley Family Napa Valley name. The lineup includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Montreaux, a sparkling wine. The Oak Knoll District sits at the cooler southern end of the valley, giving the wines bright acidity alongside ripe fruit. For HeyVino readers, Monticello is an approachable family winery that is open to the public, with a lineup that covers both Cabernet and cool-climate whites.