It’s not by accident that the names of both Theorem Vineyards and its signature Voir Dire Cabernet Sauvignon allude to science and truth.

After all, the 60-acre Calistoga property was originally purchased in the late 1800s by Dr. Richard Beverly Cole, who not only was San Francisco’s first practitioner of obstetrics and California’s first surgeon general, but also built what is believed to be the first school house in the Napa Valley on that land. The Cole Valley neighborhood in San Francisco is named after him, too.

In 2012, the property was purchased by husband-and-wife, Jason Itkin and Kisha Itkin, who were merely looking for a second home. He is a Houston-based top trial lawyer who famously won an $8 billion record-setting verdict against Johnson & Johnson, and she is a former reservoir engineer who worked in the oil and energy industry.

Six years later, though, they opened their winery there. They now produce eight wines with their winemaker Andy Jones, former assistant wine maker for Thomas Brown; and consulting winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, one of the valley’s most distinguished winemakers.

You can taste those wines, if you’re fortunate enough to be one of only 17 guests the winery is permitted to host each day, Wednesday through Sunday, by appointment-only. But it will cost a pretty penny. Lavish and over-the-top, the standard wine tasting with cheese is $200 per person. If you’re feeling flush, tack on additional $95 per person for the “Garden & Glass” option that includes substantial gourmet noshes featuring beef from cows with Wagyu genetics raised on the Itkins’ 20,000-acre Theorem Ranch in Montana, as well as veggies and herbs harvested from the winery’s own culinary garden.

Last month, I had a chance to do just that when I was invited as a guest to tour the winery and experience its “Garden & Glass” that began with a welcoming glass of its 2022 Sauvignon Blanc, a zippy white with nice minerality plus more body than expected, thanks to time spent fermenting in neutral French oak.

When the Itkins first saw the property on Petrified Forest Road, it had been foreclosed on and long neglected. But the couple fell in love with the history of it. And when their realtor told them, “Don’t even think of starting a winery, it’s too expensive,” recounts James Cerda, the winery’s general manager, ”they took it as a challenge.”

The couple went all in, growing production to 3,200 cases annually. Their goal is reach 6,000 cases, with all the wines made from estate-grown grapes.

As Cerda showed me around, he noted that Theorem doesn’t have one tasting room per se, but rather several luxurious spaces, each with a different vibe, designed for lingering.

That includes a subterranean barrel room reached incongruously by a staircase flanked by gallery walls of framed photos that would look right at home in someone’s well-appointed manor. The barrel room comes complete with angel wings on the wall for that perfect Instagram shot. It’s also where you’ll find the concrete egg, itself turned into an art piece with the help of projected rotating colored lights, which imparts minerality to Theorem’s Sauvignon Blanc.

A historic dairy barn was rebuilt as an artsy tasting space. There’s also the soaring fermentation room where a table was set for me to taste.

Wade Estes, assistant winemaker who once worked at the beloved Philo Apple Farm, oversees the garden, planted with everything from strawberries, squash blossoms, tomatoes, tarragon, and rosemary to citrus trees, and a dozen peppers, many of which go into the hot sauce the winery bottles.

Culinary Director Josh Mitchell, who worked at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, has his own farm, where he raises Berkshire hogs and laying hens, which he makes use of when designing the “Garden & Glass” menu.

It starts with house-made pancetta cured from his pigs that accent a luxuriously creamy pasta carbonara finished with slices of black truffle and pea tendrils from the garden. It paired well with the creamy lemon meringue, apple, and toasted bread notes of the 2021 Chardonnay made from grapes grown on the Itkins’ 34-acre Moon Mountain District vineyard straddling Napa and Sonoma counties, where the days are warm and the nights cool.

Next came dry-aged Ora king salmon belly on a bed of lentils with rich buerre blanc made with the Chardonnay.

That was followed by the cutest slider on a pedestal. Of course, when it’s a burger made with the Wagyu from the Itkins’ ranch, it probably deserves a lofty perch like that, especially when it’s done up on a house-baked brioche bun with more truffles. To go with is the 2021 Syrah, an inky wine that tastes deeply of blackberries and wild herbs, with a spicy peppery warmth at the finish.

Finally, there’s a creamy, smooth panna cotta topped with a jammy compote made from strawberries grown onsite.

Two more wines complete the experience: First, the 2021 Hawk’s Prey Cabernet with its dramatic black bottle with a gold hawk on it that was inspired by actual hawks flying overhead in the vineyard. This is the winery’s most popular wine for good reason. Smooth and well balanced with notes of blackberries, dark plums, and cedar, it’s a pleasure to sip alongside anything beefy.

Second, a wine not actually part of the official tasting: the 2021 Voir Dire with a large ornate gold key depicted on the label. Lush and plush, this elegant wine is redolent of dark plums and blackberries laced with leather and a touch of mocha.

If you’re feeling flush, book a tasting to try the wines for yourself and to bask in a place that exudes history.