When I’m hanging around the wine department, I’m often asked to recommend Napa Valley wines. I tell them without hesitation to go with Frog’s Leap: The winery produces some of the finest cabernets, red wines and wonderful sauvignon blancs coming out of the valley, all of which are organically produced with minimal winemaker intervention. The wines are as natural and as good as wines can be.

I visited Frog’s Leap over 10 years ago, when John Williams had taken charge of it. The winery had just moved to the historic Adamson winery in Rutherford, which was founded in 1884.

The red-barn winery had been converted into a state-of-the-art facility but, sadly, the estate vineyards were barren – chemically farmed using pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers – and the vines were on their deathbed. To add insult to injury, the root louse phylloxera was destroying whatever healthy vines were left.

I was depressed, but Williams was exuberant. The damage to the vineyards could be repaired using the tools of the organic farmer; by replanting with phylloxera-proof root stock and using cover crops like oats and mustard. This would create a biodynamic environment, where cover crops created nutriment for the vines and a haven for predatory insects, which would take care of the vine pests. Guided by the example of the healthy human body, a healthy natural environment for vines can create high-quality fruit, which is the core material of great wine.

Wines are very much about symmetry; the balance of nature is what creates a good to great wine in the vineyard, which leads to a wonderful experience in the glass.

When tending to his vineyards, Williams also takes very seriously the movement of the stars and the moon. He creates a Taoist-model winery, and also uses native yeast to ferment his grapes instead of using outside strains of yeast. There are, of course, other organic/biodynamic wineries in Napa and Sonoma, but none approach the quality and the artful complexity of Frog’s Leap wines.

Frog’s Leap’s red wine lineup includes cabernet sauvignon, a proprietor’s blend called Rutherford, merlot, zinfandel and syrah. My favorite has always been their cabernet sauvignon – it is both rich and smooth, has multiple layers of black, blue and red fruit on the middle palate, and has cinnamon and spice on the finish.

The white wines are the flagship wines: sauvignon blanc, a Riesling called Leapfrogmilch and chardonnay. The sauvignon blanc is crisp, with hints of citrus fruit and melon. It is not herbaceous and doesn’t have the over-the-top minerality that plagues a lot of new-world sauvignon blancs. The wine finishes clean, with a slight hint of pepper.

The history of Frog’s Leap winery is whimsical for such great wines. It was founded on Mill Creek, where frogs were raised for French restaurants in San Francisco in the 1880s (and sold for 33 cents a pound). Care for a frog’s leg, anyone?

The original owner of the winery was Larry Turley, a former trauma center doctor who wanted to make fun of the serious and successful Stags’ Leap Winery. Turley soon made a very good sauvignon blanc, and the label and the wine became a huge hit. He later partnered with Williams, who hailed from Stags’ Leap Winery, and the pair produced a full line of excellent Napa white and red wines.

In the early ’90s, Turley and Williams went their separate ways, and Williams proceeded to take Frog’s Leap to new heights of critical acclaim. But he never lost sight of the winery’s whimsical beginnings. When the feds made wineries put government warnings about the health hazards of drinking (P.S.: the government thinks you’re stupid) on their back labels, Williams was concerned that some poor, dumb saps would injure themselves trying to open the bottom of the wine. So he warned the public to open the other end, and placed that warning next to the inane government warning on the back label. When you pull the cork on a Frog’s Leap wine, “Ribbit” is branded on the cork.

The motto at the bottom of Frog’s Leap bottles is TFWYHF: Time’s fun when you’re having flies!