Montemaggiore is a gorgeous, intimate, private wine experience tucked away on top of a hill in overlooking Dry Creek. It's incredible the amount of labor and care they put into making sure they are employing environmentally friendly, sustainable and organic wine-making practices.
Tablas Creek bottles are widely distributed and easy to find in wine stores, I don't always visit their tasting room. Not only can I often find better deals at wine shops, but I have a fairly good idea what wines of theirs I prefer so a tasting isn't extremely helpful. But, I can't resist and it helps that they increased the size of the tasting menu. It also helps that they will pour and sell wines not on the typical tasting run-down and not typically found in stores.
“Locals” is a cooperative tasting room in Geyserville off Highway 101 about 80 miles North of the Golden Gate Bridge – at the stop sign in town. Arbios & Praxis wines and those of nine other small, local producers are poured at no charge every day. The tasting room is open daily from 11am-6pm
Sable Ridge Vineyards released its first wine in 1996 but is clearly on the fast track and becoming something of a cult favorite among its fans. Sable Ridge wines have twice been named Salute to the Arts Peoples' Choice Winery in the annual Sonoma celebration.
The tour guide was nice and very informative. The walk in the constructed cave was standard and the wine tasting at a large round table in the center of the caves with cheese and crackers was a nicer setting than the normal tasting room. This is such a nice place with friendly folks. We had Jeff as the person taking care of us and he wasn't even rushing us. i know it was busy but he never made it seem like we had to get done and get out. he even took extra time to show us the cave and that was amazing.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a valley known more for cattle ranching than vineyards that the story begins. It was the Winter of 1999 when Frog's Tooth Vineyards began its life as a tadpole with the purchase of 67 acres of land in the Salt Springs Valley of Calaveras County. It slowly grew through infancy until the Spring of 2003 when it began its transition to adolescence with the planting of approximately 10 acres of premium wine grapes.
Chris’ journey into wine-making was circuitous. His curiosity was first piqued in the 1990s after visiting Napa for wine tasting. Years later, he started frequenting Paso Robles and fell in love with the people, the food, the wine, and the overall beauty of the area. After his children left for college, he sold the family business and relocated to Paso Robles in 2013 and dug right in. He planted a vineyard in Templeton consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. He went back to school and studied both viticulture and Oenology while serving as an intern at multiple wineries. After making wine at home for several years, he finally decided to make the leap and open our tasting lounge in downtown Paso Robles.
Europa Village winery is very charming and beautifully landscaped with indoor tasting bar, outdoor seating. Touring the winery is as much fun as tasting their exceptional wines. Enter the wrought iron gates into a center courtyard with an Olive tree, surrounded by outdoor seating and statues. Our tour-guide greeted us and gave us a brief overview of the winery. We were encouraged to taste the grapes right off the vine as we went and stopped every so often for a brief informational talk and to fill our glass with a different sample of wine. After the winery tour, we sat in the shaded outdoor seating area for a class about the '5 Essences' of wine tasting and enjoyed more wine tastings and covered basic stuff about wine, bread sticks and a *small* cheese, chocolate, crackers and grape plate that was offered part of the package we purchased. They also have an inn on the property where you can stay if you want. This Temecula winery could make for a nice base if you plan to visit Temecula Wine Country over a weekend.
The folks at Nelson Family Vineyards believe in their motto that “Great wines are born in the vineyard.” Nelson Family's goal is to gently guide the grapes into wines that show off the balance and high quality that they strive to achieve in their vineyards.
Jessie's Grove Winery is nestled between the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Lodi, the perfect environment for growing premium winegrapes and producing premium wines.
