Monterrey - Carmel

Monterrey - Carmel

Parsonage Village Vineyard

Parsonage Village Vineyard is planted on a seven-acre south-facing hillside bench 500 feet above the Carmel River and a half mile east of the Carmel Valley Village. The mesoclimate(yes, it's not a microclimate which encompasses a larger area than meso) here is ideal for the all red varietals--Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Verdot that make up the Estate Vineyard.

Joullian Vineyards

This tasting room came highly recommended based on the merits of their wine. We (5) savored customized flights depending on what we each wanted to try, which Hal then poured in the correct order while he enthusiastically told us all about Joullian. While our group's style preferences vary, everyone was impressed with the wines and our tasting room experience.

Estancia Estates

Estancia’s winemakers strive to combine the best of both worlds: a state-of-the art winemaking facility, and a traditional, hands-on approach to each grape produce. In the end, this combination allows Estancia Estates to deliver the hand-crafted quality for which their wines are known. Estancia Estates's cutting-edge facilities enable them to take advantage of the beneficial advances in winemaking technology commitment to old world processes results in the complexity and elegance found in artisanal and boutique wines.

Hahn Winery

This is a great vineyard and they make fantastic wines!

The view from the deck is beautiful. The tasting room itself is nice. The drive up to the tasting room is beautiful and they have a lovely estate with rows of roses and trees, next to the vineyards.

The service is fantastic and they are generous with the pours! I highly recommend going for a visit and enjoying the nice weather and scenery.

They make a number of really nice wines and bottle under a number of labels. You may be surprised just how many different labels they have.

They have some nice little snacks in the fridge there, but they are just enough to stave off hunger, so don't plan on getting stuffed with their snacks before tasting. I recommend getting a bottle and sitting on the deck with your own salami and cheese assortment.

Chateau Julien Wine Estate

What an awesome winery!

We came here yesterday to do some wine tasting. It was pretty late in the day so I think we were the last ones there? We were the only ones there while we were tasting...

Anyway, the guys who did the tasting for us were pretty awesome. I loved that they gave us a little background on each of the wines before we sampled. I LOVED the port that they gave us. It was just a very laid back tasting, but with some really good quality wines.

Szalay Winery

Szalay Winery is one of the most recent boutique wineries in the Santa Lucia Mountain
range of Carmel Valley. In the summer of 2003 Jozsef and Bette Kovacs
purchased 13 acres of land. Jozsef and Bette with their sons Jacob and Jesse began planting
and building the winery. Located sixteen miles into the valley from the Big
Sur coastline, we experience hot summer days with ocean influenced
breezes. Bud break on average is two weeks earlier than most California
growing regions, giving us a longer growing season. At 1100 foot elevation,
the south facing slope , with its sandy loam soil and sandstone base, is prime
for growing exceptional reds.

Eden Rift Vineyards

Eden Rift Vineyards is among the oldest, continually producing estate vineyards in California and has been under vine since 1849. Eden Rift Vineyards is located in a remote, pacific refuge located in the Gavilan Mountain Range, just outside of the town of Hollister, CA. The Eden Rift Vineyard estate rests on the San Andreas Fault and is part of the Cienega Valley AVA. Located only 20-miles from the Pacific Ocean results in an ideal, temperate maritime climate as well as the coveted calcareous soils requisite in the cultivation of vivid, energetic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. An historic, head-trained block of Zinfandel, planted in 1906, still thrives outside the estate’s main residence. Wine tasting is $15.00 per person. Be sure to tell Christian hello for us if he is pouring during your visit to Eden Rift Vineyards.   

Hours:

Open Daily: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Reservations are not required, but always appreciated.

Paraiso Vineyards

Paraiso Vineyards has a lovely tasting room and boutique. They go beyond the expectant cork toppers and have a lovely showroom of beautiful odds and ends. They also have a delicious assortment of chocolates and truffles you can try and pair with your Pinot. I recommend the chocolate covered sea-salt caramels.

For the wine, they have a lovely array of reds and a few whites. They are known for their Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs. They have a lovely Zinfandel, which is not estate, but the grapes come from the not so distant Paso Robles. You can't really go wrong with any of the Pinot Noir's. I preferred the Eagle's Perch Chardonnay over the the other one as it had a bit more body. They only use French Oak, so more fruit forward and light on oak. They also use a small percentage of new French Oak, so if you prefer more fruit, you will definitely like this.

The tasting fees are cheap! It is only $5 to taste around 5 wines, so that alone makes it a great value. They sit on top of a hill, so the view from the back patio is beautiful! You can take a picnic lunch and enjoy a bottle under the tree on the picnic table.

If you are hitting Soledad wine country, you should definitely put this place on your list of things to do.

Chateau Sinnet

If you want to let your hair down, have a fun, memorable experience, try some unique wines, sample hot sauces, enjoy yummy cheese and crackers and cut loose - Chateau Sinnet is for you!

Spending an hour with Sonny will be an experience you will not soon forget - the man is a born entertainer and pours with a heavy hand. I strongly recommend making Chateau Sinnet the final destination on your Valley wine tasting itinerary so you're not pressed for time and are properly lubricated for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Bernardus Winery

The dynamics of Bernardus Winery's tasting room showed their unique personalities with ALL that work behind the bar! I was belly laughing over Greg's one liners while he poured, and as Philip explained the informative part of the wines we were tasting. Great combo!!!! All of us tasters on the other side of the counter had sooooo much fun!!
They have a couple of Sauvignon Blancs, several Chardonnays, a few Pinot Noirs, and a couple of blends. They're all well-made wines, but none impressed me until the 2006 Signature Marinus. It's full of tannins and spice and ages well. If you're in Carmel Valley, Bernardus is a must-stop.

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