Alban Vineyards is a California wine estate producing various Rhône style blends and varietal wine. The winery is located in Edna Valley, near Arroyo Grande in the southern corner of San Luis Obispo County. Aditional wineries to start your wine tasting trip for example could be Conway, Kynsi, Lyrigue, and Nichols.
Big Basin Vineyards was founded in 1998 on an historic site in the Santa Cruz Mountains next to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The old ranch property was first settled in the late 1800s. Wine grape cultivation had been started by French immigrants by the early 1900s and continued until 1965 when the property was sold by Justin Lacau, who had named the property "Frenchy's Ranch", to a timber company. By the 1990s, all that remained of the vineyards were redwood stakes and scattered vines hidden by brush and poison oak bushes. The mission has been to restore this historic vineyard site using modern, organic viticultural methods. The winery building was completed in December 2003 on the same site as the original 1890s house/winery structure which burned down in the 1970s. It is a 'Monitor'-style barn with a timber frame construction built using redwood selectively harvested from the estate.
Wine tasting at Preston was a fun experience. The tasting room had a welcoming atmosphere with lots of funny books decorating the bookshelves and samples of their olives and sourdough. There were other groups also present, but we were attended quite quickly. Hidden gem. This is what wine country should feel like...to be continued.
Reverie Winery, located near Calistoga, California, is one of Napa Valley’s smallest estate wineries. The vineyard is nestled on a steep, 40 acre parcel high up in the Diamond Mountain appellation. It was once part of the Bonsell Property that is now divided into three vineyards – Reverie, Diamond Creek, and Von Strasser.
Norman Kiken, a New Jersey guy, is the owner and winemaker. He purchased the property in 1993 and specializes in producing ultra-premium Bordeaux style varietal blends that reflect the uniqueness of the terroir. 5 star family winery, old-fashioned style. You feel their passion for the
wine. The property is magnificent; you must walk around. The tour
is informative, interesting and fun. I've done it a couple of times, and
I look forward to a repeat. Their cab franc is sooo good.
Kindred Wines is a new kind of winery; one without walls, vineyards, or dogs to greet you. We strive to source the best possible grapes, combine down and dirty hard work with 2.0 technology, and share the results with passionate consumers.
I love this tasting room. There is lots of space in the place and art to amuse you in between the tasting. The wines are fantastic and even though they are not widely advertised, they are a good buy.
The service is great and they enjoy spending time talking to you about the wine. Definitely check this place out if you are in Carmel Valley. I really enjoyed the red blend from Arroyo Seco.
tercero wines is the brainchild of Larry Schaffer, owner and winemaker. He began the brand shortly after graduating with his Masters Degree in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis – but this was well after he had completely switched directions in life and charted a new and exciting path.
Larry started his college career at UC Davis as an undergraduate, but had no interest in wine. The idea of getting into wine was something he had considered in the past – but more on the sales and marketing side because of his background. After graduating with his degree, he joined the winemaking team at Fess Parker Winery, where he stayed for nearly a decade before it was time to branch off and concentrate 100% on his own brand – and he could not be happier today.
Larry is adept not only at winemaking but at explaining the process in a very user-friendly manner. Visit his tasting room or follow him on social media to see for yourself.
Great wines, friendly service and fun intimate atmosphere. A great alternative to the larger tasting rooms in the area. Marilyn and Joel are often in the tasting room and are super friendly. A definite stop if you're in the area, or planning a day trip!
A simple,straight forward wine tasting experience of some of the most classic Rhone varietals to be made in California. Marsanne was refined and elegant. Viogner was excellent and Grenache was classic. Prices are good. This is a serious wine tasters place.
At the tasting event, we got to try different whites and red wine varieties. Oddly, all the red wines tasted too young. The best wine was the white vine star blend wine. The flavors just juiced out. I was disappointed with this years vine star red release, having tasted the year prior. The best red wine that was poured was the carignin wine. Though to me, still a little immature, the flavor would be dead on.
Granted, this tasting was free, and they were pouring wine not on the list of tastings. But they were seriously understaffed. It was a bit frustrating that we had to wait and wait and wait… We will try again next visit.
The wines here, though, are excellent. Nice variety of reds, and tasty, smooth flavors.
