Port

Port

Doffo Winery

Your visit to Duffo is more that just a winery. This is where the Duffo Family worked to transform barren desert into a thriving oasis. Marcelo Doffo worked the earth, coaxing bountiful vines from once barren soil.

Alex's Red Barn Winery

Wine tasting in Temecula is quaint and charming. Drive a little more than an hour up north from San Diego, and you're there. Alex and his wife both run the place and they are the sweetest, cutest old German couple. Alex's wife introduced all the wine with tender graciousness that gave this small mom-and-pop winery a real sense of splendor.

Barterra Wines

We found the Barterra winery, located in Half Moon Bay, to be a delightful place. A husband and wife team run this winery. The staff is friendly and they know their stuff when it comes to wine.

Barterra offers premium wines from the finest vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma, Carneros, Lodi, Amador, Alexander Valley, Mendocino, Lodi, Paso Robles, Russian River Valley and Madera.  All of Barterra Wines is sold directly to the public.

Their quaint tasting room is located on the main street and the pours are generous.  Their standard wine tasting allows you to sample three wines, but the owner let me try an additional port (and it was excellent!).  We enjoyed tasty white wines and their Ruby Cabernet and chocolatey dessert wine were very good. ~

Hours:

Tues-Weds   Closed
Thur     12:00pm to 6:00pm
Fri        12:00pm to 6:00pm
Sat       12:00pm to 6:00pm
Sun      12:00pm to 6:00pm
Mon     12:00pm to 6:00pm

Valley of The Moon Winery

The staff can be kind of hit or miss. Usually they are a little stand-offish or at least less eager to talk, but they don't try to over sell you on buying their wine they let you enjoy the experience. The tasting room isn't spectacular (actually I liked the smaller tasting room they had before) but they do have a large selection of gifts other than wine.

Rutherford Hill Winery

f I could say, I wish all wineries would make their tasting free if a bottle of wine is purchased. I get that they have buses with tipsy people in them visit and have to charge those folks. But we're buyers so tasting means sampling for a sale.
Our tasting room person made a great reference that spoke to me -- maybe he had another sense. He said one wine was good for eating pizza and watching March Madness. And this was in early March. I love March Madness! The winery is up on the hill so the view is amazing. If you do the tour, they will take you around and show you but if you just go for the tasting, you can always walk around on your own and enjoy the view. They have 3 tours a day starting at 11:30am.

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.

Rombauer Vineyards

Delicious wine and sparkling views of Napa. I know there are tons of quality wineries around that have similar offerings, but Rombauer is definitely one worth visiting. Gorgeous garden space with some cute little trails to walk along while you enjoy your wine and soak up the Napa Valley air.
I prefer to go in Fall or early Spring or during the week. The servers or more relaxed and they seem to have a better time introducing you to their wines and letting you know more of the wine history. You get to sample 5 of their wines including their AMAZING chardonnay and Fiddletown Zin. These are the bottles we always end up with and they are usually priced pretty similar to what you would find in a big store (BevMo, Total Wine, etc.). Most of their pricier zins like the Fiddletown aren't sold in stores however. They give you the wine glasses as part of the tasting as well.

Convergence Vineyards

tephen and Jamie had a dream of owning their own vineyard someday. Their idea was to buy 5 to 10 acres in the Napa Valley and establish a vineyard. They created a five year plan to save the money they would need. Meanwhile Napa land prices skyrocketed from $35,000/ acre to well over a million dollars an acre. In the spring of 2000 their search lead them to the historic Amador County.While continuing to work full time jobs, they traveled to their ranch in Amador each weekend. Five wells were dug to find the water they would need to supply the vineyardsIn 2004, they had their first crush as a bonded winery. 2006 saw the first crop from their estate vineyards. They expect to grow the winery production to around 2,000 cases annually, which they only sell in the tasting room and through their web site.They are now open with nine wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Barbera, Mourvedre, Zinfandel, Syrah, ZinRah, Petite Sirah and a Gnarly Vine Zinfandel Port.

Homewood Winery

Homewood Winery is more personal and intimate. If you want a less touristy wine experience then you must visit this place. The owner is a 6'7" gentle giant with a warm personality and welcoming manner.

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