To plan your visit, click here. For a list of wineries, click here. If you end up looking for a place to eat here are some we have tried, Garre (3), The Grill at Poppy Ridge (4), Riata Grill (5)n The Golf Course at Wente (4) and they also have a 5 star restaurant, there is always downtown Livermore (First Street) with a variety of restaurants and for something a bit off the beaten path the biker bar with great smoked meats, Mountain House Bar.
Five Stars:
- Cuda Ridge, $10 tasting (FREE with purchase). (Great reds! Mar. 5, 2011), returned 7/5/2013 Reds were much more mellow but I remembered. Moved ranking from a 5 to a 4. Location is better, purchased the 2011 Malbac, wine maker nice, moving it back up cause it's one of hubby's favorites. In 2015 we joined the club, my husbands favorite wine is here their Petit Verdot.
- Little Valley Winery: Sadly to say that Little Valley Winery on Main St. Pleasanton has closed. But I discovered they are still around and you can get their wines at the Firehouse Arts Center during preformances or call Sandi at 925-862-9006. My favorite is their raspberry sparkling wine.
- Mitchell Katz: $10 tasting, joined club so it was free and it continues to be a 5 star (6/2014). Enjoyed all the reds, purchased the Petite Sirah and the Sparkling wine, Private Cuvee. Great pours, good wine prices, old barn setting. We are no longer a member, we like to try too many new places to belong.
- Bent Creek Winery: $10 free with purchase
- Darcie Kent Vineyards, $5. Joined the club the first visit because we had fun and liked the wine but after second visit the reds are more mellow than I like. I do however suggest trying the whites.
- Crooked Vine: $10 same bldg as Stony Ridge
- Daunte Robere. $10, Did a barrel tasting liked the Zin 2012, bottling in Aug 2013.
- Eagle Ridge: FREE. Eclectic collection in barn like atmosphere. Friendly owner pouring. Great view on the top of the hill and a long dirt road to get there.
- Eagle Peak (Jim): Red port was great, petite sarah good, rest of the reds were too mellow for me.
- Eckert Estate: FREE
- Garre Vineyard and Winery: $5 tasting, restaurant OK and bocce courts
- Les Chenes Vineyards: $5 tasting (FREE with purchase) Friendly and with both visits we had tasty food parings. Each time I purchased two mustards, the horseradish and the jalapeno, YUM!
- Red Feather Winery and Vineyard
- Retzlaff: $10 tasting. I like there Merlot 2007, $27, bolder than other Merlots which I like, R5. Keep your eye out for events like comedy night.
- Ruby Hill: $5 tasting, refunded with purchase of two bottles. Lovely shop and lot's of wines. For write up, click here.
- Stony Ridge Winery $10 tasting (FREE with purchase) same bldg as Crocked Vine
- White Crane Winery: $5 tasting
- Wood Family Vineyards: Tiny tasting room among the barrels, small winery what you see in rom is it. Like that it is small lots, call ahead for appointment 925-606-7411, gate can be locked, code required after Poppyridge, 1st gate on Right, 2nd driveway on Right, cool label, purchased a bottle 7/5/2013 FREE
- Big White House: (R3.5) $5 tasting (FREE with purchase) tasty Peach champagne which makes a wonderful gift for only $16, look for the small red bard vs the big white house, see my write up. (Jul. 30, 2011)
- Bodegas Aguirre: $5 tasting (FREE with purchase)
- Charles R.Vineyards: FREE (originall ranked as a 4)
- Concannon: $10 tasting. Nice setting, 3 sections (tasting, reserve tasting and tappas & wine). I would rather buy a glass and have some tappas outside while listing to the guitar player.
- Cedar Mountain Winery: $5-10 tasting (FREE with purchase) Tortuga Royale 2010, it was like drinking chocolate, delish. Pourers a bit scattered and not on top of it.
- El Sol (3.5 rating) $5 tasting. Wines were heavier and not as bold as I like but still good.
- Longevity: Purchased the Syrah, need to try this place again. Friendly owners.
- Nottingham Cellars: Didn't care for whites (but I don't like most), reds were OK but I like them bolder for the price of $40, industrial tasting room location, servers were OK but didn't explain the wines which I missed.
- Las Positas Vineyards: $5 -10 tasting ($5 with purchase) $10 tasting is more reds (2 whites however), $5 more whites and wines started at about $40. I had this rated as a 5 loving all but after this last visit 6/2014 the reds were more mellow than I now like (preference is a bold red). The two whites I tried were not bad (for a white) and surprisingly enough I liked the Chardonnay better than the other. It is a nice location (old Deer Ridge location); servers were friendly but if I'm rating it on my taste I've now dropped it to a 3. We did purchase the 2011 Barbera but it was pricy for not my perfect wine.
- McGrail Vineyards: This is the nice tasting room. $10 tasting, $5 reimbursed with purchase. Merlot was too mellow, cab was better but not a fav. Nice area.
- Murrietas Well: Nice server, no mememorable wines, no purchase $25 tasting - too pricy if true
- Occasio Winery: Not a great "wine country" location, on side of road in an industrial strip. We bourght the zin, Merlot also good but rating the winery a 3.5. $5 fee
- Page Mill Winery: $5 tasting (FREE with purchase). Moved from a 4 to a 3.
- Rodrigue Molyneaux Winery: $5 tasting
- Rubino: These wines were mild for us (R3). We did purchase 2012 Zinfandel which was the boldest. The space however is gorgeous with lots of great gifts to purchase and the server was very nice (R4) $7.5 no bottle refund.
- Ryhan: Great Raspberry sparkling wine, reds too mild for my taste, friendly server. Same building as Cuda Ridge (Mar. 5, 2011)
- The Singing Winemaker - don't remember how it was, the port we purchased was just OK, try again $10.
- Tamas: $5 tasting
- Tenuta: Known as the Rock n Roll winery, lively, fun people, initially rated it a 5, click here for my write up. We went back Sept, 5, 2015 and although a lot was the same, it was inexpensive for a taste $5 for 5 or $10 for 10 the wine is no longer my style, they were sweeter and milder than I like. They did have a red port that was pretty good but we didn't purchase any this trip. One new feature was a beer tasting list in another room which I thought was cool for the beer drinkers.
- Three Steves: $10 New, need to visit again it was too busy on day one. Didn't find one to buy.
- Wente: $10-15
- Fenestra Winery : $5 tasting. First visit was a 4, second visit was a 2 because it was their 35th Anniversary and it was like herding cows, too many people, 20 wines to taste, no personal attention, didn't care for the whites and the red wines not bold enough for me. Liked the 2004 Lodi Port but purchased nothing. (Aug. 7, 2011)
- Rios Lovell Estate Winery: $5 tasting. First trip a 4, service second trip was a 2, port R3 on YELP, Zac's port was worth a purchase at $24 it was my favorite, but also liked Barbera Reserve and Bretts, didn't care for the reds. They have about 5 different ports, not a fan of Tawny port. (Aug 7, 2011)
- Steven Kent: $20-25 tasting is too expensive. Buy a bottle for $50 vs. a taste for two for $50. 2/27/2012: website says $10 fee, maybe they deserve another shot.
- La Rochelle Winery; $20 tasting with cheese plate, sit down tasting but also $10 tasting
Unfortunately these were 5's but they no longer exist.
- Thomas Coyne: FREE Stood the return visit test, friendly servers who explained their wines, good prices ($20), great reds (purchased 2006 Grenache this visit, did a bottling event last visit for $6/bottle and Confluence first), good desert wine "Sweet Emily". Sadly the location is now in an industrial park but the wines are still great, purchased 3 this time (5/2014)
- En Garde: $10 tasting fee, great berry port. There was a tasting room inside Tenuta but it moved to Sonoma.
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