We are looking to spend a week in and around Monterrey, CA. Looking for winery recommendations near there or up as far as Santa Cruz. I really don’t recognize any of the wineries around either place short of Bonny Dune, David Bruce, Fogerty, and Ridge. Any help appreciated.
It looks like Windy Oaks has a tasting room in Carmel. There are others in Carmel and Monterey but I don’t recognize them either.
Calera and Chalone are on the other side of 101 South of Gilroy, a bit of a trip but probably accessible.
I’m not clear of the status of Vinocruz in Santa Cruz, which was a multi-winery tasting room/wine bar. It seems to be closed but the website says something about a move. Soif is a good wine bar there and has some interesting local wines like Birichino and Ghostwriter.
I’ll second Windy Oaks tasting room in Carmel and will add Morgan and Talbot. Also in the Carmel Valley I would visit Bernardus and Joullian. If you are going to visit Santa Cruz on a Saturday a visit to the Corrolitos area where you can visit Windy Oaks winery, Alfaro Family and Nicholson Winery is nice. These are all 45-60 min from Monterey. Venturing futher North to Santa Cruz You have many options. Check out surfcityvintners.com for a list of wineries. I really like Storrs, Odonata, Equinox/Bartolo and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. Bonny Doon has moved their tasting room North of Santa Cruz to Davenport, haven’t been sinse the move. Ridge, Fogarty and David Bruce are up in the mountains and will be a fair drive from Monterey. Another resource is the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association: scmwa.com
No recs on wineries, but don’t miss a chance to have dinner at Passionfish in Pacific Grove.
Honestly, in my limited times in Monterey I haven’t found too much in the way of great wines. But check out the Taste of Monterey room right at Cannery Row for a good sampling of various wines.
It’s a couple hours to Paso if you’re up for the trip.
+1 on Passionfish. Awesome wine list. Food is very nice.
There is a “wine trolley” that will take you from Monterey to the Carmel Valley. I haven’t done it, but it makes it all easy. I liked Mercy, as far as wineries in CV go. I am not a huge Sauv Blanc fan, but theirs was very nice, great QPR.
Just one comment, Monterrey is in Mexico, Monterey is in California. I assume that in the days of Google this isn’t a problem anymore, but you never know. I have managed to locate “Bay Area” restaurants not realizing that the bay in question was Tampa.
LOL How come when I Google “LA restaurants” I get Los Angeles? Do ppl in other parts of the country get Louisiana?? When I ask for “bay area” I definitely get SF and nearby.
BIG +1 and the wine list (last time I was there) was just a few bucks above retail!
Great fresh fish.
No tips on wine in the area but several years ago I took my work team to Monterey for a conference and we had two amazingly good meals at the C Restaurant at the The Clement (Intercontinental) on Cannery Row. We also skipped one conference day and just wandered around Carmel which was a lot of fun.