Hi guys,
I’m living in Germany but for the last two years we were living in San Jose. Now I’m coming back for business and would like to visit some new vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Do you have any recommendations for me beside the obvious? As an example I’ve been at Ridge a couple of times as I do like wines and view but what else? Would also like to bring a case or two back to Germany as Cali wines are difficult to get here.
Thanks for your attention and response.
Kind regards,
I have a few suggestions for you on the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The Corralitos Wine Trail is a nice way to visit four good wineries in the southern part of the Santa Cruz Mtns. region. The Wine Trail ties together Alfaro, Nicholson, Pleasant Valley, and Windy Oaks. These four wineries are now generally open on Saturday afternoons, allowing a nice wine tour of the area. The four are not too far apart, which is a big plus when touring the Santa Cruz Mtns. since many wineries in the area are separated by fairly lengthy drives.
Corralitos Wine Trail
Another good option for cutting out a lot of driving is to visit the Surf City Vintners Collective in the city of Santa Cruz. Over a dozen wineries have tasting rooms within a block or so of one another, including Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard / Quinta Cruz, Bonny Doon, and Trout Gulch.
Surf City Vintners
And you can always try contacting Kevin Harvey (who often posts on the board here) about arranging a visit to Rhys Vineyards.
I’ve done write-ups on visiting these areas for the Grape-Nutz.com website if you’re interested in some more detailed info:
Santa Cruz Mountains - December 2011 (Corralitos Wine Trail)
Santa Cruz - July 2012 (including Surf City Vintners)
Rhys Tour and Tasting – June 27th, 2009
Hope that’s helpful!
It certainly depends on what type of wine and experIence you are looking to have. With that said, two of my favorites are Big Basin and Rhys for Pinot Noir and Syrah.
Mount Eden and Varner are also in the area.
They don’t get much buzz here, but I LOVE tasting at Pichetti.
Thomas Fogerty is a lovely place to visit. Beautiful property and views, walk-in tasting with no hassle, friendly staff, surprisingly good wines with reasonable QPR. A fairly short drive west up Alpine Road from Palo Alto.
Definite +1 on this. I always think their wines are underrated.
Some additional notes from a SCM trip to Windy Oaks, Alfaro Family, and Big Basin earlier this year:
Disclosure: this is my home turf, or was, I live in the east now but my family is still there.
So, you have to divide the SC Mountains into two, really: the Valley side and the Ocean side. Ridge, Mt. Eden, Kathryn Kennedy and bascially all the cab-based wineries are the Valley side and accessible from the eastern fringes of the Silicon Valley megalopolis. The vineyards almost all face the southern part of the SF Bay. On the Ocean side you get a lot more Pinot and Rhone blends. Though to be sure there is significant overlap.
The most spectacular place to visit is called “Heart of the Mountain.” It’s way above Scotts Valley with spectacular ocean views. It used to be Alfred Hitchcock’s estate. It’s not open all the time but it is open on weekends a few times a year. If it’s open when you’re around, definitely do go.
Definitely do go to the West Side (Santa Cruz) industrial mall where Bonny Doon and several other wineries are. Bonny Doon is the best one and the restaurant there is first rate, the best in Santa Cruz. Bonny Doon could do with more focus–I think they make too many wines–but the good ones are very good. Another place to go is Soquel, which was founded by offshoots of the Bargetto clan. Bargetto is I believe the oldest winery on the Ocean side but makes some ho-hum wines, whereas the boys at Soquel are more ambitious.
On the other side, Ridge is king, Mt. Eden is queen and everyone else is minor nobilty at best. David Bruce makes a nice Pinot. Cinnabar is pretty good and you can taste in downtown Saratoga (cute town). Another one I like is Stefania but they limit visits pretty severly.
In Los Gatos, which is even nicer than Saratoga IMO, there is Manresa, a Michelin 2* restaurant that is better than anything in the City IMO though it can be uneven.
Mount Eden recently purchased Cinnabar.
Thanks you all for your suggestions! Maybe some more details about me and my taste. Since my time in the South Bay I did some tours and found most interest in Chardonnays, Pinots and Cabs. There is no specific order but over the last time I would think to see a slow shift towards Pinots vs Cab. Rhys would be definitely of interest but I was under the impression that they don’t open for public visitors. I have also tried Stefania during my time in SJ but they were not keen in seeing me. Since I’m just staying for less than a week I would also prefer to visit wineries where I could buy something if I like what I’ve tasted.
And yes, I also prefer Los Gatos over Saratoga…
Cheers,
Ilja
Not quite. Mount Eden bought the vineyards and winemaking facility, but not the brand. That site is now Domain Eden. Cinnabar still exists and the tasting room is still there downtown Saratoga. (Big Basin has a tasting room next door.)
Paul has a day job. Sometimes he can get away, sometimes he can’t.
I think all of the wineries have wine you can purchase.
If you’re in Santa Cruz you might want to stop by VinoCruz wine shop. They have the best selection of local wines, including stuff you won’t see anywhere else.
House Family Winery is excellent. Worth visiting if you can get an appointment.
Recently tasted the 2008 House Family Cab blend which is made by Jeff Patterson of Mount Eden.
Really nice stuff. Their whole line-up is very good, but I liked the Cab blend best. Well worth a visit and it’s in the same neighborhood as Mount Eden.
The best wine shop in Santa Cruz city is Soif, though I would not call them local wine specialists, they are still really good. Deer Park, which is kind of out of the way, tries to specialize in local wines as does Shoppers Corner.
I’m not intentional difficult, but as Wes said I do have an 8-5 job. We’re also severly limited by our use permits. The city of San Jose does not allow us to have wine visitors at all. The city of Woodside, where the winery facility is located, allows visitors by invitation only. The city manager has told me that means we should have a prior relationship with a guest and they should be on our mailing list or a member of our wine club. We usually do not have wine for purchase though in any event and I prefer to have people try wine from barrel rather than bottles they won’t be able to buy.
I usually recommend Cooper Garrod, Big Basin and Creekview (On Post in downtown San Jose) as stops for people that don’t prefer an appointment.