Rapazzini Winery

One of the most fun stops we have had in a long time. Thank you for my «bathtub» wine :-)

What a delightful stop on our way up the 101 to San Francisco. The owner, Alex was kind, funny and extremely entertaining. We tasted several delicious wine, including almond champagne. I would highly recommend this winery.

This was a tough call, I like the place and I like the people, and I liked their dogs and that they let our dogs in. The almond sparkling wine was a new and different experience. For whatever reason, the idea of «Garlic Wine» didn’t appeal to me so we tried the Chardonnays. My wife and I agreed on one and bought a bottle to take home.
This is a 4.4−4.6 review and the only reason I didn’t bump it up to five stars is the wine seems a little high priced for what we were trying. Definitely worth the stop and we will stop in again.

A little hidden spot off the freeway but super cute! Don’t be fooled by the outside because this inside is so quaint and nice. The wine was pretty good, you get 5 tastings for $ 7.00. You must try their garlic wine, it sounds weird but it is really good and something you won’t see anywhere else. The guy there was very nice and imformative about the wine. I would come back again!

Every time I drive past Gilroy, I’ve wanted to stop by and try some of that garlic wine! I did buy a bottle of white wine, but the entire tasting experience was a little off. There was one man at the table who was serving everyone, but he seemed very distracted and busy. The first glass he gave us had a piece of hair in it and when I told him about it, he acted as if he didn’t believe me and tried looking for it. Once he found it, he didn’t really apologize, he just went and got another glass– which also had some weird black stuff in it. The wine tasted fine, nothing amazing, but I liked it. I wouldn’t go back though because it wasn’t clean enough and service was whatever

I’ve waited 5 years to come back and get some Apribella wine. Bought a whole case to share, or not

My goal of trying garlic wine has finally been completed!
This winery is great! The pourer was super friendly and knowledgeable about all of the wines on their tasting list. My brother detests wine, but he found some he liked here.
For a mere $ 7 you get 5 tastings of their big wine list, I had trouble narrowing it down to 5! I loved them all, the Pinot Gris, the Merlot, the Rockin Rott Red, Garlic Red, and Apribella, in that specific order. The manager told me not to have the garlic til last, but before the sweet Apribella, which he mixed with champagne and some Berry Berry, a mixed Bellini of sorts. It was delicious! The garlic wine is given with a cracker topped with garlic butter so it tastes like you’re drinking a pizza. Weird, yes. But o so good.
They’ve also got a plethora of garlic and wine goodies for sale.
O garlic, I love you in everything, now including wine!

The wines here were surprisingly good. I liked that we could chose any five wines from their list, as opposed to only have a specific 5 wines pre-​selected for the tasting. I prefer sweet white wines, and they had a few good options, specifically the almond champagne. I have been to this winery several times, and every time I have bought a bottle of that almond champagne! It is so good, and also very unique in that not every winery sells it. The truly unique experience here is that they make a garlic wine (both red and white, and both drinking and cooking varieties). It’s not the kind of wine that I would drink a full glass of, but it’s great as a gag gift or a unique gift for family who lives far away (I bought a bottle of the red garlic wine of my dad who lives in NY). At the tasting, they tell you to taste the garlic wine, then they give you a sample of their garlic cheese butter on a cracker and tell you to taste the wine again. That really brings out the garlic flavor of the wine! The location is hard to ufind– it is right in the 101N just after you cross under highway 152. There is a cherry stand in their parking lot which is more visible than the sign for the winery, so also look out for that when you are driving there.

Came here on a whim because I had time to kill. Located right off 101 and I’ve sworn I’ve passed it several times before.
We didn’t have a regular pourer that day, so he didn’t know how to explain the wines, just pour. I didn’t care too much for majority of the wine, however I did really enjoy their almond champagne. I got a bottle to go and all my gfs really liked it as well when we opened it during Christmas. The garlic wine was unique (you smell the garlic, but the garlic doesn’t overwhelm your taste once you drink it). It’d be interesting to see how it pairs with food.
Place is eh but if you’re passing by and want to try some garlic wine, might as well try it here. I’m sure my experience would’ve been better if we had a pourer who knew the wine and was a regular.

Ok took longer than expected to write the review but I just had to because we had a glass of wine from this place tonight. I just love the GARLIC wine cause with our linguini and clams the garlic wine was divine! Adam who helped us out was totally sweet and very informative and knew our taste. Will go back again and one of the highlights of our trip with our friends! Love my white wine!

I came across this place by chance, on a business trip and driving from SLO to San Francisco… felt like stopping at a winery and my GPS suggested this place, I loved it so much after the tasting that I brought 4 bottles home on the plane! thank god they didn’t break… the guy that helped me was also from Pennsylvania so that was pretty cool! I am going back in a couple weeks to San Fran and definitely have this on my list to stop and visit!

I totally loved this place! We were in town for the garlic festival, and one of the vendors recommended it for their garlic wine. I’m a wine freak and a garlic freak, and it was five minutes away, so we stopped by after the festival.
We were greeted by a super adorable guy who helped us right away. My gf and I tried the almond champagne, three dessert wines and the white garlic wine.
I love almond champagne, and this is now my favorite. We got a bottle. We tried the ariabella, which was peach and apricot and just took first place at the state fair. Delish!!! The raspberry was so heavenly and the berry berry was pretty good.
We were then made a babymaker, which is the champagne, ariabella with a splash of raspberry. Party in my mouth!!!
Lastly we tried the white garlic wine which was so good, we also bought a bottle of it.
Great priced wine, delish wine, super informative. I 100% will be back!!! We actually think this was better than the festival, lol.

The tasting room for Rapazzini is a little weird getting to. It’s right off the 101 a little South of Gilroy so getting on and off the freeway can be a little tricky, but it’s so worth it. The wife and I stopped by last Saturday afternoon and we were the only ones in the place. Nice to go to a tasting room and not have to deal with a crowd of people.
The manager Adam is very nice if a bit dry. We tried their sweet wines, Apribella, Almond Champagne and one other. He made us a bellini with Apribella, Champagne and a fruit wine that was very good. We also tried the garlic wine. The garlic wine is a bit strange but surprisingly enjoyable, especially when you have it with a cracker with garlic butter. It tastes like you’re drinking garlic bread.
If you go you simply must ask Adam to bring out Rocky his Jack Russell. He’s the sweetest little dog. We ended up buying 3 bottles of wine. Definitely put this place on your list of wineries in the Bay Area.

Rapazzini winery is clearly a class act! When I arrived, I was graciously met by Adam, Butters (a huge very handsome Aerodale) and the featured show canine, Rocky! Adam and his crew were very helpful and informative about the winery and it’s offerings. I was impressed with his calm classy, demeanor and knowledge of wines …
I looked around for awhile and took some pictures. I was looking for Christmas gifts and found a few I will return for after consulting with my honey. Adam suggested
a specialty dessert wine or champagne. Both were reasonably priced at about $ 15.00 a bottle.
Though I didn’t do wine tasting (I don’t drink) I must say you should come here on a lazy afternoon and pay the seven dollars to try their wares… the cost of ur wine tasting will be applied to ur purchase. By the way, they’ve been on business for 51 years! That’s a very good track record for any business here in the U. S!
Wow… What a deal… Wine tasting and a discount on ur purchase ! Visit this winery and tell them KAREN sent you there because she wrote about it on Unilocal and gave it a high five star rating!!!
Enjoy!!!
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Love love love this place. I got to taste some awesome spread and taste several wines. great place to stop at and a HUGE bear to take a picture with or even of :) (It’s a stuffed bear, calm down).

Overall Great Experience.
Free wine tasting if you purchase something from the Garlic Shoppe next door or at the Outlet Mall and bring your receipt. In Feb/​2013 they had limited wines, but all were well balanced and I bought several bottles. Garlic wine is quirky, but fun. Rockin’ Rott is a MUST.
Garlic/​Blue Cheese Butter is to die for and I wish they sold it in vats.
Adam was informative, funny, and easy on the eyes… don’t listen to the other Unilocalers about rudeness… it’s a freakin’ winery in the middle of no-where…give the guy a break!
Definitely worth the visit and stop byt the Garlic Shoppe… much bigger selection than you can imagine. Garlic Anything and Everything!

Wine tastings are $ 7 dollars but with any purchase, the tasting is comped. Even if you end up not liking anything, you can always get a bottle of the rose for $ 8 dollars.
They serve garlic wine here which I haven’t seen anywhere else. While, it is unique, it definitely isn’t for everyone. But, the almond champagne is pretty delicious. The winemaker here told us that they use actual almond shavings, unlike the surrounding wineries who just use almond extract. The pinot noir was pretty good as well.

This is on the upper end of a «tourist trap.» On one hand, the goal is to hawk some gimmicky «garlic wine» to six-​hour commuters coming through the 101. But on the other, Rapazzini is surprisingly more enjoyable than some of the «big name» wineries in Temecula, Livermore, etc.
At Rapazzini, you get special souvenir-​type blends like their signature garlic wine, or almond champagne. There’s an adorable dog, Rocket, that plays fetch. There’s a shop inside that sells an amazing garlic butter, which is a definite must buy if you’re gonna make the stop. There’s a food kiosk outside selling Morgan Hill Honey (excellent), shelled pistachios, garlic chips, etc, and six strawberries for $ 3 … waaat? A few weeks before this visit, I scored a basket of strawberries at a major supermarket for $ 0.49, so that price is insane.
Anyway, tasting at Rapazzini is $ 7, with the charge applied to your purchase. So it’s almost free if you buy the $ 10 garlic wine, or whatever.
Adam, working the tasting bar, was a little curt in his demeanor and seemed inconvenienced by visitors. After a half hour of observing him with other customers however, I figure now that this is just how this guy is. You’re almost in the middle of nowhere, trying to pass off some pedestrian wines as fine and exotic. I can understand how someone would turn out this way after such a miserable daily routine. He loves Rocket the dog though, so at least he’s not an entire lost cause.
The wines are all pretty much forgettable, but they aren’t terrible. Your tasting might get you a watered down Chard, a super light ‘Symphony’, a butterific Rose o_​O, an uncharacteristically sweet Merlot, a chalky Cab, an oddly named «Rockin Rott’ blend, etcetc. But apparently, they change things up a lot. I’m sure you’ll be served a pretty lovely bellini-​like sparkler made with their «apribella» and almond champagne, and you’ll definitely be given a taste of their «famous» garlic wine paired with garlic buttered crackers (which was very good actually).
If you’re going to buy anything, get the garlic wine as a quirky conversation starter, and consider the garlic butter and Morgan Hill Honey. But don’t buy any of their other bottles. You can get better mediocrity for less at a Trader Joe’s. And don’t stop in here expecting some fantastic wine. Just come here for the short pit stop, to take a breather and give some variety to an otherwise monotonous commute.
Also, a note on the bathroom. There is one unisex bathroom only; and poorly maintained. You’ve been warned.

I always pass the garlic shop on my way back to LA. I can’t believe this winery is connected to the garlic shop!
We came in with the groupon deal and I’m so glad we did! Although it’s not located in the hills with all the windy roads nor around a bunch of trees and vineyards, the moment I got out of my car I noticed the big wine barrel doors!
This place is dog friendly as the owner has 2 dogs himself who like to follow him around! $ 7 to taste 5 wines is a deal! It’s even better that the $ 7 goes towards whatever you end up buying! We left with a bottle of syrah, a jar of garlic butter and garlic chips.
This winery is definitely unique as we were able to try their award winning garlic wine. Wow! Its funky, but good. Especially when handed a cracker and a spread of garlic. It was quite the experience!
I really enjoyed our Saturday afternoon spent here. The owner is very funny and showed us some funny videos on his phone. Ask about the ‘oreo cows’ haha.

Thought this place was only minutes away from Sarah’s Vineyard. When I finally came it was about 30 minutes of driving to find a shack next to the freeway. So came here especially with complimentary tastings. However; when we arrived, it was not free as the website had mentioned. Wine tasting at Rapazzini Winery were $ 7 for 5 different wine tastes.
They had a bunch of different wines from the Almond Champagne, Berry Berry, to their Garlic Wines that they sell specifically to «The Stinking Rose.» All their reds tend to be on the drier side. In the end our tasting was free because we ended up buying stuff.