Zaca Mesa Winery

Foremost, the wine here is really good.
As far as wine tasting experience, the staff is relatively not as friendly or welcoming as most other wine tasting rooms.
While we were here, a bachelorette party walked in, so for some of you, it might be helpful information to know that they do in fact cater to large parties.

I love coming here, they are so nice and dog friendly!
I bought a case of their delicious Viognier!

We had a great time enjoying ourselves here — lovely set up and delicious wine! Bartender was very friendly

So after pinky swearing with my husband before our wine tasting trip that we absolutely would not join any more wine clubs, we are now members of the Zaca Mesa wine club after our visit here. Why? Great wines… Especially the white wines!
We tasted here in the middle of the week and the place was still fairly busy. Kathy which served us gave us plenty of her time and attention despite the crowd. She also gave us tastes of a couple of wines that were open but not on the tasting list including their Z blends. Everything was quite get but we were really impressed with the quality of their white wines, which is somewhat unusual in this area.
Lovely winery, friendly staff and good wines add up to a wonderful experience!

Loved the tasting room and large patio area. Perfect for groups. They had a band setting up but we didn’t stay. Looked like a fun place to hang out and picnic. Loved the wines and left with a few bottles.

PROS: kid friendly!!! Great wines both white and red, friendly and helpful service, beautiful and serene venue, outdoor large chess board, nice for picnics, shady in hot days
CONS: (no cons)
Overall: a great place to go tasting with little ones!

The Syrahs are good to very good but I wouldn’t bother with any of the whites.
The tasting room is clean, comfortable and spacious but reminded me of the Frass Canyon tasting room in Sideways. It’s just a bit too corporate for my taste.
The tasting room gal was average at best. Tell me something about the wine I’m sampling. I don’t think that is too much to ask. I don’t need to be reminded that sauvignon blancs, in general, can be grassy. And pushing the wine club at length doesn’t do it for me. Sell me on the wines I’m drinking.
As others have noted, there is a nice large picnic area with lots of tables. Lots of parking in the dirt lot just beyond the tasting room.

The grounds really were beautiful and a great place for a picnic, but the wines were underwhelming and the servers weren’t interested in telling us about what we were drinking and what we should be looking for or noticing in their wines. Also, the inside of the tasting room smelled really (really) bad — not sure what the deal was with that, but all six in our group mentioned it and it made us not want to go back in to get out next pours. Looks like a good party drinking location, but not recommended if you’re looking for interesting, good wines.

Pourer was friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful. I liked their Syrah more than their whites. Their whites were tasty and good for gifts. The Syrah is coming home with me. Glad we stopped here.

So happy we got to come to this winery on our trip to California! We drink this wine ALL the time since we live in Hawaii and live for good Syrahs (costco sells it).
We were staying in Santa Maria and wanted to check out the local wineries. We kind of stumbled upon this not intending to go here and I couldn’t be happier since we drink their wine all the time.
The grounds were beautiful and I was impressed seeing staff in the area knowing they care for their location. There were also lots of cars, so clearly this place is popular. When we walked in we were immediately greeted by Eric, who tasted us on wines. He was so knowledgable and attentive, it was refreshing after being at a few less than exciting wineries that day. The crowd in the winery was also lively and clearly were happy to be there.
After tasting and wanting to buy some we decided to become members and couldn’t be happier after the great customer service we experienced.
This place is clearly a cared for and much liked winery and of course the wine is amazing. Happy to now be a part of the family and come back for many years to come!
See you soon, Zaca Mesa!

The Syrahs were definitely the best wines we tasted off of their tasting menu; those were pretty good. The other wines were less memorable (which I guess is expected, since they’re known for their Syrah’s). Overall, we definitely preferred the two previous stops, Foxen and Babcock.
That being said, the service was accommodating and professional. The people who served us had the utmost respect and professionalism, which was very appreciated.
They also have a great tasting room and area outside with picnic tables.

Best syrah. Even the former president acknowledge. Wonderful and experience staff. The ambiance is welcoming and I feel like at a winery not a force fancy winery. Great prices and I love the isolation it makes it an adventure to get there but definitely worth the ride!

Cute family owned winery. We specifically came in for a tasting with friends. I loved the 2010 Estate Viognier which was editors choice for Wine Enthusiast magazine. The notes of honeysuckle and white peach blew my mind away. If your looking for a bolder deeper wine you may like their 2008 Estate Z. It is a blend of 51% Syrah, 37% Mourvèdre & 12% Grenache. I was tasting notes of blueberry and blackberries lots of tang from the tannins. Great wine for red game meats. The little boutique is cute and reasonable if you join their wine club. Otherwise very overpriced goods but that was to be expected. Gorgeous scenery outside by the way. Fancy a game of life size chess? No problems they got it all in the breathtaking courtyard.

I loved the Syrah at Zaca Mesa so much that I left with a half case… only to find out that they carry it at Costco for about $ 17 (I paid about $ 23 with the half case discount). Advice: come here to taste, and buy at Costco!

So so at best. Their wines are hit and miss, which is fine, since it’s hard to consistently produce crowd pleasers. However, the place is badly run and sadly short-​staffed. I had to go to 3 different counters to get the wine I wanted — and it’s part of my $ 25 tasting, so nothing library or special — AND they rang up the wrong price. They really should learn how to make it easy for customers to BUY…

Seriously! Can Zaca Mesa do any wrong? I love this place. It’s no secret, they are my absolute favorite along Foxen Canyon and in this area in general. There’s something about pulling into the drive way, parking your car and coming through their doors that makes you feel right at home. The staff are all phenomenal, there’s something about them that is down to earth, relaxed, at ease in their own skin, hassle free, and just plain nice (something I don’t know much about ;) but gosh I appreciate it when someone else is) which ensures your visit is comfortable and welcoming, equaling perfection.
We stopped in to pick up my latest shipment and to our surprise they had a separate club room open. Hello! Not only did we enjoy our tastings amongst the crowd in the main tasting room, then we parlayed it over to the Members Room for a slightly different set. Members tastings are free as per the usua and their friends are too — we were just the two of us today, but I’ve been known to meet people along the trail and invite them to join us here after raving about how much I enjoy this place.
I don’t care for white wine and on our latest trip I wanted an entire case of their 2010 Roussanne. So yummy!
We can spend HOURS here and we do, and there’s a perfect little picnic area atop to take in a little lunch and view (you also get better phone reception up there).
Fabulous stop to make, if you haven’t you’re missing out B-​I-​G T-​I-​M-​E!
and the price point can’t be beat — this place is super reasonable.
Looking forward to returning next month.

Great Wines (5 stars)
This must be our 5^th or 6^th visit, and it only gets better.
Got lots of wine, and will surely enjoy them in the near future, and will let some age.
The wine tasting was a great experience.

I realize that wine tasting is a very subjective experience. My party and I came here with high expectations. I was hoping the this place would really cap off a wonderful day of being with friends and wine tasting. Sadly, it did not happen here.
The grounds were wonderful. Part of the reason it received the 2 stars.
The staff seemed knowledgable enough. Our pourer was friendly, but we were not really engaged. To be fair, the tasting room was very busy, so I can understand her not being as attentive to us.
Now, the crux of the issue. The wines, were spectacularly unimpressive. To my palate (I am a big time lover of big, bold Red wine), the wines were a bit weak. I did not like the finish on either of the white wines that we tried. The reds were just unimpressive.
Would I give this winery a 2^nd chance? Not sure. The grounds were very nice. Maybe if our pourer was not so busy, that she could have engaged with us a bit more, that may have helped. But, ultimately, it has to come down to the wines, and for me, for my palate, just were not what I was looking for.

Passed Zaca Mesa on Foxen Canyon Road and their front vineyard, also a working vineyard for their wines, lured me in. High energy in their tasting room and patio, and the wine club members only room offered exclusivity and specials. Joined their wine club on the spot! The tasting room bar tenders were friendly and engaging and honestly knowledgeable about every wine ever made at Zaca Mesa. Wine club is fast and easy to join. They have periodic events, such as a walking tasting tour through their vineyards by their master wine maker, pets welcome!
Highly recommend, to visit, for their excellent wines and wine club offerings, and for their winery events! Great photo ops around their tasting room and vineyards.

Back in town, and hit up the Saturday Music and Food Truck event.
Great wines, as usual and expected. Also got to taste the «Black Bear Block Syrah» … AMAZING!!!
The food truck was fantastic as well, and the music quite good.