Stage Left Cellars

Located a bit off the beaten path, this winery and tasting room is run by Melinda Doty, with the name coming from the term «exit stage left» after Melinda moved on from her previous career in order to pursue winemaking.
The wines are very accessible, with the red blends proving quite compelling. Syrah, grenache, petite sirah, and mourvedre feature prominently in their blends, and I left with a bottle of my own.
While there’s not much around the winery in the way of food, there’s plenty of room to lounge around here so you (or your designated driver) can rest up before moving on again. Melinda and the folks at the winery are also warm and engaging to chat with. Count in Stage Left as yet another quality Oakland winery that’s worth your time.

Oakland’s best winery! Stage Left’s wines and owners are delightful. I have been a member for about 2 years and always look forward to their events. They make big bodied Rhones and a lovely Rose. Their food pairing events are well catered. This is a small family business that you will be proud to support. The owners are knowledgeable and personable. Membership has the biggest perks, with awesome sales every month. Give Stage Left a try — you will not regret it!

Stage Left Cellars was a wonderful experience to share with good friends and everything from the service to the flavor was top notch, fantastic and amazing!
Stage Left Cellars has a passion for wine. collecting, drinking, studying and experimenting. More importantly, Stage Left grew from the thread of experiences and adventures that came with that passion for wine. They believe great fruit equals great wine. While they are fans of new winemaking technology, for all intents and purposes, they like to stay old school.
Everything at Stage Left is done by hand, in small lots. They hand-​pick and hand-​sort every last cluster of fruit, and only the best raw material makes it through to production. For the most part, they simply smooth things along so Mother Nature can do her thing and with that, they try all kinds of crazy experiments on micro lots to see if they can outdo her. Best known for «The Day Job and The Breadwinner» wines.
Located right off the 880 and easy to get to, you just wouldn’t expect a winery to be located there.
Great Wine, great space, creative approach you gotta check them out!

Just came here for a tasting. Loved it. Purchased «The Emcee» and a few other blends. I was intrigued with their Mourvèdre blend as I’ve not had any experience with this grape. Well played Stage Left Cellars, well played! Support this gem of a local Oaktown winery by being a wino ;)

Planned a rare day in the East Bay which serendipitously coincided with Stage Left Cellars’ public tasting calendar. «We open our cellar doors to the public on the 1^st Saturday of each month from 11am — 5pm.» If you can’t make it on one of these Saturdays, simply ring them to schedule a tasting appointment.
Melinda, the owner, was friendly & personable, giving us a great overview of their Rhone style wines & company background. She also invited us to observe the sorting process for the grapes which was being done during our visit. My favs were The ExPat & The Day Job — the names are as inventive as the wines. My friend enjoyed the wines so much, another member of the wine club may be added.
A super bonus, during our visit — we were tasted cookies from a local baker. Yum, they were still warm from the oven! More on that later. The cookies are featured in Stage Left’s «Celebrate Oakland» gift box. Great idea supporting other local businesses.

Want to visit a fantastic local wine cellar? Want to order a nice bottle for yourself or a friend? Look no further and check this place out!
The owner is very welcoming, is knowledgeable in all things wine related, and it’s just so much fun if you are new to wine or are quite the wine enthusiast. The location is great, very easy to find, large parking lot, and it’s very comfortable inside. They have a variety of reds and white to taste and they are all excellent. I was a huge fan of their «The Breadwinner». The Petite Sirah is also quite nice.
Their tasting room is open the first Saturday of each month from 11am-​5pm so stop on by! If you can’t make it then, they do take appointments for tastings so give them a call and set up one.

I enjoyed an event held in this spare, elegant space. The Breadwinner is amazing. I would absolutely taste here or buy wine here.

Great people — wonderful wines — if you are not around the first Saturday of the month — give them a call if someone is there — you will likely get an invite to taste —
enjoy

I miss Lost Canyon. I have been on the mailing list for Stage Left Cellers since they took over the space that Lost Canyon used to occupy. I have been meaning to visit but didn’t actually walk through those doors until we stopped by for the East Bay Wine Trail last Saturday.
They are a bit out of my price range at $ 28-​$ 42 a bottle. I did appreciate their thoughtful food pairing for this event!

Stage Left Cellars makes the most amazing Rhone varietal wines: Syrahs, Grenache, and my favorite — the Viognier/​Roussanne. I was sad to see Lost Canyon leave but am thrilled that the space has been filled with another outstanding winery. They are open for tasting the first Saturday of every month.

Stopped by this winery during the East Bay Wine Tour– the 2006 Grenache is friggin’ fantastic. Didn’t want to pop for the $ 48/​bottle tag — but we kept going back for tastes (at least 3 times) and the folks pouring generously endured us. Really good wines.

Great wines, I should know I poured them all day at the East Bay open house! They have a great Rhone style, old world earthiness and spice with new world fruit. I reviewed their wines at my blog
, they are delicious.

Dennison Street — Sounds familiar.
The doorway — looks familiar. I’ve been here before.
The lobby — I’ve been here before.
The bar — I’ve been here before.
Then it clicks. Lost Canyon. It was Lost Canyon. But it has changed. The furniture is different. I have changed. I was sober for Lost Canyon, not so much now.
It is now Stage Left Cellars.
OK. I’ll give them a try.
2007 Viognier. It was alright. I had so many Viogniers today it didn’t stand out for me.
2006 Grenache — 92% Grenache, 8% Mourvedre. This one was nice, fruity and flavorful but not overpowering.
2006 «The Scenic Route», is their Syrah made with Oregon grapes. It’s fruity and big without being a fruit bomb. I really liked it but for $ 38 I would not buy it.
I will wait about a year for their next batch and give them another try.

Came here today during the East Bay Wine Trail today. I was impressed. They poured their new Viognier/​Roussanne, Grenache & Syrah. I loved loved loved the first two. Unfortunately, they weren’t available for purchase today. However, they were also pouring their Breadwinner (66% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 12% Zinfandel, 6% Grenache, and 2% Viognier) and Day Job (67% Grenache, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Mourvedre). They were both excellent and priced in the $ 40 – 45 range.
They recently took over the space vacated by Lost Canyon. And, I believe that they will be open to the public on the first Saturday of each month.