Point Reyes Vineyards

Stopped in for some wine and ended up having a lovely tasting with the owner. The award winning Syrah was super delish. We were looking for white (to go with our grilled seafood we were planning to cook) so we decided between the sparking wine and the Chardonnay. We chose the sparking wine and it was perfect with our raw oysters! The owner was really lovely and we stayed much longer than we had planned. Highly recommend a stop here.

We stopped here to try some wines on our way up to Fort Ross.
The wines were o.k. My wife and I liked their North Coast Sparkling wine and the Dessert Viognier. Other than that, the rest were underwhelming.
Something to Know: The owner’s policy is that no minors are allowed in the tasting room. However, there is nice patio where one of you can sit and entertain the kids while the other tastes the wine. Personally, I do not care either way about this policy, although I have never ran into it at another winery.

I have always been curious to stop at this winery, as I drive past it several times a year on my way to get oysters after long hikes at Point Reyes National Seashore. My recommendation, stay curious as wondering about the possibility of stopping at this place is much better than actually visiting. The service was lacking and the person behind the counter actually said to a coworker, «I will just be extra mean and give small pours and that will send them away». I thought she was joking but it turned out to be true. The wine did not make up for the bad service. A $ 5.00 tasting fee that is waived with the purchase of a bottle of wine but the wine was not good. All of the wines were overly sweet and the flavor was off-​putting. The Zinfandel reminded me of cough syrup and the Chardonnay smelled slightly like gasoline. Overall, I will not be visiting again.

Drove past this place so many times, so finally decided to stop. I have to say I was very disappointed. None of the wines that I tasted were good. Zero stars for the wine, one star for the Point Reyes blue cheese and crackers.

Super tiny little winery out in the middle of nowhere which few people seem to find… but so worth the stop.
Just don’t get too peppy on the road into Point Reyes or you’ll blow right past this place and miss the opportunity to enjoy some very tasty estate-​grown wines.

The perfect complement for a trip to Tomales Bay Oyster Company! There’s a quaint feel to the small tasting room. Staff was friendly, and the $ 5 tasting fee is waived with the purchase of any bottle (there are bottles available for under $ 20).
Wines were so-​so, but the overall experience was quite fun. My next trip to Tomales Bay won’t feel complete without a visit to this vineyard!

We knew that after hitting up the Marin French Cheese Co, we were gonna find a winery in the area. Actually, anywhere we go in CA, we always try to hit up at least ONE local winery. So down Highway 1 we went and happened upon a sign at the intersection with Novato Blvd that proclaimed there was a Point Reyes Vineyards winery and that it was open… woot!
Lovely place, with very nice and knowledgeable pourer ladies, with a nice selection of wines for the tasting. The $ 5pp tasting fee for seven tastes is waived if you buy a bottle, FYI. Personally, I like whites and bubbly and dessert wines, while Hubby is the red conoisseur. Loved the bubbly; not a fan of non-​oak Chardonnays; loved the late-​harvest Viognier. Hubby liked the ’98 Cab and the Syrah, and ended up buying the $ 17 Claret.
All in all, a great experience to add to our great day in the Point Reyes area. We’ll be back next time we venture out to these here parts :)

After a morning of plein air painting at Pierce Point Ranch, we decided to stop at the winery.
We had our 2 small dogs with us, so checked into the tasting room to see if there was a space we could sit with our dogs and taste.
The staff was very accommodating and sat us out on a side patio, the main patio was occupied by a group of women celebrating an event.
We sat and enjoyed a number of their wines and found a few surprising gems. Our tasting fee was waived because we bought several bottles (6). We would definitely stop in again if we were in the area. Our pourer was friendly and knowledgeable.

Very nice service but the wines were a little too green and grassy for me. If you are in the area check it out but can’t say it’s worth driving out of the way for.

Lovely older ladies who were great at making a little conversation made bright this charming cottage with surprisingly good wines. The non-​oak aged Chardonnay was particularly refreshing.

Ever been wine tasting and gotten the impression that if you were 20 years older and perhaps slightly more distinguished looking, you’d be getting more attention, more alcohol and better treatment in general? That’s how I felt tasting here. Maybe if I had started throwing out terms like «bouquet» or «tannins» or dropped the phrase «this has a hint of white pepper at the finish,» the experience would have been different.
Instead what we got was friendly but slow and spotty service. Maybe people move slower the farther north you get? I’m not sure, but I kind of just wanted a boom boom boom type of tasting experience, and it was more like a blip here and a blop there.
And the pours. My god, the pours. They were stingier than any pours I’ve ever seen. Literally about ten drops.

Great little winery to visit if you are in the area. The tasting room was pretty full when we got in but didn’t have to wait too long for our tasting. We tasted the chardonnay, two different zins that were picked from the same vines but just months apart, a cab, and the viognier. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of their sparkling wine crops and changing the formula so we were unable to taste that. They were all pretty good wines. The person who poured our tasting was also very friendly and shared all his knowledge of the wines. The tasting is only $ 5 but if you purchase a bottle, they wave the $ 5. The wines are very inexpensive too! There are also two very cute dogs wandering around the winery!

We stopped here randomly on our way back from eating oysters at Tomales Bay. The signs along the road definitely helped us find out way here. The wine shop was really quaint and homey feeling.
Wine tasting is $ 5 for 5 tastings and is waived if you buy a bottle. I’m not the biggest wine connoisseur, but I did appreciate the tastings. The red wine didn’t make me cringe like usual, which is particularly rare and must be a good sign! The boyfriend and friends enjoyed their tastings as well! A nice, random find!

Stopped here on the way back from a wedding in Bodega Bay, and bought two-​for-​one Merlots and a 2003 Zin. Plan to pick up a bottle of the vineyard’s fabulous bubbly the next time I pass through. The low-​key wine tasting truly charmed me and the wine is light, European table wine – perfect for my palette!

This little Vineyard BB is situated in a very quaint piece of land. It is run by a couple name Steve and Sharon (S&S). You will not be sharing the house with them. You might have to share the house with other guests. We did and it was a very pleasant experience.
S&S had breakfast ready for us both days. Cereal, eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, pastries, juice, milk, coffee, tea. Don’t worry, nothing goes to waste on this farm.
They also have a propane grill if you decide to buy/​bring your own food.
overall, a solid experience!

It’s the little vineyard that could! It’s $ 5 for 5 tastes (waived if you buy a bottle), and you can pick which 5 from that day’s open selections. They have a good selection of big reds, so I was a happy camper.
The hostess was friendly and attentive in a mellow small-​town way. She pointed out interesting facts about the wines I tasted, which I appreciated learning. Who knew there’d be such a striking difference in wines made from the same exact grapes, only picked 4 weeks apart?
It’s definitely worth a quick pop in. Best of all, you can see happy cows running by as you sip. :)

Don’t arrive here expecting a vineyard you would find in Napa. The place is very simple and dare I say trailer park like. But man do they have some tasty wine. Started out with the Pinot which I would not recommend. It is a bit weak but they do grow all the grapes right on property. Skip right down the list to the 2000 Merlot. Yes I know what you are thinking… Merlot = table wine. Well this stuff blew my socks off! It was the most amazing Merlot I can remember having. Not sure how much is left but it is a reasonable $ 25 a bottle. Some of that to wash down the Pt. Reyes blue cheese they have for you to sample and buy. Just perfect.
I regret not buying more of it. Let me know if you are heading up there so I can have you pick up several bottles for me. I’ll share one with you if you do!

What a great little winery off the beaten path. We’d been meaning to check out Point Reyes Winery for quite some time – we’d tried some of their sparkling wines and wanted to see what else they made but had never been up that way on a weekend (their tasting room is only open on weekends or by appointment, I believe).
We finally made it in on a Saturday in October and were so glad we did. We were blown away by the huge selection of wines they make and pour: Sparklings, Cabernets, Syrahs, Zinfandels, even some Pinot Noirs. The tasting room gals, two of them, were fabulously witty, chatty and knowledgeable. We bought a few bottles to drink there (Sparkling) and a few for the road and set up a nice picnic in their garden.

There is one winery in Point Reyes, and this is it.
They had a surprisingly big selection of wines here. From sparkling to syrah, to cab, and many cabs I might add. The sparkling wines weren’t bad at all. I did like the pinot noir, which was very light and easy to drink. The syrah is what I ended up buying. It was very smooth and fruit forward. The zin was good, but I have so many zins at home, so I opted to purchase something different. I even liked the cab that I tried. I can’t remember which year I had, but the friendly woman behind the bar suggested it to me.
The friendly woman behind the bar was the daughter or something. Boy, was she kooky. Super friendly and likable, but super kooky. She told us really irrelevant stories about herself. I thought it was amusing.

My visit here was insane. Darren R., Justin R., M and myself had planned on hiking up at Mt. Tam, and after a hungover brunch in SF, headed up to Marin. We got to the Pantoll Ranger station, and after taking a leak, decided to bail on hiking. (Insert story about running into the girl I had met THE NIGHT BEFORE at NAPS of all godforsaken places in the Mission. Clearly, this was a sign of the madness to come…) Eating and drinking seemed like a better idea. So, instead of burning calories, we decided to just keep on going up the coast to Pt Reyes to get some oysters. It didn’t go exactly as planned.
We swung by Cowgirl Creamery (amazing) and picked up some cheese (St Pat!!), pâté, salumi, and bread, and then headed to the winery, where Justin R. & M had been before.
The tasting began as most do: smalltalk, a few pretending-​to-​know-​what-​the-​hell-​is-​up wine comments, etc. But something about this place was just a little off. Maybe it was the «Dead Red» wines on the mantle, with their Grateful Dead-​themed labels. Or the Pt Reyes Vineyards neon-​orange hunting caps. Or the really smelly dog, «Spot» who kept sitting on my feet.
After buying a few bottles, we asked if we could sit outside and eat our Cowgirl goodies and drink some of the wine we purchased. Sure, go ahead, make yourselves at home. So we went outside…
Then Steve arrived.
Steve is the winemaker and owner of the vineyard. I had never «sabered» (
) a bottle of champagne before, but Justin R and M had been here before and had experienced this tradition, with Steve. I was to be the guinea pig. We «sabered» open the bottle we had bought, along with a 10-​yr old Brut Steve decided needed to be opened. After opening the two bottles in unison, and sending the cork/​glass flying towards some bus full of tourists, we found a picnic table and dug into our gluttonous picnic.
I want this guy in my family. He sat down with us, and just started telling stories, about the beginning of the vineyard («Shit, i planted some grapes thinking I could sell the land after a few years and move to Hawaii!»), following around the Dead, selling Jerry a dog and having him come back the next day in a limo to return it, drinking his first batch of Brut at his daughters wedding, and so on. His wife came out with a bottle of 1988 Cab, which we enjoyed w/​the bubbly and food as well. This just kept getting better and better.
I don’t think your next trip to Mondavi will involve opening bottles of champagne with swords, 19-​yr old Cab (free), and kickin it w/​the winemaker. If you’re lucky though, this is possible here.