Roche Winery

Working in the Industry for 10 years now I pass this place all the time when I go home. I thought I’d give it a try. The fire pits and outdoor seating looked very inviting. Great looking crowd, gorgeous day, what more can you ask for? Came in on a Saturday, wasn’t to crazy, was able to squeeze my way up to the bar. The guy helping us looked so bored and not interested I found it rather amusing. He clearly didn’t want to be there. But when a hot blonde came to the bar, we were lost in the dust. The wines were ok, and I tried making conversation with another uninterested individual, that again, looked like he did not want to be there. we left after a few tastes. Bought nothing. What a bummer.

Roche Winery is located right off Sonoma Square. The tasting room is next to the main building, and is small with only a few tables. A guy yelled at me as I walked into the main building, telling me the tasting room wasn’t there.
My boyfriend and I came here for a quick tasting after lunch at Girl and the Fig, as it was conveniently located next door. Since it was a rainy day, there weren’t many people visiting so we were the only ones in the tasting room for a while.
We got the Reserve Tasting ($ 15) and Select Family Tasting ($ 10). For the Reserve Tasting, you can choose 4 Reserve wines from the list. For the Select Family Tasting, you can choose 6 wines on the list. Both tastings also have barrel tasting, which was a cool experience!
These prices are pretty decent, compared to the ones we went to in Napa. I honestly enjoyed their wine here, but my favorites were the dessert wines, specifically the Late Harvest Merlot. It has the perfect amount of sweetness, I ended up buying myself a bottle!
Our server was very friendly and informative. However, she was trying to sell us on the wine club a little too much, which made the my experience significantly less enjoyable.
All in all, this winery has a good selection of wine for a great value! The only downside was them selling of their wine club.

After receiving Roche Wine as a gift, I had the opportunity to visit the Roche at the Sonoma square. Harry who not only educated us about each of the wines, but also introduced me to some of my new favorites.

Roche Winery is Pinot heaven in Sonoma. Outdoor and indoor tasting, a fire pit, and right next to the Sonoma square. When I was there they had futures tastings of Pinot noir in the main tasting room. The Chardonnays are outstanding as well. It’s our favorite winery in Sonoma!

This was our first visit to Roche off the square and we were impressed. We promised ourselves that we would stop joining wine clubs and we broke our promise after our Roche tasting.
Located next door to Girl and the Fig and steps from the square, Roche is definitely in a prime location. They have tastings inside or outside and they also have seating and fire pits outside which is great for cold days.
We stopped in at the right time during this visit since we were able to do barrel tastings. The Pinot noir had a deep garnet color with aromas of cherry and vanilla and moderate tannins. My favorite though was the Carneros Chardonnay. I normally am not a chardonnay fan but this one appealed to my senses. The flavor had vanilla, mixed with spice, pears, and apples and had a soft finish. You can taste the acidity but it then melted on your mouth.
Overall, great tasting room and service and with a visit!

You know, since I wrote the first review, I’ve been back to Roche a couple of times. Honestly, it’s location right there on the Sonoma square just makes it hard to turn down. Both times I’ve been back, I had a much better experience than our first time. The first time, there was a barrel tasting going on and it was really fun to see them sample the wine directly from the barrel. Plus, the Chardonnay seemed much more delicious. By the second time, I realized that the Chardonnay was one of my favorites in the area, and substantially less expensive than some of the others.
Maybe it was just an off day the first time I went, and I’m happy to report that it’s been much better since.

Such a cute little spot off the main square in Sonoma. All their wines were quite tasty as I still ended up purchasing a bottle. Would recommend to stop by the outdoor bar for wine tasting.

I came here with two of my girlfriends who were visiting from out of town. Jerry was very kind to us and treated us like guests in his home. We were a little chilly and he had no problem turning the fire pit on for us. He also made it clear that we could taste whatever we wanted. We enjoyed their sweet wine Tamarix and bought a couple bottles to take home. They waive the tasting fee with bottle purchase. One of my friends did not find something she liked and dumped a lot of her tastings and he was kind enough to waive her tasting fee.

I have lived in California for almost 36 years now and have come to Napa and Sonoma since I was 19 years old and a sailor.
I now come with my husband on a semi-​annual basis as we are looking to relocate here especially in the Santa Rosa/​Sonoma area in the next five years. I haven’t been to Sonoma in a while (3 years) so my husband decided that we should take a hectic country ride to Sonoma on a Wednesday afternoon. They were blessed with 80 degree weather after a storm on Monday night (the first week of November), so we decided to walk around town. I have never seen so many white wealthy retirees, where do these people get their money? Sorry tangent.
We walked up this street and passed this winery. Long story long, we decided to come back after we did another 2 mile walk.
The wine is okay, not good enough for me to buy a few bottles or a case for that matter. Very butter heavy and some of them tasted like stuff being made in Escondido (San Diego County) these days. Not bad but just not something I would expect from that area. The guy who was helping customers, was serenading them which was lovely but I am only guessing that it was because they were making huge purchases.
Pretty outside to sit and relax, they offer treats to go with your wine which is very nice. I bet it is beautiful outside with the fires lit in December!
Not a place I will return to just because their are over 500 wineries in Sonoma but definitely worth stopping by for a glass.

Amazing! Harry was so personable and friendly and made the tasting experience so much fun… Had to buy a bottle!!!
Tasting from the barrel is a must…

The winery was magnificent. Better than Chanti tour in Italy. Harry made it educational and incredibly fun! Come here to start your vacation right. You will not regret it. I enjoyed it on a foggy rainy day. Imagine on a nice day tasting the good wine outdoors. Chardonnay was delicious. Join their club.

This place is more like a cozy little wine room than a full winery, so there weren’t any fancy grounds to stroll through, but the wine tasting was such a great deal!
My friends and I did the Family Tasting option for $ 10. We got to try 6 wines, 3 sweet wines and 3 barrel tastings. That’s TWELVE tastings for only $ 10! Our hosts didn’t elaborate too much on the wines themselves; not a whole lot of talk on what to expect from your glass or the history of grapes you’re about to consume, but man what a deal.
As for the wines themselves, I’m no wine connoisseur, but I wasn’t too impressed with the barrel tastings. To me, a barrel tasting is a wine that hasn’t matured completely and is still a little astringent. However, this was at the tail end of the tasting and I had already gone through 9 glasses so my tongue may have been flavor fatigued by that point. I did, however, enjoy all the sweet wines as I have a notorious sweet tooth — definitely a great tasting menu if you like your sweet wines!
They also sell crackers and cheese for you to munch on as you consume endless glasses of vino. Nothing fancy, mostly pre-​packaged, but I’m thankful for this option because seriously… 12 tasting for $ 10 means a lot of wine.
No appointment was needed on a Saturday afternoon in August. Very walk-​in friendly!

Sadly our experience at Roche was not as good as everyone else’s. The good Unilocal reviews lead us here but we felt a little bamboozled. Harry, our host did not seem to be in a good mood and the Wine Club pitch was HARD from the moment we walked in the tasting room. I think he mentioned the wine club before every pour, so 6 times! He recited the wine descriptions in a monotone voice, until he got to the club pitch at which point, he became very animated but quickly irritated when we weren’t biting.
We didn’t enjoy the wines very much either, but as you know, wine tasting can be heavily influenced by your tasting experience. If your Somm is nice, you might buy crappy bottles, but it rarely goes the other way.
No plans to return here and probably don’t recommend it based on our experience.

Roche Winery has a great tasting room located near downtown Sonoma. After visiting two other wineries earlier in the day, my boyfriend and I decided to check out Roche. Definitely a plus that it’s open later than most other wineries.
Jerry helped us during the tasting and was very nice. He let us taste the wine menu in any order we wanted, so we went from the bottom up (starting with sweet wines and finishing with whites). I really liked this because I’m not a fan of sweet wines and would rather get those out of the way first.
Our favorite wine was the Carneros Syrah. Their whites were very nice, as well.
This winery seems very laid back, and had several locals come in and chat up the employees. I liked the casual atmosphere a lot.

Came to the tasting room at the Sonoma Square on the fourth of July while on my honeymoon. As can be expected, it was PACKED. I’m a little tour about this review because I felt like the service was a little rude but I also liked the wines and the atmosphere. The first this that was said to us when we walked in to the tasting bar was «That will be $ 20» and That Guy I Married said «I’m not doing any tastings» and he said, «Ok, I need $ 10 then» when I just wanted to do barrel tastings (I’m sure that cost different– probably more). I did eventually get to do my barrel tastings and while they were very good, they did not seem to be worth the price. I think it was around $ 500 for a case. Yeah. Ok.
Overall, a great little tasting room with lots of outdoor seating and the staff was friendly and engaging. Maybe just needs to be refined a little.

Loved Harry, our wine expert. He was very attentive and so knowledgeable. He was quite cheery and even sang a little ditty. The wine is wonderful, it’s been one of my favorite wine brands so far. Membership deals are the best around. Great experience, great vino!

Went on a very late thursday just before they closed. The service was good, but the time obviously showed an issue. But both our servers was very happy, helpfull and nice. Tasted their reserved tasting, which was very good with 4 vines. Place was nice with a few tables in the sun and a few in the shade (we stayed outside at the bar).
Would recommend it as a nice place for a quick low-​key tasting close to the city center of Sonoma.

Super generous pours and very friendly service! Located in their very cute downtown area, I would definitely come back here! This place seems like it’s known for their white wines. I’m not too into white wines much but they do have a French Oak Chardonnay that received 99 points and this was a pretty good one. The American Oak Chardonnay was good too! Dog friendly place… and tables outside so you can easily people watch! They also close at 6 which I think is pretty late for wineries so if you want to continue your drinking… head over here!

Very lovely outdoor setting! We enjoyed our tasting and left with a bottle!
Thank you :)

I actually found Roche Winery while waiting for a table at the neighboring restaurant. The winery was open later compared to other nearby wineries, which definitely worked out for me since I didn’t exactly map out wineries to visit nor look up their operating hours. I quickly learned that it wasn’t best to wing it when it came to having tastings in the early evenings during the weekdays. Cue the sad trombone music; woh, woh, woooooh!
Anyway, tastings were only $ 5 per person, and the $ 5 cost was used as a credit towards bottle purchases. Our server was very hospitable and very informative. He gave us a spiel of what pairs best with each wine and then struck up some light banter between us. I wish I remembered his name, but I do remember he was a proud Gator alum. HEH!
As I was sipping away, I overheard the other employees tell interested patrons that they were closing for the day and not admitting anymore people. As soon as I heard that; I looked at the time and discovered how I was totally overstaying my welcome by over a half hour! I probably walked in the winery right before closing, but my server remained hospitable and never rushed me. How’s that for service?
I left with a bottle of Chardonnay and Tamarix. Chardonnay for me and Tamarix as a sweet Cali present for a someone special back home. It’s worth a visit if you are in the area and just wanting to sit down on a picnic bench with a nice glass of wine.