marvanit

Will be staying about 30 miles south of San Jose. (Cordevalle resort, highly recommend) and will be doing some more wine tasting. We have done Napa and Sonoma, and love it. However, it is a 2-hour drive.

Anyone have any favorites in the Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz Mountain region?

DJGMaster1

My favorites are:

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards

Bonny Doon Vineyards

Ridge Vineyards

But here is the Santa Cruz Mountain Winery association website and it has a comprehensive list, with contact information

http://www.scmwa.com/

marvanit

Thanks so much for your feedback. It looks like those are about 50 miles from where we are staying. Would love any other suggestions in the area, or a different area completely not too far from where we are staying.

Thanks again.

DJGMaster1

I have to tell you, the wineries that are much closer, in the Gilroy, Watsonville and Morgan Hill area, are generally nowhere near as good as the ones I recommended, which are amongst the best of the Santa Cruz Mountain area.

FYI, Ridge is closer than you think - it's about 40 miles from San Martin, where Cordevalle is, and 30+ miles of that is straight shot highway driving. The others are probably 20-30 miles further.

Basically, take the CA-85 to Cupertino at Stevens Creek, and Ridge Winery is about 6 miles up Montebello Ridge Road from there.

Incidentally, distances between wineries in that area are typically much longer to drive than as the crow flies. For example, Ridge and Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards are on adjacent mountain ridges, probably less than 5 miles apart as the crow flies, but it's probably 25-30 miles of driving between them.

A couple of wineries that are in the Saratoga / Los Gatos area that are good are Cinnabar and Testarossa.

In the opposite direction, heading south from San Martin, there are a handful of funky wineries about 10 miles south of Hollister along Cienega Road, including one genuinely great, important winery, Calera. This area is really off the beaten path, so it will be a very different experience than Napa or Sonoma. But well worth it, especially to visit Calera, and while you're there, the other few wineries right nearby. You probably should call these wineries before visiting, as most do not maintain tasting rooms in the sense of Napa or Sonoma - you will probably be tasting right in the barrel aging rooms at most or all of them.

http://www.cheers2wine.com/san-benit...-wineries.html

Red '74 TR6

I second the vote for Testarossa in Los Gatos--but then I love my Pinots and Chards and they do them both very well. Byington and David Bruce also do them well and they are not far from each other up in the Santa Cruz mountains..

marvanit

Thanks so much for the great response. When I meant in the area, the wineries you mentioned certainly fit that criteria. I enjoy driving, s o 50-60 miles is not a problem at all. We are just trying to find the best "bang for the buck" in finding 2-3 wineries we can hit that are fairly close together.

CApreppie

Also check out the wineries in the Salinas and Carmel Valleys. I would recommend the ones in Carmel Valley since they are all close to each other. Plus it is the beautiful Monterey Peninsula area.

marvanit

Since we are there for awhile, we are thinking of selling out and heading up to Sonoma, as some of our favorite wines are there. Asking for Sonoma recommendations could go on forever I suppose!

JerryFF

There are several very good, interesting wineries in South Santa Cruz County in the Corralitos area. Windy Oaks and Alfaro are two of the best.

http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=wine...rralitos%2C+CA

DJGMaster1

There is already an extensive thread here about wine touring in Sonoma:
Here is an excerpt from one of my posts in that thread:

In general, the Russian River area is known for Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, and to a lesser extent, Zinfandels. The Dry Creek area is known for Zinfandels and Rhone varietals, and the Alexander Valley is known for Zinfandels, Cabernets, Merlots, and Rhone varietals. The area nearest to Sonoma is known for Chardonnays and Zinfandels.

Some of my favorite wineries for both the quality of the wines and the tasting experience are:

in Dry Creek: Quivera and Rafanelli (requires appointment)
in Alexander Valley: Field Stone and Sausal
Russian River Valley: Joseph Swan, Rochioli and Hop Kiln
On the ridge between Dry Creek and Alexander Valley: Ridge and Mazzocco.
Between Sonoma and Alexander Valley: Chateau St. Jean, St. Francis, Kenwood.
In Sonoma: Ravenswood, Cline

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/san-f...wine-tour.html

CApreppie

And you can also find some amazing food to go with your wine up there too.

marvanit

Any recommendations on where it eat in Sonoma after some casual winery tours?

JerryFF

Healdsburg is probably the restaurant mecca of the area, with everything from Michelin Star (Cyrus) to upscale bistros (Bistro Ralph, Zin) to casual bistro (Charcuterie). It depends what you are looking for - here's a good site to check them out.

http://www.healdsburgmenus.com/

RichardInSF

I miss the days when there used to be a winery behind a bowling alley on El Camino Real in Mountain View. Free tasting and cheap (justifiably)! Anyone else remember it? I can't recall the name.

MsBlues

I second these two wineries too. I'd say go for the Santa Cruz County area. This region has really distinguished itself in the past decade as a great wine region. Hunter Hill in Santa Cruz County not only has great wine, but the winery itself it worth a visit. Their vineyards are right next to the tasting room and there is a lovely duck pond and picnic area there as well.

Enjoy!