I feel so bad that I forgot to take pictures of this very cute spot! Ancora Vino is in San Jose's…read moreLittle Italy neighborhood. I just love this place! Hubs and I had gone the reopened, Japanese garden and Kelley Park on a Friday afternoon. We were looking for a little happy hour spot, so we decided to try Little Italy. When we arrived, we decided to give Ancora Vino a try. I've been here once before in the deep days of covid, so I wanted to see how they had fared. It seems to have flourished! We sat at the bar and had two glasses of wine. The server was knowledgeable and offered great insights into everything about the restaurant. They had great looking food, and pizzas. Their charcuterie boards looked enormous! They seem to be open most days for lunch and dinner. I definitely will return to eat some of that great looking food on another day. Thank you Ancora Vino, for a great happy hour!

Such a hidden gem right across Henri's Hi Life! We celebrated my friend's 40th Bday in the back…read moreroom. This is such a multi-purpose venue- you walk into a sport bar type of vibe, and you continue to the main room (maybe tasting hall) which is a bit more sophisticated, and then beyond that a smaller room where we had our celebration. Perfectly located steps from the SAP Arena for sharks games too. PRO TIP: Check for SAP events because traffic/parking can be a pain if there is an event.

An absolutely beautiful winery tucked into the hills of Almaden, somewhere you wouldn't expect to…read morefind a vineyard. The outdoor tasting area is surrounded by vines and has a lovely view of the Almaden Reservoir. We came in on a Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a tasting and the picnic we brought. The tasting consisted of 4 wines, though you could pay $5 more and taste the port as well. The pours weren't stingy and did give you enough to really enjoy each wine. More knowledge was shared about the bottles than the actual wines themselves, but we did have a menu we could follow along with. We tasted 2 whites, a rosé, and one red while we were there. I noticed all the syrah grapes while walking into the property, so I did ask for a taste of that since they had it open and was given a small splash. I enjoyed most of the wines we had, but thought they were a little pricey for whites/rosé. They're reservation only and you do have to prepay when making the reservation. Though tastings are $25, with tax and the already included tip, our tasting for 3 came out to $100. It seemed like there was a $5/pp included gratuity, which I thought was odd having to pay for in advance. One tasting is waived with a 3 bottle purchase. Not sure if I would come back for a tasting, but would definitely come back to picnic with a bottle of wine! The view is truly fantastic!

I loved the atmosphere and service. Very attentive. And not pushy. We just enjoyed a lovely…read moreafternoon sipping some fine wines overlooking the reservoir, fog over the hills and beautiful scenery of an backyard oasis. It was far from civilization but not really! A piece of tranquility. We loved the chairs, picnic tables, shades.. vineyards.. small reservations area so we felt so at peace with little crowds. Make a reservation as I'm not sure they take walk ins

If you find yourself driving up into the Milpitas hills and wondering, "Am I lost or am I about to…read morebecome a wine snob?"--congrats, you've arrived at Big Dog Vineyards! This place is TINY. Like, "if you blink you might accidentally walk into the neighbor's backyard" tiny. But hey, size doesn't matter when the lighting is hitting your face just right, amirite?! The Low-Down: The Vibes: It's basically an outdoor patio with some grapes growing nearby. It's chill, it's quiet, and it feels like you've escaped the Silicon Valley grind for a hot second. The "Instantgramme" Factor: 10/10. 100%. If you need to convince your followers that you're living your best, most sophisticated life while sipping fermented fruit juice, THIS IS THE SPOT. Get that camera out, pose by a barrel, and watch the likes roll in, baby! ;) The Wine: It's good! Is it "forged in the Heavens by burger angels" good? Maybe not, but it gets the job done and helps you forget you're in Milpitas. BUT HERE IS THE KICKER: It's one of those spots where you walk in, take your 400 photos, sip your glass, and then realize... okay, I've seen the whole thing. I've done the quest. I've reached the final boss of "Cute Local Wineries." It's a nice little escape for an hour, but once the camera roll is full and the glass is empty, you're basically ready to elevator your butt back down the hill and never return. Go for the memories, stay for the "I'm a wine person now" aesthetic, and then delete the GPS coordinates from your phone because you've officially checked this box! Delicioso myselfo for the afternoon, but one and done, fam! LuvYou ^______^

I love the location of this winery. It's located up in the Milpitas Hills in the Santa Clara…read morecounty. Beautiful views of the Bay area and they are dog friendly! We did their "All Reds" flight and ordered a cheese and crackers platter. Their wines are pretty good. I liked a couple. The staff were friendly. The only complaint I would probably have and it's more of me being lazy I guess LOL is that they didn't go to your table to pour your next tastings. You had to get up and go to them. They had live music. They were ok. I'd prefer music that made me want to get up and dance or at least sing to. I didn't know a lot of the songs they were singing. I'd totally go back though!

Had such a nice afternoon tasting at Sarah's Vineyard! We came right as they opened on a Sunday in…read moreSeptember and had the whole place to ourselves. We had our choice of indoor and outdoor seating, and opted for the nice covered outdoor patio. They had a good amount of seating in each area, and had a lot of shade outside, which is absolutely necessary in Gilroy. The patio and grass area was very pretty, filled with lots of plants and even a sculpture. The property is also next to a plant nursery, so that added to the beauty even beyond their property line. We were helped by Melissa, and she was great! They had two tasting flights of 4 wines to choose from on our visit, one of which included a white and reds, while the other was all reds. They did also have some extra bottles open, so they were able to make an all white wine flight for one in our party. The pours were a good size, enough to really get a feel for the wine and share a taste with others. Two of us ended up taking home the same bottle of pinot noir.

Bitter Sweet writing this review. I had my husband's 60th here and visited a few times with co…read moreworkers and friends, good times ! Put my membership on hold due to not using it . I started my membership back, thought we'd utilize the wine tasting. First time back in over 6 months they did not bring us a menu, did not tell us what we were tasting and that was not a good feeling. On out third pour same day- fist day back we were accused of trying to get an extra pour Aaron asked what pour we were on, we didn't have a response because we didn't have the menu, we were accused of getting any extra pour? Not our responsibility to keep track, and if you did an extra pour what is the big deal? The comment made us feel uncomfortable, we stayed and purchased a bottle from their reserved red wine. This Saturday we went with another couple and my granddaughter. All was fine untill our third pour, we paid extra for the reserved tasting and it was a splash not a tasting pour. We discussed if we should say anything at all, and we decided to ask for a decent pour. My husband went in , talked to Aaron, he declined and dismissed us. Aaron said we had a decent pour, even though he was not around to see what was poured?? Typically a winery allows more than the 4 or 5 tasting, how else will you know if you like it enough to purchase a bottle. If a winery treats members that way it's time to end membership, and we did. Staff is like family at S V, we got the cold shoulder once my husband spoke with Aaron. We paid for our tasting, tipped our server. We will not revisit this establishment again. It was a nice place till it wasn't We have too many wineries nearby to allow staff to make you feel a certain way.

Overall, good value for a wine tasting and I enjoyed all of the reds (which is rare for me!)…read more Came here on New Year's Eve for an afternoon tasting and we were the only ones there! The outdoor heaters were nice on an otherwise gloomy day. We had a few whiffs of manure while riders would walk by, I guess that's expected. Usually I'm not a fan of reds, but the Test Pilot (all blends, grapes grown on the estate) blew me away! I just wish the pours were bigger, and staggered vs served all at once. As others have mentioned, the cheese plate didn't have the best presentation (basically packaged + paper plates) and the wines all came out at the same time vs a more interactive experience that I've had at other wineries.

It's a vineyard overlooking a stable, with live cello music playing in the background…read more Vibe Check: The vineyard exudes rustic elegance, where rolling vines meet countryside charm. This boutique estate offers a refined, artisanal approach to winemaking. A special shoutout to the cellist, who made the entire experience both musical and beautiful. Crowd: Having a reservation definitely helps to get a table here. The vineyard was filled with large groups of people, most accompanied by family and friends, including us. Service: I arrived with my entire family, and we were able to secure a table right away since we had reservations. Although the vineyard was busy, the staff approached us promptly with menus and walked us through their offerings. The overall vibe was relaxed and approachable, less formal than a sommelier, which is perfect for a casual wine-tasting experience. The Sip: We chose the light flight, which included red, white, and rosé. The wines were well-balanced and thoughtfully crafted. Going into the tasting, I expected to prefer the rosé, as that's usually my favorite. However, the Pinot Noir surprised me the most because it was light and smooth, with subtle earthiness and soft tannins, which to me is a true classic Pinot Noir. Overall, it was a strong lineup with no weak points, but the Pinot Noir clearly stood out for me. The Pairing: We ordered crackers, cheese, fig spread, and roasted almonds, which paired perfectly with the wines. This vineyard also allows minors to accompany adults, which I really appreciated. We were joined by my six-year-old nephew, and it was great to see that they offer non-alcoholic beverages as well. He ordered a Sanpellegrino Limonata and proudly enjoyed his own "tasting," which was honestly adorable. The One Drawback: The smell from the horse stable. While the stable adds a unique opportunity to see beautiful horses up close, the smell can sometimes detract from the wine-tasting experience. Since tasting relies heavily on all olfactory senses, horse aroma wasn't exactly the afternote I was hoping for. The vineyard was quite a drive from our residence, but aside from the stable smell, it was a wonderful experience.

Hidden gem. Mount Eden and Domaine Eden are pretty much sister wineries. You can taste wines from…read moreboth vineyards at both locations (ME is only open weekdays, DE only open weekends) We shared a chardonnay flight $40, pinot noir flight $45, and cabernet flight $65. Each consisted of 3 - 3 oz pours. The 3 flights covered all the wines they had available for tasting. Not a single bad wine and we liked most of them. Prices are on the higher end, but wines are high quality They allow outside food. Have both indoor and outdoor seating. Decent views. Service was excellent. Tasting by appointment only The drive there is no fun, literally on a dirt road hiking path for a mile or 2. Not enough room for 2 way traffic, but luckily we didn't encounter any other cars on the road going there or leaving. Worth checking out

We made reservations for Saturday 3:30pm and it was not busy at all. Only two other tables were…read moretaken outside. It seems like a pretty chill winery. They just opened last year so I guess not many people know about it. But the drive up is rough and winding. The one way dirt road is shared with hikers too. It is sister winery to Mount Eden. Mount Eden is only open weekdays while Domaine Eden is only open weekends. They serve both wineries' wines for tasting. They have 5 tasting flights varying from $30, $40, $45, $60, and $65. 3 wines per flight and they pour a good portion. We got to try 3 different flights to share. Mount Eden Estate , Chardonnay, and Cabernet flight. All the wines were pretty good. Fruit forward and bold. Our favorites were the first Chardonnay , Pinot noir Tanaka project , and Cab from Mount Eden library. I believe it was 3 bottles purchase to waive a tasting fee. Pricey wines. There was only one male staff. He was friendly and made sure we had enough shade when the umbrella shade moved. You can bring outside food. Nice Mountain View.

A cute little tasting room that features wine from the Saison vineyards a bit further south. I…read moreheard about this place as I work nearby and heard one of the employees, a fabulous customer of ours, works here, so I had to check it out. We were served by a very helpful young woman who also gave us some nuts to munch on while we tried a flight or two of their wines. She checked up on us one or twice when she saw we were running low and was attentive while being respective and not pushy. A pleasant place to spend some time in downtown Los Gatos.

Awesome wine tasting room in DTLG! I met a friend here and as soon as I got to the table, the…read moretasting room associate delivered me a pour of their rosé, which was absolutely fabulous. After sipping on that, we chose from their 5 different tasting flights, all of which consisted of 3 wines at various prices. I went with the saison experience, which consisted of 1 white and 2 reads, and my friend the burgundy flight, which was all pinots. As we worked thorough our tastings we were delighted to be given another extra pour that was similar to our flights. Each time we were given a wine/new wine to try we were provided with some information about the grapes and the style the wine was made - tasting notes with flavor profiles for each wine were listed on the back of the menu with all the wines they had. Overall we had a great experience and both ended up going home with at least a bottle. I went home with the rosé and merlot, and I was tempted to go home with even more than one bottle of that rosé. Definitely plan to come back here and taste again sometime!

Amazing wine right from our backyard, LOS ALTOS HILLS…read more Small, cute tasting room, family owned. HIghly recommended:)

From the owner: We produce hand crafted, limited production high quality wine…read more High quality grapes from Los altos hills, Santa Cruz mountain, and Napa

Super cool and helpful staff. I rented a locker for storage and their storage capabilities are…read moreimpressive! Shout out to Randy for being so helpful in getting me set up. Took me a while to find a place to store my bottles and glad I found Wine Bank!

Randy & Wine Bank team are the best in spirits storage…read more Really climate controlled storage to reduce evaporator and oxidation, with low temperature & dry humidity. Superb customer service by Randy and team, who goes all out to ensure a pleasant experience. Really access to good loading/unloading Bay, to allow ease of transport. Safe secure storage for our precious golden liquid. Multiple size storage catering to all needs, large and small collectors

Conviently located right next to the Pincchetti open space preserve, the option for a glass of wine…read moreafter a hike is one I couldn't not pass up. They open at 11am so that gave me plenty of time to hike before hand. Even right at opening there was a good amount of people that run in the second the gate is open to grab a table. You can get wine by the glass, the bottle, or set up a tasting. In this case just a glass was sufficient. I got the Sparking Brut Rosé. It was delicious though I will say, on an empty stomach post hike, it hit harder than it normally wood. They don't have good options that I saw and judging by the other tables, it's being your own everything. It does get kind of loud but overall it was really nice to just sit and sip on some wine with some really pretty scenery. I'd definitely come again to have a picnic on the grass and do a full wine tasting.

Some standouts here, such as their sparkling Zin. Nice picnic area nestled in some impressive…read moretrees.