Fantastic experience at Amphora! Picture-perfect high 70 degree weather toward the end of July, and my wife and I were the only people there to enjoy the wine and time with the gentleman there. (It wasn't Rick, and we were both so sure that we couldn't forget his name ... that we forgot his name, sorry.) It was our first tasting of the day, so I like to think we got a pretty clear picture of the true high quality of the wine. They poured some smaller varietals that not many wineries have anywhere that were fun to try, and they are definitely generous overall with the number of wines they taste. The mystery wine is a fun idea as well. The wines are priced much lower than they could be in my humble opinion - it seems like expensive bottles are becoming the norm for everything these days, so this was a very pleasant surprise. I'd love if they stay where they are price-wise, but they are so good that they deserve any success coming to them, so I'm not hesitant to share. :-) We connected really well with the gentleman there, and talked about all kinds of stuff in addition to wine. He was very generous with his time, and showed us the amphorae inside as well. It's my idea of a perfect tasting - reasonably priced, fun environment, very knowledgeable and friendly people, and not rushed or crowded. If you only visit the big popular places, you're definitely missing out - try Amphora to see how the other side can be. read more

We came to Amphora winery as part of our tour through Napa/Sonoma. We didn't know much about this place, but we were curious to try this wine which is made differently than any other winery in California. I've never heard of what an Amphora was before. Our tasting expert took his time to explain the whole process to us. We didn't really walk much into the barrel area itself , just a bit while he was explaining the process. They have a great variety of wines. Unfortunately I didn't really like most of them. they all taste it very young, but there were a few that were OK. We did end up buying a bottle just to support them and also because he took such good care of us. it is a very interesting process. Don't get me wrong their wine may be spectacular to others, as wine it is so subjective and really you like what you like so definitely try it out and decide for yourself. I'm just not knowledgeable enough and taste is most important to me, and I didn't find any of them to taste particularly to what I like. It is still a pretty cool place. A great experience and a very interesting process. read more

See all

We tried Amphora on a suggestion from another winery. What a great stop. They were so nice. It was a little chilly, and they immediately warmed up the space for us. We loved the conversation and the wine. We had so many varietals to taste that I hadn't seen at other spots. Thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. read more

I've been continuously drinking wine around the world for the past 4 years since my last review Amphora...Amphora still has the best wine anywhere. Austria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Napa, Temecula...Amphora is still the best! Its not the cheapest, but the best wines are never cheap. You can get some very good wines for $30-60+. If I was a local, I'd definitely join the wine club. Also, the owner Rick, is still an incredible and fun guy to be around. Hopefully he's there when you visit! read more

Great winery in Sonoma county. Since 2000 we've been coming to Amphora because of the wine. We were wine subscribers a while, on and off, and it was time to join again. The new location is a big difference from our first visit back in 2000. The wine is just as fantastic. Rick the winer is a great guy. I really admire his passion for making good wine. We tasted nearly 12 different bottles of red wine, and all were good. Some were just out of this world. We look forward to getting our regular shipments to fill our coffers and drink the wines. read more

See all

Had a reservation this past weekend..(Saturday) and everything was set up outside and a nice cool summer breeze was a blowing,,NOT, but the wines were delectably delicious and I got a wine chill in the moment of just experiencing the bliss that wine brings joy and love into your heart..that is if you're open to that happening..?.wine should really be a coming together moment where you allow yourself to just relax and enjoy. The wines are crisp, full bodied with a zing you don't get at a lot of places. Their wines have a story to tell as the vibrant characteristics come through. Rick and Bridgette, were there and the two of them are a full expression of these amazing wines...call first and make your appointment to try them..you'll be glad you did! CHEERS! read more

Rick Hutchinson the owner was extremely rude and condescending. The worst wine tasting experience in the past 10 years that I have been visiting Sonoma dry creek area. He threw $20 dollars in our faces and called us cheap. When I made the reservation the day before I was told she (karen) needed my credit card to HOLD the reservation. They charged my card for $60. Then when we only had one tasting, Rick refused to reimburse our remaining $40 as well as give us the two tastings he owed us. When we realized they had charged the money the day before, and didn't tell me they were going to do that and didn't want to reimburse me, we wanted what he still owed us - 2 tasting, he refused and threw $20 at us and called us cheap. He still owes us a tasting and he's calling us cheap. read more

Love their wines. We've been going to the winery over 20 yrs. They're very laid back, always generous and helpful.

The sign outside said they closed at 4:30pm. I wandered over at 4:15pm after a wonderful tasting at Family Wineries and was rushed through my tasting. I do remember decent wines but pricey. I should have stayed at Family Wineries. read more

Amphora Winery - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

I am a convert. I was sure that I would not like Zinfandels made in the Alexander Valley since I have tried many and they were all too light, acidic and lacking of fruit. The Amphora 2007 Zinfandel has my vote and now Amphora has my money. We drank the entire line-up at Amphora tasting room. Some good stuff here, folks. The Dry Creek wineries produce a wider variety of wines and styles of wines than the traditional PN and Zin crowd along the Russian River. The Dry Creek area of the Alexander Valley is surprisingly good. We prefer it to most of the samples we tried along the Russian River. The Amphor tasting room location is in the same parking lot as 10 other wineries tasting rooms - right off Dry Creek Road. Stop at this ONE location and you will be able to taste wines from Amphora, Collier Falls, Dashe, Forth, Philip Staley, Peterson, Lago di Merlo, Kokomo, Mietz and Papapietro. Easy peasy. read more

Amphora Winery - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

My favorite stop in Sonoma County is Amphora. Our friend Jon was a wine club member here back in the day, and introduced us to Rick and Bridget a few years ago and ever since it's on our must-visit list. The wine at Amphora is really a notch above the rest, and the casual, friendly, non-douchey atmosphere is refreshing. When we went on President's Day we expected a crowd, but I guess everyone was flying home that day. Lucky us, we had the place nearly to ourselves and got to have plenty of friendly banter with Rick (ask him about his horseback riding experience and swapping stories with a ER Doctor in Compton sometime...) and we sampled I don't know, 14 wines or something? And there was no tasting fee at all. Bought a bottle of '09 Tre Torrente Vineyard Zinfandel (usually I hate Zins but this was amazing!) around the $34 price range and am looking forward toward tasting it on a special occasion. read more

Very friendly tasting room staff - they gave us chocolate and taught us why rinsing your glass with water between tastings is a bad idea. The 2004 Mounts Vineyard Zinfandel is awesome! read more

This is one of the friendliest wineries in the area. It's located in an area where there are a bunch of other family owned wineries. We always make a stop at this winery, as their wines are typically very good. This weekend we stopped by during the Winter Wine event. They were not participating in the event, but they allowed us to taste and they waived the tasting fee. They have an adorable black lab dog named Rikki. I highly recommend this winery if you're in the area! read more

Amphora Winery - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

See all

Amphora was the first winery we visited in our week-long Sonoma wine exploration. So far (after three days) it is still the best. Each wine we tasted was so unique and delicious. The vermentino we tried is so far the best Sonoma white we have tasted. We had a hard time deciding which wines to purchase, This is a small winery without a lot of kerfuffle--great for us! This was a beautiful, relaxing, and low-key tasting experience with the best wines anywhere. read more

I used to go wine tasting every other weekend and hands down Amphora has since they opened and still does make the best wine in Sonoma County...From the Italian varietals to everything else, do yourself a favor and visit Amphora. Rick and Bridget and their entire staff are awesome... read more

Have long admired this winery from afar, and so went out of our way to make a stop and sample at the source--so glad we did! Spoke at length with the owner Rick about his wine, trends in the valley, and life. He opened up some great wines for us and was very generous with his time. Will continue to drink Amphora and visit if we ever make it back out to CA. read more

Must echo Miriam - this is a very friendly tasting room. Amphora is part of the larger complex of tasting rooms surrounding a crush pad/warehouse area in Dry Creek that includes PapaPietro and the Family Wines group. The staff was lovely - friendly, willing to take the time to discuss the wines and knowledgeable about all of them. This is definitely some place I will bring others to for both the wine and the staff behind the bar. read more

This is our kind of place, and our hands-down favorite for wine tasting in the area. Beginning with the sign over the entrance - "Join our wine club and get a hug", Amphora bursts with personality. Amy and Bridget bring their friendliness and sense of humor to the tasting room, having fun right along with the guests. The tasting room itself is comfortable and inviting, and not at all pretentious. You are immediately put at ease and made to feel like a long time friend. Rick, the winemaker, is a hoot. Each time we visit we end up getting loopy with him. He loves wine, and people, and life, and puts his enthusiasm for all of these things into his amazing wines. He's very generous in offering tastings from the barrel and makes sure you find a wine to suit your taste. In addition to the awesome people, Amphora offers amazing wine. You will not find any wimpy wines here. Rick's wines are big, robust and full of flavor. He specializes in reds, although he does offer a chardonnay that is very tasty. Rick's blends are creative and delicious. In fact, I have never met an Amphora wine that I didn't like (as my wine rack will attest). Amphora's wines are priced between $26 and $40, with a couple of current releases at $50 and $65. These prices are certainly on the low end for wines in this area. I highly recommend joining the wine club. You can choose between 3, 6 or 12 bottles shipped to you four times a year. Wine club membership gets you a 20% discount on current releases and access to library and limited production wines, as well as access to terrific exclusive winery events. (As wells as the hug promised by the sign over the door!) If I hadn't already been won over by the people and the wine, the handwritten note we received after joining the wine club would have made me a loyal customer all by itself. Each Fall, Rick puts on a fun "Only Women Can Touch the Grapes" grape stomp, which is a fundraiser for the Breast Care Center at Sutter Medical Center in Santa Rosa , CA. It's a fun event but even more, it's a great chance to give back. We have bought futures here a couple of times and have been very happy with them. It's a great way to get Rick's wine at an even better price, and to get them before they sell out. What I'm really trying to say here is run, don't walk, to Amphora next time you're in the area. And give Rick, Bridget and Amy a hug from me! Cheers! read more

I went here for my birthday 5/31/14. It was my first time and now I tell everyone about this place! It is surrounded by a couple other wineries, but because this was our last stop after a day full of wine tasting, we didn't get to try anything else. We paid $10 for a tasting but rather than getting to only try a select amount of wine, he let us try what bottles he had open which ended up being quite a few! Happy birthday to me! The owner was funny and I enjoyed chatting with him. To me, I love hearing details about the wine itself, but when it comes down to it, I like a wine or I don't. The experience of wine in my opinion isn't made by knowing all the details of that wine, but the company you drink it in. This man knew his stuff but he was also chatty and hilarious. Both he and my mom are from families of 9 kids so they talked a bit about that. Overall, I would definitely come back! read more

Friendly smaller winery with a lot of personality We stopped in Amphora as part of our "small wineries only" trip on 4/17/2011 and liked it a lot. The winery is a part of the "Family Wineries" complex of perhaps a half dozen wineries on Dry Creek Road. Really, you could spend your day just in this complex, and likely will spend a lot of it here whether you plan to or not! The tasting room is smallish, plenty big enough but not huge. The pourers are very friendly and knowledgeable but not at all pushy, which is great. We really liked most of the wines as well, they really believe in being able to taste fruit in the wines. Not fruit bombs, just smooth and tasty. We were lucky enough to meet Rick, the winemaker. He's very friendly and hilarious! He was doing a wine club event, and he let us some chilli verde that he had made along with the cabernet sauvignon. We really are getting inspired to put more effort into pairing wines. Tannins finally make more sense! We highly recommend you drop in here, and check out the other wineries in the complex. You'll have a blast! read more

The wine was pretty good. The tasting room was plain. However, way too many details were shared about the tasting room man's personal life. The details were not at all related to wine or the wine making process. Not worth a special trip. read more

Too bad we never got to try the wine, we were asked to leave because we had a dog with us. Huge bummer, as we are huge GOT fans and there was a theme event going on at the Dry Creek Passport event. Folks outside said go on in, guy inside said gotta go. Gonna skip this one in the future. read more

I enjoyed the relaxed and fun atmosphere here. The winemaker was onsite, we met the farm dog and really enjoyed the Rose. I didn't realize this was in an area with multiple tasting rooms. That was a nice surprise and the location is really stunning. read more

Amphora is a small winery (about 5000 cases a year) in the Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg that produces very high-quality, reasonably priced wines. The staff at the tasting room is always fun, and the owner/winemaker Rick is nearly always there holding court. He's quite a character and is a trip to talk with. This is not a stuffy place at all; definitely old-school Sonoma charm. They tend to attract a bit of a younger crowd in the tasting room compared to some of the other places in the area, and as a result it's a little more festive in the tasting room. They are perhaps most well known for Petite Sirah and Zinfandel but have a large number of varietals, now including several Pinot Noirs as well as some uncommon ones. Their wines run, generally, from $20-$40 a bottle before any discounts. That's not at the high end of the Sonoma/Napa range, but it's not cheap. It's not difficult to get discounts by buying a case or more, or joining the wine club. read more

Probably the worst tasting I've ever had in my life. The woman working on 8/19 should be fired. I've never been treated as badly as I've been anywhere, in particular at a winery. The wine is mediocre and the woman serving wanted us to leave at all costs, to the point of mocking us for not drinking faster. Cannot recommend staying away strong enough. Visit Kokomo, Hawkes, Ferrari, etc. Stay away. read more

Amphora is amazing, the people and the wine are top notch! While they have some great whites as well, their diverse varietal selection of reds is amazing! Highly recommend! read more

Good people and good wine totally worth the stop! The winemaker has many talents including pottery!

Simply outstanding wines and an extremely personable owner. I'm IN as a fan. Yay!

Wines on the tasting menu were ok but not great. Friendly staff was willing to pour a barbers for me that's not on the tasting menu and I purchased the bottle. To my great surprise then I was handed a $10 charge for tasting since they are the cast minority on wineries that require 2 bottle purchase to waive the fee. Disappointing. I made a joking comment about it and then left only to be verbally assaulted and physically threatened by one of the other patrons! Not my greatest experience. read more

This was by far our favorite winery in Healdsburg. Stacy was a fantastic hostess who catered to our every need. There wasn't a wine we tried we didn't love. The Mourvèdre is a must try and a must by. read more

I had the best time at Amphora, the owner was really fun, cool pics of ladies that have crushed grapes in the past on the walls, excellent Petit Syrah, kind of difficult to get to, off the beaten path, so to speak, but loads of fun. Forget Pezzi King, Amphora's where it's at for the true winery experience. read more

I came here about two weeks after crush. The tasting room was filled with fruit flies. It was very overwhelming. I tasted one syrah which was very good but I just couldn't take it, so I left. The lady was very friendly there and I felt bad that she had to work in those conditions. It kind of reminded me of those commercials about starving children in Africa surrounded by flies. read more

One of our favorite reasons to come to wine country. We love Bridget and Rick! The wines are stellar, and the tasting experience is always perfect, even when it's busy. Give the sauvignon blanc a fair chance, and definitely make sure to make it all the way to the petite sirah. Check them out. read more

Very friendly staff, great at answering questions and making the visit enjoyable. Several of the wines are good, including the relatively unoaked Chard, and the Syrah. I wish the prices were a bit lower as I couldn't justify spending $30-40 on many of the bottles [which were often good] given my budget. Still, I don't regret having stopped by here. read more

If you are looking for a fun (and generous!) tasting, this is the place for you. The service is very personalized, the atmosphere more like a cocktail party than a business, and the wines are consistently excellent...ready for drinking now and certainly yummy if you want to hang onto them for later. Sure, these aren't the cheapest wines, but this is the Dry Creek Valley folks and I think they are priced fairly...this is a small label, not a big corporate establishment. You're supporting the equivalent of a mom and pop shop and getting an excellent wine at that. read more

My boyfriend and I spent a few days in Sonoma this past week, and we are definitely not wine experts. Luckily, we had the pleasure of being served by Jim at Amphora (the first winery we went to together). Amphora is a little winery tucked into a courtyard shared with other smalls wineries. Jim was so kind, personable, and helpful. He answered all of our questions (even ones most people would think are silly) and really took the time to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. Their Grenache & Chardonnay were by far 2 of the best wines I have ever had. I will definitely be ordering more wine from Amphora and will be recommending them to my family & friends who visit Sonoma. read more

Rick has an amazing gift for winemaking and you can tell that he puts his full personality in both making his wines and sharing them with the folks that stop by. Amorpha was our favorite stop this trip and will likely be the only wine club that we join! Rick was really the highlight of our honeymoon! read more

Amphora is a terrific winery to visit and to do. A tasting. The wines are great and the people there are so knowledgeable and fun..

One of my most favorite places to visit. I've been there twice since Jan and can't wait to go back in May to pick up my next club shipment. The wines are stellar. Rick has an amazing gift to make excellent wine. All wines showcase the fruit and have a silky mouth feel. He's got some great futures in the barrell and is very generous to share with those who are interested and show a little appreciation. Rick is an easy going guy with a witty sense of humor. I highly recommend Amphora! read more

We had a great time here. What I liked most was that our server,Paddy, was so knowledgeable and passionate. It is rare these days when you get someone that stops what they are doing to come over and wait on a customer like that. It has a real family feel and add to that the fact that the wines are delicious. The Barbera is the Bomb! We will definitely be back. read more