Nicholson's is the winery you didn't know you needed! It has all the Fs too: Fun, Fab (people),…read moreand a Feel-good vibe. (Okay I stretched it with my "F" motto but it sounded good for a quick minute!) They have a little cart where you can help yourself to food that would accompany the wine, like cheese, local salami, and crackers. I've tried a couple of their flights, and rarely am I able to say this about a winery, but... The wines are all delicious! The service is top-notch. And the property is just beautiful! It's at the end of a gorgeous dirt road that's lined with trees and vineyards. We even had to stop for a mama and baby deer to cross! We felt like we were in a different country! It was so pretty there. Nicholson has events here over the Summer, too!

They are open for wine tasting Friday-Sunday 11-5…read more Marguerite is the very engaging owner. They make refreshing, light-bodied wines that are great for summer sipping on the patio. You can bring in picnic food onto the patio. They also have a snack cart. It's a very pleasant way to spend a summer day.

Amazing service and people!!! We came here for my bachelorette and they were so nice and the winery…read moreis BEAUTIFUL!!!! The wine was fantastic and we had an amazing time thanks to the amazing people who run this place! The best part of our trip and I would highly recommend going here!!!

It's our first time wine tasting in Soquel. Never knew there's a city that has wineries and tasting…read morerooms. I made reservations a week ago to make sure we had a spot in case it was a busy weekend. I made reservations for a group of 4 on Saturday at 1pm, but we actually had 5 due to last min decision. It was not busy when we arrived Saturday around 1:10pm. Later, more people came by. I don't think you really needed a reservation. The winery doesn't allow outside food or picnic, but we saw people brought snacks and food. The tasting fee is only $10 for 5 wines. There was no price on the tasting menu, but we should've asked. It's two bottles to waive a tasting fee. We got to try an extra Pinot noir and the 2017 Atlas Peak Cab. The cab was the best one. It had more body, flavor, and was smooth. We bought a bottle after we joked and asked if we could waive our tasting fees. All the wines on the tasting menu were just ok. More Italian style of light flavors, but smelled really good to the nose. The best view and nice winery in Soquel so far. Cute garden with foundations. It is located in the mountains with winding roads. Stephanie was also amazing. She's very friendly and knowledgeable.

We stopped in to Aptos Vineyards tasting room on a Thursday afternoon. What a beautiful little…read moretasting area! Everything about it was lovely. We started as the only two people in the tasting room, but very shortly the entire room was full of all kinds of return customers, mostly wine club members. We sampled their beautiful wines, which were quite good, and enjoyed them. There was no pressure to purchase wine, the tasting room server was as pleasant and knowledgeable as she possibly could have been. She was swamped with people, and someone did come to help her. I loved the location of this tasting room and even though it was small it was nicely appointed and felt akin to someone's living room. I would recommend stopping at Aptos vineyards tasting room next time you are in Aptos!

The wine is excellent. If you can put up with the staff. Rude and pretentious…read more I went in today to purchase my favorite wines as a gift. Not only did the male employee fail to make eye contact or greet me. The female employee made a comment about how "wow - you are really making me do my steps today...". The place is very small. I dropped $200.00 and was never offered a sample. The atmosphere was pretentious and unwelcoming. I highly recommend the wine - but know that if you go - you want to get in and out get out.

Really lovely experience at Bargetto Winery. The outdoor area is dog friendly, so we enjoyed our…read morewine on the patio looking over the redwoods with our pup. Great energy, peaceful and serene. Would for sure return!

My husband and I love wine and stopped at this winery before heading to our hotel.  They offer so…read moremany cool items to purchase.  We chose the Reserve Flight for $25 per person.  We did our tasting outside, and the view was beautiful.  It was peaceful and relaxing.  They provide breadsticks.  My husband's breadsticks were fine but mine were stale.  I asked the server if they waived the tasting fee if we purchased a bottle.  He said no because their pours are so generous.  I agree!  Their pours were much larger than most wineries.  We liked their wine but not enough to purchase a bottle.  We enjoyed our visit though!

Visited Lester Wine for the first time and tried Flight #3 -- absolutely delicious! They're only…read moreopen Saturdays from 12-5, but totally worth the visit. Eduardo was so helpful and welcoming. Can't wait to come

They have wine tasting Saturday noon-5. You can bring food to the patio…read more All wines are estate grown. For their sparkling wine, they use champagne vintner in Sonoma: Dan Person. He uses hand-riddling for the champagne style. Two wines stood out to me: 5/5: 2021 Sparkling brut. It has a yesty, bitter oak note. Very sparkly. 4/5: 2023 Fiamma white pinot noir: Herbaceus and grassy.

They have a tasting room at the Old Sash Mill, but I went to a tasting at the estate in Aptos,…read morewhich is open Fri-Su noon-5. It's very pleasant to sip wine on the patio. They also have a bocce ball court. Two wines stood out: 5/5: The 2024 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay; it's rubust, sparkly, with tropical notes. 4/5: The 2024 Monterey Sauvignon blanc: Fruity instead of grassy.

**Overall 3.5 stars**…read more The wine tasted excellent! In fact, all the flavors were complex and delicious that my friends joined their wine club! The winery is situated on a hill. The road to get up the hill is very narrow that we almost missed it bec it looked like a driveway. Once we got past the trees to an opening, it was like orchestral music started playing when we saw the gorgeous Storrs building! The cement structure was so sleek and modern, yet it was in the middle of this farmhouse kind of area... it was a little shocking, in a good way. I feel bad taking off stars because I actually loved the wine at Storrs, but for the cost of the wine tasting per person, I was astonished at how TINY the pours were. We are talking the tiniest sip. You don't even have enough to swish it in your mouth to get a good sense of the wine on your palette. We thought we were being "punked", except every pour was this miniscule. There is also a strict no outside food policy here, yet they don't sell food. This is a big downside for me because I find drinking wine a great opportunity to sit back and relax with friends, and that includes munching on some food! Counter space was very cramped in the tasting room, and no one greeted us or acknowledged that we entered the building even. We just walked around for awhile until we found a tiny corner to insert ourselves. The set up isn't ideal for when there are multiple groups inside. There are tables in an outdoor patio and one long table indoors, but with the tasting pours being half a sip, you really don't need to sit down. So this is a big downside for me. The wine is delicious, so I think it's worth tasting and buying some wine here. My tip is to go on an off day so you can get better customer service and maybe get more than a 0.00001 ounce pour. Haha.

Great wine, great atmosphere, great service, thank you Jen, and just all around great place.read more

Service was awesome and the wines were all great! We will definitely be back :) Thank you for the…read moreawesome experience! The dog was a great companion during our tasting.

We had a lovely time at this spot. Good wine!…read more Friendly service- the gentleman there was so personable and helpful. Bathroom - single person bathroom in the back~ Decent parking in front and street parking around.

Cute winery and outdoor garden, nice staff, but terrible wines. $20 for 5 wines. None of us liked…read moreany of the wines. A couple tasted like they had already gone bad so we poured those out and we hardly ever waste alcohol. Outside food is allowed. Walked in on a Saturday afternoon and it was not busy at all

The best Wine in our local area,- a Family run small Business. Very knowledgeable, fun & friendly,…read moreto all visitors on 2 legs. You will go home very Happy. The only thing is, they are not open every weekend . If you sign up for the best newsletter ever, you will get information on the next wine tasting Saturday.

in the most unusual place you will find a "Gem-wine cellar" with a rich selection of wonderful…read morewines to trigger the pallet and beautiful wood carvings and impressive photography to pleasure the eye. A true hidden treasure!

Absolutely gorgeous little family owned vineyard with incredible views and an array of wonderful…read morewines to try. This was my first time here, but our hosts are regular members here and introduced us to this great little winery.....for BYO "picnic" goodies to go with an assortment of fantastic tasting wines. I'm not sure how this membership thing works, but it's definitely worth checking out if you're into wines and enjoy a nice day out either sitting at one of the limited number of tables or chairs looking out onto the awesome views of the winery. My wife and I were just visitors in the area, were brought here for the very first time, and just went with the flow. And, to top things off, there was a solo guitarist playing wonderful instrumental songs while we enjoyed our Picnic and wines. The owner was also there to tend to the guests, engage in friendly banter, and just made sure we all had a great time. Excellent experience.....ok, I admit I am not an alcohol drinker and this was my first sip of wines in many years......yea, I got a bit buzzed probably from drinking too fast....because they were that good.....but luckily I wasn't the one driving :)

They are open for tasting Saturday noon-5. Their online system seems to book up even if they are…read moreempty. If you can't reserve a spot online, just show up. I've done wine tasting at a bunch of places in Santa Cruz, and Alfaro has maybe the most comfortable chairs, and the best view. The wines are very light bodied, with some yeast and oak. They don't really appeal to me. But it was fun doing the tasting.