If you like dry wines, you might like these wines. If you don't like dry wines, keep driving. Visited earlier this month because my husband loves to go wine tasting. I'm not a big wine fan so usually I'll do the slurp thing to taste the notes or take a sip or two and then pass my glass off to my husband, rather than dumping it. I've been to umpteen wineries around California, the US and internationally. This winery gives, hands down, the stingiest pours I've ever experienced. I could maybe get two sips out of a pour. And yet this tasting was $15 for 4 wines, but if you're a party of 6 or more, the fee for the same tasting goes up to $20 per person! Since when does pouring maybe a half ounce into more glasses warrant everyone in the party being charged $5 more bucks a piece? It feels stingy. I went to 4 wineries in the same weekend I visited Crū. J. Lohr in Paso charges $20 per person for 6 generous pours and a free pencil with herb seeds to plant at home. Eberle Winery in Paso does free tastings and yet have generous pours, free bottled water and a free tour of the underground storage facility. Quady in Madera charges $5 per person for a tasting and not only were the pours generous, we tried 7 wines, got to double back on our favorites before we ordered a half case. The server was nice and personable. I have no complaints about her. Overall it doesn't feel like a fun wine tasting experience when it seems like they're rationing their wine. While not the end of the world, there isn't much of a view for the outdoor patio because the tasting room patio is between the building and a fence with a road on the other side. If you're wanting to see vineyards while you sip, this isn't the spot for you. There was also a couple with a toddler at a table - with an iPad, playing a video outloud without headphones - while the parents were wine tasting inside, so just know that kids are allowed if that matters to you. March 2024 read more

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This lace is the best! Great wine and friendly people. Stopped in for a tasting and was quite impressed. I'll definitely be going back!

Had a wonderful experience @ Cru after a long absence. Our bffs also visited Cru recently after a long absence and wanted us to revisit their stellar wines. If you like Pinot Noir, this is the place. We were also served a beautiful charcuterie plate to go with our tasting for a special weekend honoring their winemaker. At most wineries, the plate would be served for two people to share, but we each were served one of these beauties! read more

CRŪ Winery - Charcuteríe plate honoring their winemaker. - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

Great service. Very attentive staff. Beautiful outdoor tasting area. High-end wine. Two different tastings $15 for four flights of two white and two red wines. $25 for five flights of mixed white and red wines with more award winning choices. It's a nice tasting room and pretty far out from the rest of the Madera wine trail. read more

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We were passing through Madera on our way from Yosemite to SF, and decided to stop at CRÜ. We really enjoyed our experience with Enrique. His tasting guidance was exceptional--he not only demonstrated incredible precision in identifying notes and textures but also explained everything with such clarity and passion that it elevated the entire experience. Enrique's depth of knowledge, from vineyard origins to perfect pairings, made every selection feel both personal and memorable. We signed up for the wine club, received our first shipment and look forward to the next one. The wine is very nice. read more

Just a few blocks off the major central valley freeway and a member of the Madera Wine Trail, Cru is a must stop location for fruity, soft and well crafted wine. With a Minority Directed Winemaker, and a staff filled with both locals and future oenologists, the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. Bottles are affordable and with grapes sourced from all over the central valley Cru does a great job sourcing the best grapes, skips troublesome years, and makes blends that give a special "spicy" quality to their wines that aligns with the winemakers pallet. A beautiful tasting room and large patio (with space heaters in the winter), this is a must stop location! read more

We had a great experience at CRU today, Emily was friendly and made our experience a pleasant one. We enjoyed chit chatting about wines and our dogs. We did two different tastings and they were both good. We had our pups with us so we were able to sit in the outdoor patio, it is shaded, spacious and dog friendly. read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

Very good Pilot Noir and Chardonnay. Some of the best we've found in this area! Award winning wines!

Came to CRU Winery on a way back to LA from Sacramento because we needed to make a stop to rest. It was 100 degrees out and we had to sit outside with 2 kids but we had a lot of fun! It was so chill that we brought our own snacks to have with our tasting. I really loved their white wine choices even tho I am more of a Cabernet Sauvignon kinda girl. Could be because it was hot out but I opened a few bottles at home and they were soooo good! I need to go back and get a case or two! read more

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I really enjoyed wine tasting here. Our server was Zack and he was extremely polite and knowledgeable. The cheese platter was a nice option. The outdoor seating was also very nice. I would suggest providing customers with wine class toppers as there was a lot of stubborn little fruit flies flying around. Cru has great deals for their members and they graciously celebrate member special days (birthdays, anniversaries, etc). They also provided some awesome deals for Black Friday. read more

I love this winery it's a sleeper winery you can't afford to miss !! Kylie tasting room associate is the greatest ever! Personable, knowledgeable and well versed in her wines from multiple regions throughout the state! She does a great job for CRU! We will be back! Hit this place anytime! read more

What's not to love? Beautiful winery, great tasting wines, fantastic staff, and patio sitting is so relaxing. We had a bottle of Jose's Rose on a hot afternoon, and so refreshing! read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

4 1/2 stars. My co workers and other guest of around 50ish had the privilege of attending after seminar private function here. We were staying in Fresno and our supplier provided shuttle bus service to and from here for wine tasting and dinner. It was a beautiful October evening and we arrived around 6:30 pm. We tasted wines and there was a huge presentation of crackers, figs & garlic spreads, cheeses and miniature sammies to nibble on with wine tasting. After a few tastings we entered the large barrel room where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of stuffed pasta shells, German sausage entrée, varieity of salads, breads and desserts while enjoying tastings throughout the dinner. I started off with Pinot and finished with cabernet - which was solid. On the patio we fired up Rocky Patel cigars for added special dessert! I've heard so much about the wine tasting in this area from clients in Las Vegas NV and was so impressed I booked this new years holiday in Paso Robles! read more

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Beautiful winery after our visit to Yosemite! The outdoor patio of this winery is gorgeous with ample plants and tables. We entered to start our tasting with Bri who we loved! You get to taste 5-6 wines for your tasting, and bri helped us customize those to wines we liked and offered suggestions. This was partially an option as they had a wine club party the night before so had lots of open bottles to finish. The ladies working couldn't have been nicer, and we chatted with them throughout our tasting and leaned a lot. My parents purchased a bottle to go since they had checked luggage, but unfortunately I was stuck with a carry on only so no wine brought home for me. We ended up visiting 4-5 wineries that day and this was our favorite both for service and wines tried. I would definitely recommend stoping in! read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

My friend and I randomly found this winery . The wine tasting was so amazing and the staff was awesome. Couldn't resist becoming a club member . Overall, great wines !! Totally worth our time to do the wine tasting ! read more

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Great, well balanced wines, nice small patio to drink and relax, offers winery tours. Their pours are a bit light, but for 15 dollars you can try 5 different wines. Sharing one tasting between two people is enough to appreciate the wines, makes you want more, absolutely will not get you sloshed. Pours are well timed, with enough time for you to enjoy and take it slow without feeling rushed out of there. If you want to get drunk, I recommend San Joaquin winery 4 miles down the road. read more

We made a spontaneous trip into Cru today and had an outstanding visit with Tamera. The wines are incredible and the service is too! We love buying local especially when the quality is exceptional! read more

Worst wine tasting experience ever. Unqualified, unknowledgable and worst of all, uninterested staff all the way around the day we were there. It was a challenge just to get someone to make eye contact. It would seem locals who are known to staff are those they prefer to attend. Our wait times between the pours was excessive prolonging the unpleasant experience. The tasting room was also subpar. We received absolutely no info or guidance from tasting staff other than the name of the wine. I had the distinct feeling they didn't want us or anyone else around. Like we were distracting them from what they would prefer to be doing. Not welcoming. Never been received like this at a winery. I've done tastings in Napa, Sonoma, Livermore, Lodi, Granite Bay, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Scotland and Austrialia. Hands down this was the worst experience ever. Skip this spot. Total waste of our time and only one wine was more than decent, the sarmento chardonnay. Tbh it's quite good but If you have limited time like we did I would pass on tastings here. It may just of been a very bad day for them but I was super disappointmented by the entire experience. They did have a nice map of california wine regions and I do like a good map so I guess there was that though I wasn't able to get a good pic of it :( read more

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Cute little winery! Great wines and amazing service. The patio is really cute and they got misting fans. I would return! read more

Juan, took care and explain everything in detail. Had a great experience. I'm not a big fan of Pinot, but they had some good ones.

Love this place! Staff are always super friendly and knowledgeable and of course the wine is amazing. They have a great, large outside patio with misters in summer and games to play while you enjoy your tasting. Currently, the summertime favorite is Jose Rose. Highly recommend a membership too...tons of great events to include live music and grape stomping in the fall! read more

CRŪ Winery - Jose Rose...GREAT for summertime - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

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This was an amazing stop on our way to Sacramento. Brianna is the daughter of the wine maker and it was such a pleasant experience. We started off with a glass of their international award winning Pinot noir and transferred into a tasting. She explained each wine as we tasted and gave us crackers to cleanse our pallet. The outside seating area was shaded with the sound of a crisp waterfall and chirping birds in the background. If you have time, make this stop! Totally worth it and so relaxing. read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

More earthy wines. Beautiful winery. I'm a huge red fan but found their reds pretty boring. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed their whites. Pet are also aloud in the tasting room read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

Went wine tasting with a large group for a friends birthday and was so impressed! The staff was awesome. If you go, ask for Cameron! We had 20+ people and he knew what wine everyone was on in the tasting menu. The wines were excellent and it was a lovely afternoon. Highly recommend! read more

CRŪ Winery - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

I went to this place thinking I would try some wine and come back with a case home with me. I entered and it was nice. I stood there for about 10 min and nobody acknowledged me, I noticed 2 other couples come in they were greeted. At this point I was realizing the staff saw me but didn't want to engage with me. Today I have been at two other wineries and was treated really nice and I went home with some bottles. This Cru winery was very disappointing. read more

Even if you have only a passing familiarity with the world of Californian wine, CRŪ Wine Company will strike you as a bit of an outlier - if not just downright odd altogether. For starters, it doesn't fit itself easily into any discernible category. It's not an estate winery, replete with endless rows of trellised vineyards and attractive decorative landscaping fronting an immaculate driveway overlooking distant hills and mountains. We'll get to landscaping later. It's also not part of a "wine ghetto" like you'll encounter in Lompoc, Templeton, or Berkeley, where a collective gathering of pioneering winemakers assemble incredible vintages and blends using grapes purchased from select vineyards that they seek out for rare varietals and top-quality fruit. And it doesn't showcase the grapes grown in the region where it is located, since hardly any of the wines made are done so with Madera County grapes (which tend towards the Thompson Seedless rather than vintage Burgundy or Bordeaux). It's a wine-making warehouse in the middle of more or less nowhere you've ever heard of before, unless you are a local to these parts or went to school in Fresno. Even the "butterfly" that adorns its pretty Mariposa wine labels isn't a butterfly at all. It's a moth (don't ask how I know this). The web site shows a verdant, green, sun-drenched landscape, but that ain't Madera (I suspect it's somewhere in Arroyo Seco). So, you start out from a point of disorientation as you are speeding down the highway on CA-99, cars and trucks just whizzing by at 80mph+ as you maneuver to the marked Road 21 exit ramp. You drive about 1/4 mile down the road, turn right at a nut-processing facility (pistachio tastings, anyone?), then turn left at an unassuming metal gate and park next to a nondescript metal warehouse, looking vaguely like a miniature Wal-Mart distribution center. You exit the car, blink at the intense sunlight and haze emanating from the Central Valley (which bakes in summer and freezes in winter), and then ... Now, just about then is when the fun starts. Wine barrels arranged in tasteful pyramids greet you as you pass onto a tree-lined walkway, olive trees dropping plump dried fruit at your feet as wine vines arranged in decorative fashion mix with lush, drought-tolerant bushes and flowering plants. There are topiary trees, too, and then a vine-covered outdoor deck with wine barrel planters overflowing with pretty blooming things. You open the door, and you step inside. You are greeted upon entering by an enormous decorative wine glass, large enough to hold a case or more of wine. Posters with larger-than-life wine bottles hang from the walls, announcing awards from tasting competitions in San Francisco, Texas, and southern California. A large bar with Riedel glasses and printed tasting flights invites you in, as you are handed a glass of Arroyo Seco Chardonnay or Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. Or a rosé of Pinot Noir if you're lucky. You are offered an Albariño from the Edna Valley, a Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet, and Tempranillo from Paso Robles, Riesling and Chenin Blanc from top notch sites, vineyard-designate reds and whites from the Santa Maria Valley, and suddenly it hits you: they make the wine here, but the grapes are grown in all the right places. Central Coast wines, you understand: Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara counties. Not Napa. Not Mendo. Not Sonoma. Local wines, just not THAT local. Not that Madera lacks fine wine. Check out Quady, Fäsi Estate Winery, or other prime spots on the Madera Wine Trail if you doubt that. But here, at CRŪ, they do it a bit differently. And, you know what they say in that land of wine-drinking bliss: vive la différence. This is easier than you might think - once you make that all-important leap of faith to exit the highway and drive off in search of a new grape-to-glass adventure! Yelp-only hot tip: be sure to check out their Facebook page during the winter holiday season. Their "12 Days of Christmas" on-line specials are really good, 20-50% off retail and low cost or free shipping. Give the gift of wine next season and watch those UFC numbers start to rise into the stratosphere. You'll be a newly-minted Elite in no time! read more

CRŪ Winery - Barrels outside winery. - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

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This is a surprisingly good stop for a wine tasting, especially if you love Central Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The winemaker here, Ken P., chooses fruit from some very good vineyard sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, and the Santa Maria Valley. all of which are ideally suited for rich but balanced Burgundian-styled wines. The higher-end Appellation Series bottles are the best choices here if you are looking to impress your friends with award-winning Californian wines, while the Mariposa wines are wider-ranging, including semi-dry to sweet white wines (Riesling, Chenin Blanc) to rich red wines from Paso Robles, including Tempranillo and Merlot. Alexis, who served the wines during our visit, stuck to the printed tasting flight of 5 wines, which is varied monthly, but she also offered her candid opinions of wines for purchase that were not on the menu. This information, combined with our prior knowledge of the areas and vineyards, helped us choose two excellent bottles of wine from the CRU label to take with us on a trip to Yosemite Valley, where the wines were thoroughly enjoyed and pronounced excellent by all who tried them: the 2015 Santa Maria Chardonnay and 2012 Santa Maria Pinot Noir. These were two of the best wines we tried in 2016, and they are worth seeking out the next time you are passing through the Madera area. read more

Awesome friendly staff! Most of the wines are dry. (I am more of a sweet girl.) The cheese is from PA with the Amish and taste amazing! They are more then willing to recommend other wineries that are nearby that will suit your taste buds. read more

Lovely winery, they have designed a very pleasant and relaxing oasis for your tasting experience. Awesome wine (love their Pinots), friendly, attentive and knowledgeable service. It would be nice if they allowed you to bring food in for your tasting as they have limited food for sale, but other than that this our go to when we are in this area. read more

Best wines, and most awarded in Central Valley, just off hwy 99 Ave 20 in Madera. A must stop if you like Vino. Kylee served us today and she really knew the business. Thanks. We'll be back. read more

There are many wine tasting places here in madera. However, CRŪ Winery has the kindest host they will tell you all you need to know about their delicious wines. If I were you I would come on by. read more

Cam is the man with the plan. Thank you for signing Us up as your newest wine club member at CRU dog friendly as well. You rock, thank you read more

OK, I'm a noob at wine tasting, so I walked in from a long trip to Northern California last weekend. Alexis is very friendly, attentive and showed me the ropes on wine tasting. The atmosphere was warm, quaint and we were the only ones in the place. Being a Chardonnay girl, she showed me 6 different Chardonnays, oaked and unoaked; I ended up purchasing 2 bottles of wine from her. I'll definitely be back again. read more

We are members of CRu and get a few benefits from their membership. Although I am a great fan of their Pinot Noir, they need to seriously improve their customer service. We never receive any emails regarding events unless we stop in and happen to get a flyer in the winery. Other patrons tasting wine the day of "wine stomping" said they, too, never receive these emails. Not a good thing for PATRONS of your company. However, my biggest beef is that we purchased a case of wine at approximately $250 and no one offered to help us take it to our car. My husband is 73 and really isn't capable of this task. Where's is the customer service here???? Really!!!! We received a prompt phone all from the manager with a sincere apology. She was embarrassed that no one offered to deliver to the car. As a consolation she shipped us two bottles of Pinot noir read more

It's been a few days, and I still feel overly compelled to write a few words about Cru Wine Company. I felt kind of misled by coming here in the first place, but the options for finding a nice quiet, clean place to have a picnic lunch and use the facilities seemed limited en route from the Bay Area down towards Fresno. Coasting along the Highway 99 (I'm only kidding, I was flying)... I saw at least 4-5 billboards (perhaps 8-10, not sure on the exact billboard count) alerting me there was an amazing winery with wonderful nut and wine tastings. These billboards were obnoxiously overemphasized, by screaming at each passerby in big, bold red letters. Honestly, I don't know how any single person with a set of eyes on the road could miss them. My curiosity got the best of me, and I finally made the stop. The facilities (aka the restrooms) are clean and lovely; lovely meaning, far much better than any gas station or truck stop that I've ever had the pleasure of stopping through. The wine tasting room is very spacious and decorated crisply, minimalistic. It has that essence of a Napa or Sonoma wine tasting room, to the point of feeling like you are no longer in the Central Valley. The ladies doing the pouring, were super friendly and welcoming. They even offered us guests to feel free to use their picnic/ patio area as we pleased. Okay, so now to the slightly misleading signs... The wine and nut tastings are not together, they are not even in the same building, nor the same company! Why was I so excited about them being together??? Not sure? Perhaps all those drives, I thought about how I was going to hear how the smokiness in the almonds brought out the peppery boldness of the blend in the glass... etc etc; nope, not happening, not even close. I had plenty more driving and business to attend to in the next few hours, so I browsed through their tasting menu of seven wines, opting for the last two on the list. After my glass was poured, the lady working, looked very seasoned and accustomed to my inquiry: Me: So where are the nut tastings that go with the wine? {{smiles}} Cru Lady: The wine tasting is right here {{she then points her arms and fingers up high and towards the next building over}} Nut tastings are right over there! {{big smiles}} Me: There aren't nut and wine tastings together? Like on all of the dozens of billboards I read? {{disappointed, but still smiling (I've got wine in my hand, I'm good) }} Cru Lady: We are together! We are right beside each other! {{She raises hands up points down at the floor to themselves and then points right over to the "nut company"}} Just two different companies! {{big smiles}} Me: Ohhhhh... I see... The tasting was going great and I got over the misconception fairly quickly with a couple more sips. Impressive couple of wines they've got there at Cru; the Pinot Noir was great, but I chose the Mariposa because it resonated with my palette much more. A bottle of the 2009 Mariposa, (the last one on the tasting list 9/1/2012) was extremely reasonably priced and splendid, the first and second times around, both. I will surely be stopping back by Cru for more wine, or even just to have a tasting and picnic, when I get the chance. Just be forewarned, there are no nut tastings to compliment their wine! (LOL!) read more

Pull over!!!! That's what I told my boyfriend when I saw the sign for the winery. We were driving from Fresno to Groveland and had some time to kill. I decided I had dealt with enough of his photography stuff that he can drink some wine with me. I'm more of a sweet wine kind of girl, but still enjoyed the dry tastes of the CRU winery. I enjoyed it enough to buy three bottles. In my defense, one bottle was for my sister, one for my mom, and only one for me. Only when we got into the car did my boyfriend remind me that I had a 50 pound limit on my suitcase. It took some tough decisions and some maneuvering but all my wine arrived safely in Chicago. Totally worth it. read more

CRŪ Winery - My goodies - Wineries Near Me - Madera, California

Friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We went on a weekday so there were no other customers. The wine was ok, nothing stood out to me so I went home without purchasing any. My friend bought a bottle of Riesling or some other white wine. read more

A new building right off the freeway! I was not very impressed by this place it seemed too corporate for me. I really liked the St.Lucia Pinot Noir that was really good, but the place just does not have any character, its very clean and I feel they just want to sell you things instead of telling a story or showing off their passion. read more

Signs off hwy 99 directed us nicely to the winery. It was a nice detour on our long trip. We walked into a nicely air conditioned foyer and bar. The hostess/host were setting up for a Friday night event in their main room which was spacious and filled with barrells. The tasting was incredible, and they offered us wines off the list as well. In the middle of our tasting we were given a tour of the winery. It's small but a great space where they procure grapes from the central coast and bottle the wines. It was explained that grapes for most of their wines would not survive the heat Madera. If we lived closed we likely would be back. Great stop for all those traveling the 99. Tasting fee is waived if you buy a bottle but checkin on yelp for free tasting otherwise. read more

If you're driving north bound on the freeway past Madera, it's hard not to know that Cru Winery wants you to come by for a wine tasting. Their billboards show up every few miles. The property is quite nice. The front garden is nicely manicured, complete with a fountain. The inside of the tasting room has the standard, nice but generic look to it. The staff member who assisted us in our tastings was friendly and conversational. The tasting was $5 a person (price waived if you purchased a bottle or checked in on Yelp!), and the list was pretty extensive. What didn't I like about the experience? Quite honestly, the wine. The reds were--fine, but all the whites I had were simply not to my liking. I know calling the lots "whites" or "reds" makes it sound like I have no wine tasting experience, but that's not the case. It just so happened that every single white I had was rough on my palette. I know, I know, it's a matter of personal preference, but this wine just did not appeal to me whatsover. When I mentioned this to my boyfriend, he nodded knowingly. I would still suggest a visit, because wine preferences are pretty personal. read more