A super welcoming and friendly family-owned winery. I was greeted right away when I entered the tasting room. I did a wine tasting that included 5 generous pours. My favorites were the Vino Rosé and Merlot. It's a cozy and laid-back atmosphere. I enjoyed my wine indoors but there are also tables outdoors in the front. There's an event space in the back with views of the vineyards. They have snacks and gifts for sale too. read more

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We went to check out this winery with friends on a Sunday afternoon. It's a small quaint winery with a few tables outside. The young man that was helping us was fairly new. He tried his best to answer the questions we had. The wine that I enjoyed was the Blanc de Blanc. It was light and crisp, perfect for the hot day. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Shade provided by - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

Jenny, thank you for been a great hostess and the wine is amazing. The surrounding of the grape vine arbor canopy are beautiful to see, Truly enjoy the wine, Best, Sila and Roberto your last customer of the day and will soon see you read more

A low key, welcoming and enjoyable experience. Friendly service, low pressure setting. Nice air conditioning indoors on a hot day or sit outside with fresh air and take your time! We got a visit from Lucky the dog. A few snacks are also available for purchase. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - See the grapes ? :) - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

5 stars for everything: the wine, the service, the people, the atmosphere, the experience. You'll always feel like a friend coming in for a tasting. This is a great place if you're looking to get into wine or even if you're an expert. We have had a membership here for years and always buy more to give out as gifts as it is very popular amongst friends and family. When we visit during the warmer months, we'll bring a group to do a tasting and pick up some bottles to picnic out front with our own charcuterie board items. Sometimes they'll have cheese and crackers to purchase at a reasonable price. It's a beautiful drive, not crowded or stuffy like Napa, and definitely deserves more attention as people are missing out on a gem. read more

Came here with my wife using a Groupon which was a great deal! The Groupon was $19 for two (4 pour) tastings, and a bottle of wine to take home! It ended up being almost a $50 value when you compare the pricing so I'd highly recommend! This is definitely a very "homey" winery near Morgan Hill / Gilroy that has a family feel to it! Nothing fancy, just plastic chairs, plastic tables, and plastic cups for the wine tasting! If you're looking to try a bunch of different wines on a budget, this is definitely the place to do it! Don't expect fancy service like up in Napa/Sonoma, but definitely expect a smile and a warm welcome from the owner! The only bummer about the experience was the lack of real wine glasses. I think that would really be a step up for this place! read more

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My friend and I stopped by here on a whim when we were in the area. We are so glad that we did. The owner was super welcoming and we had a great time during our visit. The venue is absolutely gorgeous and they have a large variety of wines and wine styles to chose from. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Wine barrel - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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My hubby and I found this gem, a small family- owned winery. Carlo is an incredible host. We pulled in with our Honda off-road motorcycles in our truck, and it turns out he's also an avid rider. We enjoyed the wines - Zinfandel Ruby, Carignane Ruby, Rosè, Dolcetto Rosso, Marsala, Port. Lucky, the resident dog is so chill and friendly. This winery feels like home, beautiful setting, nothing pretentious, and so relaxing! read more

Hecker Pass Winery - A little late in taking the photo of our tasting flights. Delicious! - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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This winery had a very pretty patio and some really good tasty wines. I'm only a white wine drinker but my husband enjoyed not only the whites but the reds too. I had purchased a Groupon and it included a bottle of wine so we got to enjoy that wine that night. Also a very nice drive to the place, very scenic. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Tastings - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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Can't say enough about how much we love Hecker Pass, Carlo & the team! Family owned, laid back vibe, friendly service & great wine for every taste (the Red Velvet is one of our favorite medium-bodied, the Chianti my favorite dry, and the Rose has been perfect for summer). With the transition to outdoor service due to COVID, they've arranged a great setup outside the tasting room and beneath a grape vine-covered arbor-- choose your wines, and a tasting sampler is delivered to minimize interactions. (Suggest calling ahead as I believe reservations are preferred due to county COVID regulations.) We are also planning our wedding at Hecker Pass and have been beyond grateful for Carlo's expertise, attention to detail & flexibility. We've had to reschedule several times due to he pandemic and he's been so accommodating-- even helping us put together a private elopement last minute, until we can hopefully have our big reception with family/friends next year. This has quickly become one of our favorite local spots to relax and enjoy our beautiful California weather with a glass of wine! read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Custom tasting flight - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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Visited recently. A very friendly young female server took care of us. My buddy bought a case of vino Ross he thought was delicious. Me, I tasted 5 red bold wines and was pleasantly surprised on how fruit forward these wines tasted. My favs were the 2019 petite sirah and the 2017 carinagne. These two were a bit dry and perfect to sip or to pair with food. I loved the hospitality. I'll come back. read more

Carlo is AMAZING! He worked so hard to make our wedding day unique. He worked with us every step of the way to design and customize a very personalized wedding. He provided a good amount of décor such as linen, picture frames, candles, wooden rounds etc. He also doubled as our wedding coordinated and everything ran smoothly. There was not a single hiccup that night. Everything from the food to the décor was perfect! He also worked very well with each of our vendors. Carlo truly has a passion for weddings and hosting and it shows! He not only hosts weddings but we've had birthday party there as well. He is very laid back and easy to work with. He doesn't pressure you into picking higher option choices but allows your style to shine for your wedding. Carlo thank you for making our wedding a night we'll never forget! read more

Amazing place for a wedding! Extremely cost effective and such a hidden gem. Everyone complemented us on how good the food was. So beautiful especially during the summer months. We got married in June and the vines were green, making it great for photos. Also, most of the tent drapery you see in the pictures were included!! read more

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The first thing I want to say is that Carlo is amazing!! I been meaning to post this review for a while now, but here we go. We had our wedding at this beautiful winery during this pandemic, and because of it, we had to reschedule the wedding. Carlo was ALWAYS super friendly, helpful, and accommodating. I am so glad that he made this process so much easier as we had to reschedule once. We had been planning our wedding for over a year. From day 1 to the wedding day, we had such a good experience that I would definitely have another event here. My family and friend were amazed at the costumer service we received by Carlo and his team, and we all had such an amazing time even though we decided to get married during this pandemic. Carlo's winery is family owned, the cost of our wedding was very reasonable, and the most important of all, it is the fact that we felt like we were treated like family by Carlo and not just as another couple trying to get married. Again, we just want to say how grateful we are that our special day was more than we expected it to be. Also, I added some of our engagement photoshoot photos :). They were taken at the winery as well. read more

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Owners are amazing feel super welcomed came for a wedding and it was an amazing experience

Red Velvet. And the friendliest customer service ever. We take family members there when they visit. We also ship wines to those who can't. read more

My husband and I had a wedding last June at Hecker Pass Winery. It was a great experience. Carlo rescued us. We had booked another venue, had gotten all our vendors for our wedding date, had sent out the wedding invitations to guests, etc. before it became apparent our venue was having legal permit issues that were unlikely to be resolved in time for our wedding. Carlo was easy to work with. He was flexible with all the vendors we already had and helped pull everything together. I had a wedding coordinator, but honestly my caterer (Mama Mia's Tiffany) and Carlo did more coordinating than my wedding coordinator did. Other perks: Pretty vineyard, sweet winery dog named Lucky, and amazing rosé. We booked the winery before the rosé was released, but we were so pleasantly surprised. It has become my favorite rosé. I will continue to return for more of it. read more

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Well, very fine wine but one of the owners (pouring us the tastings) was obviously wishing he were elsewhere. Still, I really liked the wines but the tasting room experience is decidedly not upscale. Actually, taste-wise this is one of the best I experienced in the area. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Tasting room details - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

First, you must try the Ruby Zinfandel. It is AMAZING and my favorite wine here. The main thing I am reviewing is the La Vigna event center here, where I had my wedding in June 2013. I highly recommend this place for a wedding! Carlo is the winery owner's son and manages the event center. This is a small family winery and the personal touch is apparent. The location is super beautiful and the layout is wonderful in terms of the ceremony/ dining/ dance layout-- the best I have seen. The wedding package was wonderful and affordable-- it included everything from chairs, tables, basic linens, wine, other drinks, and food if desired. The food was amazing and they worked with us to get it exactly how we wanted. For instance they took my husband's family recipe for chicken and made it perfectly! They also took the pasta I tried and made it less oily so that it was exactly what I wanted. They even made the fruit salad with only the good fruits we liked-- no melons :) We used the preferred vendors who were all wonderful and they all worked together seamlessly. Carlo and his staff are like personal friends who do everything they can to make sure your day is perfect. They worked tirelessly behind the scene and took care of everything. Our wedding day was extremely hot (110 degrees F!) and Carlo worked with the other vendors on last minute accommodations for the cake and flowers to survive the heat. The facilities are essentially all outside, so there was not much escape from the heat unfortunately. There is, however, a little bridal room which was air-conditioned nicely-- lucky me :) Guests had plenty of drinks available upon arrival so people were taken care of. Our guests loved the location and the food got RAVE reviews. I am so glad we had our wedding at Hecker Pass and highly recommend them to anyone. Thank you Carlo! read more

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It's not fancy but it's also not pretentious. Sometimes I wonder if they don't know how good their wine is. The tasting is a reasonable price unlike some of the places down the street. The bottle prices are on par with standard small winery prices but they have great deals from time to time as well. It's rustic, not as fancy as some other nearby wineries but I prefer the vibe here 10 to 1 over those wineries. The have super dry whites, semisweet rose, a semisweet flavor bomb of a red, a few super dry tannic reds, and some fantastic dessert wines. I have no idea what their process is but the wines really taste old world. My favorite winery without a question. Approachable and delicious. read more

$5 to taste 5 wines. Generous pours. Stephanie was so sweet, just like the wine! I tried the 2 sweet wines and the 3 dessert wines. All were priced at $25 a bottle. A sign said the wines were 50% off but she didnt mention it. The wines themselves were delicious. Lots of varieties to choose from too! I didn't end up getting a bottle though because it was a bit too pricey for me and I have about a dozen bottles of wine at home that I don't know what to do with. I know what you're saying, you're saying, um, drink it. Ill get to it. Anyway, stop by this place if you're in the area. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Choices galore!!!!! - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

I have been to other functions at Hecker Pass Winery but this past January we held our daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party there. My daughter was very particular on the design, colors and food that she wanted for her Sweet 16 and Carlo worked with her to make it happen. He helped her design a teenage girls dream party that she loved and he listened to her ideas. Carlo and staff were very professional, accommodating and made the kids and guests feel comfortable and welcome. Everyone at the party loved the venue and talked about the party for weeks to come! I highly recommend Hecker Pass Winery venue for any event! Pictures don't do it justice! Thank you Carlo and staff! read more

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I stopped by Hecker Pass Winery as part of the Fall Wine Passport event with some friends. The staff was so incredibly friendly, and the wine was very good. The hostess took us on a quick tour of the grounds and I was surprised by the beautiful scenery. read more

Came here the other day ago looking for some nice red wines. A co-worker of mine told me this was "the" place. The parking lot is small and they were having an wedding in back. There was no one in the tasting room when I got there around 3pm. The nice lady behind the counter helped me pick out 5-6 wines to taste for free. I started with their 5 wine blend, which was decent. Not a whole lot going on, but ok. Next I tried the ruby zin, which was full of blackberry and cherry. Not only could you smell it on the bouquet, but it was also extremely distinguishable on the palate. Yum! Then came the Chianti which was ok. I've had several over the years and I wasn't all that impressed. The Petite Sirah was super spicy. Too spicy for my liking, but I'm sure that might be something others would like. Finally I tried the Dolcetto Rosso (because my hubby loves sweet wine). It was bursting at the seems with fruity flavors. Extremely smooth and left a taste of jam in my mouth. I ended up purchasing the Ruby Zin and the Dolcetto Rosso for my hubby. Kinda more than I wanted to spend, but I rarely buy full priced anymore, so I splurged. Hecker Pass has a lot of reds, so if you like reds, you should check them out. Be careful of the parking lot though. Seems like it's only a one way. read more

This place is great! It's a small winery run by an Italian immigrant and his son. They're 4th generation wine makers and they know how to make amazing wine!! Better than most places in Sonoma and Napa. The only thing better than the wine is the owners themselves. They're so genuine! read more

Little more informal and rustic. Little more small barlike. 5 dollars for 5 tastes. If you are a fan of sweet wines there is a fantastic choice here. The Muscat is amazing. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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My parents seem to have a special place in their heart for this place so they insisted we stop by. They have a large parking lot to host tastings and events. There was a wedding occurring so space was limited. However we found a spot pretty easily. The grounds feature a couple old picnic tables, some nearby grape vines (I'm pretty sure were table grapes) and an event area. The tasting room reminded me of an old italian restaurant. It was worn and had some ornate little decorations. They offer free pours of around 20 of their wines. Most bottles were around $20. Our pourer greeted us and immediately started serving us wine. She didn't really chat with us or offer any information about the wines other than their name. I started with the Blanc de Blanc. It was a white wine - that's about all I can say about it. Nothing particularly remarkable beyond that. I moved onto a couple reds. Most had funky noses (corked?) and tasted nearly indistinguishable despite being a Burgundy, Chianti & Petite Sirah. At that point, I abandoned my tasting and waited outside for the others to finish. My mom was pleased enough with the Port that she bought a bottle. read more

While my partner and I were driving to a campsite in Big Sur, I surveyed the orts left in our car's cooler: a nub of brie, two cans of sardines, and some crackers. (We were at the tail-end of two-week road trip.) I surmised that we needed only one thing to turn these leftovers into a brilliant meal: a bottle of delicious wine. Luckily we were driving over to Highway 1 on the 152, so I said, "Let's just stop at the next winery we see and buy a bottle of whatever tastes best!" The next winery was Hecker's Pass. We walked into a neat little tasting hall. Next to us at the bar were five Russians who seemed to have just finished a full sampling of every wine on the tasting list. They joked in their native tongue about bringing out the vodka next. The server was happy to let them chill for a minute and dole out a few pours for us. We started with Blanc de Blanc, which was an unremarkable swallow. Reminded me of just about any under-$5-Trader-Joe's-special-of-the-week bottle. We moved on to the reds: the Petite Syrah followed by the Petite Syrah Select. There was no palatable difference between the two. They were both juicy, sweet, and simple with a sloppy finish. Deciding to move in a new direction, I asked to try the Chianti. Tasted pretty much just like the syrahs. At this point, I overheard the Russians discussing what they'll try next: "I don't know, maybe one of the sweet ones, they weren't so bad." Tipsy Russians in the tasting room debating whether they can palate more of your wine. Not a good look, vigneron. read more

Carlo is one of the most generous and helpful host of the many wedding venues I've photographed at. read more

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We had our wedding at Hecker Pass Winery on Aug 7, 2021. Our guests raved about the scenery, the wines, the food and the general hospitality of the staff. As someone who DIY'd certain parts of the wedding, I really appreciate having Carlo as a wonderful coordinator as it enabled our family & friends to enjoy the wedding. They have very good wines at reasonable prices, and my favorites are Petite Sirah Select, Chianti and Cream Sherry. read more

For Spring Passport '10, Hecker Pass Winery opened up tasting on their full list, on the back patio area. It was nice to see the large tasting menu, but there were a few problems with my experience. Firstly, the pourers were either inarticulate or uninformed about wine. Like when I ask about the blend, and you tell me "a couple different varietals with a bite at the end". That tells me nothing. Not to mention the dread-locked man looked and sounded stoned out of his gourd. Speaking of your amazing assortment of mystery blends, beside subtle differences in sugar and tannin levels, they all tasted exactly the same to me. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to do a blind tasting, I would be a dead man. The other thing that bothered me was adhering to the archaic tradition of naming you wine after European regions/wine-styles. If some EU official was here, he would shit himself, seeing as they market a Burgundy, Chianti, Port, and Marsala. That's a way to seem on the level of Franzia and Carlos Rossi, and it's off-putting to me. Especially, since the Burgundy, for example, did not contain any Pinot Noir, and it didn't taste nearly as refined or complex as any Burgundy I've ever tasted. It tasted exactly the same as all the other blends they had. I didn't even bother with the Chianti, because I'm sure I already know what it tastes like...everything else! The one good wine was the Riesling...honey-apricot goodness, but other than that, this was a pointless exercise in oenology. The prices, in my mind, reflect the lack of quality, but that still didn't make me want to purchase any. read more

Wine tasting #2 Went here on Friday for a fun day with friends and we were a bit disappointed by the atmosphere. Nice vineyard, great picnic area. But the person that was helping us with the wine tasting was not very friendly. When we first arrived we have never gone to this winery so of course we were wondering what wines were most popular there. The man answered, what ever you like. He didn't really seem like he wanted to talk so most of our visit was either my friends and I talking about other things. It really is nice when the person who is serving you the wine, to have some knowledge about the winery, they are representing the place at that moment and for the first impression we were put off. If you go here to at least say you went that is what it will be. I think I will try this place again in the future, but if I see the same person helping us, I am out of there. read more

We had a very relaxing day at this winery. The view is great and the wine tasted great.

We just had our wedding here last weekend and it couldn't have been more perfect. Carlo is amazing, so easy to work with, and really went above and beyond to make our day special. The venue is absolutely beautiful, with the grape vines as our backdrop to our wedding ceremony. Dinner was delicious, as was the wine, we received nothing but compliments from our guests. Thank you Carlo for all your hard work and for making our day so memorable! read more

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I can't say enough about this place! Great place, great vibes, great people, the staff is amazing! The owner Jenny get kudos from the family. She made us feel at home, it was like hanging out with family. That's the vibe this place gives you... I will be back many times now that i have seen there schedule of music and food. Thanks to all the staff for making us feel at home. read more

Hecker Pass Winery - Wineries Near Me - Gilroy, California

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My boyfriend and I attended a fundraiser that was there, it was a nice little place that was perfect for a small wedding. A couple that had attended the fundraiser actually had just gotten married there about 3 months ago. I'm amazed at how many wineries there are in the Gilroy area. I'm sorry to report that I did not try the wine. However, my boyfriend did and he seemed to like it. People were buying the wine by the case so if that helps any. . . read more

This is a special little place. Not only is the service great, but their wines are superb. My fiancé and I chose 6 wines for our wedding from this place: The blank de blanc red velvet ruby Zinfandel the dry zin petite sirah and the Marsala All were fantastic. Note: The port was a great runner up! read more

Another winery on highway 152 that we've driven by many times and never stopped at. This is a very laid back place with a small tasting room. The had a few sweet wines and even a port. The lady that was pouring was the only one there and she did a great job of keeping everyone informed, entertained and of course sipping away. Out front there is a small picnic area. Don't be afraid of the big dog that hangs out there..he is a big ol' teddy bear. Nothing stood out here but we liked the laid back friendly service. read more

Nice service, terrible wine. Each one tasted the same and none of them were good. I know wine is subjective and personal but this was a tough sell for my wife and I. Glad I tried it and I doubt I'll ever be back. Staff were very polite and conversational. The wine just did not hold up for me at all. read more

Amazingly delicious (and too affordable for the quality) wine, cozy tasting room, and more importantly none of the ubiquitous and annoying wine snobbery! read more