Short story: Decent wine, but incredibly rude staff. With all the other fantastic wineries in the area, Simi is definitely not worth your time. Long story: So, barrel tasting at any other winery is unlimited, but at Simi you are limited to three tastings. No complaints here - there are other wineries to go to, we don't need to spend the bulk of our time at one, nor do we want to - but it sets the stage for my experience. After completing my three tastings I bought two bottles of wine. I was standing at the bar with two other people from my group, one of which completed her tasting and bought one bottle, as well. A man behind the counter (same man who just rang up my friend, so he knows she is not a "drunken freeloader" or whatever the staff for these events complain about) said to my friend "You have way gone over your three tastings. You are done." Ummm, alright...rude and not entirely accurate, but whatever. Then he turns to my other friend who has not completed his tasting and barks, "You, too!" So let me get this straight. Unlike the drunken hoards of people coming through that day, we have bought three bottles of wine so far, and you're hustling us out - one of us before their flight is done? And in an incredibly rude manner? If we're actually buying your wine, shouldn't you be giving us more tastings? Chatting us up as great customers? Showering us with praise? Maybe not that last one, but c'mon now. You know those situations where you thought of what you should have done too late to actually do it? Mine would have been, "Excuse me, I'd like to return these bottles of wine, thanks." Instead we moved on (physically, not emotionally obviously, ha) and Simi Winery left us with a bitter taste in our mouth. That guy brought a whole other meaning to "sour grapes". So, with all the other fantastic wineries in the area, Simi is definitely not worth your time. To Simi Winery: He's a middle aged man with thinning brown hair. read more

Loved the service, the architecture and loved the wine. It was $10 dolalrs to wine taste 8 different options, but if you bought a bottle they will take $5 off of the tasting. The guy never charged us for the tasting and we bought a $15 dollar bottle. The Wino guy informed me about different grapes and styles of containing the juices. There was such great positive energy in Simi, I will definitely be back to wine taste again, and I definitely plan on buying again. If it wasn't for that Wino man I would have no idea that I like Sogninen blanc over Chardonnay.. read more

Six of us went there for a basic tasting, and we couldn't get served if our lives depended on it! There were two people, a woman and a man, behind the counter, with another group of 4 clients already there. The woman completely ignored us for a good 20 minutes, all the while laughing and flirting with a man in the other party who was rather easy on the eyes. They were receiving their pours in good order. Okay, I'm a red-blooded gal, I can relate to that feeling you get when an attractive person makes eye contact. But when you can't even acknowledge when potential income walks through the door and splash a measure of liquid into a few glasses, even with out the spiel, then it's just rude. The man was no better. He just sat at the cash register pretending to scrutinize a tape, not looking up even to say someone would be with us. At least the woman had the excuse that she was helping other customers, even though she should have been able to help us as well without a hitch if she'd been serious about her job. He, however, had no excuse. Whatever issue there may have been could have waited. I grew up in retail -- it's not difficult to go back and correct something later. Even if he knew nothing about the wine, it's not difficult to set out a glass with the sheet with the tasting notes and pour a measure here and there. We left, unserved, not that they noticed. I will admit that we were dressed a bit shabbily that day, as we were staying in one of my dad's condo timeshare deals in town and went on a whim. However, shabby or not, if my dad really likes what he tastes, he buys by the case, not the bottle. Perhaps Simi should re-evaulate how they evaluate the clientele walking through their doors. I zipped off an email to the winery within a few days after the experience, to which they never responded. It would seem that a lack of commitment to customer service is a top-down directive with this business. Go instead to DRY CREEK Vineyards around the corner. They have a nice 2003 Pinot Noir. They don't usually do Pinots, but this one is well-balanced and perfect for drinking now. Edit, several years later: obviously, the 2003 is no longer available. but Dry Creek is still high on my list. I've also joined the Fogarty Vineyards wine club, as well, and though I show up shabbily dressed, they don't mind a bit. read more

Simi was our first stop of the day and we got there right after they opened at 10am. There were four of us total, the two girls split a tasting and my brother and I each had our own. 8 wines for $15 is not a bad price, but the girl working the tasting room was awful. Not a single mention about any of the wines, she could have cared less that we were there. She played with the cash register (ringing up imaginary people?) and came back every few minutes to pour a new wine and repeat the silent treatment. The wine isn't bad, nothing really stood out, but thats a side effect you typically see when a winery produces 250,000+ cases of their wine. The outdoors part looked great but we really had no interest in sticking around after the tasting room experience. I wouldn't come back here and I would advise you to skip it, theres plenty of other wineries that would love to have you stop by and will actually put some effort into it. read more

Went up for barrell tasting weekend and decided to stop by here near the end of the day. Greeter was an adorable woman. Bitchy server was not. Very rude, my boyfriend and I decided to split tastings and i was very interested in the late harvest options they had for tasting. Instead of telling us straight off - sorry we are not part of barrell tasting - he ignored us while he flirted with this cute guy that had come in. He rudely let us try 2 wines. When i asked him about the late harvest wines they had all he would say to describe them was "sweet". Duh. We thought Simi was part of barrell tasting - we did not know we would need to pay $5 extra which would have been fine if we were told when we first arrived to that we could make a decision to leave or not instead of being treated poorly. read more

We enjoyed a tasting at Simi on their picturesque outdoor deck among the Redwoods on a recent Sunday. It is rare that my spouse and I enjoy ALL wines poured in a tasting, but we definitely did in this case- a Chardonnay, a Zinfandel, a Pinot Noir and two Cabernet Sauvignons. We highly recommend the gourmet pizza lunch prepared by Chef Jeff Mosher as well as their cheese tray and delicious (and unique) seasoned nuts and popcorn. Sandra and Felicia were outstanding hosts, making our visit truly special. We will return for sure and bring friends! read more

I'm a member here at Simi and brought my mom here for her FIRST-ever wine tasting and the verdict is EPIC! She is already planning her next trip to take the tour of the oldest continuous wine making winery in Sonoma County!!! A must visit. And if you're lucky enough to get Michael L as your pourer you'll laugh, learn and love your experience read more

Simi Winery - Cheers! Starting with a wonderful Sparkling wine - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

Joshua, Paul, and Michael are the best! They educated us and steered us with many kinds of wines! So personable and friendly! Had such an amazing time with them! Far better than other wineries in the area!! You won't be disappointed by the oldest winery in the area!! read more

Just joined the club... literally. After my first visit to Simi this past weekend, I joined their wine club. The wines are balanced and easy to drink, especially for newbies. They have a wide selection of varietals - Zins, Pinot Noirs, Cabs, Gerts, Chards, Sauv Blanc, etc. I especially liked their white cuvee. Crisp, semi-sweet, a nice refreshing glass for a warm afternoon, lounging. I've also been on the hunt for late harvest wines and I added Simi's late harvest Gert to my collection as well. The tasting room is a clean and spacious facility. Tastings at the bar with tables of wine gifts galore behind you. Didn't tour the production areas. If you're interested, make a reservation. The wine club is great because it gives you access to other Constellation Brand wineries such as Franciscan, Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, etc. Free tastings and discounts! Who can ask for more? read more

A landslide victory! I joined Simi's wine club in 2004 and they have been great. The high end wines are usually amazing. The Landslide Cab is great and the Reserve Cab's are even better. Rich, ethereal wines with deep blackfruit flavors. read more

The setting for this winery is amazing, very beautiful landscape. Then we walked in the door and were greeted by a woman who handed us a raffle entry form. She was a friendly, elderly woman who showed us to the tasting bar. Once we got to the bar, we took out the tasting discount coupon we got with our tourist package and asked for a tasting. The man pouring handed us a wine club form and suggested that we fill it out while he gets out the whites. We were a little puzzled about how pushy he was. Once he returned he noticed we didn't even pick up a pen so he flipped the form over to show us that there are many wineries grouped in this wine club for the best variety and that we needed to fill out the form. We said no thank you, we're not joining a club when he haven't even tried any of the wines. The rest of the tasting went nicely, he was pleasant enough even though we were already put off by the pushy-ness when we got there. Our pourer didn't seem very interested in helping us, he was pretty aloof. After the entire process we bought one bottle of wine and he seemed surprised. This was not the kind of experience I wanted to have on vacation in wine country. I will not go back. read more

Looks like I missed out not getting here early enough for a tour. Simi has lovely grounds, a spacious tasting room, and a delightful staff. They also honor the VISA signature discounts, which is a bonus! read more

This experience was memorable. We had the chance to be greated by Stephanie. She made our visit very special and unique, but of course their wines were so amazing as well. I will recommand them to all my friends and family and make sure they stop by for their next visit to that beautiful part of California. Working myself in a winery, I should say that I ve been impressed cause I have been to so many winery and my expectations are now realy high. Thank you Stephanie and hope to see you again!!! Nathaly from Jada Winery in Paso Robles read more

Not a big fan of Simi wines, except for the late harvest riesling. The grounds are rustic and the winery has an interesting history that I enjoyed learning about from Jim, our noble tasting room associate. Despite my palate not being a huge fan, I would come back just to tour the enchanting and historic stone cellar that was built in 1850. read more

Okay, the service was great and the tour was really neat, but Simi embodies what happens when you sell out to a major corporation and start producing a quarter million cases a year. The wine was so generic tasting and safe that we came away feeling like we would have had a hard time differentiating between it and box wine. The fact that they charge as much as the family wineries in the area who produce a tenth or hundredth of their volume was a bit insulting as a consumer. The ONLY redeeming quality to this winery was the very friendly service and the cool tour of the historic winery and their wine-making oepration. The people that work here are GREAT! If you're a wine enthusiast in Healdsburg, there are a lot of other amazing wineries, so you shouldn't bother visiting Simi. If you're a wine novice and haven't seen winery tours before, I would suggest you stop in, pay for the tour, get the private tasting (included), ask lots of questions, and then go to a smaller family winery and see the difference in quality (then buy a bottle or two there to bring home). read more

This winery is located off a small street. I thought the tasting room would be a bit bigger, but it didn't really have that really fancy appeal to it to begin with. I would give the ambiance are 3, but I really enjoyed their wine. They have a wine Roseto that they do not distribute and can only be purchased at the winery. It was really interesting and I believe it is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes I think, but it makes for an interesting rose! Those of you that know Cabernet and know how bold the flavors can be would find this Roseto - meaning 'rose garden' in Italian-to be quite interesting as it is incredibly soft. read more

This was stop one for my birthday weekend celebration with my friends through Terrific Tours. I was so excited because I have a bottle of their Late Harvest which I had purchased at a Sonoma Wine Festival last year. The location is beautiful! So much greenery and I loved the rustic surroundings. The railroad tracks in the middle of the property just gave it a really cool feel, I don't know why, but it did. We started off with a tour which I thought was the perfect start to the day. The lady was nice and gave us a great background on the winery and how the wines are made. The pourings were delicious. I asked her if I could try the Late Harvest (because I have yet to open the one I have at home, and would like a back up in case I love it too much once I decide to drink it) which was not part of the menu. She was a bit hesitant, but gave it to me because of my birthday. That was nice of her, but I did tell her that I wanted to try it and if I liked it I would definitely buy the bottle. I can't stand wineries that expect you to buy without trying and are adamant about not giving tastings. Overall, I really liked it here and would return to this place. Oh, I also bought the Cuvee which was delicious! I highly recommend you try it if you like wines that are on the sweeter side. Good times here! read more

Had a private tasting here last weekend and despite the rowdy bunch, the sommelier leading us through the tasting was excellent. It was unlike any tasting I've been to! We experienced firsthand the reasons why you pour different varietals into different glasses, a fascinating conversation of taste, culture, geology, and chemistry. I loved the Pinot noir and the Cabernet reserve, I'll be back to pick up a couple bottles when I'm not on a group trip! Thanks Simi for the great lesson. read more

Our first winery at 10:00 A.M sharp! Wine was o.k, but the real gem was thei meat marinades! Got the cabernet marinade for red meats, This was outstanding and 6 bucks. A quarter or price compared to their wines. Bottom Line - I would stick with their meat marinades. read more

My family has been visiting this lovely place since the early 1970's. Lovely facility, good tour, so nostalgic. Easy parking and restroom access. Just north of town. read more

This place was an absolute zoo because of the food and wine event. We didn't even get to have the pizza, which was the main reason we went. A good pizza with some vino is c'est manifique! Even the chick behind the counter, who only got to make us two pours in fifteen minutes, said to another pourer: "It's crazy in here." What I did like about the way that they serve their tastings is that you get the choice of a la carte (you pay for each pick that you want to taste, anywhere between $2 and $5 each) or by the tasting of about five wines that's their standard offering ($15). It looked like this could have been a great place to stop. It's tucked back in a very woody looking area with lots of shade that would be lovely on a hot day. read more

DRINK SIMI! This was our second day of wine tasting in Sonoma... After visiting several other wineries that we have enjoyed wine from only to be disappointed upon arriving, I was skeptical about visiting Simi. I'm not sure if it was the first impression or what, but after deciding to proceed with the tasting, Megan turned that opinion around for us. I had been looking forward to visiting Simi given that I often drink their wine. She warmed up to us and took her time in allowing us to savor and fully enjoy the tasting. We were given the chance to taste the Chardonnays & Cab Savs side by side as to compare each respective region and style. I was very impressed that she offered to do this for us as we often have to ask to do this. I now have five favorite wines that I love... read more

I had the pleasure of having Phil pouring for us in the tasting room then he gave a tour of the winery. He was so knowledgable and made it such a fun experience! The winery itself is beautiful but having great people that make it memorable is why I singed up for the wine club! I plan on coming up for all their fun events planned !!! Of coarse their wines were amazing! Didn't try one I didn't like ! read more

Simi Winery - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

I'm a fan because of the service and the fact that this winery is located in a quaint old train station. It's adorable actually. I am not a fan of the wine but maybe it is just me. Still a great place though and their port and cork trees are really cool. The tour is really nice. read more

Friendly staff, relaxing tasting room and what a location!! Such a great experience to be a part of a hope and dream. A must in the Alexander Valley adventure so get it together, life is short, explore and adventure. read more

Simi left me feeling pretty meh about my experience here. I did take home a bottle of Cabernet, but nothing really blew me away about the experience, and maybe that's OK. read more

Wow this place is great and the staff was very helpful. Id like to give Luke a special thank you for introducing us to Simi. so far that i can remember Ive had - Simi 2011 Sonoma County Cuvee 1876 - GOOD Simi 2012 Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc - FAV Simi 2011 Sonoma County Chardonnay -VERY GOOD Simi 2010 Alexander Valley Chardonnay -GOOD Simi 2010 Sonoma County Merlot -GOOD Simi 2009 Dry Creek Petite Sirah -GOOD Simi 2009 Dry Creek Zinfandel -VERY GOOD Simi 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon -GOOD Simi 2010 Sonoma County Pinot Noir-OK (my friend really like it i did not) read more

My favorite winery - and that's saying a lot because I'm generally more of a sparkling girl. The Simi Cuvee 1876 is hands down one of my all time favorites. Which horrifies my husband who swears by their reds (all of them) Luke is a master host! read more

We love this wine, we can get it in North Carolina so bonus. We got the chance to visit during the Wine and Food Affair though and it did not disappoint. We tasted so many wines that we don't have here and it was wonderful. The winery is great with a nice outdoor space. We also loved the food pairing that we had during the event. I would definitely visit again. read more

We loved it the first time coming here last year. This year, it was just okay. Out of all the tasting, I liked and purchased the Cuvee. Very nice wine to go with Asian/Spicy cuisine, seafood, or summer drink chilled well. read more

Like others, we used coupons from our hotel to get a free tasting here. Unfortunately, the barrel tasting weekend meant way too many people in the small room. While the three wines we tried were tasty, the gentleman pouring them was so distracted by people purchasing bread dipping sauces and other non-wine items that it took a good 15 minutes to get all three pours. So of course there was no additional information given or opportunity to ask questions. And I didn't want to get in line for purchases. Since the wine was decent, I may return during a calmer time, but in a small room, a noisy crowd can was a real turn-off. read more

I went here for the Winter Wineland weekend, which happened to fall on conference championship Sunday for the NFL. Needless to say I was feeling a need to see the Patriots lose. Well Simi couldn't make that happen, but they did show the game on a big screen. They were also doing the largest pours of the 16 wineries I went to. Thanks for the 1/2 glass! They pleased me not just with quantity, but the quality of their Sauv Blanc and Cab were there as well. One thing I would say is that you need not try and make a dessert wine with chardonnay. I felt like Will Ferrell in Elf after he sprayed perfume in his mouth. Kudos for making a decent Viognier though...my favorite white varietal. read more

Great to take out of town guests: allows them to taste a wine they definitely will find in their local BevMo or wine merchant. This is a "big box" winery that has lovely grounds and a great picnic area among towering trees. The wines are good - we picked up a sauv blanc as well as a cab. We were unimpressed with the 'reserve' cab. All of us thought it was 'missing something'. Note: the guy who started our tasting was knowledgeable and friendly. For some reason he left and turned the reins over to a woman. She was not very friendly and our tasting went downhill - we still had a nice time - but not a GREAT time. Good for out of towners - noteable for sauv blanc and cab (not the reserve) I personally would not go back simply because there are much better boutique wineries to visit. read more

Thank you Jan for a friendly and welcoming experience. The tasting was delicious, and I agree the best was the Cab reserve. read more

Simi Winery - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

This winery is a gem. Helpful, friendly staff with a fine selection of wine. Lovely spot to sit outside and enjoy massive trees overhead. Not to mention wonderful sparkling, white and reds. Also, reasonably priced. Susan M read more

If you are in town wine tasting, pay the extra fee for a complete tour of the winery. Simi Winery has a lot of history and the story behind their success if very interesting. Included in the tour are two tastings downstairs and complimentary tastings on the main floor. The pour's were average. I love Simi's 2006 Roseto and had no problem finishing a bottle to myself. I sliced some fresh strawberries and added them to my glass of Roseto - divine! read more

Simi was our first stop in Healdsburg...my chardonnay-loving friend insisted. The chards were indeed good, and we were able to try a few different ones, which ranged from citrusy to buttery on the chard scale. The best part about our Simi stop was Todd (Ted? Tim?), the guy behind the counter. I can't quite remember his name, but he was incredibly helpful, informative, and willing to give suggestions. He also gave us a boffo wine map (ours was fuzzy and outdated), and his highlighter marked the way for our further Sonoma adventures. Thanks T! read more

Love this place!! This a wine fairytale - gorgeous place and fantastic wines! Must try the cuvée - one of my favourites. read more

Simi Winery - Mmmm... - Wineries Near Me - Healdsburg, California

The tasting room is not handicap friendly. I visited the tasting room Thursday with a relative in a wheelchair. The bar where most of the patrons stood is not an option for my relative. The tables with the highchairs is also not an option. A person sitting in a wheel chair cannot easily enjoy a tasting. The wait staff who serve wine ignored us. After about a 15 minute wait, I got the attention of a staff person and ordered a tasting for the three of us. We got one glass of wine, not one glass of wine each. After sharing the wine, we left to go to a more friendly tasting room. read more

We were in town celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary and stopped at this place. We were pleasantly surprised. All of the wine we tasted was yummy, and the lady who was helping us was very knowledgeable. It made the whole experience very enjoyable. The grounds are very beautiful as well, we love the fountain, we ended up having a glass of wine by it. read more