So, I’m heading down to the Bay Area next weekend for a few days of wine/food. My girlfriend and I will be staying near Santa Rosa, but are heading down to Monte Bello for the assemblage event on Saturday. I was hoping to make another stop down in the area before dinner (The Mountain House in Woodside).
Does anyone have any recommendations for the Santa Cruz Mtns area?
Thank you in advance!
Fogarty was a nice visit and if you can plan ahead, you can get something more involved at Big Basin.
That said, if you’re in Santa Rosa just go to a ton of places in Sonoma. There’s a ton of great wine in Sonoma and while I enjoyed the Santa Cruz Mtns, I didn’t feel a strong need to go back
Keith,
Appreciate that. I’ll look into it.
Our plan is certainly that for the Sonoma portion. I’m very familiar with that area. However, I’ve never made the journey south to the area near Monte Bello. We’ll have a couple of hours to kill between the assemblage event and dinner. So, any and all recommendations down there are very welcome.
In the Sonoma/Napa area we’re already pretty booked up with Carlisle, Limerick Lane, Iron Horse, Outpost, and one other I can’t recall at this time.
I highly recommend Big Basin Vineyards. They have a tasting room in Saratoga. I can’t speak to the experience in the tasting room as I have only been to the winery, but their wines are fantastic.
One of the challenges with the Santa Cruz Mountains is how spread out everything is, so I would definitely stay on the Silicon Valley side of the mountains. Even on weekends traffic in the Bay Area and into the Santa Cruz area (especially on weekends) can be bad.
Mount Eden if accessible.
Unfortunately I don’t think Mount Eden does tastings, just tours.
One nice thing about Saratoga is that there are quite a few wine shops in a small area. My recommendation is to go there after Ridge and then just cruise up 280 to get to Woodside. Having tasted around the SCM area many times I’ve come to the conclusion that all the driving doesn’t give any benefit in terms of winery access.
Unless you love driving on windy mountain roads - it certainly is a beautiful area.
Testarossa has a winery/tasting room in an old monastery in Los Gatos I would recommend. Some very nice pinot noirs.
Ridge was VERY crowded on a beautiful Saturday afternoon so take that into account. We waited about 30 minutes to elbow our way to the main bar for a loud tasting. I would make an appointment if you can. Ridge is worth visiting at least once in your life.
Mindego Ridge have a tasting room in Saratoga too. Definitely worth trying those wines.
Realistically, if you’re doing this for pleasure, going from Monte Bello to Fogarty on Skyline or up to Mt Eden is going to be a bit ambitious for one day, especially since you are starting from Santa Rosa, and you will likely struggle to be on time.
So maybe just do Ridge, then visit some of the tasting rooms in Saratoga.
You could also try to fit in a meal at The Bywater in Los Gatos. Just had a nice lunch there today. David Kinch was in the kitchen, which is always good to see.
Oh, and you’re in for the treat: it’s a fantastic vintage of Monte Bello.
I would agree with this. Driving from Monte Bello to Skyline Drive is a chore and and you can save time and your energy by doing the tasting rooms in downtown Saratoga. And yes the drive back to Santa Rosa will be 2hours plus.
In the city of Santa Cruz there are a lot of wineries. The downside is that you miss some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (but you’re going to Ridge anyway). The upside is that you can taste at half a dozen wineries in a short day, encompassing a lot of very fine, highly individual producers and wines.
I think there may be quite a bit of turnover in who has tasting rooms, but here is a list; please check it to be sure that these producers still have tastings in the city and of course for opening hours:
Storrs
Silver Mountain
Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard
Odonata
Rexford
Bottle Jack
not quite a commercial post, but I have worked with and employed owner Barry Jackson of the winery below:
Equinox and de Bartolo (same winery, different brands and wines) - in an industrial park walking distance from some of the others.
Dan Kravitz
I am also of the Ridge only opinion. Just take your time and enjoy the view and setting. Bring some nibbles.
Link to the association (most) of the wineries listed above https://www.surfcityvintners.com/.
While I recommend this as a stop I don’t feel it fits in with your day as you would have to head over to Santa Cruz and then back to keep your dinner as scheduled. Best to stick with a visit to the village of Saratoga and hit up Big Basin and Ser and Silvertip Vineyards tasting room. If you decide you want to change your dinner spot you can hit up the above mentioned wineries and return to Sonoma by taking HWY 1 North to San Francisco. A very nice drive IMHO.
Some driving advice, if you haven’t been down in that area. Ridge is a 15 minute drive up a windy mountain road (once you get to the base of Monte Bello Rd), then you’ll have to drive back down to get anywhere else - there is no way to get from Ridge to Skyline Blvd. Mountain House restaurant is up on Skyline, which, though it looks like a normal road on the map, actually runs along the top of the spine of hills that separates the Bay from the ocean. It’s a decent (and scenic) road, just be aware that you will be driving up to it, and back down something windy before and after dinner.
Point being, you’ll be doing a lot of mountain driving up to Ridge and back down, then getting to another way up to Skyline for your afternoon/evening. If you really want to do this, your best bet is probably to visit Thomas Fogarty up on Skyline, then take the nice drive down Skyline to Mountain House.
Are you then staying down in the south Bay, or having to drive back to Santa Rosa? That would be a strenuous day of driving.
Alan has good advice. Also, while it’s unlikely, if your GPS tells you to take Old La Honda Road, ignore it. It may be slightly faster, but not a lot of fun in a car.
-Al
I suggested earlier you switch to visiting Ridge Sunday. We’ll be about 30 picnicking with a bunch of older Ridge wines after the tasting.
Otherwise, along the lines of what other have suggested, I’d set up some contingencies of what to do in between, but wouldn’t be planning on rushing to leave Ridge. It’s a fun event. Play it by ear.
From there, you could go to Saratoga tasting rooms, then up to Skyline, which would take you past Fogarty on the way to Mountain House.
Thank you everyone for the great input, advice and suggestions.
We’ll be heading back to Santa Rosa a bit after dinner. I do understand that there will be a fair bit of driving, but that’s something that we’re very much used to doing. At least we aren’t driving down all the way from Seattle this time!
Oh my! That would most certainly be fantastic fun. Unfortunately, we have to make it on Saturday as we have some friends from Eureka driving down on Sunday to meet up with us in Santa Rosa.
Yeah, we weren’t planning on rushing out of Ridge by any means. I am definitely looking forward to it.
Fogarty seems to be the logical stopping off point along a scenic, leisurely drive to Mountain House. I think we’ll take your advice and play it by ear, but Fogarty seems to make the most sense.
C Wagner, I hope you have a designated driver from the moment you set foot in the first winery. Those mountain roads require total concentration, not to mention the drive back to Santa Rosa after dinner!!!