Lovely little spot that's finally open on more regular hours. Stop by on a Friday or Saturday afternoon for pleasant wine and ocean views. I think reservations are required these days, but they're very easy to do online. The seating is in a nice outdoor area in the redwoods overlooking the ocean. A great setting and all of the wines we tried were good as well. Grapes aren't grown on site but are mostly sourced locally which is cool. We enjoyed everything so we were happy to purchase a few bottles. To sweeten the pot they apply your tasting fee to bottle purchase. It's really a no brainier to leave with a wine or two. They're priced pretty reasonably and it's nice supporting a local wine maker. read more

Bottle Jack Wines - Rose and ocean views! - Wineries Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

The scenery is stellar and the lady helping us was nice. Just got a weird feeling when the the supposed "guy that makes the wines" visits with every party there except for ours. Made us feel a little unwelcome. Then towards then end I'm not sure if we've been spoiled by every other vineyard but she didn't ask if we wanted to re visit any of the wines we tried. Was only asked if we would like to purchase any bottles. We asked if we could try a wine that wasn't on the flight and unfortunately they didn't have an open one. No worries but still wasn't offered anything else. Was a very relaxing experience would maybe come back it's just minor details. Overall had a fine time. To sum it up quickly the wine overall was I'd say a 7.5 out of 10. Some good, others were a bit mute but not bad. read more

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Excellent views of the outdoors, really nice staff, and good wines! We fell in love with their zin and their viognier, and we loved the relaxed tasting environment read more

Lovely location with friendly people. I came to this winery by chance while in Santa Cruz. Tastings are reasonably priced and the wine is very good. I loved their rose. read more

Had a great tasting experience today. The service was perfect, the wine was excellent and the views breathtaking. Highly recommend the tasting at the winery. read more

I love Bottle Jack! What a cool hidden gem right outside of Santa Cruz. I've never really been a huge fan of Santa Cruz Mountain wines but love wine tasting. I've been to many in the mountains and decided to try out a new one I found on Yelp. Bottle Jack is only open two weekends each month and well worth marking on your calendar to visit! Nestled atop a mountain, at their family's home, with epic views of the entire Santa Cruz coast side, it's a wonderful place to pack a snack and head up for an hour or two of wine tasting. The tasting room is a converted garage where the owners' father used to work on classic cars (or some type of cars) so it has a ton of character. The tasting menu includes a ton of their wines and surprisingly, they have a lot on that menu! You get a huge tasting for the price. AND when you join the wine club, which, why would you not with bottle discounts, you can taste for free whenever they're open. The wine itself is really good. The price, even better. And my fiancé and I got to chat with the wine maker, who not only lives down the street from us, but is a super friendly guy with fun info on wine making and how Bottle Jack got it's Bottle Jack name. Very interesting! I'm thrilled I found Bottle Jack and am anxiously awaiting their next open weekend so I can bring some friends and a picnic to taste again! :) read more

I feel like we went to a different place than other reviewers went. We went on a passport day. I am starting to think that the whole passport day is just a horrific idea for places if this is the reception that occurs. We went on Saturday 11.17.18. Beautiful property although the one lane driveway with a loose dirt steep hill on one side and sharp drainage trench on the other had some visitors showing that driving skill is not prevalent these days. Definitely not enough parking. The garage/tasting room/production is very nice. It is clean and appealing to the eye with seating at least close to par with the absolutely limited parking. I really just am bothered by porta-potties for permanent tasting room facility. So we waited a few minutes in line to then be told to wait in another line with our passports to "get registered". Luckily registered just meant stamped and given some tickets. I was afraid it was going to be email/marketing/etc but it wasn't. Lack of direction and wasted time on my few days a month to get out and enjoy tasting drives me insane. So onto the wine. There were six wines out in an obvious fashion to taste and the lady said she would be taking us down the line. I also saw a port that was out but we will get to that later. So here is the deal. Plain and simple neither of us found any of the four wines we tasted to be enjoyable. At one point we realized the Zin we were tasting was literally indistinguishable from that unsweetened cranberry juice you get that feels like it is burning your mouth. We found some of the club members there to be just plain rude. The woman pouring for us had no idea about the wine and seemed to just read the percentage combo off the back and would say for each one it went well to drink or with "food". Ok got it, you drink it, no idea as to food paring obviously. Would of been better to just say nothing at all. So after our 4th, 1 oz pour which if your going to pour 1 oz pours you should ensure the tops you're using are giving out even pours. My partner was so short changed on one it looked like wine had just been spit into the glass. Anyways after that 4th pour we are told well thats all there is but we can buy more tickets for $5/pour. Alright so heres the deal. Your pours were so tiny you could barely really taste, the taste not good, and normally when you reach the end the standard industry question is would you like to re-visit anything? Not let me try and get more money from you when you are not happy already versus hey I got two more plus a port lets try and salvage this and turn you into a customer. At least it was through a passport. No wasted money minus the fuel to get up there. Wine is 60/40 (and 40/60) on experience and taste. When you don't seem to care about either not sure what to say. read more

Love this family owned business doing what they are passionate about: making wine in the Santa Cruz area.

Horrible people!! we went to the Capitola wine event. The 3 girls that worked the event took our tokens and refused to serve us! Rude , very disrespectful people. Makes the people from out of town never want to go back!! read more

We arrived late and they were amazing! They gave us perfect pours and were so kind and generous! Can't wait to go back, when we are I. The area again and visit! Such wonderful people! Thank you! read more

Stopped by this family winery for a tasting of the Firenze, a Tuscan blend that is 76% Sangiovese. The family was all there helping out. They've done a Zinfandel and Syrah again and new this year are a really yummy Merlot and also a Cabernet Sauvignon. read more

Bottle Jack Wines - 2012 Firenze - Wineries Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Review for telephone customer service only: called to inquire if need appointment to purchase bottles and not wine tasting but got voicemail. No return of call received 3 days wait. Called another local winery and called back after 5 min. I guess they don't need business as they might be such big time already. read more

YES! Great family run operation that happens to also create some fantastic reds. I recommend the Firenze or the Zinfandel. The mrs was all about the Cab. The only negative is that they are not open every weekend, but this makes sense since there are homes on the property. read more

Had a great time. Staff was friendly and informative. Loved that you can bring your own snacks and enjoy some wine.

Delicious wines, great tasting room & fantastic staff! You will want to join the wine club so you always have some in stock!

We visited Bottle Jack using our SCMWA passports and I was very impressed by their red wines. We went home with a couple of bottles of the 2012 Firenze, a blend of several grapes, but we probably should've bought even more. I love the cozy tasting room and the festive atmosphere. The talented owner/winemaker is also the winemaker at Nicholson Vineyards in Aptos. Bottle Jack is just a couple of minutes off Highway 17 and it's a stop worth making! read more

First time tasting of Bottle Jack wines was last night at the five course winemaker dinner in the Pino Alto Restaurant. Located in the Sesnon House on the Cabrillo College campus, Pino Alto is run by students in the culinary program there. Nice wines, good food, it was a great way to be introduced to Bottle Jack Winery! read more

We discovered Bottle Jack Wines when we dined at Laili's restaurant in Santa Cruz recently (a five star culinary delight, in my book) and ordered their Cabernet. We loved it! Today we visited Bottle Jack for their monthly tasting. Of the many reds we tasted, I enjoyed each and every one. My favorite was the Cabernet, of course. But we enjoyed the wines so much that we joined their wine club. Needless to say, I will definitely return--to pick up my wines and to enjoy the company of these great folks. read more

Small, family owned winery makes some of the best red wines in the Santa Cruz region. I haven't met a Bottle Jack wine I didn't like - but I am particularly fond of the Merlot - it made me change how I felt about Merlot. Way to go John... You really found your calling! read more

Went for weekend wine tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This was our first time in the region. We hit up Bottle Jack, Ridge, and Cooper-Garrod. My main criteria for wine tasting ratings is based solely on taste/flavor/quality of wine. I am particular to dry Cabernet Sauvignons with bold, robust flavor profiles. Tannins welcome; sweet & fizzy are not what I care about. Other perks (ambiance, service, cleanliness, etc.) obviously change the experience, but they aren't part of my overall rating. Bottle Jack was our favorite of the three. We would come back again, and feel confident bringing our friends here. $10 for a flight of five wines, which is waved with the purchase of a bottle (all around $30-40). All were quite good. Varying in flavor profile, and all quite tasty. Nothing was in-your-face bold/outstanding, but none felt like a waste of time/money either. Wines are definitely on the lighter side, but do not lack depth by any means. Pours were generous (we tried a couple wines more than once b/c we were purchasing a couple bottles), and also got to try their special Zinfandel Port and Cabernet Sauvignon (which weren't on the tasting menu) for no additional cost. The port was delicious, but not my taste. We walked away with a bottle of the Viognier 2016 and Zinfandel 2014, which we felt were the most unique of the bunch. I appreciate that they let us try some yummy wines for the tasting! Other perks: We enjoyed the service at Bottle Jack. They were kind, conversational, and unpretentious. We did not feel any passive-aggression, or pressure to buy. The atmosphere is quite casual, which would make this place a nice get together spot for friends of varying wine enthusiasm. Despite being in the city of Santa Cruz, the area is quite secluded and surrounded by redwoods. The wine room sits on the owner's home property, and a couple picnic tables exist by their wine room. The space is quite small, but not crowded (a.k.a. perfect). (If we try some other places in the Santa Cruz area, I may adjust my rating.) read more