We stopped in to Aptos Vineyards tasting room on a Thursday afternoon. What a beautiful little…read moretasting area! Everything about it was lovely. We started as the only two people in the tasting room, but very shortly the entire room was full of all kinds of return customers, mostly wine club members. We sampled their beautiful wines, which were quite good, and enjoyed them. There was no pressure to purchase wine, the tasting room server was as pleasant and knowledgeable as she possibly could have been. She was swamped with people, and someone did come to help her. I loved the location of this tasting room and even though it was small it was nicely appointed and felt akin to someone's living room. I would recommend stopping at Aptos vineyards tasting room next time you are in Aptos!

The wine is excellent. If you can put up with the staff. Rude and pretentious…read more I went in today to purchase my favorite wines as a gift. Not only did the male employee fail to make eye contact or greet me. The female employee made a comment about how "wow - you are really making me do my steps today...". The place is very small. I dropped $200.00 and was never offered a sample. The atmosphere was pretentious and unwelcoming. I highly recommend the wine - but know that if you go - you want to get in and out get out.

Lovely little spot that's finally open on more regular hours. Stop by on a Friday or Saturday…read moreafternoon 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.

The scenery is stellar and the lady helping us was nice. Just got a weird feeling when the the…read moresupposed "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.

The best Wine in our local area,- a Family run small Business. Very knowledgeable, fun & friendly,…read moreto all visitors on 2 legs. You will go home very Happy. The only thing is, they are not open every weekend . If you sign up for the best newsletter ever, you will get information on the next wine tasting Saturday.

I just discovered this company because my boyfriend's dad has been going to these guys for the past…read more10 years! We were invited to join them. Located in a residential area in a very beautiful neighborhood. Our tasting session which was located outdoors right next to the redwood tree was very intimate. It felt so special to listen to the actual wine maker talk about his wines. Thus while their black cat, Cobbs was asking for more pets. Man I had a really nice time here! Oh inside the barn they had four different cheeses set up for us to taste with bread, yummy! I did get the wine truffles but I'm very sad because I'm going to give it to my neighbor lady as a present. I should have bought some for myself. Their wines are really good. We got three bottles can't remember what, but they tasted good. I'm looking forward to opening them up soon.

I am in their wine club and it is a great deal. Super good wine. They source grapes from Santa Cruz…read morecounty and know where all the good grapes grow and how to make the best wine.

Great atmosphere, very friendly and nice people work there. We enjoyed a glass of wine and mulled…read morewine.

The wine tasting experience at integrity is unique because of their wines! The winemaker purchases…read moregrapes from many different AVA's and makes wine. So, tasting there is like a trip through CA wine. It's fun! And the wines really do reflect the terroir. I recommend a stop at Integrity.

Love Integrity Wine! Tried the Sauvignon Blanc at the Scott's Valley Wine and Art festival this…read moresummer and it was so good. So, of course, I looked up the Integrity tasting room and went and tried more Wine. They are delicious . Joined the club, but have yet to be able to attend a pick up party, but look forward to it.

OMG - what AMAZING Pinot Noir!! Don't blink or you may miss this winery - they are super small and…read moredon't have a regular tasting room, but on occasion (passport days www.scmwa.com) they open their GEORGEOUS winery to the public for tasting. And get this - the winery is at an estate that used to be Alfred Hitchcock's place! There is a shuttle to the winery when it's open - so be sure to check ahead of time if you're wanting to visit. Make sure you plan in your budget to buy some of their wine. Totally worth it.

We went to Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival. Heart O' The Mountain Winery was one of the wineries…read morepouring today. Usually not a Pinot Noir fan, but I'll try it. And I'm glad that I did. We tried the 2007 release, and it was very tasty. Smooth with full flavor. The owner was there at this event and he was so kind, helpful, and full of insight to his wines. He invited on up as though inviting us to a casual BBQ. Can't wait to go. We do the Passport Event and already had it stamped when they were at Michael's On Main, but he said that they'd stamp it again. There is a shuttle to the winery when it's open - so be sure to check ahead of time if you're wanting to visit.

Nice little tasting room located in a warehouse plaza that we frequent (since we love the 11th hour…read morecoffee shop!) It's pretty basic, there's a couple seats inside and outside, no view of anything, but at least the chocolate/ice cream shop is right next door! It was $20 for a tasting and i got to choose my 4 wines. For not having a view, and the bartender not saying more than a sentence about each wine, it was little steep for the experience. Luckily, the fee is waived with just a one bottle purchase which I did get!

We had a quick stop at Bottle Jack wines before needing to rush off for dinner reservations,…read morehowever their wines were pretty nice. They do have a dessert wine but I you have to show up at a special tasting night to try it, which was too bad because I usually purchase the ports.

Though SCMWA has Passport Celebration Days, Grand Tastings, and the Wines and the Region events,…read morethey also have Wine Walks: Downtown Santa Cruz Wine Walk (see my separate review), Aptos Wine Wonder, and Taste of the Mountains in Menlo Park. The Menlo Park event, around since 2015, featured Saison (Stephen Miller Gallery), Burrell School (Gallery House), Domaine Eden (Rococo & Taupe), Kings Mountain (Duo), Vidovich (Main Gallery), Neely (Dirty Birds), Tarwater (Hunter Douglas), Roudin-Smith (Menlo Flooring), Fogarty & Lexington (Oriental Carpet), Pelican Ranch (Mike's Camera), Sandar & Hem (Feldman's Books), Maison Areion (Peabody Gallery) and Clos de la Tech (Cheeky Monkey). Comparing this to other wine walks (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Willow Glen, Mountain View, Morgan Hill, Santa Cruz, and Campbell), Menlo Park had the smallest crowds and shortest lines (the weather may have contributed), which may have allowed the reps to be more social than others. The registration booth still gives out maps (some cities make you download digital maps). Plus, Taste of the Mountains runs June and November, opposed to the others who run April and October. Though SCMWA does not regulate or manage each stop, I would say Taste also had the most generous pours. Which is what I was voted in my middle school yearbook: biggest pores.

Fun event encouraging winery hopping--can't find much wrong with that! :-) A big shout out to…read morerecent yelper Nicole C. for planning out our journey and driving us to each safely. Highlights: - It's nice to have a map and directions and descriptions of all of the participating wineries in the passport booklet. - Unlike I thought, it's not only Santa Cruz wineries--there are participating ones all over the area: Cupertino, Los Gatos, Aptos, etc. - It's a good deal ($30) if you go to wineries that have larger tasting fees. - Some wineries only taste on these days so it's nice to take advantage of this opportunity to do so. - Your passport is good until you complete it, so you can go back for other passport Saturdays to visit other wineries. - It's fun to collect stamps. :-) Some wineries have fun stamps too. My fave is the Equinox one. Pictures are attached here. Lowlights (my flip side to highlights): - Not all wineries keep enough in stock: we had to go to a couple to find enough for the 3 of us. - Not really worth it if you're just going for a day of tasting at Santa Cruz wineries: most of these have a super low ($3) or no tasting fee already. - Since it's an event, it can be more crowded but until we got to the end of our journey of the SC wineries, we didn't really run into mass amounts of people. Guess the smaller wineries are less crowded. - Not all tasting rooms are at wineries so if you're into the views and the vines, plan it out accordingly. - Only 4 times a year, so if you want to fill up your passport, you'll need to wait a few more months. Next one's in July! I'll be back to fill out my passport. Next time I'll try a different area. What fun!