You've probably seen Blade Gin or Rusty Blade Gin around the Bay. These two gins (and more) are…read moreproduced by Old World Spirits which operates out of a garage in an industrial park in Belmont. Don't judge just because it's an industrial park, this place is a tight, efficient operation and makes great use of it's space. It's got a huge copper still that makes everything from gin to rye whiskey to brandies to absinthe. On Friday nights you can get a tour and tasting for $15. Because of California law, spirits cannot be sold at the distillery, except wine/grape based brandies. The Blade gin is a citrusy gin with a lot of complexity but not much strong juniper flavor that turns most people off. The Rusty Blade is the same Blade gin that is aged in barrels which brings out more cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. It's very much a winter spirit in my opinion. The pear eau de vie brandy really packs a punch with a lot of great pear flavor and though I'm not really a fan of eau de vies this one is a great one. Also, make sure you try the walnut liqueur, based on a Croatian family recipe, for something different. Finally, yes, absinthe, real absinthe, is now legal in the US and you can taste La Sorcière here. It's a great traditional absinthe with a lot of anise flavor. The distiller who gave us the tour and the tasting was really nice and knowledgable. It was a great experience and I encourage everyone to visit once.

A Local Distillery up the road from our LoveNest? Awesome…read more We love bringing our friends in to do tastings on the last Friday of each month! It's $15 for a flight and you get a personalized group tour through each spirit. If it weren't for tasting 6 types of their 94 proof on avg spirits I'm sure I could tell you the names of the guys we had the pleasure of meeting! haha We met the creator of all the fine spirits! He was very laid back and eager to tell us about the processes and flavors he added to his unique creations. Blade Gin was my gateway into being a Gin Lover. I love Blade chilled with a touch of zest of lemon. Another interesting Gin we got to try is his new AGED Gin called Rusty Blade. It's an amber color and tastes like Christmas in a glass! It most certainly warms you from the inside out. I had to shake my head pretty hard to get back to reality after that one. The Absinthe is another wonderful and favored experience. If you're nice they will even let you FAIRIE up your own glass. I love watching my Faeries clouding up the glass. Then that special touch of Lemon Zest again and I'm on Cloud 9. We bought a few bottles this time to give as festive Christmas gifts. Our guests even surprised us with a bottle of Blade (SNEAKY THEY ARE!!) that night when we got back to our place. Apparently I had raved enough about it that they just knew it would make a great host gift as Thankyou for their stay with us over the Holiday weekend. We love going here and will certainly return again over and over. I've never stopped in on a Saturday, but I just might have to check it out. Perhaps the VIP service I already feel like we get there when it's crowded might just put the experience right over the top? Old World Spirits can enter my temple anytime...

Great spot for wine tastings! The team was knowledgable and friendly, and the tasting pours were…read morevery generous (2.5 oz). They had a couple tasting flights available, but we were also able to pick and choose a few wines from each to put together our own. If you take your tastings outside, just beware that the trees above the tables litter quite a bit of seeds, so it's best to keep the glasses covered (lol). The payment system didn't offer options for tipping, and when we tried to tip in cash, the team wouldn't accept it! I've never seen that before at a wine bar-especially in this day and age-but it honestly left us wanting to come back. I'd highly recommend Vin Vino if you're in the area; it's a great pre-dinner spot and we left feeling like it was great value for the price.

This is a nice place. I'm zooming in the front but really nice inside knowledgeable staff good…read morewhite wines. I'd be careful with the reds unless you go with the elite class.. I tried the white sampler of champagne and other French white wines and they were superb. Don't be fooled by the tasting. They're actually about a third of a glass of wine quite a bit.

TLdr; beautiful location, average wine…read more Tasting Fee is $35 per guest. Cheese and charcuterie for 4 was $80. One tasting waived if you buy $100 of wine. 2024 Leona Unoaked Chardonnay vs 2023 Leoncita Chardonnay. No contest. The 2023 in oak was MUCH better. 2024 Lucy's Rosé of Pinot Noir 2022 Hidden Block Pinot Noir 2016 Hidden Block Pinot Noir Not surprisingly, 2016 had the most complexity. Rosé is decent, if that's your thing. The grounds are scenic and the facility was modern and clean. The people working here are very nice but it gets busy so there were sometimes uncomfortably long gaps between pours.

Such a lovely vibe and amazing experience set on a beautiful property - this was my second time…read morehere and it didn't disappoint. We enjoyed an intimate experience with only one other party on a Wednesday afternoon. Service is welcoming, the wine is on point and the bites are such a great pairing for the tasting.

We stopped by this adorable winery on a whim to escape the rain. As soon as you go up the small set…read moreof stairs you're greeted by a beautiful upstairs barn loft space. It was quite a unique experience and the wine tender was very knowledgeable and even gave us an extra tasting. At $30 a flight it was one of the most expensive tastings we did while on our trip up the PCH.

We absolutely love visiting this winery and are proud members here. We are always treated with…read morefriendly staff and sincerely enjoy the atmosphere. The charcuterie served here is out of this world! The wine tasting never lets us down and we are consistently pleased with all varietals served (although pinot noirs remain our favorites!) Be warned- it's rustic here, but you need to just go with the flow. The bathroom situation is just as rustic as the barn. It's all part of the charm!

This is the baby sister to Cafe Vivant next door/attached. I had seen them building this when we…read morewent and ate months ago. Visiting friends during the day we decided to drop in. Met one of the owners and he was super friendly. Now the restaurants opening wine list is pretty insane so you can get a large breadth of European wines which we prefer. Also things like Cider and Madeira which you dont see in many other places in the area. The list for Burgundy alone is worth going for and its cool to be able to sample things and not commit to a full meal as well.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to give this place three or four stars, but since overall I…read morehad a good time, I'm rounding up. My fiance and I came here with a deal from Living Social for a "wine making experience." The deal was a bit on the pricier side ($120), but it also came with six bottles of wine. Throughout the night we were able to taste about seven different wines and were also given several cheese pairings and a brownie, all of which were pretty delicious. Part of the deal was also to bottle our own wine to take home. Fun! The only real downsides were that I was expecting it to be more like a class, which it wasn't at all. We had a quick intro to the facility and short tour, then bottled our own wine, which only took a few minutes. While I wasn't expecting to go out and harvest and ferment our own grapes, since it was called "wine making," I thought there'd be a little more to it. I also couldn't help but think of what a clever advertisement the deal was for the facility, which was smart on their part, but also evident throughout the night as we learned about the actual wine making club and were reminded many times that cases of wine were available for purchase. Either way, any event that involves wine and cheese makes me happy, so I'd say it was a success.

We've been making wine at Bacchus since 2004. We just love it. It is great wine at a great price,…read moreand we love being part of the process and having a healthy stash of our own wine with our own label. Dom and Gloria and the rest of the crew are just terrific, and have become like family to us. We typically get the Napa Cab grapes and opt for blending just before bottling. That means, we crush straight cabernet sauvignon, and let that mature for almost two years. About a month before bottling we'll sit down with the winemaker and experiment. With small volumes we'll play around with adding 10% sangiovese or 3% petit verdot, or a dose of montepulciano, or whatever seems to fit. Sometimes we go with an addition, sometimes we just let the cab speak for itself. It is a very rewarding way to enjoy wine. And as I wrote in the Domenico review, their facility is terrific for holding events.

I am very happy to recommend Madsen in downtown Los Altos. The gallery is well curated by Amy with…read morea great selection of art and artists. I selected a perfect piece for my home. Thank you Amy you were a dream to work with.

Madsen Gallery has a fantastic range of contemporary art and the owner is helpful, without being…read morepushy. The exhibits change regularly, worth the time to see what's showing and the prices are competitive. Highly recommend!

Amazing wine right from our backyard, LOS ALTOS HILLS…read more Small, cute tasting room, family owned. HIghly recommended:)