Came upon Maldonado Tasting room in Calistoga. What a gem. Mexican American owned. As soon as you walk in you feel the cultura. A Family winery with excellent flavor profiles. Maldonado has a wine for every pallet. Friendly, professional, personable and affordable. Anne the tastings room manager made sure we were taken care of and that the wines she served were explained and discussed. There is a lot of history here that is amazing. Knowing that and tasting the wine from which that history was born is priceless. Maldonado Tasting Room is modest and there are items for sale by local artisans. Take the time to give Maldonado a visit. read more

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My sister and I came in on a Thursday evening and had a wonderful experience at this charming family owned winery. The prices are reasonable- $10 for a generous tasting- and the tasting host, Anne, was knowledgeable and friendly. (Ask her about her horse and mule rescues- she has videos on her phone and they're adorable.) As for the wine- try the 2013 cab, it's one of the best in the area. Also, just want to address the reviews below- anne was actually upset that she couldn't help the people who came in at 5, when closing time is 5:30. She had an aggressively inebriated woman in the tasting room and was concerned both for her welfare and for the comfort of the tasters, so she closed early. Just heads up. Come on in, you'll be happy you did! read more

Maldonado Vineyards - Best. Cab. Ever. - Wineries Near Me - Napa, California

It was so crowded, it was obviously a big stop for many... only one wine server? I noticed the full and over loaded dishwasher. When we did finally get a wine glass, she was kind and informative. Great at suggesting and really good at keeping you feeling like she had all your attention. We seated ourselves outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the busy small town bustling about around us. read more

Maldonado Vineyards - Perfect - Wineries Near Me - Napa, California

I made reservations on a Thursday and had a last minute change of plans and Lidia and Anne were so accommodating with our reservation change. On our arrival We met with Anne who was so polite and professional and knowledgeable of each of the wines she poured for us during our tasting. Each of the wines Anne poured for us were amazing which made it hard to decide on which wines we wanted to take back with us. I purchased three bottles of the Pinot Gris and I'm not a white wine fan but their Pinot Gris is phenomenal, as well as their other wines. I highly recommend visiting their tasting room while you're in Calistoga it's worth it. I also had a sprained my knee and Anne recommended an ointment which I purchased at Cal-Mart and now the sprain is gone, so Thank You Anne for being so accommodating and for the advice! read more

I loved our experience at Maldonado tasting room in Calistoga. We came upon it by coincidence on our way to lunch. After lunch we decided to stop in with no reservation Lydia quickly accommodate my family and I. I enjoyed my conversation with Lydia. She told me so much about their Vineyards and other Mexican American owned wineries. I prefer to visit the small boutique wineries than the castles and mansions and I am so glad we stopped. Tasting fee was reasonable and wine was delicious. We are more can drinkers but we ended but with Sauvignon Blanc, warm days perhaps. I've already recommended to my family as a must visit. Hopefully soon we'll visit Lydia and her family. read more

I wish I got the name of the sommelier when I was there on Wednesday, but she was excellent. Unfortunately there is road construction going on right in front of their location, so they aren't getting the foot traffic lately. I found them through the Napa Valley passport I purchased. She explained the wines in detail and gave us a lot of additional knowledge about winemaking. The wines were delicious and even got a little cheese and chocolate to go with them! Next time I'm back in the area, I'll definitely stop by! read more

This place shouldn't advertise that they close at 5:30 when they really close at 5! The woman in the picture refused to serve us and we had plenty of time to taste according to their website. read more

Maldonado Vineyards - The bar was full. There should be no reason to close early when the website says 5:30! - Wineries Near Me - Napa, California

Having just come from an excellent experience at Maldonado, I'm surprised to see two bad reviews here. The woman working here was very friendly and courteous, especially considering that we had a group of six people. We had purchased our Winter in the Wineries passports here and she had them all set aside for us. She did an excellent job of explaining all of the wines and keeping everyone's requests straight (you pick several wines from the list). Almost everyone in the group bought a bottle. I ended up with a bottle of the Zin, one that we all enjoyed later that night at dinner. We also ended up buying a case of the rosé of Pinot. I would definitely check out Maldonado. read more

Our group of four walked into the tasting room and were barely acknowledged. In hindsight, we should have simply turned around and walked back out. The server never greeted us, she never smiled, and she barely described the wines she poured. We could only guess that the wine passports in our hands indicated to her that we knew little about wines and she didn't want to waste her time on us. She poured us four wines which we sampled, and although we were not impressed by any of them, we did share with her our impressions of each. She never offered us a taste of anything else to help promote our appreciation of Maldonado wines.... Perhaps she was having a bad day, but due to our experience with that server, we will never return to Maldonado, preferring to go somewhere we feel welcome and valued. read more

Went to the tasting room today in Calistoga. The girl told us she was on her lunch break. Come back laterm

Brenda was great!! the pinot is good and the cab. She also made a recommendation for another tasing room that turned out great as well. Try the farmer's blend, I like blended wines just to drink and relax and this was good. Tasting fee is waiting bed with bottle purchase. highly recommend! read more

If I could I give this place a zero I would (just like many others) what an absolute MISERABLE experience. My husband and i purchased the passports early January for my birthday. We were excited to visit Napa for the first time and since it was an off season we thought great let's take the opportunity to try all these places! We visited castles, Sterling and quIte a few other locations that welcomed our visits and opened their tastings room with arms wide open to ensure we had a great experience. No other winery had a problem with us holding the "passports" and in fact went above and beyond to make our experience memorable. Walking into Maldonado- where do I begin? What an absolute miserable place or yet excuse to be called a tasting room. The person behind the bar was so irritated that we walked in I wish we had just left. She had a table of four to the left of us sitting and one person at the bar. I don't believe she even greeted my friend and as soon as she pulled out the passports she rolled her eyes, like if you don't want people coming in with the passports than maybe don't put your shittty tasting room on the ballet. The woman behind the bar (pictuRed in other reviews) was so incredibly rude I was blown away that this place exists. She told us she was too busy (with her table of 4 and 1 at the bar) to serve our group outside and we'd have to walk in for each of our tastings. Disregarding the initial impression we tried the Chardonnay and then the second Chardonnay. There was absolutely no explanation Of the wine nor was there any interest of us being a customer. How on earth do you run a business like this? She was extremely rude the entire time, no sense of customer service nor taking interest in the guests coming in to try this family owned wine. She did not recommend anything!! You'd think with how much red wine we saw her sipping during our visit she'd develop some kind of personality but nope just a horrible attitude. I would NEVER run my business like this and as a matter of fact if you're serving wine tasting for a living you better have a smile on your damn face. I was with three professionals who serve and protect this damn state and If you have such a damn bad attitude serving wine seriously get a grip! I'll walk my happy ass in any winery all day any day and serve with a passion and warm greeting and sense of community because I'm not saving lives yet I'm getting to share my love of good food and wine with others and appreciate the small things in life. This woman is horrible and should not be the face giving tastings. We will not return nor we will ever recommend the wines to anyone. read more

The place is meh. I love more to go to the actual vineyards to taste wine. The blonde lady she was ok but you can get better clerks anywhere else. Yeah the tasting is cheap , but I would rather pay more and get a better attention. She was kinda friendly but didn't tell me enough about the wines. read more

This place was busy, but the lady who took care of the tasting did a pretty good job of managing everyone's 4 tastings. I liked the Cabernet and the desert wine in particular. Nice evening in Calistoga! Slainte! read more

I wish I could give this place 0 stars. Completely disappointed w/ the overall experience @ this winery. My boyfriend & I came in to wine taste - we were ignored upon our entry & the woman who poured our wine didn't even tell us anything about the wine. She was a terrible host & didn't even introduce herself. If you don't want to be at work, go home. :) Oh & the wine was nothing special. read more

Went there at 11:05 (they open at 11AM) walked in and asked if they were open. The lady working there gave my wife a dirt look and slowly replied "yes". So since it looked like she was in no mood to assist we went right next door to August Briggs and said we would come back later in the day. SO now we come back at 5:40, and while we were walking up we see a lady put a sign on the door. Once we got to the door the sign says "Be back in 15 minutes" (they close at 6). And we can see the lady who put the sign up sitting at the counter drinking wine with another person. We knock to double check if they close at 6, she looks at us and then turns her head without coming to the door and continues to sip her wine. Out of all the places we went in Calistoga/Napa this is the only place that gets a negative review from me. Save your time, there are plenty of other wineries that are more helpful and courteous within walking distance then this one! read more

Super nice staff who are very welcoming and open to questions! Definitely stop by here if you have the Winter at the Wineries passports.

We lucked out on a quiet Sunday afternoon and had the place all to ourselves. Our server at Lovina recommended we stop in after we had tasted a Maldonado cab the night before. Brenda was so kind and welcoming. We enjoyed our tasting, left with a couple bottles, and received some tips for our next visit to Calistoga. read more

Small tasting room but very welcoming. The gal at the counter was super friendly and really treated us nicely. Had a great time.

A pleasant surprise. Small family owned winery. The Pinot Grigio and the Proprietary red wine were superb. Look forward to another visit!

We enjoyed the hospitality of a young member of the family who expertly guided us through a delightful tasting. We visited this intimate and modern tasting room right in the heart of Calistoga on a Sunday at 5:00 (open until 6:00). My companion, a Pinot Noir lover, focused on reds, and I on whites. The wines were very tasty, and you get to pick and choose from a broad menu of offerings. The fee was modest. I will enjoy the ones we bought to take with us and toast this family business! read more

Waited at the door till 11:03 assuming it opened at the 11 am. The clerk at the desk never looked up and I never figured out if they were going to open or not. read more

First of all the Winter in the Wineries Passport is a GREAT deal. Totally recommend the $50 investment to sample most of the wineries in Calistoga. We have been to Calistoga before and have visited Maldonado. The wine was great. "Known for their Chardonnay" but really, its hard to go wrong with whatever you choose-red or white. This time, we along with half the bay area so it seemed, wanted to squeeze in the last weekend of the passport tasting in Calistoga. Almost everywhere we went was crowded including Maldonado. I disagree with another recent review By Chris A. who dissed the 'server'. Our experience was just as nice as our last visit, but definitely louder. The two women working behind the bar were gracious, informative, and dealt with probably 12-18 people in the tasting room with ease. We bought a few bottles including a chardonnay and another label called Farm Worker. I recommend visiting this winery, especially now that the crowds have smoothed out. read more

I had the pleasure of tasting wines here a few weeks ago with one of the owners of Maldonado Vineyards, Lidia Maldonado. Lidia and her husband were born and raised in the valley and built their winery from the ground up. She was a gracious host who gave us the background of every wine we tasted. I know nothing of wine and let her know but she still treated me as though I knew everything. My girlfriend left with their award winning $125 bottle of Cab (which is really amazing). If you're going I would call ahead and make sure Lidia is there for a 5 star experience. Thank you Lidia! read more

Cute tasting room downtown. The wine was good and we were greeted by friendly staff. Our server shared with us some of her knowledge about the area. We asked about good restaurants to attend etc and she happily provided recommendations. Will come here again! read more

We had a great time trying the wines here! It was a nice get-away from some of the more super-touristy wineries. The girl running the tastings was really nice and helpful. They have a delicious desert wine that is honey-flavored, it's the last one on the list. It is a must-try! read more

My date and I came into the tasting store in Calistoga and found some nice tasting Chardonnay's! Their dessert Port has great taste! The staff for the day was David of the Maldonado family! Had a great experience and great time! Great conversation and very informative about the wines and winery!!! Bought some wine!! Thanks David!!! Rick G. read more

I drive for A Wine tour company and this is my secret go to place when clients want small, friendly, out of the ordinary wines. Never have had a complaint of my suggesting to stop here, and often my clients walk out with a case or two! I tell my clients this is the wine you want to take to a dinner party to impress, won't find it in the grocery store, tastes so good friends will be amazed that you shared it! Highly recommend. read more