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Avio Vineyards
Categories: Arts & Entertainment Wineries Food Wineries Hotels & Travel Guest Houses Wineries, Guest Houses [Edit]
14520 Ridge RdSutter Creek, CA 95685
(209) 267-1515
- Hours:
Fri-Sat 11 am - 5 pm
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Renwood is proud to carry on the tradition of Gold Country wine-making by producing world-class wines rich in flavor and long on character. Renwood's… read more »
13 reviews for Avio Vineyards
13 reviews in English
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Review from Gary R.
Off the Amador and Sutter Creek path, but worth a targeted visit. This winemaker is exceptional. If you really enjoy well made, small lot, carefully crafted wine then this is the place for you!
The tasting room is a traditional Tuscan farmstead featuring a beautiful courtyard and fountain. The vineyard is atop the rolling hills and also features a bed & breakfast onsite.
The tasting room is simple Tuscan elegance, complete with the bar made of solid wood resting on vintage wine barrels.
This Italian winemaker has brought the family history of wine making over to the USA and has exception Italian red varietals. Each year brings new favorites, but the Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are my favorites from the 07-08 vintage.
Much like Terre Rouge/Easton this winemaker ages his wines a couple years. While the rest of Amador is tasting the 09/10 vintage, Avio still serves up it's 07 and 08's. It's this patience and passion for the wine, not the money, that really comes through.
The structure of these wines gives the ability to lay them down for 5-10 years, but they are also drink ready now. You may want them to breathe for an hour in the decanter for full appreciation!
Worth particular mention as well was the pourer in the tasting room. Teresa was exceptionally patient with our kids (7 and 5) while they played in the courtyard. She treated us like extended family, never once pushing us to speed up the tasting.
Avio is a rare bird these days with a winemaker who is exceptional, and passionate about the quality of the wine over the commercial opportunity. It is one of my favorites anywhere!Listed in: There's a fly in my…
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Review from William A.
Healdsburg, CA
11/26/2011
A great stop, and a gorgeous place to stay. We contacted Stefano - they were closed the day before Thanksgiving, but he was nice enough to host us to tour and taste his property and wines.
The property and guest room is stunning, and Stefano is a gracious host.
He tasted us through many of the wines (which we left with some) and then took us throughout the property.
A recommended stop when in the area, and a place to stay. -
Review from Paul K.
10/24/2011
Stefano and his wife Lisa are so hospitable. Not only is the winery atmosphere gorgeous, but their wines are well produced as well. When you come to taste here, you're treated like family, not like another dollar coming in to the business like some of the (few) corporate wineries in Amador (whom I won't name).
They also allow dogs on leash. Tux is good with other dogs, but Squirt almost mauled my 100 pound German Shepherd (who lives with a 14 pound cat at home. Squirt is SUPER protective over the tasting room, so dogs beware. -
Review from Lisa D.
Orinda, CA
1/14/2012
I made the mistake of joining their wine club when I was in the tasting room
so I could get a discount on the wine I was buying. They sent 2 bottles -
1 cabernet and 1 champagne and charged $50.00. First I thought - are they
in the champagne business? I just opened the bottle and I swear cold duck would
be better! I had to add orange juice to even be able to drink it!! You would expect
something drinkable for what I was charged. The cabernet was ok - nothing worth
what I was charged. Kinda of left a bad taste in my mouth - or maybe it's
the champagne that is doing that - YUCKy . -
Review from Eva H.
5/10/2011
I had two different experiences at Avio: one in the tasting room and one at a private event.
Tasting: the owner was there, pouring us plenty of wine and chatting us up heavily. Normally this would be great, but he was really, really pushing us to buy which I wasn't a fan of--if I want to procure your wine, I'll ask, alright? The wines, by the way, just aren't that great.
Event: fine. The space is quite lovely, if mosquito infested. There's a dog, cat, and (yes) peacock roaming the grounds, along with a gaggle of hens. Cute. I guess I just wasn't bowled over. Since it's a vineyard, there was no open bar (boo) and since I didn't like their wine, I pretty much stuck to beer (fine). The food was better than average wedding food, but not by much. From a guest's perspective, it was merely adequate.
Overall, it's a place to stop if you're in that area and into that area's wines. If you're looking to host an event, I'd read the horror story below and think again. -
Review from Elaine T.
San Francisco, CA
5/19/2011
In addition to thinking that Avio is a really lovely winery in a gorgeous spot with nice wines, I hosted a bridal shower there this past weekend and couldn't have been happier with the venue. I grew up in Sutter Creek (as did the bride) so it was nice to be able to have the event in such a beautiful spot back home. The people at the winery were very accommodating and helpful. Stefano, the owner, was very helpful and open to allowing us to have the event there, and the volunteers pouring that day were just the nicest people. My favorite wines are the Barbera and Sangiovese. All in all I'm very happy we decided to do this at Avio.
By the way, when I say the place is gorgeous I'm not kidding. There are sweeping views (I can't imagine how spectacular it is in the fall) and pretty buildings, and I enjoy the animals running around. -
Review from Matt R.
Oakland, CA
3/17/2008
While talking about Italian wines with the nice woman at Sutter Ridge, she mentioned that some of their grapes went next door to Avio, where they were putting together a stable of wines with more of an Italian style. So I headed over to the neighbors'. I was greeted by an amazing spread, with the well-signed gate leading to a smoothly paved road that wound through the vineyards toward an attractive, Mediterranean-style complex of buildings that looked like a reconstruction of an Umbrian agriturismo.
I was served by Stefano, the owner, and he was quite ready to give me a free tasting of Tuscan-Amador hybrids. The first was an unoaked Chardonnay, free of bitterness and carrying a nice tropical fruit nose. We moved into the reds, including a fruity Sangiovese, a good Zinfandel, and most notably a Cabernet that bore a distinct chianti-style finished, imparted by imported oak barrels. These wines were served in a nice, spacious tasting room, with large windows overlooking toolsheds, grapevines, and a small outdoor picnic area. The atmosphere was simply perfect, and this place would make a fine lunchtime destination on a sunny day.
Prices were in the $20s-$30s. I picked up a Sangiovese (which, on second taste, came out a little *too* fruity) and a bottle of that great Cabernet. -
Review from Heather F.
Foster City, CA
12/7/2008 3 photos
After a very difficult day yesterday, in which far too much crying was involved, I decided that I needed a nice, relaxing drive today. I would have been perfectly content to go alone, but Pete agreed to go along, in exchange for the promise of BBQ. We headed off toward Sutter Creek, CA. We picked this spot because a coworker of mine frequents this town on weekends and always comes back describing any time spent there as restful and relaxing. On the drive, we realized there are wineries all around this area and felt a pull toward Avio Vineyards.
Matt R. did a great job of describing the layout, so I won't repeat what he has already written so well. What I can add, is that there are currently 30 acres of land being used for growing grapes at Avio, and that land is divided into 5 sections. Each section is lovingly named after Lisa's (one of the owners) Italian Uncles. They compare the uncles to the type of wine created from those grapes. It's really very cute. For example, "Zio Giorgia's Lot- Cabernet Sauvignon: One acre. Zio Giorgio has always been somewhat of a classic; he's reserved in nature with refined qualities...just like our Cabernet Sauvignon." When you hear the couple's story, and how they ended up as wine makers in California, this will be as touching to you as it was to me (unless you lack a heart, in which case, you might gag). If you don't get to hear their story from them at the winery, definitely take the time to read it online.
Anyway, on to the wine. I am not going to make any claims that I am a wine aficionado or anything. What I can say is that I love what I love, regardless of how much a bottle might cost, what label it has on it, and what awards it has or has not won. I can't describe wine very well, and really don't care how others describe it. It's usually fairly meaningless to me. What might be "easy on the palate" or "robust and full-bodied with a hint of spice" might taste like deer piss to me...
I have been able to go to wine tastings across the country and have had my fair share of downright disgusting to absolutely exceptional wines. After more recent trips to wineries in the Finger Lakes Region of New York and in Wisconsin, where I have had lots of Riesling, Ports and Ice Wines (try Wollersheim Winery, Prairie du Sac, WI) I was excited to try some Italian wines.
Pete and I were served by Stefano, one of the owners, and he gave us an amazing selection to try from. We tried the Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and the Maximus Super Tuscan. Later we had Champagne and Raspberry Champagne. I am normally a sweet wine type of girl, because red wine just makes me naked, but I ended up leaving with a bottle of Sangiovese, Maximus Super Tuscan (the hands down best wine I have ever tasted in my life), and the Raspberry Champagne. I am not allowed to open any of them till I'm married (in April) because of said nakedness that follows red wine consumption and because the champagne is to celebrate once we get married. I can't tell you what I am more excited about. The nakedness or the amazing Maximus Super Tuscan...both will be worth the wait! -
Review from cami e.
San Francisco, CA
11/12/2009
Ok, it has been two years and I think I can finally write about my wedding at Avio.
We have a group of quite rowdy friends, a mix of San Francisco people, Brits and Irish (my husband is English), so maybe getting married at a winery was not the best choice, but we really wanted to get married in Amador Wine Country as that was one of the first places we went when we met, and my husband has a house in Amador County. And we thought it would be a bit different from the typical Napa/Sonoma wine country weddings, as Amador has a bit more low-key/family style wineries.
We used Beth Sogaard catering, which didn't really live up to our expectations, more on that later. We had visited the winery a couple of times with Steve, from the catering company (they're really the only game in town around there) who had also recommended the place to us. We got a good feeling from Stefano, the owner of Avio, who seemed like a really nice and down-to-earth guy. We briefly met his wife, Lisa, who we both immediately felt was quite cold and not very friendly (first instinct ignored). But, it seemed pretty reasonable, and the views from the back of the house (where the ceremony would be) were really gorgeous, especially in the fall when we were planning to get married. As we were leaving, we noticed a W sticker on one of their cars (instinct number two ignored), but we thought, aw heck, they seem like nice enough people.
Time comes it is the week of the wedding, and it is looking like rain! In September! We obviously didn't plan for that, as generally it just doesn't rain there that time of year. Five days before the wedding we get a call from the caterer (Steve at Beth Sogaard) and they said there was a couple getting married the night before us at Avio and they'd reserved a tent - he said that they didn't need to return it until Sunday, and if we wanted, they would just keep it set up for us, just in case it looked like rain - at no charge. Then, two days before the wedding he calls back and tells us they will need to charge us $4,000 extra! to rent the tent - not even a fancy tent. The tent company said they could rent it out on Saturday, as it was definitely looking like rain by this time. We were pretty angry after being told we could keep it for free, but what could we do at that point? $4,000 that was not planned in our budget really hurt.
Come the day of the wedding, it poured, all day. But, incredibly, it stopped in time for the ceremony, which we were able to have outside, with the incredible view behind us (neither of us wanted to get married in a tent). The event ended up being pretty fun, if a bit unorganized (our fault, as well as the caterers). The food wasn't great. I heard more than one person complain about the pork as no knives were provided and it was quite tough and too big to eat whole (annoying - did they think our guests would get into a knife fight? we weren't on an airplane). Our guests were a bit rowdy, sometimes verging on belligerent, and we had the caterer come to us more than once about the guests smoking outside the smoking area that was set up. Coming to us??? That's what we're paying you for. Steve had said over and over during the planning process we shouldn't worry about a thing, he'll take care of everything. It was pretty unnerving and really not what you want when you're trying to focus on your friends and family having a good time. There might have been a couple of other minor incidents with our guests, but nothing major like a fistfight or anything.
Then a few weeks after the wedding we received the most scathing, rude letter from Lisa, the owner of the winery, as to why we wouldn't be getting our deposit back. It was so unsavory and mean, it just completely ruined Avio for me forever. The place I got married. I was so upset and hurt by it, and it put a bad taste in my mouth.
Don't get married at Avio (unless you're a Republican or a teetotaler), because Lisa will not like you.Listed in: AVOID at all costs!
Comment from Stefano W. of Avio Vineyards 3/11/2011
Dear Cami, First, let me apologize for not acknowledging… More » -
Review from Ellen K.
Davis, CA
9/17/2011
We held my daughter's wedding last Saturday at Avio, and we can't say enough good things about the experience. The winery is on a ridge and so the view is stunning. The sites for the ceremony and reception are around the owner's house at the back of the property, so it felt intimate and private. We had 120 guests, and many of them called me this week to say that they had never been to such a beautiful site for a wedding.
The best thing about Avio is the service we received from Stefano and Lisa, the owners. My daughter's wedding was on a Saturday, so the rental company set up the tent structure, etc. on Friday morning. We had planned to leave the roof of the tent open to the air. Friday afternoon, we were told there was a 30% chance of rain for Saturday (evidently extremely rare in September). So the poor rental company workers had to come back, drop the roof and attach the tent. This took them until midnight. Stefano stayed there from early Friday morning until late Friday night to supervise. On Saturday, he and his wife Lisa were there from early in the morning until the last guest left at 10:30pm. During these entire two days they were exclusively working on our wedding, and pointed out several important things that our wedding planner was forgetting to do, such as a timely set-up of the ceremony chairs, have the buffet disassembled to allow dancing to begin and set up the newlyweds' room (which is on site and included in the package).
Throughout this time Lisa and Stefano were cheerful and warm to us and our guests. Despite the stress of the wind and potential rain (luckily, the weather calmed down by the 5pm start of the wedding), they remained calm and organized, and we felt very taken care of.
In the months before the wedding, they were very helpful and flexible in the planning. They do have some rules, but we felt these were ultimately for our benefit. We saw no mosquitoes - only the peacock, dog and cat.
Both the band and the lighting company mentioned to us that Stefano was a great help to them in setting up and organizing things.
Lastly, I am not a wine buff, but many of our guests were, and they all told us they really liked the wine.
Thank you to Avio for making our daughter's wedding everything she wanted it to be! -
Review from GC D.
Amador City, CA
6/9/2009
Avio is fantastic. A hearty "thumbs up" to their Maximus red - a potent libation that oozes with smoky, earthy flavors! Barbed Wire red is their best.
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Review from Jera T.
Martinez, CA
6/4/2011
We spent a week at Avio to celebrate our anniversary. The grounds are lovely and the guest room was luxuriously appointed by a decorator with a great sense of style and a very fine eye for detail. Our hosts, Stefano and Lisa Watson, were very generous. When we arrived, Stefano welcomed us with a tour and a private tasting. They stocked the kitchen cabana with snacks and sodas for us to enjoy throughout the week at no additional cost, and stocked the guest room with a huge assortment of DVDs. They welcomed us to walk the grounds and make use of the pool. We enjoyed our walks on the grounds with their farm dog, Tuxedo, and our encounters with their friendly rescue cats, guinea hens, and peacock. We had a wonderful, restful week.
No one asked me to address this, but I feel compelled to put in my two cents after the consistently generous experience we've had during our extended stay at Avio. Specifically, I read an earlier review from a dissatisfied bride and am having difficulty making sense of her experience with the extended experience of welcoming hospitality that we just enjoyed. I came to this conclusion. Avio is the fulfillment of a very personal dream for the owners, Lisa and Stefano. Their personal investment in opening up their slice of paradise shows up in the details and the way in which they take very good care of their things. For example, each night, someone takes the time to put the farm dog, Tuxedo, in a thick coat to make sure he's warm enough and someone removes the coat every day as soon as it warms up. If anything, in the outfitting of the guest room and their welcoming approach, they showed an exceptional amount of trust in us as guests to take good care of their nice things. I imagine that if a guest were to fail to treat their things with respect, they would react like any normal person in their position who shows such a level of pride in ownership. So, if they withheld a security deposit, I'm willing to bet there was ample reason to do so. Yelp has a lot of influence and sometimes perceptions can be distorted by the review of one or two dissatisfied people. We had a wonderful time and felt compelled to enter our review to provide some sense of balance. -
Review from Joy E.
Chicago, IL
7/19/2009
Boring, banal wine with little character--not worth visiting, even if the tastes are free. The owner (Stefano) was a conceited ass, making snide comments about my friend (who apparently wasn't happy enough for him, or something), and paying much more attention to the three wine club patrons who were gushing over his mediocre wine. Stefano pushed a white wine on us (although we were pretty clear that we were there for the reds) and when we didn't like it (as we predicted), he was snotty and rushed us through the rest of the wine-flavored piss he featured on his tasting menu. I wasn't impressed by any of his wines: like the winery itself, they were big on appearance but had little substance. They might be good in a few years, but honestly, I was so turned off by the owner's attitude that I'll never drink anything from this winery. (If this sounds harsh, sorry--I am a little tipsy on much better wine that I purchased from OTHER WINERIES.)
