Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
18 reviews
Saratoga, CA
"I came across uncorked when I was looking for a venue for my engagement party. I looked at several wine bars in the area including Joseph…" read more »
23 Reviews for Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards
Cooper-Garrod has a lovely setting in the mountains above Saratoga. They also have horseback riding here so you are likely to see horses walking about. It possesses a long history in wine & fruit growing and the military. You will be told all about this within your first 180 seconds in the place. The tasting room is rustic and chock full of history bric-a-brac and knick knacks.
All of the wine at Cooper-Garrod is estate grown & bottled. The wines here are, unfortunately, a bit inconsistent similar to those at Picchetti. The main difference is that the wines here are much more reasonably priced and the sales push is lot less here as well.
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The wine here was pretty good. There are three wines for free tasting, and I believe you pay five dollars for tasting of five additional wines. (I don't quite remember how many.) I would definitely recommend going for that additional tasting as the better wine was part of this latter part of my tasting experience here.
The tasting room is an unassuming wooden cabin that reminds me a bit of a clean saloon with trinkets for sale dominating the floor space instead of rickety tables and chairs. The people behind the bar were all friendly, young, and laid back. We enjoyed chatting with them about the wine and winery as we did our tasting.
This vineyard is actually a part of a ranch, so there's a stable filled with horses for horseback riding. I think some of my friends were interested in coming back for that particular activity. :-) I like horses and everything, but I'm not a fan of their smell that came wafting around every so often. Ah well, I suppose you're coming here for the wine anyway, so it's okay. :-)
One of the few Santa Cruz Wineries I had not had a chance to visit. One Sunday I decide to locate it. Well, no one told me that it was at the end of the road to nowhere. Not all that bad if you like horses. Somehow with that name and what others I had mentioned to me previously in my wine class, they thought it was good. Yes, so wine drinking is truly subjective.
So I truck out to the middle of never never, finally find it. Hmmmmmmm, WTF horses, big A.. farm. Hmmmmm, where is the Tasting Room. People on horse walking by. Then I see signs, horses this way, tasting room that way. So now I wander down the path since I now discover I could have parked closer and possibly avoided the land mine of cow poop to find this wooden house that resembles an old school post office. I go in, not too inviting. I'm so not impressed. There are medals up, and I say well can't be too bad let's give it a try.
As I am tasting, which for me is more spitting than anything when I"m driving, I'm struggling to understand the characteristics of what they are telling is supposed to be in my glass. I'm bewildered. Still trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, I take my glass and wander around a rather dusty like T.R. When you grab a map and things flap off uh oh.
Well, the wine it's doing it for me, but I did find a few things that did. FREE Recipes, now we're talking. So I go through the recipe box while still trying to determine if the wine I just sample would go better with food, hmmm perhaps, that's what wine is suppose to do. So, being the trooper I buy a bottle of Merlot and pick up an anniversary present for some friends. Sterling wine bottle holder with nice decorations. Unique. I'm pleased with it. So, now I think to myself I should grab a bite to eat with the hope that this wine I have purchased will have some redeeming possibilities. Well, sorry folks, I left it on the table for the wait staff.
I so wasn't feeling it. I have seen the CG name many times and also represented in many events but, this one definitely did not work for me. Now, if you're looking for a local place to go riding this is your place. Picnic, I'm not so sure unless you're used to horses, sorry to say I'm not.. I'd say it's worth checking out, for yourself. But, I don't think I'll go back.
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COOL:
- Horses in stables to see. One of the horses took a liking to me.
- The "Old West" theming of the entire place was super cool. The styling of the buildings matched this theme and there was an old car parked there too, sitting next to an old school gas pump.
- Friendly guy who did the tasting with us. Friendly woman who showed us a horse.
- Fun, quaint gift shop.
- Free wine tasting.
LESS COOL:
- No sweeter wines.
- None of the wines was super awesome or cheap.
- It's no fun to walk around outside since everything smelled like horse.
Wow, this is a cute spot nestled in the outskirts of the Santa Cruz (?) mountains in Saratoga. The drive was beautiful, and surprisingly close to my home (15 min). I was bummed that the rains were horrible, but I am looking forward to trying the Eco-tour hike they hold in April (this past Sat was cancelled due to the weather).
*It definitely felt more like a horse stable than a winery, but the service was great and we enjoyed ourselves while we were there. The Viognier and Merlots are sold out for the season, so I was bummed.
*If you are in to red wines primarily, they have some that are nice full bodied reds, yet soft on the palate.
I kinda want to go horseback riding there also... hehe, I don't know if drinking and Riding are a good combo though!
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Now this place is a little strange because it's located right by a horse stable. So given that, the air smells like horse, hay & poo. The environment is definitely not like your typical winery with a huge, lush vineyard. What I did like were the people that worked there! Because it wasn't crowded at all, my friends (the wine lovers) got to talk to them and learn more about the wines. I took a brochure with me so that I don't have to go all the way to Half Moon Bay for horseback riding - it's $40 per hour here!
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This small, family-owned winery has a free wine tour every first Saturday of the month at 11:00 ONLY! The tour is around an hour long, and since it's free, it's definitely worth it! They ask that you make reservations beforehand (but I think that's all for formalities sake. My bf and I showed up right at 11 and just ran up to join the group tour).
The tour was pretty typical, they show you the grapes and how it's grown, you go into the barrel room, yada yada yada. Afterwards they let you taste basically all their wine. I really enjoyed the experience; and I think we went home with a merlot. (I also placed myself in a wine tasting mood the night before by watching "Sideways".)
The only downside of it is that the air smells like horse dung. Not a good place to have a romantic picnic with your s/o...
This is a great spot to come and wine taste and it's literally a 10-15 minute drive from my home. Beautiful winery in the hills of Saratoga. It was just unfortunate that it was pouring cats and dogs the day that I came with friends. The staff was nice and accommodating. The first 3 wines were "on the house" and thereafter, you could pay a $5 fee to taste the remaining 5 or 6 wines. Mostly red wines with the exception being the chardonnay which is the first wine on the list. Ok, so I cannot remember the names of the wines (no, I wasn't drunk!) but I remember that the first 2 red wines were soft, very mellow tasting. As you go down the list of the wines, they become more full bodied and dry tasting for my palate. The prices of the wines were reasonable, ranging from $20 to $32. If only I were more into red wines, I would have bought a bottle.
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This place is absolutely charming. My friends and I were served by the owners (not unusual) and they were knowledgeable about their wines, and friendly. We even got to meet George, the guy who started this place, and the namesake of their fantastic 2000 George's Vineyard Cab (which truly is a steal for $35).
I used to come here when I was young for horseback riding lessons, and the horses today remain some of the most beautiful ones I've seen.
After tasting their wines in the warm and humble tasting room, I'm starting to appreciate what good wine is, and it puts into perspective that touristy-heavy and overpriced Napa isn't all that great.
I got the 2000 George's Vineyard Cab, and the 2005 Viognier (which tasted like honey, amazing). See http://www.flickr.com/....
I'm a fan, and am taking my dad here for wine tasting for his birthday. They also have tours on the first weekend of the month (call in to check).
Cool spot. Really hidden. Has stables with beautiful horses. This is where I realized that I'm allergic to either hay or horses. Tasting was $5 per. Nothing I'd want to buy but the server was extremely friendly and knowledgable. An older gentleman, either Mr. Cooper or Mr. Garrod, was there also serving in his Members Only jacket. Pretty cool. Articles of him being a NASA test pilot were on the wall.
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In honor of our friend Kim's Birthday we went wine tasting with 15 of our friends... Good friends, sunny day, and good wine... Such a perfect day.... UNTIL we got to Cooper--Garrod... Our initial impression was "charming" but it stunk like horse poo... Then in the tasting room, we met George who started the whole place... He was cute and very very very old.... The guys pouring were very friendly.... I think they are just happy that bunch of fun young people to liven the place up. So far so good, we are on our second wine.... OH, WAIT... What is that sound??? I turned around and this old butch looking woman was shaking her finger at one of my friend. " IF YOU DON'T KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO LEAVE. I CAN DO THAT BECAUSE I AM THE OWNER!!!" First of all, my girlfriend was not being loud. We were exited, happy group of 15... WHAT? Are we at funeral or something? Why do we have to be quiet??? However, to be fair, my friend keep saying "I got it, I understand, etc..." However, the old hag still wouldn't stop pointing finger at my girlfriend & wouldn't shut her pie hole... SHE was way out of line... Of course we don't stand for this type of rude behavior... So we immediately took off & went the Picchitti where everyone was nice, and didn't mind us happy folks...
Little advice to you grumpy lady.... I'm sure by looking at the way you are dressed & your mean attitude you probably haven't gotten laid in 20 years... BUT Please don't take it out on beautiful young happy people.
Your place smell like horse S*it, you serve mediocre wine, and you have a bad attitude. That is a great combination for not so great business... As a business owner, you could have handled the situation in different manner.... You are going to ruin what your Dad took all his life to build.... By the way, didn't your parent teach you that pointing finger is not polite? Why don't you take your "Power Trip" and your wiggling finger up where sun don't shine???
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2000 Cabernet Sauvignon George's Vineyard is a steal for $35 / bottle.
This wine (George's Vineyard) is from the oldest vines of the estate, and it is noticeably more complex, integrated and refined than other 2000 Cabs (Vally View Vineyard and Lone Oak Vineyard).
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It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon we were a group of 15 in a limo out wine tasting in the Saratoga area, this was our third stop. Since there was 15 of us and it was our 3rd stop we were having a great time and maybe some would say loud while others would say having a great time. We were on maybe the second pour of wine and this short very poorly dress women in a blue sweat outfit came over to our group shaking her finger right in our faces telling use if we did not quite down she would kick us out and she could do that because she was the owner. She was not polite about it at all. It is one thing to ask you to keep it down but it is another thing to have a finger shaken in your face while you are being scolded. I don't know about you but I don't put up with that and my friends don't either. We left right away there was no way a old woman in a tacky sweat outfit was going to talk that way to us. BTW way all 15 of us spent way way too much money on wine that day and not one cent went to Cooper-Garrod. I would say it was their loss not ours.
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Cooper-Garrod was our second and last stop of the day during a mini Sunday afternoon wine tasting trip with my coworkers. One of my coworkers is really into wine, and brought us to Cooper-Garrod and Ridge today. Cooper-Garrod is a nice little winery with the wine tasting area that looks like a small barn. Along with the winery, there is a stable next door for horseback riding.
This winery was pretty packed when we got here, more packed than when we had gone to Ridge. I liked the inside of the wine tasting room a lot. It wasn't modern or chic looking, but more of a nice, old feel to it. They had a lot of pictures on the wall, including pictures of some of the people who had opened up the winery. And also a bunch of pictures that sort of made up a mini-history timeline.
We tried a bunch of wines here, and I loved their white wines. I ended up buying a bottle of their Viognier for $20, which isn't too expensive at all. The staff here was excellent , very nice, and very helpful with explaining the different variety of wines, and also a little bit about the history of the winery.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Cooper-Garrod a lot. Considering I'm still pretty young and barely just got into drinking wine, I was very excited to find out that we had so many wineries in the area.
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A definite little gem in the hills above Saratoga. The Claret and George's Vineyard Cabernet were outstanding. Surprisingly, however, although I'm usually a red drinker I ended up leaving with a bottle of their Voignier. It has a very nice apricot/peach scent and taste but still dry, not sweet. The only way I can describe it is that it is similar to an apricot ale,only in wine form. Very unique.
The only wine I didn't like here was their Syrah. Syrahs are normally one of my favorites but this one just didn't do it for me. The describe it as having " memories of a great campfire" but it was more like drinking a campfire than remembering one. Just way too smoky for me. That's justy my taste though. Apprently it's won awards so you may like like it.
The stables next door are prettty nice too. I brought my 4yo little girl up here for a pony ride and she loved it. Normally "pony rides" are 5 minutes long and they go around in circles inside of a pen. Not here though. They actually get the little ones in helmets and take them for a 1/2 hr trail ride. The smile on my little sweety's face was worth way more than the $25 it cost.
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One of the things I miss about living in Santa Cruz is that I can no longer purchase Cooper Garrod's Cabernet (one of my favorite wines of all time) at Costco....actually I have not been able to get Cooper Garrod anywhere down here in SoCal. *sigh*
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Cooper-Garrod makes a good companion stop to Picchetti. For me, however, Picchetti is the clear winner of the two. The winery building itself is equally interesting (particularly the Air Force history of the winemaker), but the pourer we had was not very knowledgeable or charismatic (maybe he was the backup guy--it was pouring down rain that day and we were the only ones there). Furthermore, with the exception of the raspberry-tinged Cabernet Franc, none of the wines made much of an impression. Still, don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself if you're in the area.
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Cute little vineyard, and you can ride horses after you get drunk!! What more can you ask for??? I would have Ryan pour you the wine, cause he will fill it up a lot more than Barbara!!!
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We liked their white wines better than their reds. The Chardonnay was especially good, sweet yet complex with a spicy apple aroma. We also liked their viognier. Horse riding is available at this winery and we plan on trying that when the weather is better.
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A truly excellent little vineyard producing some impressive wines. Located in the Saratoga Hills only about 25 minutes from Palo Alto, it boasts a tasting room dating back 75 years and a quaint little picnic area where you can enjoy a glass of their wine with your lunch. A complimentary 3 wine sampling is offered as well as a $5 sampling featuring a host of selections from their 'reserved' list. Wines aren't cheap averaging about $25/bottle, but well worth it! Very very good wines from an unexpected little winery. They also have a stable where your kids can go for a horseback ride.
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Cooper Garrod Winery is one of those places that makes me feel inspired. The winery is run by a guy names George Cooper who was in the US Air Force in WW2 and then was a test pilot for NASA until 1973. He then retired but decided to devote himself to his hobby of making wine. Thirty years later he has a thriving business making high quality wines. His walls are adorned with photos of his test flight days yet the focus is still on the wine and the quality. The Claret & Viognier in particular are not to be missed. Most of the employees are family members and very knowledgable about the wine and the winery.
Another interesting thing of note is the Garrod Family Riding Stables that offers horse riding lessons. I haven't tried it but I like how it contributes to the overall farm nature of the site.
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We found Cooper-Garrod somewhat by chance; it was recommended to us on a visit to another winery. What a fortunate happening, though! We sprung for the $5 extended sampling, and it was perhaps the best $5 we spent all day. George's Cabernet & RV's Claret (on the extended tasting) are our favorites of the wines we've had from Cooper-Garrod. On a return visit (3 months later), Ms Cooper remembered us! We're now members of their wine club. Great service & wonderful wines from an unassuming family winery. To us, Cooper-Garrod represents what is best about the Santa Cruz mountains wineries.
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the plan was to drive south on foothill blvd as far as i can and see if i get myself lost, then find my way back. if you follow the road without winding up any of its offshooting side streets, you will eventually find the road ending in a fork.
the left fork goes up mt. eden road, which winds its way up into the hills before depositing you in the richer areas of saratoga. if you patiently follow mt. eden past the pseudo-countryside and big expensive houses, you will eventually find the brown and white lettered cooper-garrod sign on your left.
their 2000 cabernet sauvignon is an award-winning little wine that is sweet on the nose with raspberries. i find it a little spicy on the finish. i truly enjoyed the newly released 2003 cabernet franc (i'm a sucker for sweetish wines, and this one is quite so), and bought two bottles on the spot. the chardonnay didn't leave much of an impression, but it wasn't bad, and i'm not really one for white wines. i didn't jump for the $5 extended sampler, although i hear they are quite good.
as previous reviewers wrote, the bottles aren't cheap - when i did a bit of scouting at whole foods later, i found the same wines for an average $5-8 less. however, that's nothing to pay for the fact that we have an excellent vineyard in our backyard. if you follow mt. eden all the way down and make a left at the t-junction, you will eventually dump out into saratoga-sunnyvale road. not bad for a short sunday afternoon jaunt, eh?
down the street is the mt. eden vineyard, which i have yet to visit.
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