- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
10 reviews for Cottonwood Canyon
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Chris O.
San Luis Obispo, CA
1/25/2009
I stopped by for one of the food pairing/wine tastings. It was wonderful! I absolutely enjoyed the personalized and intimate service that Norm (owner/wine maker) provided! He is so personable and welcoming and truly created an enchanting experience!
At the event, they had a wonderful musician (Michelle Lewis) playing in the background. I was utterly impressed with her folk-like style.
I am looking forward to returning soon! -
Review from Joan D.
Port Hueneme, CA
11/21/2011
What happened here? It's been a few years since I've been here - I told my daughter about the food pairing with the pickled green beans, and she wanted to check it out.
Drove out there on a Sunday, in the rain, from Solvang. There were 4 people tasting wines when we got there. One lady pouring. A somewhat confused young guy circled the wines on the list that we would be tasting, gave us a plate of cheese cubes, and another with 3 pickled asparagus spears, poured us a taste of chardonnay, and left. We tasted the wine, tasted the asparagus, tasted the wine again. Finally, another lady came over & told us we shouldn't have the cheese yet (it was for the red wines)... Really no explanation of the relation of the cheese, the asparagus, the wines... Last time I was here they really explained all that, so it was a disappointment.
And the wines! Yuck! Only 2 tasted good - the "Syroir" and the 2004 chard, I think. The rest were getting pretty old, and looked/tasted like they were ready to go bad. Or already there! Comments on the tasting list were "drinkable thru 2012", etc. Nope! Nasty stuff - they should be dumped!
We weren't served any newer vintages - hopefully they are fine.
Really disappointed this time. -
Review from Lori S.
Santa Ana, CA
1/23/2012
Horrible experience. The staff was very rude and disorganized. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Comment from Rhonda R. of Cottonwood Canyon 1/24/2012
Unfortunately, it is hard to please everyone. Some people… More » -
Review from Matt M.
Los Angeles, CA
5/27/2008
One of the furthest stops along the Foxen Canyon wine trail, Cottonwood is well worth the trip. Their wines were excellent and they put forward a lot of effort in the personalized tastings. They offer some food food pairings to go with the wines. They don't rush you through the tasting, it was very nice. And offered to let us taste some more free of charge.
I don't usually care for whites, but theirs were palatable. I will definitely be stopping in again. -
Review from Jinny H.
Pasadena, CA
9/12/2009 3 photos
The vineyard is beautiful, tasting room is roomy, and the staff was friendy and accomodating for my wine tour group of 25, but all the wines that I tasted in the tasting room ranged from okay to gross. I usually never use the spit bucket to spit out my wine (even if the wine is just decent) but I definitely spat out the majority of my wine and once even refused my tasting (the horror!). BUT i did enjoy the cave tour and enjoyed their '05 bistro syrah... which just bumped their rating from a 2 to a 3 (just barely).
-
Review from Daniel M.
San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
8/31/2010
My fiancee' and I went to this winery just recently -- we were looking to have our Wedding and reception here. We were so excited because the brochure on the website said we could rent the Cave for $750/4 hours -- perfect...right? NO -- we got there and were given a tour -- we were not that impressed -- the Cave was dingy and smelly, but we like the price and uniqueness. We went back to the tasting room and given the brochure -- this one stated the Cave was over $2,000.00 to rent - wth. Almost triple from what their website said!
I even pulled up their website to show the discrepancy - the guy at the tasting room called someone -- he thought the lower price should prevail, but when he spoke to this person, the answer was that the website wasn't updated and the $2K price would prevail. BOOOOOO!
We drove up from Ventura based on what their website said only to find out it wasn't updated? Come on -- triple the price! WE Needless to say, we will never be back and discourage anyone else from going -- you'll never know what to expect with their "variable pricing method!"
Here's the description from the "Events Package:"
The Caves $750/ 4 hours Capacity 64 people
Our dimly lit caves provide an intimate setting for your event. Stucco walls and ceiling adds a rustic but elegant feel and provide for spectacular acoustics. Capacity can be changed depending on arrangment and group size. Please contact us with your particular needs and we will do whatever we can to create an ideal event for you. -
Review from Lisa Z.
7/5/2009
While I think this is a cute tasting room and a very nice location, a lot of the wines here have a terrible nose, to me- especially the chards, both vintage and non vintage. The pinots are thin and not berry like. The syrah was the only saving grace and still it was sub-par for the area. On the nose for both chards, the nose is very cabbage-like and with a sulfuruous gas smell, and I also taste the note in almost all of their white wines. The reds are also not very rich. I suspect that I just do not care for the winemaker's style here or that there is something in the soil that is drawing from this element. The staff have always been friendly and I like the pairings of olives and cheese with the wine, but they're fairly undrinkable to me-- although it pains me to say this, because I think the place has a lot of heart and tries hard to be welcoming.
-
Review from Jennifer G.
Hawthorne, CA
2/19/2011
This was our first stop in our wine tasting adventure. The wines were good - both reds and whites. The service was great and we were treated like special guests. Some of the pours were paired with food: spicy green beens, crackers, cheese. They are a little expensive, but not too far out there. I would recommend stopping here.
-
Review from Scott S.
Santa Maria, CA
9/11/2009
They let their wine sit too long. Wine is also not heat treated, so if you purchase from the winery, you better go straight home and store it properly, otherwise it will go bad very quickly. Nice property and view though. The wine is just not that good
-
Review from Tony B.
Burlingame, CA
2/18/2010
I'm surprised to see the poor reviews for this wine! Everything I tasted was exquisite. I especially like their '01 Chardonnay and the Bistro Syrah. I also tried a Pinot Noir I liked but I'm not sure which one it was. Some of the food pairings were not to my liking (I don't generally like pate so I am biased). The tasting room was nice and the pouring personnel were knowledgeable about the wines. Overall, I really enjoyed myself. There are a bunch of wineries within close proximity to this one, so start here, then go along the highway one by one for a nice day of tasting. Also, I hear the caves here are a pretty cool feature, so take the tour if you get a chance. I didn't have the opportunity to the day I went, but I definitely will next time.
