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19 reviews for Crystal Basin Cellars
19 reviews in English
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Review from Jonathan L.
San Francisco, CA
11/8/2011
Most amazing winery in the apple hill area. The staff is the most friendly people I have ever met and treats every customer like they are family. When I come to visit, I really feel like I've known then owners for years. They also renovated their sampling room which looks amazing.
The winery is beautiful and modern. I tried barrel tasting and the wine is delicious. My favorite is the Merlot. I normally HATE red wine but this one is delicious.
Overall, you MUST try this place. Amazing staff, amazing wine and prepare to have an amazing time! -
Review from Theresa M.
Fair Oaks, CA
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
What's great about this winery is it offers two different kinds of wines - the usual suspects of merlot, zin, cab, etc AND beautiful blends!! The regular wines were good, but nothing amazing. The blends on the other hand - FANTASTIC!!! So good we decided to enroll in the Asendance Wine Club. There are only two shipments a year but are about $60-$75 per.
Another FAVORITE - "Bubbly." Even as a red drinker, I enjoyed it. At least give it a chance. You may be surprised!! :)
Oh and check out the sauces!! Apple Bacon made my mouth water and belly hungry. -
Review from Tyler R.
Sacramento, CA
We went it here just to kill a little time and more than 2 hours later we left, buzzed and happy. Best deal I have ever seen for wine tasting. $5, and I probably tasted 15-20 wines, and never even got to the whites. The employees were super nice and offered us food to pair with the wines, and also invited my girlfriend and I to join them in their employee BBQ. We were also invited into the cellar and tasted wines directly from the barrel. Ibought a case of wine, and I will be back for more.
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Review from Lisa S.
10/16/2010
Right now, I'm kicking myself for not buying a bottle of the 2008 Grenache. =/
Took a trip to Apple Hill for a friend's birthday last weekend. She and her husband are members, so it was stop #1. Everything we tried was excellent (the Barbera and the Grenache being my favorite). We also did the barrel tasting, accompanied by Dozer the Yellow Lab. Nice people, great wine, cute doggie - highly recommended! -
Review from Randy C.
Placerville, CA
3/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
Now to be completely open and above board, these guys are clients of ours BUT having said that, if I didn't love their wine and hospitality, I wouldn't post it here. We are wine club members and attend most events. Mike, Melissa and crew rock and the Renegade Red made my wife a red wine lover (so much so that we buy this stuff by the case!).
So not snobville. Small and unpretentious. Good job all. -
Review from Julie S.
Roseville, CA
8/24/2011
5 STAR REVIEW......
"Big Mistake" he says "we shouldn't of stopped here."
"Oh my gosh....Why do you say that?" I inquire
"Because you never stop at the best place first and taste your way down."
"Oh!" (snicker)
If you want great wine with a beautiful, rustic setting and a "long lost friend" feeling, go no further than Crystal Basin Cellars in Camino. Every time I go here, they ALWAYS make me feel like VIP. How is it that you always know my name?!?!
Thank you for always welcoming new friends (and future wine club members, ha ha) like family, thank you for hours in the barrel room tasting and laughing, thank you for winery dogs, thank you for the BEST future release parties (PERIOD!), thank you for making yummy yummy wine year after year and for making the simple joy of sipping a good glass of vino (or 3 or 7) THAT much more enjoyable.
Cab Franc, Syrah, Malbec, Merlot, to the Renegade Red....throw in some Ascendence and Triumphant......the list goes on and on. (I'm sure the white wines are good too, but as you can see, I'm a Red kind of girl). If you need any more reason to go, Check out their event calendar and plan a tasting around on of their many events held throughout the year: http://crystalbasin.co...
Nothing short of spectacular. I raise my glass to you Crystal Basin.
......now, who drank my last bottle of Pinot???? -
Review from Tracy A.
Oakland, CA
5/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
What a great find! Close to my mom's house and such nice people in the tasting room. The wines were very drinkable as well. If you buy a bottle, they wave the $5 tasting room charge. It is not hard to find at least one bottle to buy.
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Review from Shari S.
Livermore, CA
3/25/2009
I love this winery! I work for a winery in Livermore, CA so generally other CA wineries offer me a nice discount (meaning I don't join clubs)...needless to say we've been club members for...shoot, probably around a year now.
My fiances family lives in the area so we visit Crystal Basin whenever we visit fam. The first time we visited the tasting room we were treated like family. They took us back to the barrel room and let us taste multiple more wines than were on their already nice tasting list, and also let us taste from a few barrels. After this they decided they wanted to open up some bottles of varietals that had just been bottled...of course they wouldn't let us leave without trying these as well. We ended up staying at this winery for over an hour, and had an excellent time, and great service. The people here are so so friendly every time we go.
Once we were coming up late and I really wanted to get our club release....they not only said it was no problem but also allowed us to bring our dog in and taste (and fed our dog a few pretzels)...everyone was happy! =)
Oh yeah, the wine...well the wine was the stand out reason we joined the club. Definitely my favorite wines...I'd name a few, but really I love them all...I've never had a bad or just "okay" wine here. Everything is top notch. -
Review from Andrew S.
Encinitas, CA
10/21/2009
We have almost missed this place, it is so unpretentious. The people there are the greatest, their wines were superb! We were invited to the barrel tasting in the back, which gave us not only an excellent tasting experience but also the best company. I wish I have lived near by so I could visit there every week. They deserve much recognition for their friendliness and quality of wine.
BRAVO! -
Review from MELISSA B.
Charlotte, NC
Was here for the Barrel Tasting 2011 and was pleasantly surprised with the wines and the friendly staff! A friend with us had recommended the place as one of his favorites and we were not steered wrong. I was in LOVE with the Malbec and I rarely fall in love at first sip! I hope I can find you in my hometown darling Crystal Basin!! Till we meet again!
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Review from Terra T.
Kailua, HI
1/1/2010
I went to a wine and food pairing here with a friend who is a member. I really enjoyed the experience, everyone was very friendly, I enjoyed most of the wines and all of the foods. Something very important to me is how snobish the staff is, and these people are still very down to earth.
I don't know how much the event cost because as the guest of a member, I was free....I like that they had one of the winemakers there, I asked him a lot of questions more because im interested in the chemistry of winemaking, and he was very knowledgeable (although some of it was over my head.).
Great wines, it was a while ago so I don't really remember all of the details of each one, but I know I bought a bottle. -
Review from Peggy B.
Jefferson, LA
10/10/2010 1 Check-in Here
Vivacious Kim on Tuesdays. She knew what she liked & was very honest. She made the tasting Fun. She went from no one, to just us, and then a full house within 15 minutes. Handled it like a pro. We enjoyed the selection of wine and bought some Renegade Red for the midweek dinners. The wine and tasting room is highly recomended & we will return on our next trip in the area.
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Review from Real Deal O.
Sacramento, CA
12/2/2009
I visited the tasting room at this winery this week and I was pleasantly surprised at the high level of customer service as well as the friendly Yellow Lab (Dozer) we encountered. It is tucked away off Carson Road and not a fancy entrance, but the wine is good and it was free. My only knock on the place was the price of their wines for sale.....Try the Cabernet Franc, Renegade Red and my favorite, the Mouvedre. Definitely worth the drive up to Camino.
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Review from James M.
Acworth, GA
9/9/2009
As it usually happens when you find a great place we stumbled on this winery as our first stop of the day on a day wine excursion from Lake Tahoe. This is the most friendly winery I've ever visited. They have complimentary tasting of many of their more popular wines and even invited us back to taste futures. Their whites were good, but their reds were all extrordinary. After a week in Sonoma and Napa I didn't join any wineries' clubs, but I joined here and now can't wait for my next shipment. A+ all around!
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Review from Jenny V.
Citrus Heights, CA
2/22/2010
When you can walk into a winery tasting room and feel like you are family, it's a good thing. My husband's family lives not too far from here but we discovered Crystal Basin during a barrel tasting event put on by the El Dorado County Winery association. I don't think I have ever had a bad glass of wine here. We last visited during the Bring Out the Barrel even in January and had a great time.
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Review from Mark C.
Danville, CA
9/3/2011
We love the wines at Crystal Basin Cellars. The El Dorado County AVA wines are generally fruit forward and very easy to drink. My priority is the Barbera, and Syrah. Actually All their Red Wine is pleasant to drink. We have a place in South Lake Tahoe and are season pass skiers. So CBC is a regular must stop on our way up. I hate it when we get to Camino after 5:00PM and they are closed. We always pick up at least 3 bottles if not a 6-Pack (or a case) of Local El Dorado County Red Wines from CBC for our stay. The staff are all super friendly and helpful. As others have said the barrel tastings are fun, and we think we learn more when we "place a bet" and buy futures, and then later find out if our Taste Buds were correct. (never been disappointed) It helps us learn how young wines will turn out - when ready for sale. Good savings for taking the chance. We've been to a several parties at CBC and have been members for several years. A fun place. With easy on/off access from Hwy 50 if you are on your way to South Lake Tahoe. Great People and Great Wine. Highly Recommended. Infact check out all the wineries in this El Dorado AVA you will be impressed. Sorry Napa the secret is out.
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Review from Alan D.
Pleasant Grove, CA
11/4/2008
Love a winery that invites you to the back room for barrel tasting. Loved it enough to buy a case of wine futures.
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Review from Lori J.
San Francisco Bay Area
1/27/2009
Excellent!!! Great wine & great people.
Don't miss Crystal Basin. We were there for the Barrel Tasting event and the wines & hospitality exceeded expectations! The wines were fantastic and again - the people were so fun. Don't miss it and take home a case instead of a few bottles or you will be sorry and have to pay for shipping once you get home and realize you should have purchased a case. Can't wait to return in May. -
Review from Debi C.
Placerville, CA
12/31/2009
I've never been able to drink red wine...it always gave me horrible headaches....but after meeting Mike and trying their red wine I am a convert. I particularly like the Renegade Red and the Cab Franc.
They also host great events and are terrific people to be around.
However, If you're not able to get to the winery in Camino to buy their wine they do have an online store on their website. http://www.crystalbasi... They will deliver right to your door!
Debi
