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Joseph Swan Vineyards
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Sat-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
14 reviews for Joseph Swan Vineyards
Wonderful place! The people working there actually seem to like their jobs. :-) There were vats of crushed grapes as you walked in, and the large imposing doors were impressive.
The tasting room is part of their storage/work area, and is only open on weekends or by appointment. (We squeezed in on a Friday.) The rest of the time, the space is used for bottling and daily operations.
This was our first stop of the day, and was wonderful way to see how a small winery operates. They were topping off the barrels while we were there, and happy to answer any questions our group had.
The wines are good, and the location is gorgeous. The only drawback, don't trust the wineroads map! The tasting room is on Trenton Road not Laguna. (Also note there are multiple Trenton Road exits off of the River Road highway.)
Like many of the wineries I have reviewed recently, I have been here twice during Barrel Tasting Weekend in March. They do a great job at this event and offer 6 tastings, plus a few out of the bottle.
I appreciated their willingness to educate people (especially the geologist, like Stephanie said) and fell in love with their 07 Tannat. I have never purchased future wines before, but this just blew me away and I cannot wait to get my shipment.
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This is a great place during barrel tasting. They have at least 6 different wines to sample in the barrel and 4 or so in the bottle. They are very informative and you can get a great wine education here, complete with a geologist this year to discuss how and why the wines are different. Some of the wines, syrah and zinfandel, are the same grapes but different regions in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Valley. The 07 tannat is my favorite and I look forward to getting a big ol box of it come November.
I've never been here outside of barrel tasting, so I have no idea what's it normally like.
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I first came here ten years ago and was so impressed with the kindness of the employees and the quality of the wine that I came back ten years later. Their wines are some of the few age worthy wines made in California. The employees know their wines and wine in general. The setting is very rustic with old wine equipment and wine barrels. If you happen to like well balanced, elegant wines can will get better with age, I highly suggest visiting this winery.
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This is a small-scale production winery (~5,000 cases a year) making some great wines. You taste in a warehouse amongst barrels & a bottling machine. I would think in the 40 years that they've been in business they could have afforded a more refined tasting area. The service was great! Very friendly and generous. Overall I liked the wines, the clear standouts were the Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels. Not a huge fan of the Gewurztraminer or the Tanat but overall a strong showing. I'll be back!
I really didn't enjoy my experience here. I don't think any of my friends did either. First, I didn't find the lady there to be all that nice or helpful. We were, initially, the only group in there. I felt like we were just bothering her. Ok, not quite. In all fairness, she did answer our questions with a smile generally, but I got the feeling that she thought we wouldn't buy anything and decided to treat us accordingly. I'm not saying that's what she was thinking, but I felt that way. Especially when this other group walked in after we were there and I felt that she was MUCH friendlier towards them. I couldn't tell if she already knew them, she very well may have and maybe that was the difference.
The wines were average at best. I did pick up a bottle, but that was mainly because I wanted to get a bottle from each winery I went to since it was my first time in Sonoma/Napa.
We stopped by during the week but found out this Vineyard tasting room usually only open during the weekend. So we stopped by again on a Saturday morning. We were glad we did.
All the reds are great, my favorites were the syrah and pinot noirs. The big surprise to me was the gewurztraminer, i had good and bad experiences with this wine, but the 2007 gewurztraminer from Joseph Swan was absolutely pleasant, dry and tasty.
Too bad, i forgot to ask the name of the hostess, she was very friendly and knowledgeable.
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I love coming here. The atmosphere is so cool, this huge barn-like structure that is chilly and smells like grapey-goodness. The people who work here are always so friendly and love to share stories about the wines.
Plus, the wines are excellent. The pinot gris was one of my favorites all summer. Lately, I've tried their Zinfandel and Pinot Noir and was very impressed. We bought a few bottles and it's been hell trying to let them age a bit more and not opening them up right away.
I would recommend stopping here during a day in Sonoma. It's a cute little place and you will be welcomed and well-treated.
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I felt like the odd-man out here. All of my tasting companions thought this place was amazing and I just don't get it. Of the 6 wines we tasted there was only 1 that I would consider drinking again. Add on medium-high prices and an understaffed tasting room (1 woman to about 15 guests) and I was ready to get out of there.
What wine tasting is SUPPOSED to be like. Unpretentious, honest folks, enjoying the sharing of good wines. Prices are appropriate, and the wine maker was happy to tell us all about his different varietals.
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I would say that this place is in the must visit again category. The wines were not expensive and they were great. I really liked their Syrah. The people they had working the tasting bar area were super great and they had no problem with us bringing a puppy with us.
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EXCELLENT Pinots and Syrahs.. they weren't pouring any of the Zins, but we tried the new Tannat they are making - very interesting. Great wines, nice people!
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Great Zins & Pinots. Their Zins seem to have staying power. Meaning, I recently drank a 1999 and it was still very good.
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winemaker rod berglund is a diamond in the rough. the first time i visited his hole-in-the-wall tasting room, he dismounted the forklift, opened the barn door, and started pouring us a bottle of 1976 russian river pinot. the second time, his wife decided to open some of the zinfandel barrels for an impromptu tasting. he doesn't really play nice with the wine media, and i get the impression that he has an ongoing feud with some of the higher-profile winemakers in the area, like merry edwards, but he consistently makes one of the best $20 pinots on the market (the cuvee de trois). part russian river, part burgundy, all unfiltered. don't mind the fruit flies and the funky art on the wall. if you're in russian river -- it's like napa 25 years ago -- stop at swan. u'll be glad you did.
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