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Korbel Champagne Cellars
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58 reviews for Korbel Champagne Cellars
We stopped by Korbel on our way to the Sonoma coast from Healdsburg. The place was surprisingly modest, given how well known the brand is. The tasting was free and the service was super nice and cheerful, especially for 10.30 in the morning.
I was pleasantly surprised given the image I had of Korbel - cheap and bad champagne. I actually enjoyed a couple of their champagnes. Many were considerably better than the cheap fizzy wines I've had in the past. There is quite a range of dry and sweet champagnes tp choose from on the tasting menu. I liked the organic bottle, a new release that came out 6 weeks ago.
There is a nice little deli right on the winery that's quite nicely updated. There is also a nice outdoor seating area below some of the redwoods on the property overlooking the grape vines across the street.
The drive up here and the view of the vineyard across the street were breathtaking.
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Fabulous! Great champagne, beautiful place to visit, lovely deli- perfect for wine tasting/picnic days ;)
Its off the beaten path as far as wineries in this area, since most of them line Westside Road and are scattered throughout Sebastopol, but definitely worth the drive in my opinion. I grew up in the area and have been coming here for many years. Its a wonderful place to visit.
They also always do something cool for the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting Weekend (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). The last time I went out to Korbel on one of these weekends was 2 years ago. They had a bunch of champagne to pour and some awesome white bean soup and some other nibbles to go with them!
The staff here is amazing! Lots of sweet, friendly older ladies that always have a smile on!
Also, they have Zebras. Nothing beats that.
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Fun! Beautiful grounds, delicious champagne, and an interesting history. (including their own ghost) What more could you ask for?
We came here at 10:00 am (when it opened) on a Saturday. We started in the deli with mimosas and delicious Pomegranate Bellini's. (See deli review. )
This was followed by a tour of the cellars, which was nice, although the video was a tad old and could use some updating. It was nice to see the different tools used in the winery and get a bit of history.
The tour was followed by a private tasting under the redwoods. I found the red champagne intriguing, and am curious to try it with turkey at Thanksgiving. I was also surprised to learn they also made wine in addition to Champagne.
After the tour, we wandered around their gift shop, which was tastefully decorated for the fall holidays. They also had brandy, which they were not allowed to pour, but you could purchase some to try at home. The price for the brandy was quite reasonable, and quite good.
Recently visited this place last weekend and the weather was perfect. Loved the fact that there weren't too many people touring the grounds so it was more quiet and we could definitely take in the scenery much better.
The tasting is great, you get 4 complimentary tastings. Their deli/market is pretty cool too. There are several choices to pick from for lunch/snacks and dessert. Their coconut/lemon bar is delicious.
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I love tasting at Korbel! The servers are very helpful and knowledgeable. I will go out of my way to taste here. My favorite is the port! Most of the stuff they serve here is not available in stores so if you like it buy it! I wish I bought the port, I thought I would be able to buy it in the store but no such luck!
Great Champagne and affordable too!
The big secret about Korbel is not the champagne though, it's the deli. They have one of the best and most upscale delis anywhere. It is too cool to grab a sandwich or salad and sit outside overlooking the vineyards. They sell champagne by the glass and they have RR brewery beer on tap. The food is great and the atmosphere is to die for. A real gem.
Good - great free tour of the wine cellar/gardens, well-sorted out tasting room pouring more than a few tasty champagnes, great little cafe serving a wide variety of tasty cookies/sandwiches/salads, relaxing pleasant vibe in the middle of some lovely north coast country. All in all, this is a great stop if you're in the area.
Bad - they pour a variety of estate-grown wines which are comparatively average (go for the bubbly/brandy) and, for some odd reason, endless hordes of brainless, drooling parents insist upon dragging their squalling crotchfruit when they take the cellar tour.
I can't overstate this, please, parents of young children, stay the hell away! This is not a child-friendly environment and, rest assured, your children will be bored and extremely annoying.
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This is a great place to do champagne tasting. They have different varieties and different pricing. We really enjoy their champagne.
The tasting room is quite nice and the staff are very helpful. Sometimes it can get pretty busy but just work your way into the tasting bar and try them out.
The sales room staff are very friendly and we ended up joining their wine club... and glad we did.
In the neighboring building they have a nice deli with more upscale lunch fare. Food was very good.
This place is def worth the extra drive up North. It is a completely free tour and tasting and the tour was very informative and unique.
The champagne is great, esp. their reserve/on site only bottles they sell and they even have a little lunch/deli next door for you to have a quick lunch on their picnic grounds/patio (albeit overpriced but tasty --not as bad or as crowded as V. Sattui though!!)
Their wine--you should pass on. There's a reason they are famous for champange!
The only reason I knocked a star off was the service/treatment by the women at the end of our tour. She was extremely accommodating to this couple in our group who brought a crying baby for the tour mind you--letting them taste other items off of the menu but when I asked to try a different champagne than what she had outlined (I'm not a fan of sweet wines/champagnes) she was very rude and argumentative with me (an experience I had never had in all of my tastings up in Napa!!)
I still would go again, perhaps the crying baby set everyone on edge that day...
What a perfect place to go (sparkling) wine tasting. My family and I signed up for the FREE tour of the winery that presented the history as well as a FREE tasting. I loved all of the wines and Sally our tour guide was as nice and knowledgeable as could be. After the tasting we stopped by the deli and grabbed some more wine and food and relaxed on the cozy secluded patio overlooking the vineyards. I highly recommend going for a tasting and tour if you have time.
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At first I really thought this was going to be a commercial winery with so-so champagne...but I was pleasantly surprised!! They have a variety of tours they give daily and I really enjoyed the abbreviated/back stage tour I received. There is alot of history on the property and the grounds are absolutely magnificent.
Korbel has been on countless TV commercials, TV shows & movies. The grounds resemble a European feel and the scenery was definitely the highlight of Korbel for me.
The tastings are complimentary. And of course I picked up a couple bottles...the price is right and it tastes pretty damn good! Perfect for a mellow night at home w/ a book or a bath!..I will save the expensive bubbles for special occasions. ;)
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We were brought to Korbel during a weekend visit with cousins. I was very happily surprised by this place. I was expecting a tourist trap, and although it is a tourist stop, it's well worth your time to visit. Who knew Korbel made anything but the cheap champagne they sell at Safeway?
The grounds and views are beautiful. We did not have enough time to take the tours, but we are planning to go back in about a month and do the tours, taste again, and have lunch in their deli. You could probably spend a couple hours there.
They do not charge a tasting fee, and offer you your choice of any four champagnes or wines on their tasting list.. The have some very good champagnes that are not sold anywhere else, at decent prices. They also make some non sparkling wines, something I never knew. We only tried one of those, the Pinot, and did not care for that one, but we plan to taste the rest of their wines.
I ended up walking out with 3 bottles, not bad for a quick stop.
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I think I may like the grounds and the tour a little more than the champagne. The champagne is pretty tasty, but this place is just beautiful! The deli is also very tasty, so it's a good place to have a whole afternoon.
Where's Tony when you need him? Oh well, here goes... I left my heart, in San Francisco, but I'll be back, to find it again! You blatantly forgot the lyrics! Oh Simon, Shut Up!!
What do you do when you have enjoyed a few wonderful days in San Francisco and then have to leave? You find some place to ease the pain, by getting tipsy!
Hubby says we have to be on the road by 7:00 AM. Where are we heading tomorrow? The Korbel Winery! Aye-aye Sir! What time will we be there? 9:00 AM. Now this is what I call a plan, I'll get my heart later! So, over the big orange bridge we go again!
Seriously, if we have to get serious, this estate does not compare with the wineries in Napa Valley. First of all you are offered enough samples of the different champagnes, wines, ports and brandy's, along with food offerings "to make you want to slap your mama" and we had both of our mama's with us! Only thing is, they were loving it too and wanted to slap us right back!
I have visited wineries in many different regions of the world, France, Spain, Italy, the Azores and the USA. The Korbel estate is massive with acres of vineyards, antique rose gardens and an old railway station.
Korbel has been around since the 1800's. I highly recommend the tours of the Rose Gardens and the antique vaults. Did I mention this is all free for the tastings and the tours? Anytime anyone gives me something for nothing and I receive so much pleasure from it, I feel obligated to return the favor. They have a nice gift shop where you can purchase wines, champagnes and brandy's. They also sell pottery and deli meats, cheeses, breads and olives. They do have a cafe, that had a very interesting menu, but it was too early for lunch and besides the fact, we were still drinking.
Francis Korbel was an activist, a cigar maker and then went from lumber to Pinot Noir. He was a true pioneer. Korbel is the number one produced champagne in the United States and has been a proud sponsor of many Olympic games, Gold Cups, the Millennium celebration in Times Square and serving the inauguration of the Presidents, since JFK.
Now you might say to yourself, Korbel did all of this? They may not be the best champagne in the world, but what you purchase at the Wine & Spirits Store, does not convey what Korbel has to offer!
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Since we were staying in Guernville, I made sure that this place was our last stop before heading home on our barrel tasting Saturday. Here is the good the bad and the SUPER UGLY.
Good: We got there around 3:45 or 3:50 so it was at the very end of the day. They had two pairings outside. The classic champagne w/ a foccacia bread and the Rouge that was served w/ a spicy tomato sauce over polenta. Both were really good and actually the red champagne paired perfectly w/ the spicy polenta dish.
BAD: We then went inside where it was PACKED! There were probably about 5-6 pours behind the counter. We were happy at this point.. I mean it was our last stop, we were umm.. HAPPY... and so we went up to get a few more tastings. We got one or two tastings from a man named Gordon with black rimed glasses. He then went ahead and told my sister and one of our friends that they weren't allowed to have any more tastings and that there was a maximum of two tastings inside.
UGLY: My sister and our friend were not happy w/ the fact that he stopped giving them tastings. I then told them to just go to a different pourer. How can they REALLY keep track. I mean the place was packed. I went up to a couple more and got my tastings. My sister and our friend however went up and Gordon ran over to them and told them not to serve them. He then proceeded to tell the other pourers not to serve our group. WOW... We were a little tipsy and immediately thought he was being racist against our group of Asians. We don't want to accuse anyone of being discriminative so we tested our theory with our one white friend. He took my sisters glass and went up to him and asked for another tasting... He poured him one without question... WOW Theory proved
By far our least favorite b/c the way we were treated. I'm not sure if we will be back next year. The only plus is that its close to where we stay... We may seriously have to rethink our route.
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Random trip to Korbel one weekend when we were out in the Russian River area and I was quite surprised. When you think Korbel you think cheap headache champagne or at least that's what the masses seem to think.
One great attribute to the Korbel winery is that they really want you to see the history and how the champagne was made and how it came to keep calling itself champagne since now all sparkling wines made outside of France must be called sparkling wines and not champagne. Korbel is that old so it is still called champagne.
It was also nice Korbel has a nice little Gourmet deli and coffee shop. We grabbed a nice bite to eat prior to going on the Korbel tour and the Sandwiches were delicious, they used some pretty interesting ingredients that made for a unique sandwich.
The Tour was free and ended with free tastings of about 5 different champagnes. After that you can then head into the tasting room and get 3 or 4 more tastings. Not too bad for Korbel you have definitely made me think twice about your affordable sparking beverage. They have really worked hard to keep the process the same as it was when they started and fought to keep prices within reach of everyone and not just the elite connoisseur.
I had a good time although I am not that big of a fan of champagne.
The Good:
+ Upon an early Saturday morning arrival, the beautiful grounds and great weather made me feel less guilty as I desired a drink.
+ The deli had offerings for reserve champagnes (that were unavailable for tasting).
+ I learned to appreciate sparkling wines thanks to the tasting during this visit (staff was friendly to me, describing the offerings).
The Bad:
- The reserve sparkling wines were not available for the tasting, due to popular demand.
- The deli food was pedestrian at best; if you are a sparkling wine nut, I would just try the deli for a beverage.
The Ugly:
-- The long drive to come here. I'm not sure if I was impressed to do it (go out of my way) again.
IFHTP 1
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Love the place, and love the champagne! The sweet and bubbly drink and the beautiful view made my day after getting restless from traveling about an hour away from SF. The place is tucked in a little too far away from the crowd of Sonoma county. But, when we got there, we found a great surprise that the tour was free included with taste of 4 different kind of champagne. AWESOME!! I can't resist but to get their Sweet Rose and Muscato! I wish it's just closer distance as Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley.. but, it was all worthed the trip!
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Get adventurous and sneak in through the back way! If you can find the right bank on the river, pull up your canoe, jump out and walk up stream. After jumping over a few trees, scaling a few muddy hills and climbing under the fence, you'll find yourself in wide, sprawling vineyards, as far as the eye can see.
The tasting room is really warm and cozy and situated in an old-growth redwood grove. Walking in from chill outside and seeing the tall Christmas trees, I started to get that warm holiday buzz that is so rare these days. After 4 free tastings (woohoo) the buzz only heightened and the yuppy tourists seemed to fade into the background.
Their champagne isn't anything special of course, and some of their sparklers are downright cheesy, but my friend did point out that Korbel Naturale has been the champagne of choice on inauguration night for every President since JFK, and I have to say, it was a darn tasty one. I suppose they had time to perfect it since they've been in the biz since 1884.
If it's good enough for Obama, it's good enough for me!
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I really enjoyed coming here at the beginning of this past June for the winery tour and to linger in the cafe afterwards. The tour starts with a video about the founders. i thought it was very interesting to get some history of the property and the area. The history of this vineyard is truly an amazing and inspiring American success story. After the video they lead you by the old casks that were constructed from oak trees from the East coast. (These casks were brought here before the Panama canal existed around Cape Horn and then transported via railroad that the Korbel brothers built to the vineyard). I thought it was truly fascinating to be walking through the working history of the place.
The tour is concluded with a tasting of several of their champagnes and your choice of a taste of one of their other products. I thought the tasting was pretty generous given that the entire tour was free. I had no idea they made wine and brandy too. We ended up buying some of the port.
I recommend this tour especially since it is free and they are so nice. It isn't pretentious. You should feel comfortable bringing children. During the tasting they have sparkling apple juice so your child won't feel left out too.
I enjoyed the separate tour of their garden that takes you buy the preserved Korbel family house. If you like plants, this is a nice tour too.
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Overall I was pleased with my experience at Korbel. They offer free tastings and free tours. The gardens were in full bloom so the grounds were spectacular. We opted for a tasting (you choose 4 tastes from a large menu). The wines were pretty good - about what I'd expect for the prices they were asking (less than $10 a bottle). Service was friendly but staffing was strung thin for a bit. This is a great winery for novice taster to visit. Wines are reasonably good and inexpensive. Service and amenities were very nice!
We came here during our last day in Guerneville since it was close to where we were staying and we read so many good reviews on Yelp. I never expected to be impressed by Korbel (I have traumatic childhood memories of my parents toasting with Cold Duck "champagne" on NYE, yikes!), but the free tour here is so worth it if you like California history mixed in with a bit of Central European history. I never expected it to be so interesting, but it was, and you get a tasting on their beautiful deck afterward. Believe it or not, they actually had some decent champagnes to try, but it's worth it just to go for the tour and a light lunch on their beautiful picnic grounds. We didn't eat at their deli, but had some iced tea and a snack and it was really nice to just relax on the beautiful grounds. Everyone at this facility is really friendly and helpful too.
I had a great time tasting various champagnes and wines here! I can't wait to pop open my Brut Rose! :)
Korbel is clearly a giant champagne factory. And I'm fine with that. Go in there knowing that, and you'll have a good time.
We didn't make it on the tour since the weather was kind of crummy, but the tasting room is nice and so are the folks working there. Their champagne isn't expensive, and it was pretty good.
My girlfriend got some olives to eat in their delicatessen and she said they were very good (I don't like olives).
I think that if you're into this sort of thing you should definitely make it out there at least once. It's neat.
I was skeptical at first , but we wanted to make one last stop at a winery before heading home and the beautiful grounds here reeled us in. I was very pleasantly surprised with the wine selection. I had no idea that Korbel was producing non sparkling wines. Their chardonnay was just dandy and the price was right! They only make 500 cases of it a year and so it is not widely distributed. I believe that my husband also bought a bottle of port here. As with many of the wineries the staff here was friendly and knowledgeable. I wish I could say the same about the staff in the cafe here...
My partner has a summer home on the Russian River and I love stopping by Korbel Cellars on the way to Guerneville or the coast. I am always fascinated by the stately brick building covered in a rainbow of flowers and thick ivy. (I see the gardeners every day, so I know they put a lot of work into it.) The estate is quintessentially gorgeous, set against a backdrop of redwoods and vineyards. The tasting room is dark, cozy and down to earth (I'm usually wearing flipflops), and their delicatessen is unbelievably good. I've spent many evenings on the patio with dessert, looking out over the beauty of Sonoma. Love it love it love it.
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One of our favorite wine tasting stops. You get four free tastings (free = cyn's magic word). They have many varieties of sparkling wine that aren't available for broader distribution. My fave was the Korbel riesling - yum! And who knew that Korbel made red wines too? We loved their cabernet and zin as well. The grounds are park-like and beautiful and our pourer Kameel was very friendly and had other good recommendations around the area for tasting.
I'd skip the deli though; our sandwich was blah.
Stop by here on your drive to Guerneville from SF
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With its big fancy buildings, manicured gardens, and crowds, Korbel feels like one of those big, almost Disney-esque wineries more often found in Napa. Still, the tastings are free, and you don't get too much attitude if you walk in ten minutes before closing time. A good place if you like champagne and/or port.
We didn't eat at the cafe, but it was interesting that the pourers at other wineries recommended it when we asked for lunch recommendations.
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I've never done the tour (but have gone to the visitor center and gotten an awesome history lesson) and often gotten tastings so not sure why Kristy H would say you can't. Perhaps if you tell them you're going on the tour then they'd rather not let you taste, but otherwise why should they really care?
The tastings are free, and like many have said they give you a fair amount. They do appear stingy at first because they say you only get a limited number for free, but then they don't really keep track and keep pouring you all the way through the list. I've always guessed they say that to keep the rifraff out or whatever.
The cafe has really really good food. I eat here if I get a chance, and easily it's one of the best places to stop by for a reasonably priced lunch in the Russian River area. I'd recommend even if you don't drink alcohol.The salads and sandwhiches are really great. I was highly impressed the first time I stopped in, since it was so unexpected.
I usually order the tri-tip sandwhich which has carmalized onions and blue cheese. Or the harvest salad which has blue cheese (yes, I am a fan of blue cheese!), candied walnuts, sweet cranberries, and a cab poached pear with a balsamic vinegarette. Yummy! Not to mention all the other array of salads and cheese and other muncies or sauces they have available.
For the prices their bubbly and brandies really can't be beat. I've joined the wine club and get my favorite brandy XS (really really sweet, closer to an apperetif and great with holiday eggnog), a whole liter for 9 dollars. It's great as a gift.
The gardens are really impressive, and I'm a biologist ... I love the way it supports the birds and pollinators all year around.
Korbel doesn't tout the pretentiousness of Napa as everything is free, and usually everyone is helpful and friendly (yeah, you get the occasional snooty pourer, but no where is perfect after all).
My favorite is the blanc de noir (from pinot grapes), my boyfriend's too. He's not a champagne drinker, so he says, and that's one where I'll have one glass and look over and the whole bottle is gone. We prefer it even over their higher priced newly available premier blanc de noir bottle. The regular has the lightest touch of sweetness, balanced mouth feel, and just dry enough. We are always surprised at the high residual sugars.
Really, I think everyone should stop by at least once, even if you don't consider yourself a champagne person. You are bound to find one you like. They have a huge range from dry to sweet.
Really, I've never found anyone that's crazy about brut. Literally, we all think the world has been dupped, as in, brut is what you're supposed to like. That's what is just out mainstream. I'd say their Sec is closer to what should be the every day drinking champagne.
For the price the sparkling wine really can't be beat, it outshines the competition in it's price range (run 8 - 16 dollars for most bottles).
And the brandy is really something to try as well. You can just buy the tasters for a couple bucks a piece, walk out to the parking lot, try them - then walk back in and buy the bottle you like. *wink* they turn a blind eye to that, a little bitter themselves of not having the proper liquor license to allow people to taste.
Oh and the cafe has beer. Often enough I'm having lunch there and never even drink any sparkling, just a pint of beer.
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Next time I go someplace and the person behind the bar tells me that their port has no residual sugar, and proceeds to give me a lecture on how they don't need any residual sugar in their port, because it is fortified in brandy, and am I not the worlds biggest idiot for asking that question, because why in the world would wine have sugar in it?, I will laugh.
This time, however, she only pissed me off.
Sorry Korbel. You have a really RUDE person working behind your tasting bar who knows very little about wine. I suggest some customer service training.
(btw: I talked to the winemaker, they have 8% residual sugar in their port)
One extra star for the super sweet champagne, and because everyone else seemed nice.
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Came here on a Monday. Went to their deli first to lay down a food pillow for our afternoon of wine tasting. This is a damn good deli. Had their muffaletta while the wife had their turkey. They also have a great selection of salads, cheeses and other picnic foods, along with champagne of course. We ate our lunch on their patio out back in a little redwood grove that overlooks their vineyards across river road. Really nice place to have lunch. We stopped in to their tasting room, I mean why not, it's free. I've had all their champagne which is pretty good stuff. The Korbel Natural 'Special Inaugural Cuvée' was paired with the desert, apple cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glacé at Obama's official inaugural lunch. Korbel has been served at the past five presidential inaugurations. Since I've had all their sparkling wines I decided to go with the still wines they served. Big mistake. Nothing very good at all aside from the cream sherry which was pretty damn good. Go here if your nearby, good deli, free tasting.
This place is walking distance from my friend's cabin, so I really can't complain. They aren't stingy with the tastings, but they aren't liberal either. I suggest taking the tour despite the horrendous video ("TIME!!!") because you get tastings after! And you can get tasting BEFORE you take the tour.
I didn't get a chance to take the garden tour, but I hear it is gorgeous!
Stopped by on the way to the coast. After having read other review on yelp in regards to Korbel. I was looking for a couple of things to see how accurate they were. I would agree that the people pouring were not the most energetic nor personable people but they did a good job. Taking into account that they are dealing with people all day getting FREE pours I am sure they are having to deal with some handfulls. They offer 4 free tastes, and they have several champagnes and 5 or 6 wines. I thought the higher end champagnes were good, especially the Premier and the Rouge.
I was actually surprised again, I have had them before, by the wines. The chard was a buttery-oaky chard (the way I like them), the Pinot was a classic Russian river pinot, and the Zin was a good dry creek zin. This brings me back to the service, they were always there to pour but did not hover over you to pressure. They poured far more than the 4, as they poured everything we wanted to try.
I plan to go back and pick up some wine, and take a tour of the grounds.
It has been a while since I've been here but I have some great memories, which I'll proceed to write about....now.
The Korbel Chamagne Cellar was a stop of my buddies and I on the way to a camping trip along the Russian River. Having met up with a friend of ours who had been living up in the Sonoma area, he suggested that we take a quick stop here since it was on the way. Really happy we did.
Once we arrived at the cellars, it was immediately apparent that we were a bit under-dressed. However, no one paid any attention to what we were wearing and were in fact, very helpful and friendly. Having overcome our immediate apprehensions of being out of place, we began our 5 champagne samples. While I'm not much of a champagne person, we all enjoyed the many different varieties of champagne that they had to offer. From the Rose to the Extra Dry, the staff was happy to fill up our champagne flutes.
Having arrived on empty stomachs and feeling a bit buzzed after our samples, we decided it would be best to have a little lunch and let our buzz mellow out before hitting the road again. The deli was very nice, something you would expect to see at a nice winery. With a wide assortment of sandwiches, deli meats, salads, and cheeses, we all found something we were happy with. Enjoying our champagne buzz, we sat back in the outdoor seating and enjoyed the beautiful day.
What a great start to a memorable weekend that was!
I give FIVE stars for Sally that works there because she was so great and three stars for the champagne I bought- but there were a couple ladies that were talking about us and made it beyond obvious- not good customer service and definately unfriendly and rude and they get NO STARS!
We tried some good stuff and had some pics taken and off we went- I may go again!
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Korbel is what it is. It is super cheesy, cheap sparkling wine. I stopped out there on my way to Jenner and had a lovely time. It's free and it's touristy and fun. It is also unpretentious (obviously). Don't go out of your way to come here, but if you are passing by you should definitely pull over for a few shots of bubbly... or if you need to pee.
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Korbel definitely isn't the "best champagne in the world," but we are in California, not France. That said, I still like coming here - I love the grounds (beautiful!) and I love getting the tastings (free for 4 samples) and buying their special versions that you can't buy anywhere else (Red and Sweet Rose sparklings, for example.)
I like sitting on the patio and sipping the champagne, and then going into the deli and ordering food to go and grabbing a split, and then going down the river to the beach and having a little picnic. It's something I do every so often as a treat to myself.
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I am not usually a fan of Champagne. I don't like the taste - so needless to say I wasn't looking forward to going here.
We took the in-laws during wine barrel tasting weekend and did the free tour. I have to say I was very impressed. It was informative without being too long or boring. You got to see some very cool rooms down in the cellar and learn how they make the champagne.
The tasting was FANTASTIC. I only really liked one of their champagnes, the Natural - but it was a fabulous way to taste my way through the various champagnes that exist, and without it, I wouldn't know that I like Korbel Natural Champagne, and I think I'd be missing out in the world!!!!
Definately recommended. It is also a beautiful setting for a not too ridiculously priced lunch.
Dearest God. Korbel is a delightful, delightful winery in oh so random Guerneville near the Russian River. I was in the middle of a random, random weekend spent lazily in Bodega Bay when my friends and I decided to drive up to Korbel on the weekend. The winery is scenic and beautiful, although minus five points for all the clear cut redwoods. Take the 'historic' tour of the winery, it ends in 4 free tastings (which doesn't count the four MORE you can get at the wine tasting room after!).
An extra five points for the most pretentious documentary video ever made--when you're on the wine tour, you hear the pompous intoning of the narrator reminding us that "every time you drink Korbel, you're going on a journey through time." Maybe that's if you drink a bit too much Korbel.
But what can I say? The staff is friendly, if you take the tour, you get a total of EIGHT free tastings of wine, the grounds are lovely, and the overall design is very very pleasing to the eye. Korbel manages to be classy and accessible at once, with very reasonably priced champagnes and wines with some delicious port and brandy if you're so interested. Great job.
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Alright- first, Korbel doesn't make particularly good champagne. But this IS a big outfit producing lots of cheap sweet champagne for New Years partying Americans every year. As such, it's kind of an American institution, no?
That's what I thought anyway, so when passing we couldn't resist taking a tour. I have to say, I'm glad we did. Yeah the champagne here really isn't for me, but the grounds are pretty, the tour is pretty educational, and it's fun in a touristy way. The best part is when they walk you into the little movie room and you watch a funny corporate video advertisement about Korbel Champagne and its history! See, I learned it's all about time. TIME. TIME. I swear they literally BEAT the word "time" into your mind- hilarious. You'll get what I mean when you see it.
So I had a fun hour on a tour here- they don't really try too hard to trick you into thinking their champagne is all that great, and the little tasting at the end of the tour is done outside on a little deck. I won't be drinking any Korbel anytime soon, but if you like sweet champagne, you'll like this place, and the folks who work here are OK by me!
