Storrs Winery

 

5

104

Pearly Q.

Santa Cruz, CA

Storrs has good wine.  

Since Pumpkin K did such a good job in her review, I will defer to her and also say ditto.  Tasting there is free, always a plus in my book.  

The reason I did not give them 5 stars?  The wine club.  We were so impressed by their wine that we joined the wine club a few years back.  But we soon realized that there is almost no benefit to being in it.  The commitment was about 3 or 4 bottles 3 or 4 times a year, (something like that) and at the time they only gave you a 10 percent discount.  We figured there was just no point, the savings were not enough to justify being members.  We do stop in a few times a year and pick up a bottle or two, but have joined other wineclubs with more generous discounts.  There is a a lot of good wine in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I would probably not hesitate to try it out again if I heard that the discount got better.

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Elite '08

55

232

Eve K.

Sunnyvale, CA

My first winery I visited in Santa Cruz. I liked it cause they had snacks and friendly people. :-)

Highlights:
- 3 part tasting: started with a pure tasting of a few wines on the right side of the tasting area, progressed to the left side of the tasting area for some cheese and bread with more wine, and ended up in the back room for some reserve wines and chocolate. :-)
- Snacks: I like having snacks while I taste and I'm used to just plain boring crackers. The bread was fresh with a bit of herbs in it, the cheese was fantastic, and the chocolate was delightful with bits of hidden crunch within it.
- Friendly people: more fun down to earth than the more formalness of most of the napa wineries, so it was a breath of fresh air. We were greeted and welcome right away with big smiles and both ladies had fun comments (one said she never regretted a wine purchase and the other commented on the club like music they had in the back) and slightly hippie colorful garb. They both looked genuinely happy to be working there which is always nice to see.
- Chardonnay: really liked the light but still full bodied and buttery enough to be substantial Christie's Vineyard chardonnay
- Labels: Silly but like their pastel watercolor-like label

Lowlights (my flip side to highlights):
- Other wines: they are famous for zins but none were of my taste.
- In a hidden old almost barn-looking strip mall, but most of the wineries we visited that day had that sort of set-up.
- They didn't have enough passports for our group that day (3) but our extra tasted for free and snagged on at the next stop so really no harm, no foul there.

I'd come back next time I'm wine tasting in the area.

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1

49

Jackie B.

Laguna Beach, CA

This tasting room is actually not located on vineyard grounds but in a kind of a business district, which is a little hard to find. However, the pourers are friendly and knowledgeable and the wines are delicious.   Free tastings.

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0

8

Tracey D.

Los Gatos, CA

Ditto to Pumpkin K's review.  One update - Storr now has pinot noirs, too.

We visited Storr Winery two weeks ago.  The lady manning the pouring counter was knowledgeable and friendly.  She was the only person at the counter on this day and was swamped with last minute tasters like us who arrived minutes before closing.  She never rushed us along and even kept Storr open late for a group that was lost and would arrive after closing.  

Storr wines are so yummy.  BXR is unbelievable - this is a big, spicy wine that is great to have on hand for a special occasion.  Who cares what you drink it with, it could be the main entree of your meal.

This winery is a great place to check out when you are in Santa Cruz.

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172

329

Pumpkin K.

Santa Cruz, CA

OVERVIEW
Because it's right in town and it's pretty small, this is a good place to start a tour of the Santa Cruz mountain wineries. Then you can arrive early when it's still quiet.  Most bottles are in $20 to $30 range. They produce about 12,000 cases a year and are family-owned and operated.

AWESOME PEOPLE
We came here on Memorial Day - there were four of us and the small tasting room was already packed. Although there was minimal counter space and only two people to pour, I was really impressed with how they managed to keep our glasses full and explain what we were drinking. At one point, there must have been like 25 people in a room about 150 square feet. Still, the pourers kept cheerful and they were able to answer any of the questions we had. Sometimes with some of the smaller wineries the people who are pouring are just doing it for fun or because they are buddies with the owners and they can get grumpy if it stops being fun and starts being work. Well, let me tell you, these women were HAULING to keep glasses full and they never skipped a beat.

YUMMY PLONK
I was surprised by how much I liked the wines, I haven't had too much exposure to their wine before. The Chardonnay surprised me with the rich, oaky taste, so if you like those flavors in your Chard, you'll like Storrs (also try the Roudon Smith Russian River Chardonnay, sometimes on sale at Trader Joe's) I particularly enjoyed the Two Creek and the Zinfandel. Unfortunately they didn't have any Sangiovese open which is my favorite. I'll go back when it's quieter and see if I can get them to crack one open.

This must be one of the only SC wineries with no Pinot Noir. Just and FYI in case you are on an all-pinot tour. There's plenty of other good stuff.

LOCATION
They actually make the wine at the Sash Mill site, which hopefully means they'll have barrel tastings. The Sash Mill is a converted lumber mill that has been converted into shops and offices. It's a great location for a tasting room, and I'm hoping other local wineries catch on.

LECTURE
There was a limo that pulled up as we were leaving. That's a great way to see this area, it's so tempting to have that extra glass even when you are the designated driver. If you're out there buying cases of $30 wine you can afford to split the cost of a ride with your buddies. These mountain roads are treacherous even when you know them well and you're stone cold sober. Add in some wine and trying to find your way and it's easy for a fun outing to turn tragic. This public service announcement has been brought to you by Pumpkin K.

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