We went here as a small group last week with a groupon. The owner was very friendly when taking the reservation and had no problem with the groupon, but the server was initially very annoyed with us for using groupons and was pretty verbal about it. He was grumpy throughout his service and did little to explain any of the wines to us (isn't that part of the fun when you go wine tasting?). I could understand if the place was hopping but it was a quiet afternoon and we were pretty much the only people there.
Oh well - the cheese and crackers were good and the wine was even better. Â =)
Having a problem finding parking? Park around the corner in the garage - they will validate.
I would definitely come back to hear. My girlfriend and I got the groupon deal for a tasting for two to celebrate her birthday with a girl's night out. Albert, one of the owners, was very friendly and accommodating and even provided some off the menu wines since it was her birthday. The cheese was delicious although the crackers seemed pretty cheap (although I'm not a wine expert or anything so I could be mistaken).
The pours were a very good size and the wines were delicious (again though, I'm no expert and relatively easy to please). We ordered a wine and cheese platter on top of the one they provide (since the other ones include prosciutto as well) and he brought it out with a birthday candle in one of the cheeses! My friend absolutely loved it.
Overall, the service was AMAZING (very friendly) and the products were to our liking :) definitely a good groupon deal and a definite recommend :)
I also purchased the Groupon for a tasting for two, because the guy I'm dating loves wine but hasn't had the opportunity to go wine tasting yet. Being that wine was the first alcohol I acquired a taste for several years ago when I turned 21, I felt it was my duty and privilege to organize a formal introduction ;)
there were several things I liked:
The first being that the the pours were enough to share our tastings. I feel like sharing your tasting (especially if you go with only one other person) is important because it makes it a both an excellent conversation piece, and a unique bonding experience. Come on, I'm not gonna let someone I don't already know really well, or I'm not interested in getting to know lots better, put their grubby hands on my glass and sip some my precious wine. It's a very vulnerable experience. I can't be expected to share something so special! ;)
The cheese we got was delicious! We both thought it paired well with the white wines we tried. I think it was a double cream cheese served in a brie fashion or something. I like both cream cheese and brie so I dove right in and was very pleased by the taste, texture, and how approachable it was (not being too overbearing).
The live music (a quartet I believe) was excellent. It was lively and interesting, but not overwhelming. However, we happened to be there on their grand reopening night, so I don't know if it's a regular thing for them to have live music.
Parking is free in the evenings. Woo!
And I could tell that the guy helping us, Albert, wanted to make our experience comfortable. There weren't seats at the bar, so we sat at a table. Once the bar opened up though, he immediately came over and offered to help us move our things if we were interested in tasting there instead. We were obliged, and the bar had purse hooks! Win.
He also let us sit there for quite sometime as we had our 16, 2oz. pours. That Groupon rocked! I'm not a lightweight, but yeah, I had to pace myself a little. It was really nice that they didn't push us out or act like we were on a time crunch. I love a great conversation over wine--yes occasionally I have ulterior motives. Don't judge me.
--My thoughts on the experience on the whole? Sure, it was good. The ambiance wasn't anything special. I did like that all the wines were from California, so it was a nice educational experience.
Being that we shared our pours, we did all of the "Warming Up" flight as well as the "Life's Good" flight. I don't normally care for Chardonnays but they had two on their lists that I personally enjoyed, and a couple of wines I hadn't tried before, so definite kudos.
For the later pours Albert stopped explaining the character of the wines. I actually asked him when he missed it the second time, but being that the time after that he didn't give us details, I decided we'd just figure it out ourselves. I suppose that's why you do tastings? That brought my opinion down a little because the education is one of my favorite parts about going wine tasting, but otherwise, there wasn't much to complain about. Some of the wines weren't my favorite, but all were fun to try. There was lots of variety, so we had a lot of fun discussing notes we liked and wines we didn't, and learned some new things too.
We had a good time. I wasn't wow-ed, but I'm not hatin' either. I'd definitely go back if they did another Groupon.