Gold Hill Vineyard & Brewery

Absolutely gorgeous views. One of the most beautiful wineries I have ever visited.  Wine and beer? Yes. People were walking down into the vines and no one seemed to mind, so we went on a little adventure down to the pond. The staff was very friendly and accomodating.

The Viognier and the Cabernet Sauvignon were my favorites. The Viognier didn't carry the strong perfume that they typically do, but the taste was right on point.  It's a perfect summer wine, or all year if you live in California like I do! The Cabernet Sauvignon, with soft touches of cherry and cedar was very exiciting.

This is, in my opinion, a great place.  I only wish they also served food so I would have an excuse to stay longer.  

Their red wines are serviceable and we particularly enjoyed the Cab Franc and their Petite Syrah and bought a bottle of each.  

We live in Cool so it was a short 10 minute drive up to this place, but there were three factors made me want to check them out:

1. Wine tasting here is complimentary!  I will not generally go to a place that charges for tasting. If I have to pay to taste then the bar you have to cross to get me to buy any wine is REALLY high.  When wineries offer complimentary tasting my standards become considerably more liberal.  At least where I am concerned it has never been to a wineries benefit to charge for tasting and I suspect that that is true as a general rule.  If you are a major production winery in Napa I guess you can get away with it, but otherwise you are being pound foolish.

2.  They allow dogs into their tasting room and onto their patio!  Dogs like children come in ill behaved and well behaved varieties.  People with ill behaved dogs don't take them into public venues usually.  People with ill behaved children seem to take them everywhere!  I love the fact that this place is dog friendly and there were quite a number of friendly dogs and owners around when we visited.  When we decide where to spend an hour this weighs heavily in their favor.

3. They are also a brewery and if the wine doesn't suit you maybe the beer will.  The patio makes a great place to enjoy a couple of brews.

Beautiful vineyard. Nice atmosphere. I give them 4 starts for the location, friendliness, diverse tastings of wine and beer, mustards and the fact that I was able to bring my dog into their tasting room!

The atmosphere was pretty relaxed. Beautiful view with outside seating.  

The staff were super friendly. They allowed a few more than the alloted "5 tastes" and were able to recommend some wines to cater toward my picky taste. As a Zin and Petite Syrah girl, I liked their Syrah the best. In addition to their wide selection of wines (reds and whites), they also had a selection of beers. Seven dollars for 5 sample beer tasting. I don't really like bitter beer, but I was a big fan of the Scotch Ale. In addition to the wines and beer, they had mustards. There were only two put out to try, but they were both delicious!  

I liked that there's a little something for everyone.