Mountain View Vintners

We paid a visit to Mountain View Winery a couple weeks ago and it was very disappointing. The majority of the wines seemed watered down and didn't have much flavor. The three whites tasted the same (chard, sav blanc and pinot grigio). The reds weren't much better. One of the reds had an aftertaste like spoiled milk (can't remember which one it was - sorry) and I dumped it into the spitoon. I'm not a big fan of moscato, but it had some flavor at least. Our Groupon allowed us to take two free bottles, which was tough as nothing was really that great. We ended up with a 2010 Central Coast Cab and a 2010 Amador County Zin. The most interesting thing was the Whopper candy with the pinot grigio. The taste worked but I think it's because the candy gave the wine some flavor.

Normally, the winery gives 4 tastes for $10. With the Groupon, we got to taste 11 wines and the pours were generous. Sounds great - right? Not really, it's just a way to get folks drunk. I recommend when tasting that many wines, use a pour-stop. I'm all about generosity but it was a little heavy handed.

And then there was Jeff, our host for the day. At first, we liked his fun personality but after awhile it became obnoxious and his use (and overuse) of the F-word was unnecessary. He even said "mother f'er" at one point. Totally not appropriate! I'm not usually offended by such language but it was simply too much. Be respectful of folks who don't like (or use) that sort of language. It is a place of business.

Everyone who came in had a Groupon that day so I have to wonder if this is the only way to get people to visit the winery.

This place really is as good as it gets.  We spend a lot of our free time wine testing, and so I'm used to really great wine venues, but this place is something special.  First, it's a great location.  Sure, it's nice to drive out to the back of beyond and taste wines, but this place is right near the mission (Mission San Rafael- which is not open Monday and Tuesday), and smack in the middle of foodie central.  There are some great restaurants and a fantastic bakery in the same block as this place.

Now the wine- you get to try 11 wines, and they're all good, but very different.  I found them all pretty drinkable, but loved the Monterey Pinot- so I got that one for my Groupon wine.  My friend chose to take home a pinot grigio.  The Groupon deal was excellent!  19 bucks for two tastings and two bottles of wine was super.  And the pinot noir (Monterey) had a nice smokey edge to it, that I know my single malt scotch loving husband will really enjoy.

So the place has a great location, and very good wines, and on top of that the service just could not be better. The host (Jeff) is charming, and is very knowledgeable.  We had to hustle, a little, since I did not want to get caught in rush hour traffic (we started around 1:30pm)- but the next time I visit, and there will be a next time, I plan to take my time!!!

Thank you, Jeff, for a wonderful day.

Jeff is a drunk and used way too many "F" bombs...he embarrassed our friends by making comments on how she dressed. The wine was not great and with the groupon we got 4 bottles of "mediocre at best" wine. I did not want to take any of them except the cab (which was excluded once we were finished with our tasting)....l offered to take 1 bottle of the best wine they had instead of 4 that I did not want. He  made a huge scene about it  not being one of the choices. It would be a cheaper deal but he said NO it isn't on the take home list and I said well on your groupon there isn't any exclusions and he still said Not happening.

PS: The local band smelled something awful.. of lack of bathing and could not hold a note..

The whole experience was insulting and some what amusing at the same time. Jeff made a fool of himself not only to us but those other customers sitting around us.