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. Â 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. Â First, it's a great location. Â 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. Â 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. Â I found them all pretty drinkable, but loved the Monterey Pinot- so I got that one for my Groupon wine. Â My friend chose to take home a pinot grigio. Â The Groupon deal was excellent! Â 19 bucks for two tastings and two bottles of wine was super. Â 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. Â 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.
Like everyone else, I stumbled upon this place through Living Social. Â The 11 wine, wine tasting coupon lived up to the hype. Â There was live music and they have a heavy hand while pouring the wine.
What is unique about Mountain View is that they are primarily a whole sale operation. Â This means that the only way to taste their wine is to either eat at one of their contracted restaurants/airlines, or visit this hub. Â Â
The only thing better than the wine is the service. Â The co-owner and CFO served my girlfriend and I all night and was extremely enjoyable. Â
An enthusiastic 5 star rating for this great winery.
This was a very fun wine-tasting experience! Â It was my SECOND time to go to a wine-tasting, and very different from the first, which was at a vineyard. Â This is in a downtown spot - a wine-bar, but was a great experience. Â Jeff told us all about the ELEVEN wines we were trying, and patiently explained how the wine was made, where it came from, etc. and answered all our questions. Â The wines were ALL yummy, but we got to choose our favorites and take them home with the GROUPON deal we bought. Â Jeff also offered some great deals for buying a case or so, and how they would ship it to our front door if we wanted. Â Word of warning...with all that wine, you don't want to jump in your car and drive right after! Â Take a little time and check out the nearby restaurants (that also serve their wine!) Â Overall, a great experience!
Review Source:A friend of mine found a Groupon for this place so she decided to buy 4 tickets so we can take our husbands with us as part of her birthday celebration. I'm so glad we came here because we had an awesome time. The wines were great, some we didn't like so much but that's normal. The service & the ambiance was very fun. We tried 11 different wines and the great thing about the Groupon was that each person gets to take home a bottle. We were there for almost 3 hours and didn't even realize it. I guess drinking that much wine makes you forget about time and they pour a generous amount. Half a glass per wine is very generous in wine tastings. It's located in a luxury apartments plaza. Plenty of restaurants & cafes around the neighborhood. You can even order appetizers from the Lighthouse bar & grill around the corner & have it delivered up to the wine tasting room to pair with the wines. They had a 2-person live band which was a nice touch and the music wasn't bad at all. Highly recommend this place to bring a date or bring some friends along because you're bound to have a great time! It's a plus if you bring people who appreciate wine.
Tip: Don't park at the garage across the street because that's the bank parking garage. There are plenty of meter parking spaces in the area & free after 6pm of course. The place opens at 5:30 so you only pay for 30 minutes.
Love this place! Â It's great to have a tasting room located in downtown San Rafael.
You get to taste 11-12 wines (extremely generous pours!) and you can order a cheese plate from restaurant next door that they'll bring to your barrel table. Â Recently, I bought a Groupon for $36; which included tasting for 4 people, plus 4 bottles of wine! Â Can't beat that!
Went in with a Groupon deal for free tasting and 2 free bottles. Â Jeff kind of poured for us, but then he would disappear for 15 minutes while we sat with empty glasses, so the female pourer helped us when Jeff was gone. Â Her pours were much better than Jeff's. Â Overall, the wines were not that good and we had difficulty deciding which wines to pick because we didn't really like any of them that much. Â However, I can see this place being a fun place to hang out in San Rafael and listen to live music on the weekend.
Review Source:I really enjoyed this place, the atmosphere is friendly and the staff are quite enjoyable. If you want to go to one of those pretentious wineries look elsewhere!
I did the Groupon deal and was therefore able to take a bottle home for FREE! absolutely worth it and will definitely be going back.
Wow!
We had the best wine-tasting experience ever, here at Mountain View Vintners. Â We discovered this place through a Living Social deal ($19 for a wine tasting for 2 plus 2 bottles of wine), and nearly let it expire due to the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Â Boy am I glad we made the effort to come down here! Â
First of all, this is no typical 4-5 wine tasting. Â You get to taste ELEVEN different wines, and they are generous pours! Â After we were done, we were given a full glass of our favorite wine. Â Then we got our two bottles to take home. Â Whoohoo - I love a bargain! Â
Jeff (who I swear is actually Spencer from iCarly) was a hoot, and we enjoyed listening to him tell us which wines he thought would taste "gooder" with the Whoppers and chocolate kisses he shared with us. Â
The wines are yummy, too! Â So good that I even bought a couple of bottles extra. Â We heard that they're working on another Groupon/Living Social deal, so keep your eye out! Â We can't wait to return, and bring a bunch of friends!
As a local, I believe most of the reviews are from tourists or outsiders. Â We arrived as a bunch of girls on Sat. night and were seated at 2 of the barrel tables. Â The server seemed wired and had strange comments. Â It took him about 10 minutes to even get us a tasting menu (and there weren't enough pencils to fill them out?!) Â It took another 15 minutes to get our first little pour, and the Chardonnay was NASTY and cheap. Â According to my friends, the reds tasted little better. Â Service was horrible, food ordered arrived ONE HOUR later. Â STAY AWAY unless you want a cheap, Groupon buzz with folks who don't know what a good wine is (and I'm NOT a xenophile or sommelier (sp?)!)
Review Source:I have attempted to taste wine here on two occasions i say attempted because both times my Groupon experience through this establishment has produced 0 wine tastings! the first time I purchased the $19 groupon good for a wine tasting for two and two bottles of wine, I figured good value - won't even bring the wife, I'll show up early taste a few wines go home with a Chardonay for her and a pinot for me good deal. So i walked in around 5:40pm, (the groupon was a one day deal 5:30-9pm) and told them i was there for the Groupon deal, it was at this point i was informed (by the owner /manger .. funny guy who's humour is suddenly lost on me that they were having a problem with the processing of that deal and that they are really sorry but if i give you that deal i lose money and you understand, well I did'nt not really but i let it go .. purchased a bottle at full price, took him up on his offer of a card for a free wine tasting and went on my way. The one bottle was $19 same price as the groupon, so not a good deal. So i was in the downtown area again, they were having a groupon one day deal again, same plan as the first time i'll give it another try. Given my experience the first time I did not pre-purchase figured I would do it right there in front of them to avoid history repeating itself. So I walk in at about 5:35pm same as last time two people are in the establishment, i was greeted nicely and asked what brought me in? I said I saw a deal on Groupon I thought I would try. That s when it again went downhill .. oh did you make a reservation? you needed to make a reservation, It says it in the fine print. I explained to him that i was 0-2 with the Groupon and last time you couldnt process the deal, which is why i didnt pre-purchase oh well so sorry but you need to get your ass out of here because we got about 40 people coming in any minute, that is'nt what was said but that was the vibe i was getting, no attempt to work with me ... just oh That's a great deal you should do it on like a Tuesday when we have more time for you. The wine is good - no problem there, I again purchased another very nice Groupon's worth of wine tasting $19 pinot, but the Groupon and how this establishment handles it - not so good, i will never go back .. there are so many more options for wine tasting that it is'nt worth it  no matter the deal .. i recomend Cellars Of Sonoma if you are up Santa Rosa way.
Review Source:First. I fully admit that I was wearing my wine-goggles.
Second. I loved Mountain View Vintners!
My friend and I had a great slurping through four "large pours" each, for a total of $5 each (thanks yelp deal). The breadsticks and hershey kisses were a great appetizer for the popcorn we chowed down on at the 10 o'clock movie.
I really loved watching people of all ages have an awesome time: a group of dudes in their 60s yukking it up and grubbing on food walked over from the Lighthouse, a 20-something couple whose chairs inched closer and closer together as their glasses were emptied and refilled time and time again, and a foursome somewhere in the middle, on what looked to be a great a double-date.
Mountain View Winery...how I love this wine bar! Stopped in after work with a Living Social deal that was about to expire. Never knew this wine tasting room was even here, but I'll be back and I'll tell you why:
Wines = great
Pours = generous
Value = superb
Host/Hostess = the best
Fun = YES!!
Jeff started me out with my flight and had a pretty solid, well-rehearsed speech for each of the wines I was tasting. His pours were very generous, indeed. I was most impressed with the reds, as those are my preference. Later, Niki came in to help out and she was an absolute treat! Great conversation and more generous pours. Even later, free pizza and more generous pours. I never imagined that I would have such a great time here, let alone spend 4 hours, repeat 4 hours, hanging out enjoying good company, good wines, making friends, and enjoying an impromtu guitar jam. A great experience overall...many thanks to Jeff and Niki for superb service, good company, great knowledge about the wines, and delicious snacks! I'll definitely be back!
Wow. I did not expect to like MVV as much as I do. I knew it would be an OK experience, but it ended up being a great time! The combination of deep knowledge and complete lack of pretense is refreshing. The wines were GOOD. A few were outstanding...just like the prices. Â Heavy pours. Junk food pairing(you'll see), I actually heard our host say " If I pour too heavy just let me know" What? What? What? Yes it's a good place to be.
Jeff is a gem, Â and he was our wine navigator for the afternoon. Between 12 heavy pour samples and nosh, he facilitated an atmosphere of comfort ,learning and fun with the end result of blissful tipsiness! I don't know if that guy has a sales, hospitality, psychology, or academic background, but what ever the cross section of experiences, he brings it!!
The tasting room was packed. Folks are free to join in group discussions or observe and chill. I took my honey there yesterday for his 55th birthday and we left with two bags of wine! Their top of the line red a Napa Valley Cab  is.like.buttah.period. And we were stoked to learn that the house wines are being served on Virgin Airlines, and in NYC, so now we've got a wine to watch for when traveling! And they'll ship to you!! I have never been a fan Mosacto or understood its allure but theirs is actually pretty darn good!!
Thanx for the great time Jeff and Mountain View Vintners!! I hope you guys consider extending your hours because evenings would be superb!!
Stopped by after the San Rafael farmers market a couple of weeks ago...
Didn't plan to stop by but a had a really enjoyable moment!!!
The staff is great!!! I can tell they know what they are talking about!!!
Wines were good,if you don't know where to go when you need wine in San Rafael you have at least to stop by and have a drink!!!
The tasting room was packed -- all probably also using a Groupon or living social deal. But the hosts, wine, snacks, and fellow tasters were amazing. They made it a really casual, fun experience. My boyfriend and I didn't anticipate how well we'd get along with the other strangers, but everyone, after a few drinks in them, were so engaging. We drank a flight of 13!! wines, and they are very generous with their tasting portions. We chatted with others and the hosts for over two hours, so personable and easy going, I'd definitely recommend giving this place a go. Make reservations! Get there early for good seats.
Review Source:I'll start by saying the 2 stars isn't based on their wines. Â It is an overall score based on my overall experience. I did enjoy about 4 of their wines. Â We all have different palates so that's pretty normal.
A friend and I arrived for our 5:45 appointment on Saturday 9/15. Â There 6 people in the tasting room ahead of us and a group of 4 came in a minute or two behind us. Â It was clear early that every person in the tasting room, including us, was there using a coupon we'd ordered from <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Flivingsocial.com&s=2456932cd5ebcc60ad30944e723e56ffdb2706564dcfac90fbf2e821a2c1c821" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://livingsocial.com</a>. (this will be important in a minute)
Once we sat down and were handed our tasting menus we were told we'd be tasting the entire list and all except the Napa Cab were part of the livingsocial deal.
We were poured our first taste. Â Rather generous pours of a pretty decent chardonnay. Â As we were sipping we realized the person helping us hadn't even bothered to introduce herself. Â We also noticed everyone else in the room, even those that had come in behind us, Â had been given water and tasting muchies.
We finished our first and waited for our second pouring. Â This took a while.
The young woman that was originally helping us walked by several times without even acknowledging us.
Finally after several minutes we received the second pour. Â Again a nice wine. Â This was a very light Sauvignon Blanc. This pour was done without our server making eye contact or telling us anything at all about the wine. Â Finally she walked over and put down a little bowl with chocolates and another with pretzels and said "Some snacks for you" then walked off.
My friend and I looked at each other and said "did we offend her in some way"?
This sort of behavior went on the entire time we were there. Â We were never told anything about the wines we were tasting. Â We were never engaged in any conversation, we were never even asked what we thought about the wines.
We were using our pour bucket and at one point we looked up and she had moved it to someone else. Â No offer to give us something else to pour out the wine, no "excuse me" or "I'm sorry".
As people were wrapping up the tastings (almost 2 hours) the young woman would ask "Have you picked out your two bottles"? Â She'd get them then say Thanks and let people walk out the door. Â
Not one attempt to sell anything.  Not one "What did  you think"? Â
The owners are losing a fortune in sales with this behavior. Â She seemed to be annoyed that we were all in there using livingsocial deals. Â If they are bothered by people using them....stop offering them. Â
You got me in the door now treat me well and I might buy something. Â (I did buy 1 additional bottle but had to ask to buy it) Â To prove a point that you shouldn't assume anything about people, I left a tip. Â It was amazing how both people behind the counter then were very nice.
It might be time for a job change.
We asked for a restaurant recommendation and did get  a little very misguided feedback.  No offers of "Oh if you take our wine they'll waive the corkage" or "This wine goes very well with ........". Â
At one point while we were in the tasting room there were 17 other people. Â How much money was lost in potential sales? Â Easily a couple cases on the low end.
Another note - the young lady seemed very careful to fill her own wine glass as everyone was tasting but wasn't all that concerned about putting wine in the actual consumers glasses. Â (she did refill hers several times while we were there)
The atmosphere is charming. Â The wines are ok. Â Some are pretty good. Â The pricing is very good.The staff is rude and could use a bit of training. The behavior by the staff just left us both confused. Â
Very odd tasting room experience.
My own little winery in San Rafael! LOVE the people and the atmosphere! The wine are well done and the staff is knowledgeable. I've been here quite a few times and the last time I was in, I found a deal on GroupOn for half off. I got a wine flight for two and two bottles of wine to take home. Good thing we walked there, because we ended up ordering dinner and staying for half the evening!
Review Source:Arrived here around 6:00pm on a warm Sunday day, its not a winery like napa, which caught me off guard, the place is small and maybe fits 20-30 people. Had no great expectations of the place. We walked in and was greeted warmly by this guy (forgot his name wish i remembered) he told us to sit anywhere and gave us the list of wines we were going to drink. The other bartender came up and poured the first wine generously, his first comment to us was "there shall never be an empty glass and by the end of the night you will be S***Faced" Meh... didnt really believe him. Long story short, I was proven wrong, he poured all 12 wines very generously and all the wines were very good. THe service they provided was top-notch, they felt like that everyone should drink as much as they can, money is never the issue, incredibly friendly. I wanted to stay there even longer, the people at the bar were equally drunk as I was. Everyone was happy and everyone was very hospitable. At the end of night we looked at the time and it was 9:10, hard to believe the time flew by. We also received 2 free bottles of wine. I have nothing bad to say, as this experience was AMAZING and highly recommend it anyone and everyone who is the neighborhood. In addition I seldom post reviews, and when I do its either because the experience was better than 5 stars, which this place def was.
Review Source:People need to know about the only wine tasting room in San Rafael!
Also known as Mountain View Winery, we planned to stay there for two hours, but four hours later we were still not ready to leave. Our host, Jeff, made our experience. There is no snobbery, no condescending attitudes at Mountain View Vintners. Nothing but good times, good laughs, good conversations. Superb! I'd recommend this place to anyone.
They ship wine by the case. You get a 10% discount off cases and pay less than $10 for shipping.
We found out about this place through Living Social. The majority of Yelp reviews on this place is five stars for a reason. Check it out!
My wife and I were visiting from San Antonio and looked up wine tastings on Yelp. Â . The wines are excellent and the staff, especially Jeff, are first class. I don't write reviews, but being a recreational wine taster I felt compelled to let other wine enthusiasts who might be looking for a fun place to try some wine and get treated like they are excited to share their wines without all the pretentious attitude you get at Napa wineries, then this is the place for you. We only wished we had time to go back.
Review Source:I went to Mountain View with a friend who had a Groupon. It was a fantastic deal, the wine is delicious and the staff are knowledgeable.
Most surprising was how fun the atmosphere is! This is not the pretentious tasting room some people would imagine, rather for people who simply love wine without the fuss. They play upbeat music and the staff feel like friends. They even have fun snacks to pair with (Whoppers candy!). By the end of the night all the patrons had effortlessly gotten to know each other.
This will now be my go to place when I want to enjoy a mellow glass of wine after work or to try a flight during to pleasantly pass the time before going out on weekend nights.
I learned about this place from friends and a livingsocial deal. We had a full tasting and got to take home whichever two bottles we wanted. The experience was beyond excellent and the guys and gal running the tasting were awesome.
They have a deal at the Farmer's Market. You buy a glass for $4 and then you get $4 drink tickets. Every time I come in it's a good time and the atmosphere is always different. No matter what, you'll have a good time and these guys will take care that you enjoy your experience!
I was given a Groupon to this place a while back and my girlfriend and I finally got around to using it before it expired. Â When we made the reservation the person who took the call advised us to not have plans immediately after our tasting ended. Â Wow was he ever right. Â We tasted ten different wines and they were very generous tastings (just shy of full glasses) so when we were done we each had consumed a solid amount of alcohol. Â The whole group of people that worked there were super nice. Â I'm not a wine connoisseur, but based on the atmosphere and service alone I would highly recommend this spot to anyone looking for a nice evening in downtown San Rafel. Â After our tasting we walked around and enjoyed a nice dinner recommended to us by the folks at Mountain View. Â I understand that they have Groupon/Livingsocial deals pretty often, so it might be good to wait for one of those. Â Great spot that I hope to visit again sometime.
Review Source:Visited the wine tasting room with my Groupon and we had a BLAST! Angelo, Jeff & Jamie were all awesome host and the wine was pretty great too. We drove from San Mateo to San Rafael and were even thinking about another drive. It's not your usual wine tasting room, IT'S SO MUCH FUN. My mom and 86 year old grandfather even had a great time. Thank you all for such a great evening!
Review Source:I went with two friends last Saturday evening for a tasting. Jamie was the host and he welcomed us from the start. It was one of the top three wine tasting experiences of my life. When a few other small groups arrived Jamie took his role of host and facilitated introductions among all the strangers. We soon felt like one big group of friends, not just random folks tasting together. To top things off Jamie played his guitar and sang a few songs. Very fun evening. Highly recommended. We will be back.
Review Source:I was able to go for Mountain View's Happy Hour and bring 13 of my friends and it was a treat! Â Happy Hour consists of a Flight for $10.00, however if you buy 2 bottles you get the flight for free! Â It was very simple to buy 2 bottles as the wines are great and the prices are amazing. Â
It's a tight fit if you have a large group, but it's well worth your wait to counter!
I had a COMPLETELY different experience at Mountain View than Carla's alleged nightmare...
My wife and I arrived at Mountain View's tasting room via a Groupon that we bought for $23. Jeff was our host on our Journey of the selection that Mountain View had to offer. (They have 10 wines to taste and of course we wanted to taste them all to decide which 2 bottles we would take home as this was part of the Groupon offer.)
Jeff led my wife and I on a verbal tour of the different wineries that Mountain View offers. For example, the 2010 Zinfandel is from Amador County, which is the Sierra Foothills for those of you who don't know the area, at an elevation of 3200 feet. (Fly fishing country and my home away from home!!) And their top selling 2010 Monterey County Chardonnay was crisp, fruity and delicious and a mere $12.99 a bottle!!
Jeff was very courteous and warm as well as informative and funny. All in all, we had a great time and tasted through all the wines. I picked a bottle of their 2006 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon as it was deliciously rich and fruity and my wife picked the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc for the crisp fruit and citrus flavors.
We can't wait to go back and taste their 2011 Moscato! Jeff said they will bottle this one the beginning of February and we want to make sure we get some of that as we know it will go quickly!! (Jeff gave us a barrel sample of the Moscato and it was decadent!! We can't wait!!)
My wife and I WILL DEFINITELY return to Mountain View's tasting room as it is the only Winery/Tasting room in San Rafael and not pretentious or stuffy in anyway! We had a great time and look forward to our next tasting adventure at Mountain View Winery and Tasting Room!
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