State Street Winery

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  The absolute worst experience I've ever had at a winery/wine bar.
  It was so bad that I thought we must be on a hidden camera show.
  So bad that I had to laugh afterward, because I couldn't believe it.
  
  My husband and I popped in one afternoon. Thought we'd try it since we'd heard good things. Cute place for sure. It was empty except for a friend (a "regular") of the wine pour-er. They chatted it up (with no acknowledgment that we were even there) while me and hubby sat there, got our tastings (with no explanation of the wines), had to wait in between tastings (for them to continue their chat), and the wines were just so-so.
  
  I will say, I'm willing to overlook the taste of wine (I'm not a wine snob) for a great atmosphere/service/etc. And when the owner came in (I thought, she'll save this horrible experience) did not acknowledge us, yet chatted with the "regular," well, my mind was made up. I will never go here again and I will tell everyone I know that there are much friendlier places with much better wine in Redlands. Do NOT waste your time here.

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  Posted on 07.15.13 Miss E.

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  State Street winery is awesome :) The owners of this place poured us and they were so friendly. Although the menu had chosen wines for the tasting, he let me try all reds and my gf had all whites. They also let us try the wine of the month, which was the meritage, which convinced us to join the club. Our overall favorite wine so far was the super tuscany.  We are members of wineries in the central valley and temecula and we find this place so unique and different from them. The fact that the wines are bottled and labeled in front of you is awesome,  For being in downtown Redlands this place rocks.

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  Posted on 05.26.13 Eric M.

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  I came in here because I recognized the owner as one of my patrons at Donkey Punch Brewery. Knowing I was learning Robin took the time to ask questions and had me try about 10 different wines until he narrowed me down to my very favorite, Redlands Vintage. It is a Cab/ Syrah/ Zin that is AMAZING!!! The place has a great atmosphere and the staff is super friendly. Ive been back multiple times and absolutely have fallen in love with this place.

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  Posted on 02.28.13 Justin J.

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  The wine is wonderful, service is fantastic, and the owner is really personable and helpful. If you like sweet wines, like me, try the Blue Moon. It's a Blueberry Shiraz, and it's to die for!

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  Posted on 02.23.13 Elysa A.

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  I believe Downtown Redlands needs a place like this. I saw the sign driving by which read "Wine Tasting......blah blah" I jumped for joy and planned my next free evening in Redlands to be there. When I finally made it in with Bambi eyes eager to take their wine for a test drive...ghastly, comes to mind. I'm a wine enthusiast. I've been wine tasting in a few countries, states and many cities. I would say I know a good wine because it's my idea of a god time.
  
  As soon as we started the tasting I asked the owner a few social wine questions as she was serving us. Nothing too encumbering, simply about steal vs oak barrels, notes of the wine and what not. Immediately apparent, she was a wine novice with an idea. Hats off to her for bringing State Street Winery to life but maybe they should be more of a market place then have wine with their own label. The wines are poor in quality with a mix match of different varietals from vastly different regions. Each down the list reminds me of fruit syrup. Blah! I chose a few to try which were grapes from California regions only thinking I would be safe there. Meh, I was right it was the safest but falls short of a decent wine. While in there I kept thinking if Gorden Ramsey had a show about wineries he would call them extremely confused and in desperate need of refocusing on the fundamentals -- the wine. Possibly hiring someone with a sophisticated palette could be a start.
  
  The space and location is awesome but the decor with fake ivy hanging on the walls could be updated. Other then the ivy it's an ok atmosphere. I think a few modern touches would do wonders.
  
  I'm happy Redlands has this place I just hope with time, better wine and updated atmosphere can find it's way here. For now I will go down the street to Time in a Bottle. Their wines and atmosphere don't disappoint.

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  Posted on 02.14.13 Lindsey L.

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  I visited with friends who live in Redlands and who really like and rave about this place.  To me it appeared to appeal to those out for an evening, not really those looking for a "High Class Wine." While I am no wine snob or a wine Connoisseur , but I have lived in Europe for over 10 years and have had my share of wine.  I give their wine selection a solid three, and their service a five.  The family that owns and runs the place are friendly and helpful when selecting wines.  The live band that played was excellent and the place was packed with many happy customers.  Now for the downside.  They do not serve anything but Wine.  There are no soft drinks or sparkling water available for those who do not drink alcohol or for  those that do not drink wine though they do have plain water available in plastic cups.   I would suggest that perhaps they should offer a selection of local craft beers for those individuals who do not drink wine.  Finally, when I asked to start a tab to pay for my evenings drinks they wanted a credit card to hold and this is unacceptable  to me.  State Street Wine Bar is a great addition to the Redlands scene and perhaps they will listen to their customers.

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  Posted on 01.19.13 Norman M.

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  Okay their wines are...catered to those who don't really drink wine. As in they're easy to guzzle down and you can buy them bottles at a time. They have a lot of flavored wines- cran-grape, pina colada, etc. As well as the regular reds and whites. Their house red is very sweet, but that can be said with most of their wines. I got a glass of malbec...and it wasn't a malbec, but it was a good tasting wine...but not for a malbec. Regardless, this place is super cute, it's conveniently located and the people who own the place and work there are just too sweet. They really enjoy their winery and they all take pride in their work.  Also, they're just super generous- generous pours, generous tastings (non-paid) so you can buy some bottles, and I had no qualms forking over some cash for a few bottles. The people behind the bar are just too friendly.  Plus, I freaking LOVE the tables they have. wine barrels. just too cute.
  
  I had a good time here and this is a great place to take people who aren't in the wine game yet. I'm no wine connoisseur, but going to college in the napa valley really helped, so I could be a little picky.

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  Posted on 11.21.12 Meena N.

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  Well after a year going to the winery here is some great news. The Believe Walk 2012 Grape Stomper's team was a huge success. The Wine Pairing for those who missed out is something you wont want to miss the next time (Amazing). The musicians that have been there, have been bringing guest to there feet with great dancing  and sing along's. The new friendships that grow on a daily basis are making State Street a great place to meet and mingle. Bring someone new or if your just someone looking for a great time will see you there. Anytime is good!

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  Posted on 10.15.12 David S.

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  This place deserves hardly a star. I just left here, and I have to say the best thing about this place was the guitar player. The wine is terrible, I mean awful, I mean I'd rather drink Screaming Eagle. Cosmo and Mojito flavored wines?!? Really?!? I'm not a wine snob, and I'm very open minded but even if you enjoy an occasional bottle of wine with the vintage known, don't go here. There are no labels on the wine, no dates, no regions, nothing. Like you could be drinking fermented 2012 Motts Grape juice with mint, and that his "mojito". Please, trust me when I say if you enjoy wine, at least just a little bit, don't go here. Like Two Buck Chuck is Opus One compared to this crap. They opened up the back room where they make the wine, and it was filled with cardboard boxes and white plastic barrels! Not aged oak or even stainless steel, but cheap white plastic paint barrels. This place is far from a winery and until they figure out that you have to make a semi-quality product for people to drink their wine, I highly recommend you stay away. I know I will.

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  Posted on 09.30.12 Ryan G.

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  For a small winery in Redlands that doesn't have it's own vineyard, I am impressed. I love the huge variety that can suit every type of palate. The owners are incredibly nice as well. Good job keep it up!

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  Posted on 09.09.12 Sue D.

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  Anyone who has read my Yelps with any amount of regularity knows that the wife and I are wine appreciators; that is, not hard-core enough into wine to be "afficionados" per se, but we know what makes a wine good and what makes a wine bad.  Along with this, my wife works at a wine bar in Riverside so we are quite familiar with not only a wide range of appelations and varietals, but also what a wine-tasting exeprience should be like and what it shouldn't be like.
  
  I provide this preamble so you'll better understand this review.  The wife and I decided to spend the evening at the Redlands Market Night.  We had a wonderful time and, halfway through our stroll we came across this little place on a corner.  Being that we are usually on State Street every month or two; we wondered how we'd missed this place!  Always willing to have a new wine experience, especially locally, we sauntered in and had a tasting.
  
  Now before I go into the wines themselves - let me explain a few things.  This winery is similar to The Winery at Canyon Crest in Riverside in that they make their own wines from "must", that is, the product resulting from crushed grapes that is later filtered and fermented and made into wine.  They don't have their own vineyards but rather source their "must" from grapes all over the world.  The concept itself is a rather interesting one that has fueled the appearance of "boutique" wineries like this one and the one in Riverside (as well as a winery in Camarillo called "Squashed Grapes.)
  
  Now - on to the tasting itself.  First, the service.  The pourers were friendly enough; moving from party to party and checking on things.  We sat down for a tasting and our pourer explained to us what would be on today's flight of tastings.  This was well and good; but.. and here's the thing...she would pour our tasting selection and tell us which one it was - but told us virtually NOTHING about it!  We had to read from their little "menu" of wines to learn about what we might expect from what we tasted.  We both personally found this more than a little impersonal, and I didn't fancy much having to bury my nose into their menu in between tasting selections.  One of the duties of the pourer or host is to help guide the taster in what notes to pick up on when smelling and tasting the wine - as well as to "talk the wine up"; that is, to highlight interesting tidbits about what we're tasting.
  
  Absolutely none of this was done - and my wife and I were left scratching our heads in wonderment.
  
  And now to the main source of our disappointment - the wines.  I will go over the five selections in our tasting flight below.
  
  1.  Pinot Grigio - The color and nose of the wine were lovely, however upon tasting we found there was almost no discernable taste other than a slight metallic taste to the wine.  We both agreed that mostly what we tasted reminded us of the foil wrap on the top of the bottle.
  
  2.  "Pearl" - This was a mix of Pinot Gris and Viognier - It had a nice nose and lovely color - but we both detected the taste of soap of some kind when tasting.  Yes.  I said it.  Soap
  
  3.  California Syrah - This was described in the menu as "Bold and assertive", but upon tasting, we felt "Weak and passive" was a better decription.  It tasted watery and anemic.  It had almost no structure and body at all.
  
  4.  "Three Mansions" - This was a mix of Cabernet, Malbec and Carmenere.  It was described as having "strong notes of pepper and dark fruit".  Nothing could be further from the truth here.  It had almost no nose to it.. I had to almost touch the liquid with my nose to detect anything smellable.  The taste was equally thin.  Lack of structure was noted.
  
  5.  "Wild Red" - This was described to us as a Pomegranite fruit wine blend.  It was the tastiest of the flight, but tasted akin to something "Wild Vines" might offer.  Nothing special.
  
  The place itself, to be fair, is lovely.  The location is perfect in downtown Redlands - just what the area needs.  The inside is a fun, well-furnished affair that makes the guests feel welcome; with a sizable wine bar and tables dotted throughout.
  
  All in all - we were quite disappointed with both the (lack of) service we received as well as the quality of the offerings.  Granted - it was fairly busy due to Market Night but we didn't feel that was much of an excuse.  The wines themselves were the big disappointment.  I know that quality wines can be produced from the "must" alone.  The idea is a good one - but the proof is in the execution, and we felt that much work needed to be done on that end.
  
  I'd give this place 2.5 stars if I could..  But since Yelp won't let me - I shall leave it as 2 for now.  I will probably be back from time to time to see how their product and service is.  I honestly hope it improves with time - as a quality boutique winery would be a wonderful addition to the downtown Redlands scene.  I hope that, with time and improvement, the State Street Winery will become just that.

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  Posted on 05.19.12 Wayne W.

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  Watch out, if you're a member they don't give you free tastings or your discounts unless you ask.

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  Posted on 05.11.12 Jessica L.

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  I love this place and I'm not even the wineno in the family! A totally laid back place where you can just hang out, learn about wine if you want or even if you don't want. Their tastings are more than generous and so are their pourings. The wine is excellent and they have new varieties often. For being a beer and liquor guy I always look forward to my next visit here. Their wine club is an excellent value and very flexible....as in you don't HAVE to take the selection of the month. Check it out the next time your in downtown Redlands.

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  Posted on 04.04.12 Dave B.

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  What a great find. A variety of wines to suit any taste. Custom labels for wines you buy at a modest price.

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  Posted on 02.22.12 Dan K.

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  Man I am so happy this place is so close to home!  The family who owns this place is great and friendly and they make ALL of the wine on site!! My faves are the fruit wines, especially Tropical Delight, and the fiancé loves the Syrah. Really hope this place stays around!! Oh and they can also custom make wine labels with any pic/text of your choice when you buy a bottle for a teeny tiny extra fee, which is soooo very cool! Also, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the prices can't be beat!

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  Posted on 11.22.11 Lindsay L.

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  coming from a beer drinker, i actually enjoyed my time here.
  
  Hosts are hella friendly and extremely accommodating.
  
  5 tasters for $5
  
  Tuesdays, tasters are free :)

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  Posted on 11.21.11 Ruhie M.

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  I have only visited once so my review is based solely on one experience.  My husband and I stopped by here after a particularly crappy day of work looking for a little pick me up.  We both have memberships in Temecula at different wineries and wine tasting is one of our favorite pastimes (Yay for having love of fermented grapes in common!).  We each had a wine tasting which included 5 tastes of preselected wines which according to the people working here changes weekly. I want to be fair to this little winery because it is new, because I love to support local, and because it's in Redlands and not in one of the wine famous valleys. That being said, there was definite room for improvement.
  
  1) The wine was poured into my glass and there was no explanation.  I'd expect that the people working would explain the wine such as some detail about the types of grapes, the flavors that the wine has, any interesting tidbits about the naming convention or background of this batch etc.  It's the standard shtick you get at any winery.  I got nothing.  Like literally silence.  It was much more like being poured a shot of tequila or whiskey at a standard bar than being poured wine in a tasting room.  
  
  2) Three words: Sweet wine overload.  This is a preference thing mostly but if you have 5 wines predetermined and 3 of the wines are extremely sweet in nature you are really limiting your client base. A tip that many wineries do and would be more likely to bring a red wine drinker such as myself back for a second try - Have options.  Maybe they could have a red wine tasting and a white wine/dessert wine tasting option. You can pick one or the other.  Or at the least have 8 or 9 wines available and let the person choose.  While the sweet wines are really good for people who don't really drink wine they are sugar overload for people who enjoy dry whites and reds.
  
  My basic read of this place was that it operated more like a bar than a tasting room.  And despite participating in a tasting I have no idea if they have anything I would really enjoy drinking. I am a red wine girl and my tasting only included one red wine.  I'd probably go back with friends because I would want to give this place another shot but I do think they need to advertise their wines better to patrons and provide a better selection for tastings.  
  
  Final note: I really do wish this place luck! I enjoy how many wine bars and tasting rooms have been popping up in Redlands over the last few years.  The space is great and if I knew that I liked any of their wines I could see myself enjoying a visit from time to time. I plan to return in the next few months and give it another try.

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  Posted on 10.10.11 Erin M.

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  My husband and I stumbled upon this venue at a Market night. We decided to go in and right away loved it! Family owned, and very friendly! Not only do they have $5 tastings and $5 glasses of wine, but you can also bring your own food (or order in). They do private parties where you can bottle your own wine, by the case. Quite a different, yet good idea. This is a great place to have wine, relax and enjoy your company!

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  Posted on 09.30.11 Aimee K.

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  What a great addition to the community. Not only are the owners wonderfully friendly people - they put together some really creative wine to boot!  Their space is comfortable for small or larger parties and is a great place to sip some of their imaginative creations.  Not mention ... If you like what you are tasting, you can order up a case with YOUR face on the bottle. Make State Street a stop on your list.

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  Posted on 09.24.11 Brent L.

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  $5 for 5 tastings and $5 glasses of wine! Can't bet the price and the wine is very good. I must confess I am not super versed in wines however this is a great place to learn. The tasting list changes every 3 days too.

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  Posted on 08.21.11 Scott M.

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  Great concept! I think their wine will be better in time but this isn't a bad place to start!

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  Posted on 08.13.11 Ashlie S.

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