Banshee Wines

Stopped in just before they were closing up for the day. Our server, Heather was awesome and patient despite it being the end of the day and told us all about their wines and answered all of our questions, even recommended her other favorite spots in the area. When it came time to pay their POS was acting up so they gave us the wines on the house so as not to keep us waiting. Really big thumbs up for exceptional service. The wines were great and it’s a really cool spot, but the service sets it apart.

Yes I’d return but keep in mind that I agree that it’s more of a trendy place for a younger crowd. It’s like walking into a younger party thinking they still didn’t know what they were doing but they do. We challenged them to just bring the best they got and yep! It knocked our socks off. It was late when we entered but was just perfect to sit and relax before dinner.
They were closing and we joked with the waiter as to why he wanted to hurry us off as if he had a date and sure enough, a few minutes later a young pretty gal came walking in and gave him a kiss. We all laughed.
The place knows their wines — just get them to bring you what you want and they most likely will know. I’m glad the loud music was not blaring when we got there — what a bummer that would be and would probably affect our experience. Who wants to hear loud music sipping on wine? Oh ya, the younger crowd.

I went wine tasting this past weekend with 10 other amazing women from my MBA program. One of my classmates belongs to the wine club at Banshee so this ended up being our first stop. They were set up for us at the long table in the middle of the room and we received 5 pours. The first was a beautiful refreshing Rose of Pinot Noir that would’ve been fantastic for the pinot party I had recently.
Despite my hesitation, I was outvoted by the group and we moved onto the Chardonnay. Although I usually despise chardonnays, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
The Mordecai blend is a delicious full-​body red that I loved. I’m trying to cut down on drinking alcohol and that’s the only reason I didn’t walk away with a bottle.
Out of our 3 stops, the wines at Banshee were the best tasting and the most reasonably priced. We had a wonderful time at the tasting room and I would recommend Banshee’s wines to everyone.

Cannot say enough about how great our experience was here! Some friends suggest we make a reservation here to start our wine tour day while we were in town and we were not disappointed! Brandon was incredibly friendly and so knowledgable. His passion for the wine making business was contagious and really added to the experience. We’re not aficionados by any means and Brandon was able to keep it light and casual while still divulging interesting facts and details about each wine we tasted. I liked the come and go approach to the tastings, he’d sit and chat with us and then leave us for a bit to enjoy and make our own observations. It was very easy going and fun! He was also incredibly helpful with tips and information about the area and other great wineries and tasting rooms to visit. He more or less helped us plan the rest of our day and it was incredible! He even found a free tasting for two at one of the places that he was nice enough to give us.
And the wines were so great! I just love the unique, carefully constructed and loved into existence feel of them. The Tina Marie and Morning Light are some of our favorite Pinots, the Rose is surprising and beautiful, and you should order a glass of the Cabernet Franc! It’s not on the tasting menu but it’s truly one of my favorites and worth it!
Do yourself a favor, make a reservation here! We’re so happy we did!

We went tasting at Banshee for the first time today. A couple of the wines were good the rest just OK, we really enjoyed the rose and the Sonoma Coast Pinor. The place is definitely for the younger crowd, we 60 somethings felt a tad out of place in the venue. It’s s nice place with a great set up for tastings. Lots of comfortable spaces to sit and sip. The music was loud and trendy. The staff was quite nice and attentive not hovering over us but aware when we were ready for our next taste.

Absolutely amazing place. The best atmosphere for wine tasting. The people are so incredibly nice and the atmosphere is so laid back. We would go back 8 days a week!

Stopped by to try the wines based on our dear friends’ earlier experiences. We did not want to leave. The location, décor, music, tremendous service and excellent wine and nosh make for a very satisfying morning or afternoon … or all day. Banshee is like a great old leather armchair you don’t want to get up from. Note: DO try the White Zinfandel. It’s not your Aunt Agatha’s White Zin. Love it. El Pino is my favorite but their red blend is excellent, too. Nearby parking can be an issue, but it’s well worth the effort!

I have to say, some of these reviews about Banshee I find very humorous, as I absolutely love Banshee Wines. So if you’ve read some of the other reviews, you must be thinking, if this girl loves Banshee she must love being ignored, be a total wine snob, and have a short term memory. Joking aside, here are my thoughts from my experiences:
The space: I have been to Banshee a handful of times and the first thing I always notice is the décor. It is this elegant, hip, shabby chic. They have a record player playing some classics as well as some hits. I love the layouts of the tables and couches and the long table in the middle for larger groups. It has a very relaxing vibe.
The service: Banshee has a very intimate feel. I like how the staff will come and go during the tasting, sit for awhile to discuss the wines, and then let you be alone with your company to enjoy the wine and relax. Everyone has been friendly, but I also don’t feel like they are hovering over me which is a plus.
The wine: I have not been able to stop thinking about Tina Marie since my last visit earlier this month. Tina has a very fruity, delicate and feminine taste. The Marine Layer was another very good Pinot. I love their Sauvignon Blanc and Rose which I tasted on my first visit to Banshee last year, but they unfortunately didn’t have them yet when I went to the tasting room this last time. The Sauvignon Blanc is bright, crisp, and fruity and the Rose is simply divine, not even close to forgettable. You will have to just taste it for yourself. But get your bottle quick as they seem to sell out fast. I know they did last season.
In conclusion: I love wine, but am not a snob, I hate being ignored, but don’t like being hovered over, and as much as I loved Tina Marie, I did spit into the bucket (do people know spitting wine is a thing?) My experiences at Banshee have been nothing short of delightful. The décor is not just hip or cool, I find it chic, elegant, and tasteful. The people are great and the wine itself is superb. I look forward to my next trip out to Banshee Wines.

Depending on what you expect during a tasting experience will dictate what type of experience you have. I had never heard of Banshee so we popped in. The music was blaring. The décor was barn chic. We were invited to sit down. The wines were explained to us but then the girl disappeared for a good 10 minutes. She floated around the room and then told us a bunch of the employees were in the back drinking champagne. Huh? About our first pour… Let me say I am all in favor of their combo wine tasting/​wine lounge concept but I felt that the timing in between the flights was way too long and purposely treated as an afterthought after hearing her, ‘drinking in the back’ comment. Too hipster. The wines are decent, not great. Some of the Pinot offerings are very veg.

Highly recommend this fun tasting room in Healdsburg. It has a really cool low key vibe. They have a decent vinyl collection that you are welcome to pick from and play while you have your tasting or just sit back and enjoy a glass (or two!) They have a great selection of wines they source from grapes across the region giving their wines a varied taste. The last time we were there we picked up a bottle of 2012 Broken Leg Syrah. If you are able to try this or any of their Morning Light Pinot Noir you will not be disappointed!

this was a random walk in stop for us and I am so glad fate brought us in there! Adorable very small tasting room so appointments are probably appreciated (sorry about that people) but it was welcoming, service was fantastic, and the pinot noir was unforgettable even after traveling for 12hrs and drinking for several!

So we picked this wine tasting room because we loved the décor, but like other reviewers, we also really enjoyed the experience because of Zack. The wine was good, we ordered the marcona almond snack and liked that. My husband and I had a laugh about the record collection. It’s definitely old school. Kansas was playing when we walked in, followed by Police, and then I lost track (I wonder why)…We sat down for our tasting thinking we would only be there for 45 minutes max and we ended up staying and lingering for an hour and a half because we were enjoying ourselves so much.
We also appreciated the Mordecai and went home with a couple bottles. Thanks, Zack!

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A beautiful tasting room in downtown Healdsburg, appointment if you visit on the weekend is highly recommended. Reasonable price point, delicious wines, they are famous for their rose which sold out every vintage.
Service was fantastic. Wines poured generously. They offer a good wines list too. A must stop if you visit Healdsburg.

Banshee is a cool spot to grab wine in downtown Healdsburg. Very hip décor and good wines. It’s indoors with no outdoor seating available. This place gets extremely LOUD! I enjoyed the wines and the atmosphere but they seem to attract a lot of party buses/​limo groups— no one likes being in a winery when a huge drunken group comes in! We were there for about an hour Saturday and had 2 – 3 limo parties stop in. It got extremely loud and it was difficult for me to hear my friend across the table. We wound up going to Hawley’s around the corner which has a much more chill/​laid back environment that we enjoyed much more. In sum, good wine, hip place but way too loud and seems to be a magnet for the obnoxious limo crowds.

Seems like a younger, hipper place for wine tasting. $ 10 tasting for a large number of wines. Service was good and friendly, décor is industrial hipster, central to the square. I recommend coming here to end the night as its indoors. That way you can go outdoors in the sunshine during the day but end up back at the square. You can do reservations but we didn’t have one and it wasn’t too hard to grab stools at the bar.

What an adorable tasting room just a couple of blocks from the main town square in Healdsburg. The tasting room is pretty small — 4 – 6 tables for people to taste and enjoy wine. The staff is incredibly helpful and friendly which makes the entire experience more enjoyable.
On a warm spring afternoon, I was interested in something on the lighter side and they primarily make reds. They had a rose available which I tried and fell in love with.

Hip vibe for a tasting room, this place seems more like a funky wine bar than a typical Healdsburg tasting room. If you are looking for a place to sit back, relax and sip some wine, this is your place!
I was pleasantly surprised by the Pinot Noir wines that i tasted here. I typically find Sonoma Pinot to be earthy, herbaceous and hot with high alcohol. The Banshee pinots remind me more of Anderson Valley or Santa Ynez wines than their Sonoma brethren. The Tina Marie reminds me of the best Burgundian pinots; light and scented of strawberries.
The Chardonnays that I tasted were old-​school butter and cream. If you are looking for this style, you will like Banshee’s chard offerings.
I was bummed not to taste the Mordecai since the new release is not yet available. I’ll be back to grab a few bottles this summer post-​release.

Though you don’t need reservations to taste wine here, you can reserve a date & time, and I highly recommend it. We came here for the first time on our annual day after Thanksgiving wine tasting with a fairly early reservation and maybe 15 minutes or so after we had gotten there the place was jumping with people and was getting pretty busy. The young man that was working the tasting room was very attentive to us, very knowledgeable about the wines he poured, etc. He was very pleasant! The place is very quaint, relaxing, enjoyable! They had music playing and even told us we could pick music from their album collection (and yes I am talking about vinyl records).
Some of the wines were a little young but you could cellar it for a few years and they will be excellent. Some people prefer to taste the «best of the best» wines but sometimes it is good to taste younger wines if you want to buy and serve years down the road. Again, I would highly recommend you make reservations for your tasting since this place is very popular.

The space here is awesome and very SF feeling with mostly young, hipster types working here. Where things went wrong was the initial service — took 10 –15 to get our first pour with a guy walking by and looking at us. Had to ask 2x for service. Once we did, the girl that helped us was super nice. The reason for the 2 stars tho was the the wine was just not good. I was expecting soooo much more given the reviews but everything we had was super sour or just too young to be tasting (they poured a 2013 Pinot and it tasted like it). Further the house tasting is $ 15 but the wine they poured averages $ 25 bottle so it felt a bit like bad deal. With such great wine in the area this place can definitely be skipped.
It’s too bad because the space is really great and cozy. I will not be coming back.

This place is SO. FREAKIN. COOL. The décor is seriously too cool for you and me but is still not pretentious in any way. There are couches set up in two of the front corners in the room, with a longer dining-​table right in the middle and two more smaller tables on the sides. Pro-​tip: Call ahead and make a reservation for your tasting. My girlfriend and I were able to snag one of the couch corners right when we arrived. Very cozy.
Our wine pourer was extremely attentive despite being only one of two pourers Sunday evening. There are only two flight options available. We ordered one of each so that we could sample all the wines they had. The stand-​out for the both of us was definitely the Blakeman Chardonnay. Other ones I enjoyed were the Pinot Noir (which is the only one currently sold in stores) and their red blend. My gf liked the Tina Marie Pinot Noir.
Another thing I liked about this tasting room is that if you decide to buy one of wines that you tried as part of the flight, your tasting fee is waived. How cool is that?