White Oak Vineyards & Winery

Used to enjoy this relative new winery in the Alexander Valley; especially their chards. It seems to me that over the past two or three years either their quality has lessened or maybe my tastes in Chardonnay have become less forgiving. Either way, when combined with a bad experience with their tasting room staff during my last (and I do mean LAST) visit, it’s time for me to devote my precious tasting time to seeking out a more congenial winery like Hanna, Alexander Valley Vineyards and the many other fine and friendly choices in the region.

Disclosure… this was winery #5 or #6…so everything was a bit blurry…
Lovely grounds and elegant Château… but whats sets this above the rest is all the cool art work all over the place. I especially love all the animal statues. Groovy!
I remember the friendly staff pouring us some tasty wine too… though at this point I admit every wine was tasting good.

Chris was excellent and the wine was phenomenal. Highly recommend it! My group all walked away with several bottles. Do the reserve flight. It’s worth the extra $

We really enjoyed our visit. The tasting was great & we love that they applied the tasting fee to bottles purchased. Very friendly staff. The grounds were beautiful and we loved the art sculptures all around. Overall a wonderful time!
I do have to question the large fountain pouring out water all over. We are in a drought and to see water blowing over the boundary of the fountain was disappointing.

White Oak Vineyards has great wines! Sofie and I enjoyed the Chardonnay with some Mac n’ Cheese, 2012 Syrah with Blue Cheese Sliders and 2013 Sauvignon Blanc with
Ceviche.
The notion of tasting wine without an accompanying food is starting to grow on us as a requirement for tasting. The world of wine opens up to an experience that has more depth. Wine by itself is «black and white» — wine paired with food is «in living color».
White Oak has many metal sculptures of birds (herons) about the area. Some are quite clever in their construction so that they move when the wind hits them.
We enjoyed our visit to White Oak and shall return.

Cute little tasting room. The buildings, fountain, and sculptures are really great and add to the overall ambiance. The staff was very friendly. My husband and I shared a tasting and they had a couple to choose from, I think you get 5 for 10 $ or something. I tried the sav blanc, chardonnay, rose, blend, and cab. The sav blanc was my favorite because it was incredibly dry. I did not care for the rest of them, which is why I can only give them 3 stars. Wine is different for everybody and I just don’t think these wines worked for me. I did see they have a ton of events coming up that look like a lot of fun. I love wineries that do things like that! Overall I don’t think ill come back to taste or purchase any of their wines but I might look at going to an upcoming event :)

This was our favorite experience of the entire area including Russian River. And we have done a lot of wine tastings over the years. Taylor was awesome and very knowledgeable about the wines and one bottle after another was outstanding. We highly recommend going to this beautiful winery. There are so many to choose from, make this one of them.

Our tasting «host» (harry) was very pleasant, and had much information to share with us about the winery and the wines. White Oak is a limited production winery, and they produce some very nice whites (chardonnay is in oak for 9 months… i think i remember that correctly) and the reds are very nice.
We brought along sandwiches HOPING we could picnic, and they have very nice options available (outdoors, first come, first seated) or indoors (for club members). For the reviewers who have panned this nice place, we heard one of the wines just received a 90 from Robert Parker. I trust that acclaim.

I have been to White Oak Winery (WOW) approximately 6 times. If you like wine, this is a great place to visit. The tasting room staff are super nice and cool! They have introduced us to their excellent wine maker and numerous tips about wine and the area. A
All of their wines are very good but in my humble opinion, their dark reds are the best in Sonoma County. Oftentimes, you can find the rare 2007 Cabernet here … WOW!

We came with a bachelorette party and there was nothing showing staying they would have horrible service because of the wedding they had scheduled. We went in for a tasting and there was no signs stating they had a wedding, then told the group of us they could not service our group because there was a wedding. The server kept complaining how there was a wedding and we were «inconveniencing» them.
Attention! A group of 12 girls is not important to this winery. They are very money motivated and provide horrible service. There’s so many other options in the area. Stay away!

Chardonnay has become popularized as a California grape, as well it should be. We produce over 10 million gallons of the juice every year for our chardonnays and sparklers. The grape is actually a product of France and yes those French they do know great wines when they taste them, that’s for sure. With the popularity of California wines come higher prices as we export more wine than ever from our Golden State. But have I got a value for you, keeping it under $ 20!
The 2011 White Oak Chardonnay hails from the Russian River Valley, a very fertile ground for some of the best grapes being produced in California for the past 30 years (at least as long as I have been legally drinking wine). I came upon this bottle completely by accident at a friend’s wedding reception. It was the groom’s favorite, and now it’s one of my favorites too. Why? The chardonnay gives me a hint of simmer crisp Fuji apples with a finish of toasty oak, thus the name White Oak. The case production for 2011 is low at about 4456. There is no need to wait for the 2012 as this chardonnay is ready to drink and with a chilled wine glass (so Bob Carlson, please no ice cubes!) Snapper always goes well with chardonnay, and if you are a cheese fan like I am, a soft, spreadable cheese is the way to go. My friends in the OC tell me that this a perfect wine to take sailing on a summery afternoon, and I agree.

WOW! Just an amazing place to come when you’re in town! This place will absolutely leave an impression.
First thing, we drive up through the drive way and see a beautiful building with a fountain in front of it. We immediately liked the place. On the side of the building was a small, intimate picnic area, and next to that the vines of grapes.
We stepped into the building and was greeted by an older gentleman, named Jim (I believe, sorry if I got your name wrong!!). Jim was amazing and super sweet. He took us on a tour of the winery and was very informative about the process of making wine, how to grow grapes, and answered every question with ease.
Alexandra. the wine club manager, was just as amazing and fun to talk to. She gave us extra tasting and talked about the winery happily. The people who work here definitely love their jobs! That’s the difference between genuinely great customer service and good customer service!
We got the VIP treatment, so we got to check out the upstairs area with the art hall and lounge. The arts was amazing, I really enjoyed it. It was mostly the watercolor with Asian-​inspired art with persimmons that caught my eyes. The lounge was inviting with comfortable chairs, sofa, and tables for those, who want to relax with their wines and have a conservation. The patio had a breathtaking view of the winery from above. It was so pretty.
We loved almost all the wines that we tasted, 8 out of 9 wines. The White Chardonnay was amazing. The two Reserve were nice, too. Their Zinfandel definitely reminded me of my favorite Malbec, too, because of the hint of heat and peppery-​ness that it had. It was good.
I would definitely recommend this place if you are near Calistoga or just want to enjoy good wine.

Had a wonderful picnic lunch paired with an aromatic and zesty Sauvignon Blanc. We had fantastic service, and our children were entertained by all the animals sculptures around the grounds. We definitely recommend this quaint and scenic winery. Jenna was wonderful in the tasting room. Thank you! We’ll be back!

White Oak has a very modern and sophisticated tasting room, and really friendly/​helpful people pouring the wines. Also, if you’re a Visa Signature card holder, your tasting is free (normally $ 10 for 5 wines)! We arrived around 4pm and there were a few people in the tasting room, but it wasn’t packed, and we were able to grab a spot at the tasting counter easily. We tried:
2012 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($ 35/​bottle): I enjoyed this pinot, which was nice and light. Very drinkable.
2009 Napa Valley Syrah ($ 26/​bottle): The syrah was more robust than the pinot, but was pretty good.
2006 Alexander Valley Myers Reserver ($ 50/​bottle): The Alexander Valley was a little lighter than the Napa Valley.
2006 Napa Valley Myers Reserve ($ 50/​bottle): The Napa Valley was peppery and robust, which wasn’t my cup of tea.
Overall, I enjoyed my tasting experience at White Oak, and would definitely recommend coming here if you have a Visa Signature! Parking is easy in their lot.

We just love this place. We discovered it on a lovely long drive from Calistoga two summers ago. We stopped to taste their wines. OMG! They were wonderful. Signed up immediately. The winter came, 2013. We decided to take advantage of our membership. We made reservations to their Crab Feed. All you can eat!
It was such a memorial time, I made it my husbands’ 65^th birthday celebration.
We cannot wait to visit them again. It has been too long. But, we enjoy the wines.

White Oak Vineyards and Winery, offers a homely, cottage-​like atmosphere and I found it superbly peaceful here. You get to explore its wooden home and the stairs leads you to a quaint living room on the top floor, which you can admire the layout of the vineyard, take in a breath of fresh air at the side outdoor patio as well as look around at art displays. There is a wine cellar on the base floor and there are wooden barrels that are filled with aged wine as well as wine bottles in cases — ready to be handed over and to be consumed!
The pourers were amazing at knowing what to recommend and commented about the history of this vineyard. They gave us complimentary wine-​liquid chocolates, which not only melted in my mouth, but was beautifully blended with the rich wine that was filled in the hard chocolate! It was delightfully delicious!
From the flight tasting, you get to pick 5 from the menu. My favorites were the Myers Reserves, Alexander Valley and Napa Valley, and the Alexander Valley Zinfandel. Each one of them was splendid and pleasant to sip on while having company to enjoy it with!

I liked the wine for a free tasting. The wine maker is nice and friendly. I wouldn’t spend any money on a bottle of their wines. The young woman in the tasting room that looks like and angry Russian, was really rude, and wears a scowl. They should get rid of her. Then they would get 4 stars. I’ll never know though, as I won’t be back. Bad customer service is my biggest turn off. She was that bad. She just looks mean before you even approach her.
P. S. You’ll see most of the people that like this place are not from Sonoma County. They like the outdoor landscape, and that fools them enough for them to think that they like the wine.

Omgosh we LOVED this place! It was a Barrel Tasting weekend and they were packed but it was handled smoothly. It was our first winery, and we were super impressed. The Chardonnay was fantastic! One of my favorites in Sonoma county. They buildings are cool, the centerpieces were so cute, the animal statues created a family touch, the station wagon w their name on it by the road set a good tone, everyone was super knowledgeable and friendly. If we made more we would’ve become members. They have an outdoor kitchen you can enjoy if you’re a member, which looks like a ball!!! Highly recommend this place. Well for sure be back in the spring or summer.

We start here every year for the Alexander valley open house. They had French onion soup and truffles on site, which went great with the wines they served. They also opened up the back and had some picnic tables and a band playing.
If you want to take your time tasting you can go upstairs and take a look at their art and the beautiful view of the valley.
Great spot!

Sunday, 1:00PM.
Escorting friends for a weekend of wine tasting in underrated Sonoma County.
Quickie:
++Good customer service
+Well kept compound, nice landscaping
+Plenty of parking
+Upstairs room with sweet view for private events
+Decent pricing
— Need snacks!
And then???
Places like White Oak can lure patrons from other wine counties.