Big Basin Vineyards

Friendly & fun, casual & very informative tasting room! Fabulous experience!!! Odeon, Grizzly, Rousanne wine!

Whenever I am anywhere south of Mountain View, I always find myself making a stop at Big Basin for some of their delicious wines. Small, unassuming tasting room right off the main strip in Saratoga. Awesome artwork (look closely), and super friendly staff.

We’ve been members here for 3+ years now.
I’m a wine snob. I’ll admit it. I also have a few too many wine memberships. However, big basin is our favorite. The wines are a little higher price point then what I usually prefer, which is why being a member makes it worth it to me.
Yes, they are mostly red wines. They come out with an occasional white, but in general if you’re going to taste it’s mostly (or only) red on the tasting list.
I don’t get why some people are upset about current pouring (previous reviews). Most wineries have a selected list for the week (or month) and do not veer from that unless they have something extra opened up that day.
Bottom line — I’ve NEVER had a wine from big basin I have not loved. I cannot say that about any other winery I’ve been to.

I’ve been wine tasting everywhere in California, but my most recent excursion through the Santa Cruz Mountains stands out at Big Basin. The wines are fantastic, balanced and nuanced, and the customer service stands alone. My wife and I needed to eat and after getting a sense of our dining preferences, the person in the tasting room actually called a nearby restaurant to book our reservation while we were wine tasting. This was top level service in my opinion. The wines were explained in full detail too and learning about the wine making philosophy was great and educational. Highly recommended. We’ll be back.

I gave an additional star for their chardonnay but the service here is pretty bad. The guy working the counter seemed upset at the world. Not in a crazy way but with an aura of general misery that showed in every interaction that we had with him. We were there on a weekend before a concert at the mountain vineyard and really regretted stepping foot in the place.

Great winery with an amazing staff! The wine pourers were very informative And you could really tell this was a passion for them. This was my first time wine tasting! Big basin wines are complex and very enjoyable to drink. We were given information on where the grapes were from and the styles used on making each of the wines. My favorite was the 2013 Bald moutain Chardonnay. A very restrained Chardonnay with a touch of butter and mineral.

In the Santa Cruz appellation there are a lot of very good wineries and then there are a few stellar producers. Big basin is one of the stellar producers! It’s great to be able get go to a tasting room and have a taste or glass of wine of that caliber. To actually be able to taste and buy bottles, that if they were being made in Napa would have cult status is a fun experience. These guys take winemaking seriously and it shows.

Came here with a few friends using the Tasting Flights check-​in deal.
The wine is easy to drink and is a pleasant wine for the casual /​beginner wine fan.
Nothing too surprising in terms of taste, as it has a ‘watered down type taste’ for the pinot from Santa Cruz, but a safe bet for your wine collection. I got a bottle, for the «Coors Light» wine drinkers.

Interesting thing… we went to Cinnabar and it was super packed. So we went next-​door to big basin vineyards to give it a try. Only 4 people sitting inside, two people sitting outside. perfect for our group of 13 people. So we thought. The guy at the wine bar said «I can’t accommodate 13 people unless you have a reservation». I said «Do you want us to call you and make a reservation? We only seven or eight of us that will probably drink.» He looked at his other clients and said «I really need to pay more attention to the people that are already here». Um ., See ya! He told us why don’t you check next-​door so we went to Michael Martella and Michaud Vineyards which was also packed. No wonder Big Basin vineyards was dead. He totally turned away 13 cute women. Next door they went out of their way to have us sit outside and they gave us our own server and 6 tastings for $ 12. Talk about customer service! I’ll tell you where we’re never going to go again. Big basin Vineyard!

Driving from Ike’s Lair in Cupertino and ended up in historical district of Saratoga. Son and DIL took us to Big Basin Wine Tasting Room. Best Chard. I love La Crema, but this chard tasted like a combo of apricot and peaches, one of the best chards ever.
Visit Saratoga. Beautiful town nestled below the Santa Cruz mountains.

Very friendly and fun staff. Out of the 5 wine tasting rooms that we visited, these guys were the only ones that actually gave us all the wines at the same time (per request), so that I could take a picture of the flight, which made me immensely happy! I also think that they had the best wines out of the 5 locations, and they actually showed us where the wines were coming from on the map :)

Okay, okay, I love wine. We were the only couple when we entered, but even when the place got packed our server took the time to explain each wine, where they come from, etc. Because of his awesome service we purchased a few bottles. Attentive and seems he likes his job.

This is a cute tasting room located on the cute street in Saratoga. I was in contact with Chris S. there who was very accommodating for my extremely large group that I was bringing in (about 30 people). The tasting room is a bit small and narrow but you could still fit 30 people in there, for some reason. I would probably recommend about 20 people max for everyone to have a seat.
The wines they had were good and refreshing. I’m not a big wine person and it only takes me very little for me to get tipsy. I did buy a bottle of their pinot noir for $ 36 to give you an idea of their prices.
Their bathroom is shared with the wine tasting room next door, so if there is a lot of people, be prepared to wait.

First off, don’t be fooled by the three star reviews. One of them was written by someone who only likes white wine. Personally, I don’t trust anyone who only likes white wine ;). Some reviewers also seem stuck on a reviewing bias that leans more towards customer service than quality of wine. If you get nothing else from reading this review, at least know that for red lovers, this is a «must try at least once» kind of place.
Simply the best reds one can find in the Bay Area. I’ve had wine from all. At $ 10 a tasting, this is a complete steal. The quality just can’t be beat. Out of those available on the day I went, the 2011 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon was out of this world. I couldn’t resist buying a glass to enjoy on their deck after tasting. However, my companions preferred the 2010 Grizzly. While I was there I also tried the Old Corral. There just aren’t words to describe the delight it brought to my pallet. It’s been a week and I’m still craving a glass.
As far as the tasting room itself goes: the pourers are kind, down to earth, and eager to share the love and enthusiasm for handcrafted wine. They made the experience so pleasurable. They even brought out maps to show us where the different grapes were grown and soil samples.
Overall: you will be extremely hard pressed to find such high quality wines anywhere else. That stems from me having tasted wine in multiple countries, from multiple countries, and from everywhere in the Bay Area from Gilroy to Napa. This place is a gem. My new favorite winery.

Having previously been to R4 and Cinnabar, I decided to start my afternoon at Big Basin. While the wines add to every wine tasting experience, the staff also contribute! Everyone working at Big Basin was friendly and fun, and even the other people visiting the tasting room were great!
Overall, good wines, even a few additional wines that weren’t on menu! I’m a fan of their Riesling and 2010 Grizzly.

We stop at this place almost every time we are in Saratoga (we are members at a winery nearby). Their staff is friendly here and there is awesome outdoor seating and sometimes live music shared with the nextdoor tasting room (Michaud). Some of their wines are a little pricey and you have to buy several bottles to get the fee comp’d, but they do have a 2 for 1 Unilocal check-​in special that you can use. The only other problem is that it is usually staffed with only 1 person, and especially on the busy weekends, the person won’t bring your tasting to you while sitting outside like nearby wineries. They don’t hesitate to tell you that he/​she is the only one there and you have to come back inside for the next tasting. Hence, only 4 stars.

³⁄₅ stars
Hmm small tasting room – nothing TOO spectacular, but the wine selection was up to par with some wineries in Napa. We stood behind the counter while the friendly sommelier gave us our tastings. Overall not bad – the Rattlesnack Rock Syrah was my favorite from this tasting room.

Bold wines, staff gives you a lot Of information on the wines their pouring. Very talkative, informative.

**************************** REVIEW 898 ********************************
What not to love about this Big Basin Vineyards tasting room, located in the historic winery town of Saratoga. They offer two different tasting flights that include our best wines. Our door patio — Enjoy wines by the glass and bottle on our new patio. Bring a picnic or try some of the food pairings we offer. You may also reserve the Patio to host special private tastings and wine events for groups.
— RATTLESNAKE ROCK SYRAH An Estate Syrah produced from our first vineyard planted in 2000 primarily to a Cote Rotie selection of Syrah. Full body, jammy, love, think of Rhone style!
— ODEON SYRAH/​CABERNET — A compelling blend of Santa Cruz Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and a selection of our best Syrah barrels. I love this blend, what a nice combination.
— PADEREWSKI VINEYARD GSM — From one of the top West-​side vineyards dominated by calcareous shale limestone soils — Grenache — Mourvedre — Syrah blend at its best!
The tasting room manager Matt Ryan always makes you so welcome and with his big smile, knowledgeable and passionate about Big Basin Vineyards, it makes your visit 100 X more enjoyable.
Big Basin Vineyards tasting room is such a great place to visit.

«One should always be drunk. That’s all that matters… But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk.» Charles Baudelaire
On the day I visited Big Basin I was drunk on hiking and nice mediterranean eats. Thought I might as well add some alcohol to the day especially since friend, wine group member and fellow Unilocaler James D. recommended this place. I wil ignore my other Unilocaling friend Randi B.‘s review because she doesn’t like red wine and what kind of wino does that maker her!!! (Just kidding Randi, you know I love you).
The twenty-​something girl tending the tasting room was cute, friendly and passionate about the wines as all tasting room personnel should be. I ordered one each of the two available tastings because I wanted to try everything. And everything I tried! This is primarily red wine focused operation with a Riesling and Chardonnay present to give people like Randi something to drink. The whites were okay, nothing to purchase with the first Riesling I had was clearly corked which the cute, friendly, passionate server changed out for a fresh bottle.
The reds on the other hand were mostly very good with the Homestead and Alfaro Pinots being particular standouts. Those were the two bottles I purchased.
The Art on the spare tasting room was in 3D and there is a 2 for 1 Unilocal check in offer which was unneeded because I purchased 3 bottles I received $ 10 back anyway.
An interesting stop in Downtown Saratoga and recommended either before or after hiking :)