Cinnabar Winery Tasting Room

Beautiful, great wine, and great service. I’ll be back soon. Found this randomly as I drove aimlessly from San Jose. New to the Bay Area, so this was very nice to run into. Came alone, was given very welcoming service, can’t wait to bring friends. Thanks Cinnabar Winery :)

Beautiful space with classy service and an air-​conditioned tasting room on a lazy Monday afternoon!
I love how spacious this space is for such a small space… the layout and the beautiful portraits of vineyard landscapes really make this area bright and beautiful. Their wood floors are classy and I love that they also had two of their wines on tap and not by the bottle. That was quite an interesting observation.
Throughout the tasting, we all agreed that the 2014 Chardonnay was the best wine out of all choices. At the end, we purchased a bottle of their crisp Chardonnay and split it among six of us. There were 5 tastings that day (June 2016) and I wasn’t too fond of their petite syrah and verdot (more of mixing wines to me, rather than stand-​alone ones), but I loved their 2013 Carignan which was a biiiiit spicy at the finish! YUM YUM. However, the Mercury Rising was just alright for me.
Our winetender was very gracious and polite with her small talk! Because the tasting room is a bit echo-​y I felt so strange hearing our group of six being the loudest people in the space. They have bar seating and standing space, as well as two-​top tables for those who would rather enjoy a glass. I couldn’t find wifi, but they do have an indoor restroom. Lovely quaint space – would totally come back.

Great selection of wine. Located in downtown Saratoga and the outdoor environment is really enjoyable. I have not been a wine person but went with the white wine they recommended and it was delicious. I like how they allow you to sample the wine before you buy the glass to make sure you like what you are drinking. Will be coming back to try their other selections.

Cinnabar has been my favorite winery for 8+ years. Their wine has always been consistent. Consistency is very important to me. As I really don’t like opening up a bottle and it is not what I expected — especially in a bad way. Everyone who works here is super friendly. Also, wine club members get 50% off several select bottles of wine if you start consuming on premise. Where do you ever get a discount like that?! Most places charge the same or more if consumed on premise. If you are ever in town and you are up for some wine tasting, be sure to stop by here. You won’t be disappointed.

A nice flight of wines awaits you at Cinnabar. Our favorite is their red blend, Mercury Rising, a easy-​drinking wine reasonably priced at $ 22. Relaxed atmosphere, great location in downtown Saratoga.

Love it here! Try the live music on the weekend nights and the 2013 Mercury Rising. The wine club is great. We like to pick up our shipment so we can taste what is new. And the staff is always friendly and goes out of the way to make you feel at home.

Love this place! The tasting room staff is always super courteous and very knowledgeable. The location is very convenient as well. Most importantly, the wines that come in the wine club membership shipments include a wide range of varietals and are top-​notch. Highly recommended.

Tasting room until 5pm. Then it’s a wine bar. Very fun to sit outside. Only two white wines to choose from — but both are great! Incantation — nice and light. Crisp, semi-​dry. Chardonnay — smooth…
Drawback — no sampler plate to enjoy with a bottle wine. You can purchase some cheeses and crackers though…

Stumbled upon this winery as we were driving down from Savannah Chanelle. It was packed, as they said it was an exclusive member release and there was a jazz concert going on in the park.
My friend and I were lingering upon the side of the bar, and had a tasting of their 5 reds. I mentioned to our pourer that we are white wine drinkers, and she gave us a taste of the chardonnay and incantation, which we loved and picked up a bottle that was on discount for $ 17.50. With the purchase, we got $ 5 off the $ 10 tasting as well.
Would definitely come back, but on a less packed day as we felt a bit rushed with the many people in here.

We visited Cinnabar for the first time, picking a Monday, just before lunch, to beat the crowds. And, we were successful, as we were the only tasters there.
The room is spacious with chairs and a bar with bar stools. Outside is a new redwood deck with red umbrellas. It is attractive and and would be inviting for an extended stay.
We went through the tasting menu, picking our favorite, the Zhu Sha (2012) from Lewis Vineyard, Lodi. It’s a blend that includes petite sirah, petite verdot, teroldego, and barbera (15% alcohol). We were told these were fermented together rather than blended from finished wines. Runners up, in order, were Mourvedre from Contra Costa County Sandy Lane Vineyards (2013) and the Carignan, Contra Costa County (2012)-Sandy Lane Vineyard.
Having had Cinnabar Pinot Noir– Santa Lucia Highlands in restaurants, we asked about it. It was not on the tasting menu due to availability, but we were delighted to be offered a taste, which required the opening of a bottle. This was from the Tondre Grapefield, which we were familiar with from Testarossa (Los Gatos). We were delighted with this wine, as it is so very good.
We purchased a bottles of the Zhu Sha and Pinot Noir for our cellar. We will lay them down for about six months to maximize the experience.
Enjoy!

Highly over-​rated and over hyped winery. They have very limited options and the wine was okay. For a winery that has been spoken about a lot, it was disappointing. They had just 2 white wines and a few more reds.

Stopped here on Monther’s Day after brunch. What a great way to end the afternoon. We tasted some wine and bought a bottle for Mom!

Great place to go for wine tasting.
They have some nice wines, fairly priced, and great music Friday’s thru Sunday’s (inside in winter, outside on the patio the rest of the year).
Cinnabar is one of the only wineries who keep the music going all year round.
The great acoustic bands they bring in include:
— Hootenanny
— Acoustic Madness
— PS Acoustic Duo
— 7^th Wave
Put together a great charcuterie plate from the goodies in their fridge — they’ll even plate it beautifully for you!
Great crackers too!
The staff at Cinnabar are all super-​helpful and fun too! The make it very easy to feel comfortable while you enjoy wonderful wines and listen to music.
Tip: The Incantation Blanc is delicious!
(My only request/​suggestion: I wish they had the bands play longer each time. There’s more great wine and food to be shared after the time spent tasting — two hours of great music isn’t quite enough)! :-)

Really solid wine. Casual atmosphere. Nice outside patio. Place is kinda small, can maybe fit ~100 people.
The service was really friendly and I’d definitely come back. Their wine club includes a free daily tasting. Sick.

FUN TO BE HAD!!!
An awesome 3-​man rock band, Hootenanny, is what drew a group of us to Cinnabar Winery. They’re located on Big Basin Way, alongside some superb restaurants, spas and boutiques.
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and a great start to a wonderful weekend. We were pleasantly greeted by our server, Justin. He found us a nice table outside on the patio, overlooking Big Basin Way and the stage area where Hootenanny performed that night. Since it was late in the afternoon, with the sun setting in our eyes, we were very appreciative of the shade the table umbrellas provided us.
Just a few steps away, one enters the wine tasting room. There are two areas to sit: one is at the bar which is pretty commonplace for most wine tasting rooms and the other are tables which make for a nice seating area for both conversation and snacks.
To start the evening off, we explored their 4 wine pours:
(1) 2012 Incantation Blanc (Double Gold Medal), (2) 2012 Mourvèdre (92 pts.), (3) 2011 Zinfandel and (4) 2010 Malbec (Gold Medal).
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, as their slogan states. All of their wine pours were surprisingly delicious! In fact, we enjoyed our samplings so much that we signed up for their, «Wine Club», aka, the «Alchemist Wine Society»! The benefits are numerous, but what had paid off the most on this evening was that we received 4 complimentary wine tastings (member plus 3 guests), plus 20% off all of our appetizers and additional glasses of wine for the evening. This was substantial, as we ate and drank a lot! For appetizers, we enjoyed the Tapas Board and the Cheese & Fruit Board which were served at our patio table. We also explored their self-​serve refrigerator in the tasting room where we selected a variety of additional meats and cheeses.
What more can one ask for a Friday night, jump starting the weekend with great friends, delectable wine, tasty food and LIVE, rockin’ music!

What an awesome place! This sits in the restaurant row in Saratoga a few steps away from my current discovery The Basin.
As with most establishment here look for a house with a sign that says Wine Tasting. On Fridays you will find the outside patio just loaded with happy people and live music. Contagious, fun, happy people. Music does that to people. Add some generous wine pours and it’s happy time!
Adam and I both tried their Tempranillo. $ 11/​glass. Generous pour and is quite fruity. Perfect for my mood that day.
The band Hootenanny was playing awesome songs that was getting some people up on their feet dancing. We plan to catch this band somewhere else!
Inside you do the actual wine tasting. We didn’t do that but we intend to next time. They do sell some tasty small plates as in cheese and prosciutto.
The staff that served us was very likable. He totally adjusted to the varied age bracket that day.
Thanks to J&T for introducing us to this vibrant establishment!

I had no idea about all of the tasting rooms that Downtown Saratoga had to offer until one of my girl friends told me about them. She’s been a wine club member at Cinnabar for some time now and loves it! After spending a couple hours at Cinnabar, and tasting their regular tastings, I can see why.
Aside from great wines, Cinnabar offers a nice outdoor patio and large indoor seating area, which is good for small and larger groups.
We didn’t stay late enough, but they have live music on Saturday nights.

This place is awesome!!! The place is on a nice little street in saratoga. The wine is absolutely delicious. It’s fair priced. I took my friend to do some wine tasting for her first time. Kyle was our wine expert and he is super nice, friendly, and knowledgeable. He answered all our questions.
I would definitely recommend this place!

2.5÷5
Going into the tasting, my expectations were high. Cinnabar has been Unilocal-​marked for a while. However, I was disappointed with the amount that was poured (not generous at all.), and the quality. Not impressed compared to the other tastings within walking distance. Will not return.

Very nice place to try some wine! Right in the heart of Saratoga, this well placed tasting room has live music, a lovely patio, and appetizers, as well as delicious wine! I believe it was $ 10 for a flight of 5 wines, with Mercury Rising being the highlight. Generous pours and knowledgable, friendly staff!