Red Car Wine Co.

Popped in here on a whim with a friend while on a road trip — we saw some good Unilocal reviews so checked it out. Super clean, spacious and comfortable tasting room — we enjoyed their choice in music. The staff were very nice — and the wines we tried were delicious though we didn’t end up buying any bottles. It was a nice place to stop and chat over a glass of wine and I’ll definitely stop again!

I suppose this place had the misfortune of following our first stop, which was a fantastic experience.
For our tastings, it was difficult to tell if the service was hoping we would just hurry up and leave… Or if he just had more of a passive personality. While I didn’t hate any of the wines included in the tasting, none of them blew me away. For $ 55+ per bottle, I expect something I just can’t say no to. My favorite was one of the pinots with all of the sediment… I felt it helped the flavor stand out more. (I apologize for not being able to provide more descriptive info in what we tried!)
I would likely go back if I were in the area to enjoy a glass… But it’s one of those places you just stop in to for a quick sip.

I think they must think they’re in Napa. Their wines are priced very high but to us they were only moderately good, and we’ve tasted a lot of wine. And the $ 15 tasting fee also reminded me of Napa, but at least when I go there I get to enjoy the lovely grounds of the wineries instead of this place that seemed more like a wine bar that also sells stuff (jewelry, etc.). The tasting room was over-​the-​top trendy and pretentious, and the young people pouring the wine were fake and salesman-​like that we couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Great wines! This is a small-​production winery that makes some very tasty pinot noir — the best we had of the wine we tried at 4 wineries we visited in the area. They also have a light and dry Rose that is very refreshing and flowery in its flavors without being too sweet. We had a great time tasting here, particularly because Rick in the tasting room was friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful in his suggestions for what to do in the area.
Regading Wild Flour next door — we couldn’t try it because it is closed on Wednesdays.

The rose? Reason enough to make a stop inside this chic tasting room. A little off the beaten path, I will admit. But some things are just worth spending time to find.
It feels very «LA» when you walk inside. Sleek furniture, handmade jewelry, record player… Almost too cool to be a tasting room.
Just get the rose. Get it. The rest of their wine is fine, nothing jumped out at me. But that rose is splendid. One of my California favorites.
Price point for a tasting or a bottle is quite reasonable — averages about $ 15 – 20 per person. The accessories around the shop are much pricer, but make the visit more fun.

My wine preferences go in phases. Lately I’ve taken a liking to tasting Sonoma coast vintner’s Pinot Noir from Red Car, Senses, Joseph Phelps, Marimar Estates and Alma Fria. We had a very good tasting of the Red Car Rose, Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs. We now have made it a regular stop on our Sonoma wine tasting trips to stop at Red Car.

Just a quick thank you to Erin for the near-​closing time quick tasting yesterday. Love your wines — thx!

Overall: Balletic, Tasteful and Charming.
Wines are well-​balanced, elegant, restrained and lovely.
I could have spent my entire day here happy as a clam.
Chic, glamorous tasting room …
(black furry shag tasting chairs! interesting etsy-​inspired knick-​knacks with a vintage, coachella vibe!)
Erin Callahan …
(our tasting server was so warm, bubbly and friendly (see photo series) and we all agreed we wanted her to be our friend. Truly a gem.)
Rosé! Olé! …
The wine was gorgeous and I am looking forward to my wine shipments. I can’t wait to open up my Spring showstopper: a tall, lithe magnum of rosé for picnics all summer long.
Get yourself to Red Car immediately.

Red Car was our first stop. We did the wine tasting with Erin and she couldn’t have been nicer. My wife and I are wine amateurs and she was very patient and not only explained the wines we tasted but took time to give us an overview of Sonoma and the Napa Valley and gave us some excellent recommendations.

Summary: 4+
Well designed tasting room, love the wines (although a bit pricey)…especially the 2012 Estate Pinot and the 2012 Heaven and Earth. Always loved their Rose of Pinot… Goes great with spicy andouille. Staff were very knowledgeable and fun. Attended a wine dinner at Lela’s in Fresno 2 years ago that was one of the best wine dinners ever and joined the wine club. Wine labels are beautiful… Just wish the tasting room was on a vineyard.

Visiting the Red Car tasting room is like having a wine tasting at an Anthropologie/​Urban Outfitters. Cool environment and interesting staff. So-​so wines for the price ($ 15 tasting, ~$ 50 bottles). Not a great choice compared to the abundance of quality of wines available in the area.
Our server was kind but only somewhat knowledgable (she seemed to know a lot about Red Car wines, but not as much about wines in general).
Their award winning (Wine Enthusiast magazine) rosé was tasty, but by no means our favorite rosé (even of the day). We were also surprised to see they still had 2012 Chardonnay available, given the ideal conditions of that growing season, most vineyards we visited were sold out of that vintage.
I LOVED the label designs on their bottles. Truly beautiful.
Rather forgettable winery. I’d send my hipster friends here for the atmosphere, but probably won’t be back myself.

Very good! Different wines in a very laid back environment with many fun things to look at and taste! Highly recommend a visit!

Highly recommended. I’m in the industry and had been referring guests to Red Car during my employment with a neighboring winery, but had kept missing them on my own wine tasting tours. I finally made it in and was delighted.
Tasting Room manager Rick is wonderful, a true pro and great ambassador for the Red Car brand. The experience was informative, intimate, authentic, entertaining– everything a tasting should be. The TR itself has a unique and quaint ambiance and the charming 1950’s Americana artifacts are consistent with the back story of Red Car Wines.
As for the wines, the portfolio has earned its reputation. The Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay is among the best of the 2012 vintage, the Pinots are distinct and expressive, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the depth and structure of the Sonoma Coast Syrah program. The price points on the Pinot program are a bit high in my estimation, but make no mistake this portfolio has its share of 92 + point wines.
Top Picks: 2012 Ritchie Chardonnay
2011 Estate Syrah (Sonoma Coast)

Wonderful tasting room and very generous people. Very helpful to our evening and what we should do to make our evening in Santa Rosa enjoyable. The tasting room had homemade jewlery with very unique items and excellent wines. Highly recommend it.

I came here in July after going to the beach with some friends and our dogs. I knew that Red Car allowed dogs in their tasting room, so we stopped in on our way home. From the outside I didn’t expect much, but the inside was nicely decorated and airy on a hot day. The dogs sat underneath the bar quietly and the social media woman took photos of them and shared the picture on Instagram, which I loved.
The man who did our tasting was excellent! He told us SO much about wine regions, the grapes, the wines, the history. He totally exceeded expectations. Plus, he told some pretty hilarious jokes.
My husband and I really loved their syrah’s and ended up buying their rose and a bottle of syrah. The $ 15 tasting fee was waived with a $ 50 purchase. I guess my one complaint would be that I think the tasting fee should be waived with a purchase of any of their wines. Other than that, I truly enjoyed Red Car, and would definitely come back to buy more of their wines. Great job, Red Car! You guys rock.

This place has fantastic reds. The only problem is that it’s becoming way too popular! The tasting room is just that, a room off the main road. The only thing missing is a scenic view overlooking a vineyard, but you can leave that to your imagination as you’re tasting delicious wines.

We came here with a large group of 11 people. I thought the wines were OK and the $ 15 tasting fee was reasonable. There is another tasting room right next door, so this would be a good stop if you wanted to try wines from 2 different wineries without having to drive.
There’s not really an outdoor space her to sit outside and drink. We were there on a rainy day so this worked out well, but keep that in mind if you want to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful wine country scenery this is probably not the best spot.

Everything on the tasting menu was delicious and worth the fee because we ended up becoming members. I have never liked a certain wineries’ selections enough to become a member. This place got me!
The rosé was delicious and very popular with everyone in the room. The pinot’s were delicious as well. Staff was very friendly and likeable, i wanted to hang out all day!
Ambiance is very hipster and to my liking. Jewelry sold in the shop was beautiful and well crafted. Items for sale? I wanted to make some purchases but the club was enough for today.

Hipster wine tasting? Sounded sketchy for sure. I’m a fool for judging so quickly.
Damned fine pinots, and a knowledgable pourer chica, whose name totally freaking escapes me, because I’m writing this at a different tasting room — a third tasting room — while my friend is in the bathroom, so I can’t ask her.
Just know this: everything is negotiable, except those bottles on display on the counter at Red Car. Wait: those are negotiable too. The place is owned by an «indie director.» I wanna be an «indie director.» Really, I just want to drink Red Car varietals (Pinot Noirs in particular) all day, every day. Hey — when did I become a target market? How did they know I want to drink wine and spin records and drink wine and sit on a saddle while shooting the shit with kindred spirit Angelenos who want to move here, all in a pretty pretty oaken setting?
My individuality is shot.
(In all seriousness, skip right to the pinots and get one of the estate bottles.)

Total hipster winery. Lots of cool art and furniture in this place make it festive and fun to hang out.
I loved the music they were playing. Spoon came on & that was unusual to hear in a winery, but in a good way.
Our winetender was cool but not too cool to be cool.
Very nice bathroom with chalk walls… This chick cannot pass up the opportunity to write on walls. I blame the Hispanic blood coursing thru these veins. ;)
Shut up. I can say it. you can’t.
Oh yeah, the wine. Well. it was good. It wasn’t the best wine in all the land, but it was good. I have to say I liked the graphics on the older bottles more than the new. I didn’t want to say that to our winetender, as he was the guy in charge of new graphics. But, the older ones were grittier and artsier… I feel their original labels fit the theme for their winery, whereas the new ‘photo-​based’ graphics set them side by side with competitors… and are kind of boring (sorry cool wine guy, don’t be mad)
We left with a chardonnay (with the new graphics on the bottle. Boo!), it’s your classic oakie/​honey chard and not too rich for just popping open any olé day of the week.
Tastings run $ 15.good thing we had a deal for a complimentary one, because $ 30 for 2 peeps to taste is ridiculous.