Wandering Dog Wine Bar

Nice pours and nice people, who could ask for more?

Bartender was really friendly and fun. strongly suggest to try out ‘sweet tooth’ for the wine beginners like I do: D

Bring your puppies to solvang — drink wine and pet your dog. U do that all the time at home with cheap wine. Now u can with good wine. There’s a very good chance that your furry friend will also find his new friends here too. The servers and owners will love your dog.
Their wine flights are ~$ 14 with about 5 – 6 selections included. I had the Reds Only. But there are others that do whites only, sweets only, etc. The boards will be a little more expensive but worth sharing. The people will not describe wines to you — this is not a tasting room. So bring your own set of people to talk to!
What I also liked about this place is that they let you take one bottle home if you buy 3 — so I did. There are places to sit outside, inside on the counter or couch. During Christmas season they’re open pretty late.

Do yourself a favor: go to the Wandering Dog, drink some wine, buy some wine, and keep them going for years to come. The WD has become me and my fiancé’s favorite wine bar in town. The service when we went both times was exceptional. Kris, hearing that we had just gotten engaged, popped some champagne and poured us both a glass. I’ve met fewer nicer and more affable people than Kris. When another couple came in, the great conversations and drinks continued.
Go, get some wine, some cheese, bring your dog, and just bask in the presence of wonderful people pouring wonderful wine. We will always return to the WD anytime we’re in town.

Wine was good, not the best, but we wanted to buy a bottle of the 2013 Wandering Dog Cabernet Sauvignon… Apparently you can’t, only for glass purchases only. We bought an additional tasting of a wine that we hadn’t ever tasted before, even though, the server was a tad bit snarky about it… «Well you’ve pretty much tried everything already.»
4 of us shared 2 tastings, figuring we would be responsible as we planned on continuing our tasting at another wine bar down the road.
The tasting note clearly states that your fee is waived with a bottle purchase, which isn’t the case. Even when we asked he said no. Maybe they should take this print off of the menu if you’re not willing to honor what’s literally written in black and white ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
Such a shame, he started off great, but then a few locals or friends came in and all of a sudden the customer service started to fall flat.

Preface: the four of us have worked or still work in the wine industry. We stayed one night in Solvang and after a late lunch wanted to try some tasting rooms. What started out as a great experience with an attentive server, ended with all four of us disappointed and puzzled, wondering what went wrong. The server was engaging and helpful at first, but as 6 or so more people separately entered, he became increasingly standoffish and distant, bordering rude. When we asked for a taste of one wine we’d never heard of, he replied «Well you’ve tried pretty much every thing.» Obviously not if we just said we’d never heard of that varietal. Furthermore we couldn’t do just a single one ounce pour, it HAD to be 3. It was amazing and worth the additional two ounces, but could have been served without the attitude.
The second mishap was when one girl asked about purchasing a bottle and the tasting fee being waived, which is stated on the menu, he was short with his response, «that’s not something we really do, but you get a better discount with the industry discount.»
When we were closing out, another girl asked if he had a preference in cash or card, which he said «Doesn’t matter, necessarily.»
We all walked out, scratching our heads as to what the turning point was, resulting in such downhill service.
Luckily, Lucky Dogg redeemed the Dog experience.

The wine was good which is why it gets one star. But they don’t make their own wines-​they buy them from the big name companies. We started out good with the bartender, but then some buddies of his walked in. He walked away from us to go wait on them. My husband and I each ordered a wine flight and a cheese pairing. We got our wine, but we never got our cheese plate. He walked off for like 15 minutes and went in the back. We had finished our wine flight (and we are not fast drinkers) when the bartender brought out his buddies’ cheese and cracker plate. He never gave us our cheese plate which we really wanted with our wine. When my husband told him to forget about the cheese since we were done with our wine, he gave my husband a rude look. Really??? You bring your buddies cheese plate before ours when we were there first? This place was not even busy but yes, please prioritize your friends over us. By all means!!! We were going to buy some wine and maybe a sweatshirt, but we paid the bill and walked out. Needless to say, due to the poor customer service, we won’t be coming back. Go down the street to the Lucky Dogg Winery. The staff there was very nice and attentive.

This was such a great experience! Kris was a delight to talk to and the wine was excellent. Plus, you can bring your dog. Wine and dogs – can’t complain.

Great wine, great tasting menus and decent prices. The truffles are AMAZING but at $ 4 a pop, it can break the bank so my suggestion is to to the truffle/​red wine tasting so it’s a little more afforable. They also have a cheese/​white wine tasting menu as well.

Really nice chill place! The bartender was super helpful and conversational. Recommend!

I really wanted to like this place. However, the entire hour we were there, the owner (who was waiting on us) didn’t say anything more than «here’s your next one» and never once did he smile. So, to say we didn’t feel welcome is an understatement. Isn’t your job to make casual conversation with your patrons and make them feel welcome? Also, yes, your dog is allowed inside, but every single chair is a high bar stool, so your dog will be 3 feet below you, so what’s the point? The one good thing about this place is that they had a lot of different tasting/​flight options and snacks (cheese and crackers, $ 4 chocolate truffles, olives, etc.).

This place is awesome for several reasons:
1. Great friendly customer service. Example: my friends were already there and I wasn’t able to meet them until about right when the bar was going to close. The door was locked already when I got there but since my friends were already there, the guy let me in and even offered to pour me a half glass AFTER he had already told my friends that he was done for the night. And to top it off, he poured me something so perfect for my taste that I ended up buying the bottle. Ha. Amazing.
2. They let you bring your dogs! INSIDE! How awesome is that?! At Wandering Dog, you can drink wine and hang out with your friends AND not feel guilty about leaving your pet at home. Amazing.
3. Multiple wine flights and even a beer flight — literally something for everyone. My friends and I seemed to order an appropriate flight that matched our personality. I got the Sweet Tooth. It’s rare that I love every tasting in the flight and for the first time, I loved EVERY SINGLE ONE. You can frown upon my taste but I am one of those Riesling and sweet wine lovers and the Sweet Tooth flight made my day.
4. Delicious delicious delicious cheese and meat boards. For the four of us, we shared the board with four different cheeses and in the end wished we had ordered the larger one. They had such unique cheeses from all over and they with paired well with the other little snacks on the board. There was just enough for everyone and to go with our wines.
This is a great place to order some wine (or flights) and to munch on snacks and hang out with your friends, others or dogs. There’s a relaxed and friendly vibe and make sure you read the «Fine Print» on the back of their menu. This is not a tasting room where they will explain every tasting to you, so do not expect that. This place is highly recommended for anyone visiting Solvang — definitely wine here!

Awesome wine bar and AWESOME sweet wines!!! I was never much of a wine drinker but I can’t wait to try more wines from the wandering dog!

This was my favorite wine tasting experience in Solvang. They were very welcoming to our dogs as well as us. It’s not too kitch or cute like so many of the tourist traps in the Solvang area. They also have local beer if you’re not a wine drinker. Its a good time and worth a visit!

Stopped in for some charcuterie and wine tasting while wandering around Solvang. It was a quiet afternoon, but the service was great and the cheese and wine were great complements. The pourer was the owner’s wife, and she was very warm and talkative. I enjoyed her descriptions of both the wines and how they were produced. There is no charge for tasting if you buy a bottle, and we enjoyed the wines so much we bought two! I’m going to think of the our visit fondly when we enjoy the wine we chose.

My friend and I came here mid-​day after adventuring in wineland. I’ve walked past here many times, usually on my way to their neighbor, Paula’s Pancake House.
I wanted a flight of wine that not only showcased up and coming wines in the area (I used to live here once but things have changed… and not all to the good) but stood out. My buddy just wanted a glass of wine.
I was given a flight of superb reds (How I wish I had kept the list) and it was a trip into exotica: earthy, rich wines, dusty smells of Happy Valley and beyond, and finish after finish of long, amazing notes. This dog should have wanderd here a long time ago.
Now, I just need to be in the business of wandering back!

Highly recommend this place! Jody was great, all the people in there were super friendly! The cheese platter was perfectly placed with the right cheeses and fruit. Started with the wine tasting and found the perfect white wine. If you come to Solvang you have to stop here!

PRO:
Warm, cozy, comfortable, dog-​friendly. Great variety of tasty wines (so far, the best tasting flight in Solvang), and you can pick and choose which to taste. The lady is very friendly and attentive.
PRO OR CON: (you decide)
Three bigger glasses instead of six little glasses. More but less.
CON:
The bottles are pricier than most places. The three guys we encountered were not friendly. One guy was just not warm. One was fine, maybe a little too hard sell. And Beard Tiny Ponytail was flat out snobby… Maybe I deserved it because I was fiddling with my broken phone camera during the tasting, but he barely slowed down tp rudely say, «how’s the wine, ‘fine’?» with a dismissive face.
whatever, we’re not wandering back in unless the woman is there.
TIP:
$ 5 for a scoop of pistachios was cool, but they should offer all plain or all one flavor rather than the weird mix we got (garlic? BBQ? lemon-​lime?) which was like eating jelly beans in the dark. Instead, buy a bag from the store and save any leftovers.

Stopped in when in Solvang for one night, had a blast. Ian was amazing and we met some awesome people while there. I liked that you could choose which wines you wanted in your tasting flight. The rose was sooo good, my favorite though was the moscato. The atmosphere of the bar was nice and cozy.

People with dogs can go wine tasting too.
A big KUDOS to the Wandering Dog Wine Bar to allow pets to come inside.
My friends and I shared a bottle of their excellent Proseco. And I got their Kahlua truffle which was a bite of heaven.
Excellent service for both people and our furry friends. We were a big group and stayed there for a long time. The waitress/​host made sure there were plenty of water for everyone and was extremely attentive to all our needs.
**RECOMMENDED**