Bouchaine Vineyards — Attraction in American Canyon

We are wine club members and love their wines, but our in person experiences have really fallen short. Our first visit (probably 7 or 8 years ago?) was impromptu after hiking. We stopped in and the woman working had no interest in helping us but was very friendly to the large tour group. We sat for a while until another staff member came to serve us. He really turned the visit around for us—we enjoyed the visit and the wines and ended up joining the wine club and also buying a case. The woman who ignored us before suddenly had lots of interest in us and came and sat with us and gave us all sorts of recommendations on restaurants. We laughed about this experience until our next visit which was just last year. We were excited to give the in person visit another chance, to see the new building, and to share it with our friends we were traveling with. This experience was even worse than our initial visit. We had an appointment, and our host basically just came over to pour us wine and did not engage with us much. After each sample, we’d wait for quite while before she’d make her way back to us, and we were one of only two tables there, and she was not assisting the other table. We watched her talking with another coworker nearly the entire time while we felt ignored by them both. We were highly embarrassed that this was the experience our friends had. We will continue to get their wines because they are delicious, but we will no longer visit when we come to Napa (quite the bummer to feel this way as I’ve always wanted to do the falconry experience), and we will not be gifting any of our tastings to others as it really was just embarrassing and disappointing. Instead of feeling like they turned things around and the first visit was just a comical one off, now it solidified that other wineries are much more warm...

We had reservations at Bouchaine this past weekend and there were 3 of us in our party and only 2 were tasting because I chose not to drink at this vineyard. First, we have visited vineyards all throughout California and other states and this has never been the policy. Second, the website is not transparent because this is not listed on the website. During a phone call, I was told there would be a $35 fee even if I wasn't tasting the wine (for sitting in a chair) and they would supply non-alcoholic beverages such as sparkling water, soda, etc. When we arrived, they had no non-alcoholic beverages and our server said it was ridiculous they would charge $35 and he was unaware of this policy. He asked his manager to refund the $35 and his manager said "NO!" Our server went out of his way to find a non-alcoholic drink (I'm not sure where) and he apologized several times. This policy should be listed on your website and you should offer non-alcoholic drinks. You are indirectly suggesting there should not be a designated driver and you also gave us the impression you are most concerned about the bottom line and not ALL your guests enjoying...

We first learned about Bouchaine Vineyards after tasting one of their wines at a Sonoma restaurant. Because their location is a bit off the beaten track, it was almost a year before we finally had a chance to visit the winery. When we finally visited, we noticed that there are some other outstanding wineries right nearby. Interesting history here - the property was originally used by a large production winery (Beringer) as a secondary production facility. When the new owners purchased the property in the 80's, they repurposed the old redwood tanks by using the wood as siding on the building exterior. Now they have a new tasting facility under construction, scheduled to open Q3 2018. They have lots of food and wine events for members on their beautiful property, and the new tasting room will allow them to expand these offerings. The winemaker Chris Kajani has been there since 2015, and she has created a varied and exciting menu of wines. We loved tasting and...