Hans Fahden Vineyards — Attraction in California

*Update- Karen the owner called me back. I am changing my rating to a 3, only because their policy on tastings/purchases/waiving is not very clear. She did waive our tasting fee though (so thank you). I found out she was our original server and was super nice. The cave is very nice and worth visiting. Hopefully you get Karen as your server and not anyone else *

Nate is the worst!! I was referred by his fiance Alice from Brian Arden Winery who is absolutely AMAZING!! Nate is so rude. We were having a nice conversation (I thought) until checkout time. We were engaging in conversation, getting recommendations for dinner (Rutherford Grill was SO GOOD!!) We've ben coming to Calistoga for the last 20 years, always try a new winery, and have never needed to write a review- especially a bad review. The older lady who was working today (Saturday day) was our server and was FANTASTIC. We asked BEFORE we ordered, if the tasting be waived if we bought 2 bottled to go (since there were 2 of us). She let us know, absolutely they would be waived. We went to check out, order out 2 bottles of wine, and leave with a nice experience. Nope. That's not how it went. Nate was very rude and aggressive, told us we were $5 shy of hitting the required amount. I let him know we were buying 2 bottles, so out tastings should be waived. He started arguing, telling me that's not how it worked. I let him know the nice lady who checked using assured us they'd be waived. He got loud and said she absolutely did not say that. My (very calm) husband let him know, yes she did. He still continued to argue with us. He was getting loud, and we were getting embarrassed so we just paid it. We have never felt so disappointed in a winery, and have been coming to Calistoga for 20 years. I will never step foot in this place again. I left a message for the owners and hope they return my call. Their employees represent their business, and Nate...

10/10 recommend - we did our elopement wedding here and we are SO SO HAPPY that we did.

Venue - absolutely stunning with the cute pond with a boat, vineyards, the cave, and views from above.

People - Karen, the owner, was an amazing host and coordinator. The elopement package was thoughtfully curated - a delicious wedding cake, wine for toasting, officiant, and venue use for photos included. I got my own photographer (outside of the package) and she was so thoughtful and took the initiative to directly coordinate details of the day like address, with my photographer without me even thinking about this.

She was so accommodating with all my needs such as using the dressing room a few hours before the ceremony, having a separate room for my husband so that my first look didn't get spoiled. I didn't eat enough and felt hungry and she was so kind to provide me some snacks. I wanted to set up my mini cell phone tripod to film our ceremony - the tripod didn't work and Karen helped us film the whole thing by holding the camera. These memories will last us a lifetime. She and her husband also drove us up the venue so that we could take photos from up above. I didn't expect to ride in an ATV at my wedding but that was a nice surprise. She truly made the experience a fun and relaxing experience.

It was such a joyful time to get married there. I wouldn't have wanted to get married anywhere else! I'm so excited to visit next time for actual wine tasting. Hopefully for our first...

We chose Hans Fahden for our wedding venue and could not have been happier! We had a late April wedding with about 30 guests and everything was perfect. We looked at many venues to try to find one that would be willing to take on such a small wedding and also not have us feel like we had way too much space - while they can accommodate more guests, it was exactly what we were looking for. The garden was beautiful and our guests were wowed by the dinner setup in the cave. We worked with Vanessa Miller, who we connected with through Hans Fahden, as our wedding planner and she was great as well. The owner, Karen, drove us up to the mountain ridge for sunset photos and she was lovely. Oh and also, the wine is excellent! We would highly recommend Hans Fahden as a wedding venue...