J Rochioli Vineyards & Winery — Attraction in California

Excellent experience.

STAFF: 5 stars. The staff is small, personable, and approachable. If you're a snob looking for snobbery, please drive on. Their laid-back attitude and lack of appointments would lead you to believe that the wines you are about to experience are sub-par. Worry not. Please chat with them. They're great. Happy to tell you about their allocation list. No wine club. No pesky sales tactics.

WINE: 5 stars. Esposa and I visited in early November, after harvest and throngs of tourists. Allocated wines were gone, so we were left with what amounts to Rochioli's "worst" wine: one Chardonnay and one Pinot Noir. Each was a delicious balanced blend of several vineyards. Well, if this is their worst, I can't imagine how truly amazing their single-vineyard wines reserved for their allocation list must be. Oh, the "A-list" is about 5 years of waiting. Yeah, we signed up!

FACILITY: 4 stars. This is a humble tasting room with a nice outdoor patio and seating area.

VIEW: 5-PLUS stars. After the tasting and (of course) purchasing their worst wine (dee-lish), we took a bottle of Pinot Noir and sat and just stared at the gorgeous fall...

We had decided not to do any vineyards tasting but after reading in a Sonoma magazine how this family vineyard came to be we decided to drive an hour north of Sonoma town. It didn’t disappoint! The friendly lady doing our tasting had even lived in 2010 in Liestal, Switzerland close to us in Basel! All 4 wines we tasted were exceptional. I love the way they make their non typical Rose. Thanks for letting us know where to buy in Switzerland and now enjoying the 2 x bottles of Chardonnay we could take with us. Beautiful wines and a beautiful setting, very normal with no pretentiousness!...

This was my first trip to Sonoma County without my wine loving friends. I convinced my beer drinking buddy to at least try one vineyard as we traveled a backroad to Santa Rosa. I consider myself lucky to have driven past Rochioli Vineyards. It looked inviting and without the usual score of parked vehicles. We turned the car around and entered a beautiful setting. Without a reservation, they welcomed us to the patio to enjoy 3 of their excellent wines. I particularly enjoyed the sauvignon blanc to take with me...