Lava Cap Winery — Attraction in California

Did purchase a couple bottles of wine from this place only because we had been waiting for a while already and it was near closing time. We did arrive an he before closing time and didn't leave the wine tasting area until 4:50pm when we were done.

I went to this place with my husband (this is my husband's account btw) this was my first time ever wine tasting so I was excited. We drove 2hrs to visit near by farms for our kids and really wanted to taste wine this time around. My husband searched online and found this place and it looked nice, I even called ahead of time just to make sure we could take our kids. The man on the phone was really polite. When we got inside the bar area and we waited patiently until there was an open spot. Let me just say we were the first ones waiting and we assumed they were busy with all the ones at the bar and that they never acknowledged us because of that. A spot opened and we walk up aswell as other girls that got there after us. The lady came up and attended them first, but they were only ordering wine so we were like "ok maybe they had already spoken with them" we were still at the bar waiting for them to at least say hi for 5min now and got nothing. Another lady walked in and stood behind us, the lady at the bar says "may I help you sweetie?" By then my husband whispers to me, "I don't think they want to help us." Once the lady was done helping the other two ladies that came in after us we still waited some more as they all were attending the other people around us at the bar. (10 min had passed after that) Finally the same lady that didn't acknowledge us in the first place came up to us and asked what we needed. We told her we wanted to try the wine tasting and she asked if it was our first time there and we said yes. She gave us two glasses of wine and left. We waited another 10 min until another lady saw we were still there and finally offered a taste of the bottle of wine. By that time my husband had already left because he was so annoyed by the ladies not even attending us. My sister in law tasted wine with me instead. Needless to say everyone else that was around us got attended a lot faster than us, a couple beside us got extra attention and even a couple of free wine tastes because "it was their first time visiting the place". We really felt ignored and not treated with the same customer service as the rest of the people that were there. Very gorgeous place but not very good customer service, please fix this. Otherwise I wish we could have left a better rating, very disappointed for my first time wine tasting. I strongly believe in good customer service first, otherwise it ruines the entire experience no matter how good a product, food etc. is.

• This review was made a couple of years ago, the owner of the winery did reach out to me and let me know how truly sorry he was for the experience we had at his winery and that the experience we had was not at all what his family stands for. He wanted to make it up to us the next time we went and offer a free wine tasting by him and a tour of the winery (we didn't end up going until this past fall) and the experience was night and day. I did enjoy it even though that at the time we went they were having a special event so we didnt get to have the tour, but they still gave us the customer service you can tell they as a family stand for... and as always, their property is just amazing as the last time we were there and our friends were enamored at their gorgeous views. Not only that, my friend I took apparently says that they have the best red wines in the town. I've found that I like moscotos the best 😅. (I don't know much about the wine and how to pair them with food and stuff but did sort of learn from her as she explained it to me) I thank Lava Cap Winery for this, and even if you are not that into wine or do not drink, I reccomend at least taking a stop by to admire their amazing view, its...

Second time here had a pretty great experience. Their wines are good, not perfect but hovering somewhere between 88-92. A couple of them - for example, the Mourvedre, are really good and I'd give them a higher score. I want to rate the winery on the experience and not just the wine though. Having good wine in California isn't enough to make you a 5 star winery. So, while this may very well be one of the best producers in the Placerville area, let's talk about the winery itself. Tastings are generous, and staff is friendly. The atmosphere is top tier. Me and my partner felt comfortable enough on our second visit to bring charcuterie makings, a blanket and a picnic basket. Their 6 complimentary tastings wine club benefit is premium and the 15$ tasting (waived if you buy a reasonably priced bottle) is also a refreshing contrast to the 40-70$ they're charging in Napa.

A few wines are what I like to fall recipe wines but there's quite a few hidden gems on their roster so I encourage you to taste as many as they let you and buy a sampling of their other bottles if you can afford it.

I hold a very high standard for 5 stars for winery and restaurants so the 4 I'm giving Lava Cap is very good.

Their snacks are priced very fairly and I didn't feel bad about buying a few to compliment the snacks we already brought.

They're dog friendly and very accommodating.

Bernie ushered us through the tasting and that was great. Unlike some of the more top tier experiences they don't hold your hand through the tasting process and give you backgrounds on each of the wines. For some this is a positive and others enjoy the more hands off tasting experiences. All in all - a very pleasant experience.

I'd love to see a "blind taste" flight option as I find those extremely fun but it's a rarity in...

Visited on 11/21/2023 around 3:00 PM and there until close. Upon arrival immediately had a friendly greeting with the hostess and a welcome glass of white wine.

We were lucky and had a seat available on the front with a perfect view.

John was our sommelier and he was an absolute pleasure. We had such great conversation with him. My husband and I did wine tastings with some cheese and crackers. Each of the wines were delicious- not one that we did not like. It’s not often you come across a tasting where you love each wine. It was also great the tasting fee would be waived if you decide to buy bottles, which is a wonderful deal. We did get two bottles of wine (their Syrah and Merlot- both so good!).

We did not know we would be catching one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Born and raised in Roseville, Placerville has always been a quick getaway to enjoy the peace, quiet and views. I’ve seen plenty of beautiful sunsets but something about this location, the grapevines and mountains surrounding the cotton candy skies was breathtaking.

The hospitality of this winery is what initially impressed us (after coming from Starfield- see my review there as well). Overall, the hospitality, kind nature of all employees, wine, snacks and view, 10/10 would recommend. You will not be displeased; just disappointed you can’t stay there all day and night to soak up the wine and beauty. Thank y’all for such...