Picchetti Winery — Attraction in Cupertino

I enjoyed my lunch at the serene, shaded picnic area before heading into the wine tasting room. I was greeted by an old and calming smell that only comes from vintage brick buildings (I later learned that this building is one of the few brick buildings in California due to earthquake regulations) and from start to finish I was treated to a breathtaking experience. If you visit this winery, which I highly recommend, I would suggest going on Monday at noon because I had the entire place to myself. It was a magical experience. My sommelier was extremely patient and kind and seemed to enjoy chatting about wine, answering all of my questions, dispelling my preconceived and incorrect notions about wine, and adding factoids and history about the establishment and wine in general. I was served 5 different wines, offered notes on what to taste for, and given ideal food pairings. Every. Single. Wine. Was. Delicious. I tried wines that I historically thought I disliked but in their small batch, extremely high standards for barrelling lent a smooth balance for every wine I tried. I particularly liked their Zinfandel wine because not only do I like Zinfandel the best, their Zinfandel vineyards are over 100 years old. If I could spend the meager $20 to do it again, I would do it in a heartbeat. In fact, the next time I visit California, I will bring a checked bag just so I can bring some bottles...

The winery grounds are quite pretty, and they have chickens and a peacock. However, the wine here is just bad. Most of the wines are just acidic without much other flavor. One of the wines, the zinfandel, smelled strongly of nail polish remover. If you use oak barrels for too many years, the oak barrels start to build up ethyl acetate which smells like nail polish remover. This is probably what happened to Picchetti. I think it shows a lack of product integrity to not dump wine that you find out smells like nail polish remover. The one thing that they made that I think is actually worthy buying was the apéritif which had a nice refreshing flavor.

Also, the wines here are fairly expensive and they gave extremely frugal pours during...

Having been to most of wine tasting places around bay area, napa sonoma russian gilroy summit rubyhill for the last 10 years, most of them are great. But some around this hills here are pretentious or obnoxious, don't know why, but Picchetti is a GEM. 1st of, it's hilly, nice views, 2nd lots and lots of outdoor picnic tables and chairs. Super family friendly, great for family and friends gathering 3rd, the staffers are very professional and friendly, very attentive and knowledgeable 4th, good wine selection, should have just take a bottle but we chose the tasting manu, it was very decent 5th, the trail head is right next to it, and we live hiking. Definitely come back, Definitely rec to friends, Definitely take a bottle or...