Wilson Winery — Attraction in Healdsburg

My wife and I were in the Sonoma area for wine tasting. We were choosing Sonoma for two reasons: the VISA signature program as mentioned in the previous review, and the fact that it wasn't Napa where attitudes and culture surrounding wine have become fairly pretentious.

We stopped in on July 5th. When we walked in there was a taller, heavy-set woman with dark hair behind the tasting counter. We informed them we found them through the VISA signature program. She immediately turned cold, nasty and proclaimed that they did not honor the VISA program and that she had a letter to prove it. She told us there would be a fee for tasting, when I said I was not interested in paying it then she asked us to leave! Unbelievable!

On my way out I informed her that money was not an issue, that the reason I went to wineries in the VISA program was because that vinters who had confidence in their grapes would not charge for tasting, which has become common in many cash-cow wine enterprises. I also informed her I would be contacting VISA since they were still getting free advertising from it.

When we drove down the road we found another winery named "Mazzacco" which was great and they did participate in the VISA program. Come to find out, they are owned by the Wilson winery!

On arriving home I phoned the winery to see if I could speak with the management. I got through to a woman who told me she was their wholesaler. I explained the situation to her and she tried to tell me they no longer participated in the VISA program because their wines were too high in demand to be used for complimentary tasting. I guess she doesn't understand that if the wines are that great then people will buy them! As a rule I have never bought I wine I didn't taste first, and I NEVER pay for tastings. Charging for tastings is tacky and what you do to tourists, not serious wine connoisseurs.

When I asked her about why the Mazzacco winery which is owned by them honors VISA and they didn't, she gave me a lame excuse about each winery being run independently even if they are owned by the same person. I do not accept this explanation.

The "wholesaler" told me that the tasting room manager named "Dee" was away and that I should email her. I will update this review if I get any new information.

I still recommend the VISA program. On our trip we visited over 40 wineries in the Sonoma area and only found 1 that was non-compliant, 1 we had benefit issues with and another that did not properly list their hours and benefits. Overall it was still worth it, just avoid this place.

UPDATE: I finally got a hold of Dee. She said she knew exactly who the rude woman was that I dealt with but would not tell me her name. When I explained that I had already contacted VISA and that VISA was not happy with my experience or finding out that Wilson owned separate wineries in the VISA program, she seemed nonplussed. She said she was sorry for my experience but no attempt to remedy the situation beyond an empty...

Visited Wilson Winery back in June solely because my wife's maiden name is Wilson and they have a son with the same first name as her. Looking like we're a couple of 20-somethings despite being in our mid to late thirties, early on the experience was a little impersonal but as we shared our story and why we were there, the staff really opened up and we had some great conversations. The Wilson's son who shares my wife's first name also happened to be in and we got a great picture of two Sawyer Wilsons holding a bottle of Sawyer Zinfandel! We got to try a couple of the Reserve selections and ended up joining the wine club and ordering a mixed case on the spot.

I will say it's very obvious the staff is comped on getting people to join the wine club, so we found the approach a touch pushy and some of our favorite places to visit have staff that are elated to start a conversation with patrons rather than needing to be warmed up, but overall we really enjoyed our visit and...

Wilson Winery...what can one say? Some wineries in Napa/Sonoma are fancy, opulent, showy. Wilson is nicely done in a beautiful setting, but not at all fancy or showy. What they do have going on is EXCELLENT WINE...I mean really top notch. Wilson Wines are BIG...moderate to heavy body, very complex flavors, generally not very dry or tannic. If you're looking for a light pinot noir or a tannic-dry cab, maybe not the place. If you're looking for succulent complexity in an astounding range of taste palettes, be sure to check it out . Prices range from say $30 to $60 per bottle, with special reserves up to $150. But one can pay as much or well more in this area and you will likely get less. Wilson wines are just really good. There's wine...then...