Retzlaff Vineyards — Attraction in Livermore

I really wish I could leave a better review, but I left Retzlaff with a really bad taste in my mouth, pun not intended! I came here with friends because one of them had come here before with her family and had good things to share about her experience, so we decided to come back. It’s really cool because when you arrive, you park between the vines. When we walked up, we spoke with a woman who was extremely helpful in getting us set up with our wine tasting. Our server, Courtney, was also really kind and attentive (hence the two stars and not one). Courtney shared that they stop serving at 4pm and that we could hang out until 5pm, so we decided with our last hour, we’d order a bottle to share and pack up and leave by 5pm.

During our last hour, a woman who worked there, but was not our server, walked up to us and said to my niece as she was cooing (8 months old) “is that baby talk for it’s time to go?”. My two friends chucked, but it felt inappropriate to me because my niece was smiling and sitting in her stroller as content as can be, so to imply that we needed to leave to tend to the baby needs seemed a bit off.

At 4:55pm, the same woman walked up to us and said, “it’s 5pm, you need to leave” and walked away, sat at a table off to the side, got on her phone drinking a glass of wine. We all looked at her in disbelief because it was clear that we were packing up and we had already spoken to two other staff about our timing, yet still this woman insisted on letting us know what we NEEDED to do; I wish I had gotten her name. Most of a wine tasting experience is about the environment and atmosphere and to know someone could speak to patrons who not only paid for three wine tastings but also bought several bottles of wine like this, I will never return to this establishment and I will not...

“Stingy, Penny-Pinching Winery” - August 2025 Review

A group of us came on a Saturday at 12 noon. Many things were off-putting, here it goes:

1. Upon entering, no host was present to greet you or provide a menu…we had to walk to the back to order.

2. a flurry of requirements were promptly delivered to us: $5 per person just to sit on the premises! A 3 bottle minimum for our group! Never have I been to a winery that behaves like a nightclub hosting a comedy night and requiring drink minimums. I felt it was a bit crass and off-putting.

3. I had no connectivity, so I asked for the WiFi password. I was told they don’t provide WiFi for their guests! I explained I can’t use my phone to text others in my party, but alas NO WiFi. How stingy :(

4. We bought $50 bottle of Cabernet sauvignon and $38 bottle of Merlot…I must admit both were lackluster. Don’t trust me? Try it for yourself.

Retzlaff is an acceptable winery but it felt very stingy and penny-pinchy for my liking. And we weren’t impressed with the wine nor the service. My recommendation is go elsewhere - there are many options...

Nice setting but felt a bit like a production line. You stand in a long line to get your glasses, then you stand in another long line to get your wine, then you sit down for your prescribed amount of time, then you get out in time for the next seating. I think they have set times at 12pm and 2:30pm, and everybody arrives together. We had reserved a table for a picnic and bought a bottle of Chardonnay (which was tasty but a 2023 vintage, and for $42 I would have expected a bit more time in bottle for it to gain a bit of weight). They didn't have time to tell me anything about it as the line behind me was going out of the door. We tasted it, but I wanted to taste a few other wines as well just to try them (they have a tasting for $30), however they said I would have had to reserve this, so it wasn't possible. I think I'll stick to Napa & Sonoma from now on. You get more personal service, it's a lot quieter, and the price is much, much cheaper if you know the right...