Bellante Family Winery — Attraction in Mission Viejo

We were given tickets to one of their special reveal new wine days. They had about 8 new wines to taste. You walk up, get a thimble-full, drink it and go for the next. If you like the wines they are all $50+ a bottle.

I am no connoisseur but I have never tasted such a thin, watery set of wines in my life. They reminded me of the cheap vino you get in bad restaurants. They definitely didn't taste like $50 bottles. The place doesn't have any vineyards in far away places. Instead they buy grapes from various central coast places and mix them all up using a "magic" formula.

The experience was interesting. The entertainer (one man band) was excellent but too loud for such a small place. The place had NO seats. At all. None. I have chronic backache which was not eased by this. There is no ambience to the place anyway. It's just a room in a strip-mall next to a tire depot. The BBQ food was good but I noticed it ran out way before people had all eaten.

They use these events as recruitment events so it wasn't long before we had the sell. Initially from a nice older lady and her partner. Not pushy and they seemed like nice people. But then we met the owner... Within a 5minute conversation (with us as strangers) he'd already told us that the election was rigged (it was 2years ago - get over it) and that there would be a great revolution any day now. He was truly idiotic and could not even argue his views eloquently. Any thoughts we may have had for joining were instantly quashed. I hear this week he has been telling the world his views on abortion and has lost more customer accordingly. If he loves politics so much he should stand for office, and not try ramming it down the throats of customers drinking the overpriced vino.

The place will appeal to people that think they are wine experts because they belong to a club and that will impress people they...

Who knew? Had never heard of this place. Went to go hear some live music by invitation and was pleasantly surprised. Nice little spot, They don’t offer food but you can purchase a small charcuterie board (pictured) and some munchie stuff like chips. Their website doesn’t say your welcome to bring your own food (but you can) They offer plenty of reds but have only one white which wasn’t bad. Enjoyed the atmosphere, and the service. We will visit again. Gave 4 stars due to limited white wine selection but you won’t be...

My wife and I are pretty serious collectors with more than 1,500 bottles in our cellar. The Bellante Family Wines are excellent, and sold at a much lower price point than comparable wines. We have recently cancelled our allocations from two exclusive California Pinot Noir producers with similar style to BFW, and are now growing our vertical collection...