Emeritus Vineyards — Attraction in Sebastopol

We stopped into Emeritus from recommendations from other winemakers we were members with. It was at the end of the day hoping we could try a few selections. As we walked in, we were greeted with "do you have a reservation and our you a member". I said no we aren't members and don't have a reservation, but we were hoping to taste your wines because friends of ours and winemakers have recommended you. The Manager was very rude about it all and an associate stepped in and said they would gladly help us. After just a couple of tastes we were hooked. We proceeded to join the wine club, but that same Manager then refused to comp our tastings because we weren't taking immediate delivery of our wine. Well we had just received numerous shipments in the fall allocations and quite frankly were interested in getting our shipment with the first shipping in February. This was a complete turn off to me, about this winery and the Management. We gave them a full application with our CC number and full intentions of becoming a long term member as I am with Hartford, Siduri, Joseph Jewell etc. Our associate helping us was very helpful and also felt this wasn't right either. Things like this turn you sour on a winery, and it is because of the attitude of the Manager. They represent the Owners and that is what they are representing. Her reasoning for not serving us was "she was slammed". I never saw her get up once the whole time we were there. It just is poor customer service, in an industry predicated on people spending a premium for a premium product. When we checked out she never said thank you or we appreciate your business, just a very stand- offish look and pure contempt. I even complimented the wine and facility. But my impression of this winery is not the wine it is the attitude of this person and their contempt for...

Annual End of Frost Party last weekend was fabulous, although Lost Dog Found provided amazing music and Pizza Politana delectable pizzas the star of the show was, of course, the wines. Rebecca and Keith greeted you with a 2013 Ruby Ruby (Ruby will you be Wine?) Pinot Noir Saignee from the Russian River Valley. This wine from the Hallberg Vineyard was crisp and fruity. It was placed into the fermentation tanks with the skins for a few days and then just the juice was removed to ferment. It spent 3-4 months in natural oak and is the perfect wine for the warm weather that has moved into Sonoma County this week. Taylor was assisting Mari with a barrel tasting of the 2013 Hallberg Pinot Noir - oh my, I can't wait until this is in the bottle! Raspberries, a silky mouth feel, and incredible balance in such a young wine - so promising. Available now are the 2011 Pinots from Hallberg and William Wesley Vineyards. Both of these are excellent wines, although I am partial to the dry farming methods used to produce the Hallberg designate wine. Both displayed beautiful berry notes and lively tannins that should reward a little patience in the cellar. I would recommend putting these down for a little while yet, especially the William Wesley - I am sure they...

We had the same experience as Martin below. At first we were charmed by Bill, our septuagenarian host. But it quickly turned into a hard sales pitch, replete with laminated Forbes pages, selling of the cadet club, etc. Bill went as far as telling us that they are "measured on if people join the wine club or if we at least get an email address". But what was really disappointing and somewhat bizarre is that after we paid for the tasting ($25 each) and declined to buy any bottles or join the club, the staff basically asked us to leave even though there was nobody waiting to taste and there were plenty of other tables available. We were still friendly and thanked them on our way out, as we would do anywhere else, and they just looked at us blankly and flatly said "thanks for coming". We couldn't believe the chip they had on their shoulders, as if they had done us some big favor by pouring us a little wine that we had actually paid for. We definitely will not return, will not recommend and will let our friends that are members here know about our experience. There is too much good wine in the area to deal with this kind of human interaction. It's just...