Gloria Ferrer Caves Vineyards

Great place for a wine tasting! They moved us inside because it was really hot today, but we were able to walk around between pours and take some scenic photos. Kira was pouring for us and she had a lot of knowledge. She was friendly and entertaining, answering our questions and checking in on us. The food was also good! Definitely a great wine tasting with lots of education on the process and vineyard.

Second time here and Joey was lovely and cared about what I liked and he even came by our table to share additions not on the tasting menu. Major issue were the flies and biting no-see-ums. Once I got them to direct a fan at me, I still got bitten. Would recommend coming in pants with socks and shoes versus a dress and sandals. Otherwise, everything was fabulous.

I celebrated my birthday here last week and it was most certainly not the experience I was hoping for especially after paying a steep $130 for two barely full and mediocre tastings for my friend and I. When I first made the reservation, I requested several times to please be seated along the railway of the vineyards as it was a special occasion being my birthday and I was told it was being notated. When we arrived right at the time of our reservation the tables along the vineyard were taken, so I asked if we could wait and told we couldn’t because they were already taken. We instead were seated in the middle of the patio amongst a bunch of flies. Sorry but those hideous fly helicopter swatters do NOT work! No one tended to us for 20 mins. I finally had to get up and find a manager to mention that no one had tended to us since being sat down in the heat, not to even bring us a glass of water! The manager followed me back to our table and threw an employee under the bus by saying “hasn’t Jason been by yet “? We later found out Jason was on his lunch break and the manager knew that. Nonetheless, we tried to move on even with the unwelcoming treatment we received and the manager credited a charcuterie platter, hence the additional star I gave this review. The pouring at Gloria are laughable. I am a long-standing member at another winery and always get full glasses when I get flights. The pouring at Gloria was very disappointing. When I asked if this was the right amount poured the manager responded that it was their “standard”. See picture below compared to another winery. To add insult to injury several other parties arrived and were seated right at the tables where we had requested, and I even heard one of them say “we scored and we didn’t even have a reservation!” We will never be back here for the lack of attention, inadequate pour amounts and simply because our business nor my birthday seemed to matter to anybody! The only person that was kind and accommodating and listened to our terrible experience was the stylish lady at the bar on our way out. Lastly, this winery is very small. Do not be fooled by the grand driveway. There is a bar and an outdoor patio consumed by nothing but flies. Most certainly not worth spending your hard earned money. We felt cheated and couldn’t wait to leave to the beautiful Domaine Carneros where we are always treated like royalty. Don’t waste your money here. They could care less about you. I wish I could get our money back. I’m so glad I didn’t take the bait and become a member! The picture to the left is the pouring at Gloria compared to the pouring at Domaine! Huge difference!

What a GEM! Views to die for and delicious sparkling wine. Jason did not lead us astray with his recommendations and Francisco who attended to us on the patio was wonderful. A fabulous way to kick off our vacation in California 's wine country.

Incredibly disappointed as we traveled from out of state for this experience and my companion was most excited to experience a tasting here. I'm fresh from leaving so I'll be brief. Arrived early for our reservation and still had to wait 20 additional minutes. Given the worst seat but sucked it up because this has been planned and looked forward to for months. Tiny, corner in front of the gift shop with lots of foot traffic. Cramped and busy. Got to observe the staff in motion. Was impressed and amused by the carrying a cluster of glasses with one hand. A bit sad because they were lively at the tables and "on" but immediately after leaving, it was like their spirits left their bodies. It was very strange. Perhaps exhaustion? Not sure if we weren't dressed up enough or if something else was happening behind the scenes. First course our server was attentive, gave a description of our bubbles and then she disappeared after that pour for quite a bit of time. She appeared after twenty minutes with our second course and a charcuterie plate for each of us. My companion wanted to be sure that she had the right party because we were there for the sparkles only. We were going to eat elsewhere. She said she was sure and it was part of the package. We believed her and accepted. Then she returned to say it was an error but not to worry about it. We never saw her again. We paid for three courses but after waiting twenty to thirty minutes between the first two, we couldn't do it any longer. Maybe they did the math and cut their losses with us? If it was an issue, we'd have paid but we got the wine tasting version of ghosting. We ceased to exist to them after that. It was very awkward and disappointing. Felt terrible for my friend because this winery was all that she talked about and she had planned on buying a case of whatever tickled her fancy like we did at Jacuzzi earlier (highly recommend by the way-Ian, Katie and Karen made it an EXPERIENCE). My biggest issue is how let down my friend felt. There's nothing quite as hurtful as watching someone you care for be disappointed. I, personally, cannot recommend. Maybe if you're dressed up or a regular your experience will be different. We were mere visitors from the Beehive state. How dare we!