Cinnabar Winery, November 11, 2012

Winery - 6 / Wines - 5
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Convenient Saratoga location, broad selection of red and white wines, plus a few dessert wines.
www.cinnabarwine.com

My sister is a wine club member at Cinnabar Winery.  Their tasting room is conveniently located in downtown Saratoga, not far from Cupertino and San Jose.  Today she was headed to the tasting room for a wine club pick-up and invited me to tag along.  Choosing between working around the house and wine tasting for the afternoon seemed an easy enough decision: wine tasting it is.  Cinnabar is one of the convenient, quality wine makers located in the south San Francisco Bay Area that I enjoy visiting.  The staff there is both welcoming and accommodating.

Cinnabar Winery in Saratoga

The tasting room sits on the westerly end of the road that runs diagonally through downtown Saratoga.  The exterior is fashioned similar to the surrounding shops, so you need to watch carefully for the winery as you drive through town (on the left from the main road).  The exterior is faced with brickwork, with a few bay windows to add some dimension to the building.  Once inside, you’ll find the tasting bar to the left and a small shop with interesting gift items to the right.  The tasting area is surrounded by large windows flanked by wooden storage bins for the wine.  The tasting bar has guests looking towards the windows as they taste, which lends an airy feel to the place.  Although the tasting experience ends at 5:00pm each afternoon, the tasting room is open until 8:00pm most Fridays and Saturdays offering guests an opportunity to enjoy wine by the glass (and some live music).

The tasting menu varies as new wines are released and features too many wines to taste during one visit.  Typically you will select four or five wines to sample during your visit.  During my visit, I tasted the 2010 Mercury Rising Blanc, the 2010 Merlot, the 2010 Zinfandel, and the 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  By far, the Cabernet was my favorite, though I was curious to try the 2009 Mercury Rising (red).  The fun part about visiting this winery with someone else is the possibility to explore more wines by ordering distinct flights and sharing the interesting ones.

Based on this experience, I would rate the winery as a 6 and the wines offered as a 5.  This is consistent with my previous visits.