Every dealing including membership, we have always had good dealings with, and usually always In Office M-F, also one Saturday a person was there. LG has helped improved beside the Chamber about getting their word out and work with all their majority winegrowing members. And act as their Chamber of Commerce if you will. Nice offices and they promote good will to the Livermore Valley in whole. Great way to try the over 60 wineries tastings and cafe's and bottle/case sales. Were glad they exist. Membership holder or not.
Howard
First time here,. Very nice, pretty place for any type of events.
Jeancarlo Calderon
Excellent very calm and cozy
Bevin H.
Did you know that the Livermore Wine Valley is home to over 53 Wineries? Did you know in the early 1960s, Livermore had as much area under vine as Napa Valley did at that time. However, it remained relatively unknown, while Napa rose to worldwide prominence. I had the opportunity to attend a Livermore Valley Wine Country Event, "Barrels, Bottles & Brews". The event was $45 you receive a wristband and a tasting glass and numerous access to wineries (32), distilleries (2) and breweries (3). If you have the opportunity to go in the future, I recommend you go to wineries you haven't been to before. If you haven't been to this area before, these three wineries wouldn't be a bad way to start. We picked up our wristband and tasting glass at Steven Kent Winery. Steven Kent is producing some of the best Cabernets I have ever tasted. They have been making wine since 1996. I would put SK in the $$$ category, but worth every penny (dollar). They make 15 different wines!!! Our second stop was Murrieta Well. We haven't been there since their extensive remodel 14 months ago. They now have a great outdoor area to wine and dine. Murrieta's Well is one of California's original wine estates and has been growing grapes since the 1800s. Their vineyard was started with cuttings from the famed Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Margaux vineyards in France. Murrieta specializes in limited production wines that express the best of the estate each vintage. They make 14 different wines!!! And thankfully Murrieta has appetizers you can order. We ordered some flat bread which helped since we were drinking on an empty stomach. Our third and last stop was Retzlaff Winery. Retzlaff Vineyards and Estate Winery is family operated on 14 acres. Robert and Gloria Taylor planted their vineyard in 1976, by 1983 they started to produce commercial wines and opened a tasting room. They were one of five wineries in Livermore at that time. Since 1985 wine maker Robert Taylor; assisted by his sons Noah and Aaron, has continually produced some of California's finest award winning wines. They were certified organic in 2006. They make 8 different wines!!! The Barrels, Bottles & Brews is a two day event, and unfortunately we only attended on Sunday. We definitely will be going both days in the future.
Eugene L.
This is the first year for the Barrels , Bottles & Brews Event put on by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association . Luckily for me I received a pair of Tickets from Yelp Eastbay . Thanks Yelp !!! The Barrels , Bottle & Brews Events for a small sum of $45 you receive a Wristband and a Official Tasting Goblet. These gives you access to Numerous Participating Winery's to Tastings of Wine . There also 3 Micro Beer Breweries participating also. My 1st Winery was Darcie Kent's . I've been a Fan of Her and Her Wines since I met her at Under Dogs Wine Bar . She was a Guest Pourer at a Yelp Elite Event there around 5 years ago. A fun fact Ms. Kent is also a Artist and she also designs the Labels that Adorn her Bottles of Wine . My 1st Stop was at Darcie Kent's Wine Tasting Room . This is where I picked up my Wristband and Event Goblet . They had Barrel Tastings and a Bottle Tasting. The Wine tasting room there is Pretty Awesome . There are a lot of Darcie Kent Original Oil Paintings Adorning the Wall . There are a Few Patios you can relax at also. My 2nd Stop was Wood Winery New Tasting Room. This was a Pretty Cool stop . The Woods had several Bottles To Taste From Including a Barrel Tasting . This Stop was a like a Giant Party !!! There were a lot of Beautiful and Social people there . I actually ended up staying there the rest of the day . I encountered a Gourmet Chocolate Vendor there that made Chocolates that paired with the wines . Karen's Kitchen Toffee Addiction . Very Yummy!! Luckily For Me Barrel , Bottles & Brews is held on Saturday- Sunday 12Pm - 4:30 Pm. So I'm going back tomorrow to taste more Winery's. Awesome Event and its a Baller On A Budget Approved !!!
Lydia Iturria
Vista point dry wine
Limbic System D.
The Livermore valley wine country has moved up a notch on my book (up from 1 star on my last review). I have seen much more food/wine activities than previous years, however still seems far from what it should be. A main event for us in Livermore should be a homage to Petite Sirah. When: January - March (slow months) Why petite Sirah: because one our own Livermore Valley wineries made it famous First, we should already have an informal DOC in Livermore, encouraging Livermore valley wineries to summit their "reserve quality petite Sirah " every year, to a panel of Livermore native experts (please stop wasting money on master sommeliers pretending they care, if they really do care, then they will come for free). The DOC would be limited to to Petite Sirah grown in Livermore (100%). Red only. Reserve quality only. The panel would include Livermore talent (yes, there's plenty) but not the winemakers. The winners would be awarded a Livermore-Petite Sirah logo that the wineries would proudly display on their bottles (much like the gallo Nero in Chianti) On a side event, Livermore wine aficionados would be given the opportunity to compete (for a handsome price, of course) on a blind tasting featuring other awkward mid-palates grapes like Malbec, petit Verdot, cab franc, Tempranillo and of course petite Sirah. The winners of this tasting would be knighted (not unlike chateneauf du pape) by Livermore's first family of Petite Sirah. Dinners, classes from the winemakers/growers telling us why petite Sirah is so good would follow. The Livermore Valley Wine Country needs to put this together. It is embarrassing that "P.S. I love you" had more events on Petite Sirah than we do. Producers like Wente, Nothinham, Occasio, Bent Creek and Las Positas should be front runners on this event!
Eric S.
My friends and I planned a wine tasting day for a large group. It happened to fall on barrel tasting weekend so the organizer suggested we get the wrist bands. We all figured it was barrels in addition to regular tasting. Nope, completely separate. For $40 on a pretty full schedule hitting 4 wineries, we tasted 1 blend of two barrels, 2 barrels, 2 barrels and 2 barrels. 1/2 to 3/4 oz of various wines.. This used to be something wineries did to sell their futures. One winery was impressed with itself on Sunday after noon seeking 12/200 cases of what would probably be a very good wine. Tasting prices have sky rocketed at $10 per flight of 4 to 10 wines. Mostly 5 wines. I don't taste a lot anymore and this doesn't encourage me to go back to it. We tasted some good wines, but as we did at mcgrail at the end, I'd recommend with a large group just buying a bottle of each of the likely best wines and sharing those. That was the best experience of the day.
Alex M.
Had a great time at barrel tasting weekend 2013. We took the wine carriage, so we didn't actually get to that many of the wineries, but the ones we did get to were excellent, and we had so much fun and bought so many wine futures, we didn't really need to go to all the wineries. I appreciated the organization of the event. It was easy to figure out how to get the glasses and wrist bands, and the wineries had everything laid out well, so you could figure out where you were supposed to go. Several of the wineries had wonderful food, which was a very nice touch. Our favorite wineries were Concannon, Crooked Vine and Murrieta's Well.
Steph C.
First off I have to say that I LOVED everything about Livermore and it's wineries. i had a blast this past weekend and my friends and I are already planning out next trip out here. I'm just giving 2 stars to Livermore Vally Winegrowers Assoc. and their website. I printed directions and a map right off the website for each car. I didn't bother checking to see if the directions n maps were accurate because I got it from what I thought was a reliable source. We got completely lost following the directions. Not only did we get lost but our whole trip was completely unorganized because I went off of the map and the location of each winery. With a little help of google maps and GPS we found our way to our first winery.
My friend recently moved to Livermore and suggested that we check out the Livermore Harvest Wine Festival last weekend. We went on Sunday, thankfully it wasn't too hot at a balmy 89 degrees. We decided to take the Greenville Loop since we had been to many of the wineries on the Tesla Loop. We had a good time and I'm glad I went, but I definitely won't be back again. I'll break the day down into pros and cons. Pros: Discovered good wines I'd never heard of Discovered bad wines I'd never heard of Made new friends A pleasant day of wine tasting with my BFF A shuttle bus to drive us from winery to winery Excellent experience at McGrail Winery and Wood Family, the staff was knowledgeable about the event and the grounds were laid out so that each tasting area was easily accessible and additional pay tastings were clearly communicated. Many wineries were within walking distance of one another, this was nice since the shuttles were spotty. Sucks for the wineries that were more remote as many people just skipped them so they wouldn't have to wait in long shuttle lines (we waited 30 minutes). Cons: 70's rock cover bands. Apparently we are not in the age group this event was directed towards, at least on the Greenville Loop (we're in our late 30's). Once we switched to the Tesla Loop we heard newer tunes and didn't hear the same song multiple times. I could go another 20 years before I need to hear a cover of Mustang Sally. Disorganized venues; most of the wineries didn't seem to be expecting a bus load of guests. Strange since this event went on for 3 days and we were there on Day 2. Most wineries offered additional or reserve tastings for more $$$, but few took the time to point out or sign the different tasting venues so many people waited in line only to find out there were in the wrong line. Long waits for the shuttle in the remote wineries. This sucks in the hot sun. (We waited for 30 minutes at the first winery) In my humble opinion these wineries offered good wines that I'd look for again: Cuda Ridge, Wood Family, McGrail, White Crane, Tamas and Concannon I would NOT recommend: Ryhan, Bent Creek, Big White House or The Singing Winemaker
danielle n.
We have been attending the Harvest Wine Festival since 1990. Have pretty much enjoyed the changes over the years as more and more wineries opened. But this year we are disappointed and not sure that we got our monies worth! The venue this year at Robertson Park was very disappointing. Only went there on Monday because we expected Sunday to be chaos. First of all - thank goodness it wasnt that hot! There wasnt enough shady seating - I think the people who got there when it opened, grabbed the shaded seating and decided to camp there for the day. No outside food allowed in - but very limited food available. What was there - 7 or 8 food vendors? And several duplicated the same type of food. If you are going to have that many people drinking wine (and most of them were drinking, not tasting) you need more food available. Maybe even provide pretzals or something at each winery too... If you are not going to have that many vendors than you must allow people to bring food in. I was glad to hear some of the younger crowd complaining about being cut off by some of the wineries. Apparently they did not understand the difference between tasting and free drinking. But not every winery was enforcing that and were allowing people to not even move out of line as they kept getting refills in their wine glasses. And it was interesting to note which wineries were much more generous in their pours than others! I also expected more vendors - of the arts & crafts type too. But I dont know if the association charges for tables or not, so dont know if it just wasnt profitable for the vendors. But hopefully the association will learn from this year's change and turn it positively for next year....
Brian B.
Taste of Terrior 2009 was held tonight and was fantastic. Great crowd, fabulous food and fabulous wine. A quality event in every way. Even free valet parking. Each winery was paired with a local restaurant and served small plates and a taste of wine. Most of the food was prepared by the top chefs from each establishment and wine was poured by the winemakers. Sixteen or so pairings...everything from wild boar pasta to fillet mignon to salmon. A perfect evening.
Kristin Y.
hold up... wait a minute... i get a pass and they give me a glass?!?! then they give me a map of all the wineries in the valley, put me on a shuttle and take me from winery to winery so i can drink 'til i can't drink no mo!?!? WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!?! this is an event i've been attending for some years now! tis sooo fabulous and an awesome reason to never ever make plans on my labor day weekend! ok that's a lie... i make plans to hit up as many livermore valley wineries as i can! YAY! each winery offers tasting and various vendors for food and arts & crafts. many wineries even get some great local bands to play! elliston vineyards for instance has booked the great local band evergreen in the past! this is a great event for the whole family and comes more than highly recommended. it may be one of those things you say "ok, i'll check it out". then the next thing you know... you're addicted and anxiously awaiting for labor day next year so that you can do the harvest wine!
Rex Q.
My best friend is a wine connoisseur and from time to time he drags me along to different wineries all over California. A few weeks back he invited me along to a wine auction held by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association. This event was held at a beautiful facility in the foothills of Livermore. The event was delivered professionally and the people there were allot of fun with great conversation. My friend walked away with a bottle of some merlot that we have yet to try. I had a great time and if I was invited back I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Every dealing including membership, we have always had good dealings with, and usually always In Office M-F, also one Saturday a person was there. LG has helped improved beside the Chamber about getting their word out and work with all their majority winegrowing members. And act as their Chamber of Commerce if you will. Nice offices and they promote good will to the Livermore Valley in whole. Great way to try the over 60 wineries tastings and cafe's and bottle/case sales. Were glad they exist. Membership holder or not.
First time here,. Very nice, pretty place for any type of events.
Excellent very calm and cozy
Did you know that the Livermore Wine Valley is home to over 53 Wineries? Did you know in the early 1960s, Livermore had as much area under vine as Napa Valley did at that time. However, it remained relatively unknown, while Napa rose to worldwide prominence. I had the opportunity to attend a Livermore Valley Wine Country Event, "Barrels, Bottles & Brews". The event was $45 you receive a wristband and a tasting glass and numerous access to wineries (32), distilleries (2) and breweries (3). If you have the opportunity to go in the future, I recommend you go to wineries you haven't been to before. If you haven't been to this area before, these three wineries wouldn't be a bad way to start. We picked up our wristband and tasting glass at Steven Kent Winery. Steven Kent is producing some of the best Cabernets I have ever tasted. They have been making wine since 1996. I would put SK in the $$$ category, but worth every penny (dollar). They make 15 different wines!!! Our second stop was Murrieta Well. We haven't been there since their extensive remodel 14 months ago. They now have a great outdoor area to wine and dine. Murrieta's Well is one of California's original wine estates and has been growing grapes since the 1800s. Their vineyard was started with cuttings from the famed Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Margaux vineyards in France. Murrieta specializes in limited production wines that express the best of the estate each vintage. They make 14 different wines!!! And thankfully Murrieta has appetizers you can order. We ordered some flat bread which helped since we were drinking on an empty stomach. Our third and last stop was Retzlaff Winery. Retzlaff Vineyards and Estate Winery is family operated on 14 acres. Robert and Gloria Taylor planted their vineyard in 1976, by 1983 they started to produce commercial wines and opened a tasting room. They were one of five wineries in Livermore at that time. Since 1985 wine maker Robert Taylor; assisted by his sons Noah and Aaron, has continually produced some of California's finest award winning wines. They were certified organic in 2006. They make 8 different wines!!! The Barrels, Bottles & Brews is a two day event, and unfortunately we only attended on Sunday. We definitely will be going both days in the future.
This is the first year for the Barrels , Bottles & Brews Event put on by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association . Luckily for me I received a pair of Tickets from Yelp Eastbay . Thanks Yelp !!! The Barrels , Bottle & Brews Events for a small sum of $45 you receive a Wristband and a Official Tasting Goblet. These gives you access to Numerous Participating Winery's to Tastings of Wine . There also 3 Micro Beer Breweries participating also. My 1st Winery was Darcie Kent's . I've been a Fan of Her and Her Wines since I met her at Under Dogs Wine Bar . She was a Guest Pourer at a Yelp Elite Event there around 5 years ago. A fun fact Ms. Kent is also a Artist and she also designs the Labels that Adorn her Bottles of Wine . My 1st Stop was at Darcie Kent's Wine Tasting Room . This is where I picked up my Wristband and Event Goblet . They had Barrel Tastings and a Bottle Tasting. The Wine tasting room there is Pretty Awesome . There are a lot of Darcie Kent Original Oil Paintings Adorning the Wall . There are a Few Patios you can relax at also. My 2nd Stop was Wood Winery New Tasting Room. This was a Pretty Cool stop . The Woods had several Bottles To Taste From Including a Barrel Tasting . This Stop was a like a Giant Party !!! There were a lot of Beautiful and Social people there . I actually ended up staying there the rest of the day . I encountered a Gourmet Chocolate Vendor there that made Chocolates that paired with the wines . Karen's Kitchen Toffee Addiction . Very Yummy!! Luckily For Me Barrel , Bottles & Brews is held on Saturday- Sunday 12Pm - 4:30 Pm. So I'm going back tomorrow to taste more Winery's. Awesome Event and its a Baller On A Budget Approved !!!
Vista point dry wine
The Livermore valley wine country has moved up a notch on my book (up from 1 star on my last review). I have seen much more food/wine activities than previous years, however still seems far from what it should be. A main event for us in Livermore should be a homage to Petite Sirah. When: January - March (slow months) Why petite Sirah: because one our own Livermore Valley wineries made it famous First, we should already have an informal DOC in Livermore, encouraging Livermore valley wineries to summit their "reserve quality petite Sirah " every year, to a panel of Livermore native experts (please stop wasting money on master sommeliers pretending they care, if they really do care, then they will come for free). The DOC would be limited to to Petite Sirah grown in Livermore (100%). Red only. Reserve quality only. The panel would include Livermore talent (yes, there's plenty) but not the winemakers. The winners would be awarded a Livermore-Petite Sirah logo that the wineries would proudly display on their bottles (much like the gallo Nero in Chianti) On a side event, Livermore wine aficionados would be given the opportunity to compete (for a handsome price, of course) on a blind tasting featuring other awkward mid-palates grapes like Malbec, petit Verdot, cab franc, Tempranillo and of course petite Sirah. The winners of this tasting would be knighted (not unlike chateneauf du pape) by Livermore's first family of Petite Sirah. Dinners, classes from the winemakers/growers telling us why petite Sirah is so good would follow. The Livermore Valley Wine Country needs to put this together. It is embarrassing that "P.S. I love you" had more events on Petite Sirah than we do. Producers like Wente, Nothinham, Occasio, Bent Creek and Las Positas should be front runners on this event!
My friends and I planned a wine tasting day for a large group. It happened to fall on barrel tasting weekend so the organizer suggested we get the wrist bands. We all figured it was barrels in addition to regular tasting. Nope, completely separate. For $40 on a pretty full schedule hitting 4 wineries, we tasted 1 blend of two barrels, 2 barrels, 2 barrels and 2 barrels. 1/2 to 3/4 oz of various wines.. This used to be something wineries did to sell their futures. One winery was impressed with itself on Sunday after noon seeking 12/200 cases of what would probably be a very good wine. Tasting prices have sky rocketed at $10 per flight of 4 to 10 wines. Mostly 5 wines. I don't taste a lot anymore and this doesn't encourage me to go back to it. We tasted some good wines, but as we did at mcgrail at the end, I'd recommend with a large group just buying a bottle of each of the likely best wines and sharing those. That was the best experience of the day.
Had a great time at barrel tasting weekend 2013. We took the wine carriage, so we didn't actually get to that many of the wineries, but the ones we did get to were excellent, and we had so much fun and bought so many wine futures, we didn't really need to go to all the wineries. I appreciated the organization of the event. It was easy to figure out how to get the glasses and wrist bands, and the wineries had everything laid out well, so you could figure out where you were supposed to go. Several of the wineries had wonderful food, which was a very nice touch. Our favorite wineries were Concannon, Crooked Vine and Murrieta's Well.
First off I have to say that I LOVED everything about Livermore and it's wineries. i had a blast this past weekend and my friends and I are already planning out next trip out here. I'm just giving 2 stars to Livermore Vally Winegrowers Assoc. and their website. I printed directions and a map right off the website for each car. I didn't bother checking to see if the directions n maps were accurate because I got it from what I thought was a reliable source. We got completely lost following the directions. Not only did we get lost but our whole trip was completely unorganized because I went off of the map and the location of each winery. With a little help of google maps and GPS we found our way to our first winery.
Restaurantji Recommends
My friend recently moved to Livermore and suggested that we check out the Livermore Harvest Wine Festival last weekend. We went on Sunday, thankfully it wasn't too hot at a balmy 89 degrees. We decided to take the Greenville Loop since we had been to many of the wineries on the Tesla Loop. We had a good time and I'm glad I went, but I definitely won't be back again. I'll break the day down into pros and cons. Pros: Discovered good wines I'd never heard of Discovered bad wines I'd never heard of Made new friends A pleasant day of wine tasting with my BFF A shuttle bus to drive us from winery to winery Excellent experience at McGrail Winery and Wood Family, the staff was knowledgeable about the event and the grounds were laid out so that each tasting area was easily accessible and additional pay tastings were clearly communicated. Many wineries were within walking distance of one another, this was nice since the shuttles were spotty. Sucks for the wineries that were more remote as many people just skipped them so they wouldn't have to wait in long shuttle lines (we waited 30 minutes). Cons: 70's rock cover bands. Apparently we are not in the age group this event was directed towards, at least on the Greenville Loop (we're in our late 30's). Once we switched to the Tesla Loop we heard newer tunes and didn't hear the same song multiple times. I could go another 20 years before I need to hear a cover of Mustang Sally. Disorganized venues; most of the wineries didn't seem to be expecting a bus load of guests. Strange since this event went on for 3 days and we were there on Day 2. Most wineries offered additional or reserve tastings for more $$$, but few took the time to point out or sign the different tasting venues so many people waited in line only to find out there were in the wrong line. Long waits for the shuttle in the remote wineries. This sucks in the hot sun. (We waited for 30 minutes at the first winery) In my humble opinion these wineries offered good wines that I'd look for again: Cuda Ridge, Wood Family, McGrail, White Crane, Tamas and Concannon I would NOT recommend: Ryhan, Bent Creek, Big White House or The Singing Winemaker
We have been attending the Harvest Wine Festival since 1990. Have pretty much enjoyed the changes over the years as more and more wineries opened. But this year we are disappointed and not sure that we got our monies worth! The venue this year at Robertson Park was very disappointing. Only went there on Monday because we expected Sunday to be chaos. First of all - thank goodness it wasnt that hot! There wasnt enough shady seating - I think the people who got there when it opened, grabbed the shaded seating and decided to camp there for the day. No outside food allowed in - but very limited food available. What was there - 7 or 8 food vendors? And several duplicated the same type of food. If you are going to have that many people drinking wine (and most of them were drinking, not tasting) you need more food available. Maybe even provide pretzals or something at each winery too... If you are not going to have that many vendors than you must allow people to bring food in. I was glad to hear some of the younger crowd complaining about being cut off by some of the wineries. Apparently they did not understand the difference between tasting and free drinking. But not every winery was enforcing that and were allowing people to not even move out of line as they kept getting refills in their wine glasses. And it was interesting to note which wineries were much more generous in their pours than others! I also expected more vendors - of the arts & crafts type too. But I dont know if the association charges for tables or not, so dont know if it just wasnt profitable for the vendors. But hopefully the association will learn from this year's change and turn it positively for next year....
Taste of Terrior 2009 was held tonight and was fantastic. Great crowd, fabulous food and fabulous wine. A quality event in every way. Even free valet parking. Each winery was paired with a local restaurant and served small plates and a taste of wine. Most of the food was prepared by the top chefs from each establishment and wine was poured by the winemakers. Sixteen or so pairings...everything from wild boar pasta to fillet mignon to salmon. A perfect evening.
hold up... wait a minute... i get a pass and they give me a glass?!?! then they give me a map of all the wineries in the valley, put me on a shuttle and take me from winery to winery so i can drink 'til i can't drink no mo!?!? WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!?! this is an event i've been attending for some years now! tis sooo fabulous and an awesome reason to never ever make plans on my labor day weekend! ok that's a lie... i make plans to hit up as many livermore valley wineries as i can! YAY! each winery offers tasting and various vendors for food and arts & crafts. many wineries even get some great local bands to play! elliston vineyards for instance has booked the great local band evergreen in the past! this is a great event for the whole family and comes more than highly recommended. it may be one of those things you say "ok, i'll check it out". then the next thing you know... you're addicted and anxiously awaiting for labor day next year so that you can do the harvest wine!
My best friend is a wine connoisseur and from time to time he drags me along to different wineries all over California. A few weeks back he invited me along to a wine auction held by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association. This event was held at a beautiful facility in the foothills of Livermore. The event was delivered professionally and the people there were allot of fun with great conversation. My friend walked away with a bottle of some merlot that we have yet to try. I had a great time and if I was invited back I wouldn't miss it for the world.