Any tasting room that serves 4 day old wine does not deserve your visit. The wine was stale and when I asked the server indicated that it was about 4 days old. I was shocked. We got out of there quick.
So, we were there on SuperBowl Sunday and normally the weather would be bad. It was awesome. No crowds. And our tasting expert Allie is our new best friend. The setting is gorgeous. The wine was wonderful. If you are in the Anderson Valley start your tour at Handley. This was the highlight of our trip.
Handley Cellars is one of the oldest wineries in the region. They make exceptional pinot noirs, pinot gris, and many more. In addition to their outstanding wines, the tasting room is classic Anderson Valley - lovely and understated, friendly educated staff, and welcoming environment. This is NOT Napa or Sonoma Valley, and we love that!
This was the first trip to this winery and it was not disappointing. Excellent staff - especially Ali. She was a sweetheart that took the time to show us around the winery and the vineyard. Spent lots of time explaining the different wines. We met the owner - Alma - who was very personable and friendly. They have a excellent collection of art and artifacts from around the world in their tasting room, Very interesting stuff. We wound up joining the Club and buying a case of various wines. All around good experience. A must visit if you are in Anderson Valley!!!!
We have been fortunate to have several wine tasting trips to Calif. This was our very first time at Handley. I found the place to be unique, peaceful. The gal who helped us was friendly, very mellow and not pushing sales. Both we and our friends purchased bottles there and had some shipped. Loved the outdoor setting and took many pics. Favs were the Chard, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.
We stopped in Handley for wine tasting and again had a great time. This is our second visit and we enjoyed it once again. The staff is excellent! We tasted all the wines and of course we found several that we really liked. We bought a couple of bottles to enjoy at our hotel! They actually gave us a small box of chocolates! It is well worth the stop while in Anderson Valley. Anderson Valley is our favorite wine tour! It is so quaint and so very different from the Napa scene. Don't miss out! The Pinot was great - one of our picks.
At last, a winery with a tasting room which is just that!!! Forget Napa, head for Mendocino County. Unpretentious, quality wines with good old fashioned hospitality. After being robbed for tasting in Napa the offer of free tasting was welcome. Chris was personable, knowledgeable and accommodating...not to mention has great taste in cars. Their wines were among the best we had in our journey around the region and reasonably priced. The time spent with us talking wine and other stuff was greatly appreciated . Thanks guys, good job.
Stopped on our way to Mendocino, and was happy we chose this winery to take a break. The antiques were amazing, the staff friendly (& helpful - she gave me Ginger candy for my naseua) and the wine was exceptional. Just opened a bottle tonight and it reminded me how awesome this winery is!
We stopped in on a recommendation from our B&B, and were really impressed at the quality of the wines were able to sample. Our server was personable and knowledgeable about all their products and gave us just enough info for each wine we tasted.And each one was at least very good ( even the varietals I am not a big fan of ). There are a LOT of wineries in this area, but I can recommend this one without reservation - just see if you can resist their RSM Pinot Noir, or their Gewurtztraminer!
Nice selection of whites and reds, dry to sweet. Very tasty wines. Outdoor picnic tables on a covered deck. Small shop inside the relatively small tasting room.