The Monterey Bay California area is a few hours drive south of San Francisco. When we take a wine-tasting trip to the area, we focus primarily on the Monterey Peninsula (Carmel-By-The-Sea or Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel Valley, and Pebble Beach) as well as the Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH) area. While Spanish missionaries planted some grapes in the area several hundred years ago for personal use, it wasn’t until the 1960s/70s that the area began to focus on producing wine commercially.

Cool Climate and Longer Growing Season: It’s About the Grapes

The Monterey Bay brings moderate temperatures from the cooling fog and wine. As a result, grapes have a longer growing season and a more intense flavor.

Chardonnay is the primary grape grown in the northern part of Monterey Bay. Additional varietals include Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Pinot Blanc are also grown here. The southern part of the Monterey Peninsula is a little warmer and focuses more on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel. Pinot Noir dominates the small Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH) area.

We are combining these areas since many of the SHL wineries also have tasting rooms in Carmel as well as around their vineyards. Be sure to contact each winery for its current status, pricing, tours, and tasting location.

Our Favorite Monterey Bay Area Wineries (Alphabetical)

Although wineries, wines, grapes, tasting rooms, and winemaker styles may change over each vintage, we have some favorite tasting rooms that we try to visit each time we are in the area. We may not appreciate each year’s vintage of our favorites, but we do enjoy tasting the differences from year to year. We tend to like the intense flavors of this region’s unoaked or moderately oaked Chardonnays and the dark (especially black cherry) fruits and leathery, earthy tones style of the Pinot Noirs produced here.

Albatross Ridge

Albatross Ridge grows Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs in Carmel Valley on a mountaintop 7 miles from the Pacific Ocean. In 2023, the crisp, lemony 2021 PET NAY Sparkling Rose stood out. The 2018 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir had savory dark fruit and earthy tones, but we considered it overpriced at $80. We did like the dark fruit and relatively light body of the 2019 “Cuvee Owen”.

Bernardus Winery and Vineyard

At its Carmel Valley tasting room, we enjoyed the deep color, full, dark fruit flavor, and structure of the 2017 Ingrid’s Pinot Noir until we tasted the 2018 Gary’s Pinot Noir (not a surprise as we haven’t found a Pinot Noir using Gary’s grapes that we didn’t like). Gary’s had the body, depth, and concentration of flavors, but also another layer of complexity. On other trips, we have also enjoyed its Soberanes Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Blair Wines

While the wines are not normally in our taste profile, we were walking by its Carmel-by-the-Sea tasting room and decided to stop. We enjoyed the light-bodied, red fruit and spice of the 2016 Delfina Vineyard Pinot Noir from the warmer Arroyo Seco wine region. And that is why wineries have tasting rooms…..to acquaint people with all of their wines.

Boekenoogan Wines

At its Carmel Valley tasting room in 2023, our favorites were its 2019 SLH Estate Stainless Chardonnay (crisp with tastes of ripe honeydew melon), 2020 Pommard-based Estate Pinot (blackberry and spice), and especially its 2019 SLH Estate Chardonnay (red apple, pear, pineapple).   

In the past, other favorites have been the 2018 Santa Lucia Highlands 3-Clone Pinot Noir of black cherry, plums, and smoky oak. The palate is full of richness and complexity.  We also enjoyed its Estate Pinot Noir with its upfront cheery and with a touch of acid and tannins on the finish.

Hahn Estate

Whether we stop in the Carmel tasting room or at its SLH location, we always enjoy its everyday pleasant Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir. This Cuvee is made with grapes and clones from the winery’s four SLH vineyards. And we also always love and purchase its single-vineyard Lucienne wines (lovely, full-flavor, dark-fruited Pinot Noir with pleasant light tannins). 2023 was no exception.

On previous trips, we liked the 2018 Smith Vineyard Pinot Noir but the 2017 Hook Vineyard Pinot Noir. Hook’s was more full-bodied, balanced, and had a lingering finish with our preferred tastes of dark (especially black cherry) fruits and leathery, earthy tones. While our host was unable to offer tastes of two of the winery’s premium wines with which we were unfamiliar (the 2016 SLH Gabrielle and especially the 2016 SLH Orchestral Pinot Noir), he felt they fit our taste profile.

Holman Ranch

During our 2023 stop at Holman Ranch, we enjoyed the crisp, stonefruit tastes of the 2015 Jarman Reserve Sparking Brut Rose, the 2018 Three Brothers Pinot Noir, and our favorite of the tasting, the 2018 Hunter’s Cuvee Pinot Noir with its plum and black cherry notes and long finish.  

Previously we also liked the roundness of the melon and tang of the lemon of its 2018 unoaked Virgin Chardonnay and several Pinot Noirs, including several that are very reasonably priced for their quality. Our favorites were the deep, dark, expressive 667/777-based 2017 Three Brothers Pinot Noir, and its 2014 Hunter’s Cuvee with its black raspberry and cherry balanced by earth, spices, and fine tannins. One of the best of what we tasted (and by far the most expensive of the bunch) was the 2015 Reserve Jarman Pinot Noir with big, bold, black fruits and the structure and tannins that will allow the wine to continue to mature.

Joullian Vineyards

Our favorite wine at their Carmel Valley tasting room was the 2017 Midnight Muscat made with black muscat fruit. It was quite sweet at 123 brix and it tasted of blackberries in milk chocolate.

Joyce Wine Company

At its tasting rooms in Carmel Valley (they also have a tasting room in Soledad), we prefer their big, dark-fruit Pinot Noirs in general and the light, red cherry tastes of its Pommard-based 2019 Tondre Grapefield Pinot Noir.

Morgan Winery

At its Carmel tasting room, we usually enjoy tasting the minerally, citrusy, unoaked Metalica Chardonnay (2019 this time) and the black cherry fruit and moderate acid of the moderately-priced Twelve Clones (which now, we were told, consists of 14 clones). The favorites of this trip, however, were the tart, red cherry, slightly acidic 2017 Double L Pinot Noir, and especially the dark fruit and balance of the 2017 777 Pinot Noir.  On past trips, we also enjoyed its “Double L” and Boekenoogen Pinot Noirs.

Odonata Wines

This small winery is on the northern edge of Santa Lucia Highlands. It makes a wide range of varietal wines and blends. We found its 2018 SLH Blanc de Blanc light and refreshing. Although most of the reds are lighter than we prefer, our tastes led us to the red cherry, raspberry, and acid of the 2017 Falcon Hill Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir, the black fruit and spice of the 2018 Zinfandel (San Benito’s Enz Vineyard) and the big, black (relative to other Odonatta wines, but light relative to other of this varietal) 2016 Petite Syrah from the SLH’s Hook Vineyard.

Pessagno Winery

At its Salinas tasting room, we were especially impressed by the big, red cherry flavors and spice of the SLH Four Boys Pinot Noir (despite its relatively steep price) and the cherry, tobacco, and chocolate of the 2016 Pedregal de Paicines Vineyard GSM blend.

Scheid Vineyards

Scheid has tasting rooms in Carmel-by-the-Sea and at its Greenfield location. We enjoyed the black cherry and spice of its 2017 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir but were especially pleasantly surprised by the blackberry and chocolate of its aptly named 2018 Odd Lot Red which was a very approachable, inexpensive ($26) blend of 13 varietals (ranging from Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah to Sangiovese and Tempranillo). On a previous trip, we also enjoyed its 2017 Roussanne, 2013 Reserve Pinot Noir, and its 2016 Reserve Clone 667 Pinot Noir.

Talbott Vineyards

On our 2023 stop here, our favorites included the 2017 Winery Select Blanc de Blanc Sparkling, 2019 Block 50 South Chardonnay, and the deep dark fruit and earthy mushroom notes of the 2019 Lucienne Smith Vineyard Pinot Noir.

In the past we also liked the 2018 Block 50 South Chardonnay whose blend of lightly-oaked and stainless fermented grapes shows tropical, floral, somewhat buttery, and toasty notes. Yet we preferred the leaner, Burgundian-style 2016 Diamond T Chardonnay with apple and lemony tastes and bright acidity (we also liked the 2014 version). For Pinot Noirs, we especially liked the big, juicy, structured, smooth, slightly tannin 2017 Carmel Valley Diamond T, the complex, well-structured, and silky smooth, dark-fruited, 2017 Block 23 West Pinot Noir, and 2016 Sarah Cade Pinot Noir.

Testarossa

Testarossa’s location is at the historic Novitiate Winery in downtown Los Gatos California. They still use the original 19th-century winery to make wines today. Both the history of the place and the atmosphere make it a fun place to taste wines. We always enjoy its Gary’s Pinot Noir (but we like everything Gary’s).

Wrath Wines

Wrath has tasting rooms are in Soledad and Carmel. On our 2023 visit, we “endured” tasting a flood of wines that seemed as if they were crafted to our specific tastes. Our favorite whites were the 2020 EX Chardonnay (unexpectedly lush everyday unoaked wine with apple and tropical fruit for the embarrassingly low price of $19) and the richer, rounder, moderately buttery 2019 Swan/828 Chardonnay which will go nicely with lobster. Among the several reds that we enjoyed were the earth and black cherry notes of the 2019 Pommard 4/777 Pinot Noir, the black cherry and spice of the 2019 115/667 Pinot Noir, and most impressive of all, the 2019 Tondre Grapefield Pinot Noir (plum, blueberry and cocoa with smooth tannins and long finish. We also we enjoyed: the 2018 Destruction Level Grenache-Syrah blend and the 2018 San Saba Vineyard Syrah.          

On previous trips, we enjoyed the 2018 Swan 828 (red cherry, earth, and acid), and a very big Pommard 4 and 667-based KW Ranch SLH Pinot Noir (deep colors, black cherry, and blackberry fruit, leather, and lots of structure). And speaking of big, extracted KW Ranch wines, the smokey, peppery 2017 KW Ranch Syrah is also a lovely wine. We also enjoyed its 2016 Ex Vitae and especially Tondre Pinot Noirs.