Noggle Vineyards & Winery

We weren’t sure where we were going. We weren’t even sure there would be wine at the end of the long, twisty mountain road. But we were racing against time to reach a supposed tasting room before 5pm.
We shouldn’t have worried. The owner/​winemaker at Noggle pours his wines out of the garage of his house. We knocked on his back door and a short time later we were drinking truly amazing cabernet sauvignon.
Noggle is a one-​man operation, a delightful, low key, interesting operation with what seems to be a cult following among other Lake County wine people. Everywhere we went those in the know were either recommending we go to Noggle or sharing their rave reviews. It was all justified. Take the trip down the long, windy road to find this place. Support a small business, and a passionate winemaker making fantastic stuff!

What a pleasure to be the first to review this gem!
Let me preface by saying that it’s possible that I’m a little biased… as an owner of our own small family winery, I actively seek out other wineries that are like us. Knowing what a labor of love such an endeavor is, I always want to support the efforts of the little winery.
Biased or not… let me tell you this… Michael Noggle is making some truly outstanding wines! We tasted two Cabs and a Sauv Blanc. All three were truly top notch wines. I can only believe that such great wines are the pay-​off that comes when you single handedly participate in every step of the winemaking process, from the planting of the vines all the way to bottling, the way that Michael does.
We visited a couple of the better known Lake County wineries on this trip and while we tasted some pretty good wines all around, none of them held a candle to Noggle!
The tasting room experience is also the way I belive it should be… small and intimate (you’re basically tasting in his garage) and filled with great first-​hand information from Michael himself.
So please visit Noggle. Support the little guy… and in doing so, bring home some really fantastic wine. It’s a win-​win situation!