Naumann Vineyards

Wonderful view!!! Great wine… The rose and blended red were wonderful… And excellent friendly service! Hit them up on passport day…

I had heard a lot about Naumann Vineyards and had never been able to taste their wines because I’ve never made Passport weekend.
I called and e-​mailed Don a month in advanced to host a private tasting here for a group of 7 people and he was willing to accommodate. Not only is the tasting reasonably priced at $ 10 per person, but the wines here are amazing for the price. Bottles range from $ 18-​$ 26 and they have whites, reds, and a rosee. I loved their Chardonnay and Merlots… delicious.
The views here are stunning and as others have mentioned, it is their home/​property which is why this place isn’t open to the public. It is only open a few times a year; fortunately, they did recently open a public tasting room in downtown Los Gatos though.
Thanks Don for allowing us to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday here — we truly enjoyed it.

I was introduced to Naumann at a wine festival in Santa Cruz this summer. It might have been called Roots that Rock or something like that. Anyway, I must say the wine is delicious!
Since the festival my gf and I have gone to the vineyard for tastings twice. Located up a windy, narrow road in Cupertino you may want more than one GPS device to find this place. Between my car GPS and our two phones being in-​n-​out of service we were finally able to find it. There will be a small sign telling you they are open on the right.
Don’t be confused if you feel like you are all of sudden at someones house. You ARE at someones house, but they do the tastings on the deck in the back. People usually park just outside the driveway on the dirt, I don’t think youre supposed to park in their driveway. Walk around the deck on the right side of the house and follow it on back to get to the vino.
Driving up the windy road I was thinking to myself, «why would anybody live up here and go through all this trouble to come into town.» Well when you are standing on the deck out back you quickly see what that hill climb got you. Amazing view! You can easily see downtown SJ in the distance and even Moffet airfield. Look below the deck for the vines used to make some of the wines.
Their red blend is quite popular but I think our favorite is the Chardonnay. And I’m really surprising myself as I write this because I don’t like any white wine, none. Reds or bust. White wines usually turn me off because they are either to fruity/​syrupy, to dry, and some just downright taste and smell like water from a vase. However, Naumann Chardonnays are nothing like this. They are light on the fruit with the perfect amount of sweetness. It tastes so refreshing and clean. The perfect wine for summertime. We bought 4 the last time we went up. I’m sure we’ll be back plenty more times! Also try the dessert wine, it’s made from Merlot!
I believe you have to setup an appointment to do a tasting so don’t just drive up there randomly and hope to taste.

Open for tastings only during Santa Cruz Passport days four times a year (or by appointment), this quaint little winery holds their tastings inside a home residence with a spectacular view of the mountain-​side from their back porch.
Located a few minutes down the road on the same mountain as Ridge Winery, the signs pointing to this destination are a little conspicuous and will really have to pay attention to find it.
You’ll immediately notice the venue itself is a house which has been retrofitted to accommodate a winetasting room. The entire décor has been carefully chosen to exude everything that has to do with wine, from the hanging bunches of grapes with lights to the decals of vines with hanging grapes along the walls.
The back porch opens up to a gorgeous panoramic view of the vineyards as well as the rest of Silicon Valley. I really enjoyed standing out there resting my eyes upon the rolling hills and beautiful scenery.
Our hosts were very friendly and gracious; the place wasn’t crowded at all. They also served a few hors d’oeuvres along with the tastings which was a nice touch.
The wines we tasted were:
— ’08 Chardonnay
— ’09 Chardonnay
— ’08 Estate Merlot
— ’07 Estate Merlot
— ’07 Late Harvest Semi Sweet Dessert wine
— ’07 Chardonnay — my personal favorite
All of the wines were pretty good and the bottles were reasonably priced (ranging from $ 18 to $ 26/​bottle). The deals they offered were a 10% discount on case purchases and a 20% discount for club members.

Another stop during Santa Cruz Wine Passport Day before heading to Ridge. They are only open during Passport Days or by appointments so it was a treat to taste their wines. Be careful trying to park as it’s all gravel road and there’s not many places to park since it is a residential.
We were surprised to see that the tasting area was the outside balcony of their house, but you will love the gorgeous views of Silicon Valley. You can just sit outside and enjoy the wine. We tasted the Rose, Chardonnay, 2003 Merlot, 2007 Merlot, and the Late Harvest Merlot. My favorites were the Chardonnay and the 2007 Merlot. We left with a bottle of the Chardonnay ($ 18).

My boyfriend and I love passport weekend! This pass November passport was one of our favorites because we found Naumann Vineyards wine! We amazing we have not finished our case we purchased yet. We had an amazing view and in a warm cozy home. We entered into a beautiful home (great because it was rainy) and went downstairs into a nice comfy atmosphere. The owner was very nice and was pouring the wine. He was very friendly and answered all of our questions. The wine was wonderful!!! I could not decide because the Merlot and Chardonnay were excellent. The price are very decent! They served cheese, crackers and some yummy salmon! I can’t wait to go back it is nice to find this type of one of a kind winery. I LOVE the 06 Merlot and recommend trying it I believe you can purchase it online.

We went to Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival. Naumann Vineyards was one of the wineries pouring today. Today they were pouring Merlot (real tasty), Estate Merlot, and a Chardonnay.
We will be going to them on the next SC Passport weekend. I’ll give an update when we do.

Cute place. Like tasting in someones house. The view was spectacular from the back deck where the tasting was. My little one was having a melt down so I rocked her in a corner away from the pouring and hoped she wasn’t bothering other tasters. It was HOT, otherwise I would have retreated to the car to soothe her.
They were pouring 2 of my least favorite varietals: Chardonnay and Merlot. It was a shame to drive right by on our way to Ridge and not at least stop especially since they are only open on Passport weekends.

Shucks, shoulda called first, only open 4x a year for tastings, just missed one, 4÷18÷09, next one scheduled for the 3^rd weekend of July.
Views are gorgeous and the owner was super friendly as he stopped on his cart to offer information.

The beauty of the wine passport program is that every time we participate in one, we find a great, small unknown place we never would have found otherwise. This was that place this past Saturday.
Cost to worth it ratio: 4 (good wines for around $ 20)
Highlights:
— Flor’s winery: aka a mom and pop of wineries. ;-) It’s literally someone’s house. You feel a bit like you’re crashing someone’s private house party when you see the little signs out front saying to go in back, follow the small path, see into the windows of the house (normal bedroom, dining room, etc), and get to the back deck.
— Atmosphere: informal, homey, and welcoming. The expansive deck overlooking vineyards and mountains is beautiful. The tasting area consists of one table in the middle of it all with 2 guys wearing Naumann logoed polo shirts standing behind it. Snacks are goldfish and standard cheese and crackers which I love. Very community block party style. When we left, they genuinely thanked us for coming which was cute.
— Wine: so given the super casual environment, we didn’t have high expectations of the wine, especially since we’re not big merlot people. They offered 2 chardonnays and 2 merlots for tasting and to my surprise I really liked one of each. Chardonnay was just the right amount of fruity and buttery/​oaky for my taste and merlot was fruit-​forward but with a welcoming harder tannic edge to it. Given the price, we of course left with those 2 bottles. ;-)
Lowlights:
— They are only open on passport days and by special appointments.
I’d definitely be back if I got a chance. It’s a fun change from the normal established winery tasting rooms.