Fernwood Cellars

My wife and I have been Fernwood wine club members for over 7 years and absolutely love their wines. I personally like heavier reds so their Zinfandel and Cabs are right up my alley. They also make several great blends, I am a huge fan of the Sidecut. The winery itself is very cool, located down a beautiful country road. We have attended many winery events over the years, the Lobster Boil is my favorite… looking forward to getting back to their events when our kids get a little older for Oktoberfest and the winemakers Dinner in the Vineyard!
I highly recommend checking out Fernwood Cellars and some of the other great wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Fernwood Cellars offers several wine options, and naturally not everyone will love every wine. Our personal favorites are their Cabernets and Zinfandels, though the Chardonnay found it’s way into our latest purchase.
The owners are actually involved in the entire process from growing to picking, crushing, blending, bottling, promoting, everything. They’re very creative about showcasing their wines at special events, such as their dinners in the vineyard. And we can’t say enough great things about those dinners! The most recent event, catered by La Papillon in Santa Clara, paired each course with a different wonderful wine. Imagine a long table set with linens and crystal, beautiful flowers and nice china, arranged at the top of a hill in the vineyard at sunset. A musician is playing guitar music, waiters serving delicious appetizers while diners are sipping the Chardonnay, and sipping, and sipping, you get the idea. Each course came with a different wine, generously poured. At the end of the dinner, the owners personally shuttled everyone safely down the hill in their vehicles.
We recommend taking the drive to the winery or enjoying the new tasting room in Los Gatos… or even better, try the wine with food at the next event. We’ll be back!

My wife and I have visited more than a dozen wineries in the Morgan Hill/​Gilroy area during the past year. The people pouring the wine at Fernwood were nice, the little tasting room inside a plain metal building was okay, but there are no views to speak of, and it’s a ways down a curvy little road, albeit a pretty little road. Our experience here, and at the nearby Martin’s Ranch indicates that the location (soils and micro-​climate) of the vineyards results in wines with relatively high acidity, with inadequate flavor development before frost or too much moisture forces the harvest.
We tasted 5 wines at Fernwood, and the only one that was ready to drink was a 5-​year old Zinfandel, and that’s a bit old for most Zins. The acidity was in control, but the aspects of a good Zin were muted by the extra age. Given the harsh acidity and other problems with the wines, I really wished there were some crackers available to mute these problems between tastings.
I understand that different people enjoy different aspects of wine, and I suspect that Fernwood’s relatively small volume gets sold out, regardless of its quality and surprisingly high prices, so that’s fine for them. We were offended that this place charges $ 10pp for tasting only 4 – 5 wines, and for wines of this quality. We were glad that we shared a tasting because the wines are not especially well-​made, and at $ 35-​$ 40+/bottle they are among the most expensive in the area. We buy wine at 80+% of the wineries we visit, but Fernwood was not one of them.

«The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.»
– John Steinbeck
Hard to believe that another ¼ mile drive brings you to even more spectacular scenery than what we saw at Martin Ranch Winery but it does. Another beautiful tree lined stretch that ends with a gorgeous Redwood Grove and the small Fernwood Cellars.
Fernwood is a family owned operation that has been living and working the land out here for six generations. Starting in 1999, winemaker and owner Matt Oetinger has crafted a variety of Reds and whites that strive to reflect the essence of this lovely area. Now Matt was formerly Vineyard Manager for that Pretentious Winery That Shall Be Named, but, we were two stops away from that awful place so I could not hold that against him at this time.
We were a week too early as the Chardonnay was not ready to taste. i will come back for that as I usually enjoy Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnays. We tasted a few reds with the Zin and Syrah not really standing out for me but the Cabernet Franc they made was outstanding! Balanced, with lovely fruit and woody notes, this was an excellent representation of what California could do with Cabernet Franc. In fact, I first cut my teeth on Cabernet Francs from Reverie, Savannah-​Chanelle, Robert Sinsky, Pride, Lang & Reed and others when I first started getting into wine. I thought it was poised to really take off but it never did. Although Fernwood’s was pricey at $ 37.00, it still was my one purchase here.
The less said about their Late Harvest Riesling the better. Too sweet, cloying and pandering.
Service was excellent here, everyone very nice and friendly in spite of the weekend crowds. Like Martin Ranch, they are open the Third Weekend of every month. Their website also mentions a service where they will create a custom vineyard for you. Hmmm, if I win the lottery for sure I will have a custom vineyard ;)
We were not planning on stopping here until we saw their road sign by Martin Ranch winery. With the gorgeous scenery and excellent Cabernet Franc, we are glad we did. I will be back for sure :) Recommended!

I purchased a winery tour, valued at $ 100, for $ 50 through Amazon Local. After scheduling the tour with Matt Oettinger, the wine maker and tour guide, my wife and I drove the 38 miles to the winery. When we arrived, we had to wait for the employee to arrive (10 minutes late) and then learned that Matt had decided to go skiing for the weekend, so no one was there to give us our tour!
We tasted five vintages, which were generally fairly good. We weren’t impressed with the tasting room or the employees’ knowledge of the different wines being poured that day. We did buy two bottles (at inflated winery pricing) and left after about 20 minutes. The tasting room employees told us to contact Matt to reschedule the tour.
As we were instructed, we contacted Matt to resolve the tour voucher. My wife and I were not impressed enough to return to the far reaches of Gilroy for a tour of the winery (fields and an aluminum storage building used as their barrel/​tasting room?). After contacting Matt (via e-​mail only), we were told that our only option would be to return for a tour during an upcoming Art, Wine and Chocolate festival scheduled in May. Matt did say that he would be busy, but would try to get away for a tour.
I explained our desire not to make a return trip to the winery and asked for equitable value of wine in exchange for the voucher (valued at $ 100). Matt refused and said that he would not exchange wine for the educational value of the tour. I asked Matt to call me so that we could discuss alternatives, but he never did call.
Bottom Line: Amazon Local refunded our $ 50. Thanks for that!
Fernwood Cellars:
The wine is okay, but significantly overpriced compared to similar local winemakers’ vintages! The winery is not at all impressive (we even drove past thinking it was a storage shed with a Fernwood Cellars sign on the side), and definitely not worth a drive of more than a few miles. The business practices and customer relations are so bad that I wouldn’t drink another bottle of Fernwood Cellars’ wine if it were given to me!

First of all, this is not a review of the wine. Several months ago, we purchased a deal voucher purchased from Living Social thru Amazon Local. The vocher was ot nearly worth the $ 50 we paid, nor the $ 100 it was «worth». Once we were finally able to book the tour (a different issue), we only received a tasting worth $ 10 each and a short tour by an uninformed employee; that was it.
After complaining, we were told that we could repeat the tour on am event weekend, but was reminded that «[The tour guide] will clearly have a lot going on that day, but would be happy to take the time away to give you the tour.» Clearly an indication of another pending dissapointing tour.
Lucky for me, Amazon Local stands behind their «Value» promise and immediately gave me a refund when I complained.

This winery is top-​notch, with a hands-​on winemaker and staff. But I would like to comment to Cortney Dedham, MA — why would you even BEGIN to diss a winery because they have $ 40 wine and they are not from Napa? You show extreme ignorance and smirtch an otherwise great site ( Unilocal) with your ridiculous review.

Fernwood is our favorite winery not only in Gilroy but one of our top ones worldwide. My husband and I are big fans of Napa and Sonoma wines especially chardonnay and big reds. I promise you Fernwood does not disappoint.
What sets Fernwood apart from other wineries is that the winemaker personally handles every step of the winemaking process from planting the vines to caring for and harvesting the grapes to producing, barreling and bottling all of their wines.
Not only is their wine amazing, Fernwood has a lovely, intimate tasting room with knowledgeable, welcoming staff who offer up generous pours. It’s located just outside Gilroy. Driving down Redwood Retreat Road is beautiful and well worth the drive to their gorgeous property.
Throughout the year, Fernwood offers up a lot of fun events including Oktoberfest, art and wine event, farm to table dinners and our personal favorite — their Lobster Boil.
Fernwood is a can’t miss stop if you are planning a visit to South County.

Fernwood is a pretty great winery on a few levels.
First, it’s in a gorgeous area. A few people specifically call out that it’s in Gilroy (and Gilroy is awesome, BTW), but this isn’t what you’d expect from the area-it’s tucked away in a pretty cool wooded area and feels pretty lush.
Second, the wines are great. Yes, they’re not cheap. But they taste great, they generally age well and if you think they’re expensive you don’t even want to think how much you’d pay for similar quality wine in Napa.
Third, they do all sorts of cool events. Whether it’s a chocolate tasting or their Lobster Boil they do it up right.
Go there and taste for yourself – that’s really the only way you’re going to know for sure whether you like it or not.

Are you effin’ kidding me? $ 40 for a Cab NOT from Napa. This place was terrible. We had their tasting flight one night at Vino Locale (which I do love). Overpriced wine from GILROY!!! You produce garlic, right?
Thanks for the chincy pours.

This is another small Santa Clara Valley winery right down the road from Martin Ranch, so we decided to pop in and check it out.
I don’t think they really have a tasting room per se, as they were pouring in the barrel room during the Spring Passport ’10.
There was nothing that really tickled my fancy here.
Their chardonnay had a weird clove and pine nose to me, which was off-​putting.
I didn’t like the earthy character of the Zin and Merlot I tried either.
They were nice and freindly, but I just didn’t like the wine very much.

This is by far one of the best wineries in the bay area. First the wine is just consistently good which is rare in the bay area. Clos Las Chance and other wineries have their moments but I feel like I am rolling the dice everytime I open a bottle. If you get a chance to meet Matt, the wine maker and owner you’ll quickly understand why the wine is great. He can tell you exactly what went into the making of each release and what you are tasting. It’s not an experience you often get when visiting Napa and meet the snobs that often run those tasting rooms — he cares about each grape, every bottle, every sip it would seem.
Also, If you haven’t visited them you must and be sure to put their Lobster Boil and Oktoberfest events on your calendar. My wife and I have been wine club members for over a year now and highly recommend a visit or tasting with Matt and the Fernwood Cellars team.
The Petit Sirah and his Cab’s are big reds and some of my favorites but my wife is nuts about the Chardonnay as it has that great buttery start with a strong fruit finish, well balanced of course. She puts it close to another fav — Rombauer.
Hope this sends you his way — you won’t regret it.
Cheers,
RG

I happen to have an opportunity to attend one of their wine release parties and boy was it a good time. I absolutely adore their wines especially their Chardonnay. I don’t believe they have a tasting room yet, but if you check out the website under Events you’ll find them somewhere nearby.
My first opportunity having their wines was at a pouring Vino Locale put on showcasing these wines. You have got to try them.
You have to check these guys out when you have a chance. It’s in the middle of never neverland but definitely a great time. They really know how to throw a party. Thanks Matt for all the good food and fun people.