Fortino Winery

None of their wines really spoke to me, except their sparklings, which they call champagne. Is that legal? I would have asked the gal pouring, but she didn’t seem to know anything about their wine. Also found it odd that they were making people pay $ 5 tasting fee upfront. They do NOT waive fee if you buy something. That always turns me off. On the upside, they do have outdoor picnic tables and free wifi.

I had an awesome experience. Tasting was $ 5, very appropriate in my opinion. Was pleasantly suprised by the Maribella, and the Almond sparkling was quite interesting, not my glass of wine, but I know many of my friends who would love it. After sticking around for a short time, nicely chatting with my hostess, it was time to be on my way. Now, they’re not fancy (read pretentious) like some places in Napa, but rather just very chill people who are happy to see you. I’ll come back if I’m ever in the area again.

Wine was great, service was horrible. the gal hosting the tastings was so enthralled with her friends next to us and talking the latest town gossip about Sally the streetwalker, that she did not pay any attention to us and didn’t describe a single one of the wines to us. I would ask questions about the wines and she would tell me to read the menu. WTF?
We won’t be back.

We only come here for the Almond Champagne! Amazing! Great spot and service. The staffs are very friendly.

this place rocks! keepin it short, you must try the almond champagne.
no charge for tasting, fyi. even tho i bought a case full of wine.

Definitely start here! $ 5 per person for their tasting, super friendly and plenty of souvenirs to purchase. No restaurant, but none of the wineries in the area have them. So eat before! Almond champagne is amazing!

My wedding was this past weekend, and our reception was held at Fortino Winery. The venue was beautiful. We paid a little extra to have all of our décor set up for us, so that we wouldn’t have to stress out about that on our wedding day!
The food was delicious. We went with the most affordable buffet option: Classic Sicilian (caesar salad, pesto pasta, roasted rosemary chicken, green beans, and fresh baked bread).
On the day of the reception, Debbi was very helpful in keeping us organized and on-​track. When we were worried the bustle on my gown might not hold, she helped me safety pin it for extra support. She guided us through everything– first dances, cake cutting, bouquet/​garter toss, etc. I loved that, because it meant we didn’t have to worry about coordinating any of that!
My only reason for not giving 5 stars is that sometimes I couldn’t get a hold of Debbi as quickly as I would have liked. I realize that she is busy (especially during wedding season), but as a bride, it can be stressful when you have questions/​concerns and you’re not able to get a hold of your vendor. However, as mentioned above, she was absolutely GREAT on the day of our wedding! All of our guests loved our choice of reception venue!

This Winery is amazing, we were impressed! Customer service was excellent and we enjoyed and relaxed with their wine tasting menu.

Nice place to stop by if you’re in the area, certainly not worth going out of your way to visit, however. Tasting for 5.00 is a steal, although most of the wines were sweet. Overall I wasn’t a fan of the wines. People were friendly and provided a very welcoming service.

This Winery is by far the most customer service oriented that I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with.
On December 16^th, I had ordered 6 bottles of their champagne through Amazon.
Unfortunately, there was a glitch somewhere with Amazon and Fortino never received the order. I waited and waited, and was sent an email from Amazon saying it was ready to ship. NOPE.
I emailed Fortino after I still hadn’t received it after New Years and asked what was going on. After they (Fortino) did some investigating, and because I had ordered in plenty of time before Christmas, they went above and beyond many times over to make good on my order. I am a customer for life!!! All I can say is WOW!!!
Dawn, you ROCK!

It has been a little over a month since our wedding day. Choosing Fortino Winery to host our wedding reception was one of the best decisions we made. From the beginning Debbi, the Event Coordinator, was friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. She came to our rescue and helped us problem solve too many times. A massive weight was lifted because she and her staff set up, provided the tables, chairs, table linens, plates, utensils, cups, wine/​champagne glasses, alcohol, food, etc. This allowed my husband and I the luxury of only having to find and hire a minimal number of vendors. Our guests haven’t stopped raving about Fortino’s elegant and beautiful environment/​views. In addition, the quality of the almond champagne, wine, beer, and food were superb. Our family and friends couldn’t stop talking about how amazing the appetizers and buffet were. I could honestly go on and on.
Fortino has so much to offer future couples or anyone looking to throw their outdoor event. Debbi and her crew are the best and know the business inside and out. They won’t let you down.

My favorite winery on Hecker Pass Rd. Hwy 152 to Watsonville. The staff is reallnice and knowledgeable about local wines and history. Picked a Pomegranate and Blackberry Wine. Delicious. Try it.

It’s been a week since we had our amazing wedding. Everyone has being complimenting our choice in venue and I felt it was time to share. The venue is wonderful. The ceremony location out by the trees was just wonderful. It was pretty windy on rehearsal night and I was a little worried but all in all the wind was much tamer on our wedding day.
Debbi, the venue coordinator knows her venue and staff well. She’s on top of her stuff and had warned us about the wind so it wasn’t a total surprise. She’s a go getter and has to be to wrangle a whole wedding party. She at first comes off a bit tough but really she has to be to get stuff and people in the right places. Everyone had a great time and Debbi kept us on track. Honestly we had a difficult group who didn’t listen well so she wrangled us well.
There are lots of awesome photo op locations even though it’s a relatively small vineyard (Which is part of what we loved about it). We loved the very personal feel of the space. It’s really charming. The bridal suite is a good space with a shower and bathroom but could be even better with some updated window coverings and furniture. But really we were in there for such a small amount of time it wasn’t a big thing.
The food was amazing. We did the family style meal and have not stopped hearing about how delish the chicken parmesan was. Also our guests loved the almond champaign. We were able to choose the beer that was served and again Debbi knows her stuff we ordered the perfect amount of wine and beer thanks to her help.
The venue was just stunning and we really were able to use very little decorations which was awesome. Can’t wait to visit it again and day dream about our amazing day. It was just perfect. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Have been to several events at this winery. The last event was last summer and it had about 200 people. Gilroy has hot summers so you expect people to plan accordingly right? uh no. They served warm red wine at the event and everyone was requesting ice to cool down their grapes. The wine is Ok but when served warm watch out!
They also cant have very loud music bc of their neighbors whining all the time.
The place has great backdrop and is a great location for an event. Overall, lower your expectations when u attend an event here.

Who knew the wines grow In Gilroy were so great? Not I! Wine tasting on a random weekday when it’s slow equates to many wine samplings & purchases!
Got here around 3 on a Wednesday and the winery was all but empty. We started our tasting and we’re prompted for our money at the beginning– I thought that was a bit off but whatever.
The lady who helped us was friendly and went over the wines. My uncle & I also learned about wine tasting, this made the overall experience more enjoyable. We even got to taste some wines not on the tasting menu. We got $ 5 coupons to use on lurches $ 20 or more. I wish they just gave you a complimentary tasting if you bought a bottle. I ended up getting the almond champagne (very crisp and refreshing) as well as a bottle of a sweet blackberry dessert wine.

Wow! We’ve stumbled upon this place and I was very glad we did! They have a bocce ball court with picnic areas. We had to soak in the scenery and opened a bottle and played bocce ball.
Merlot — I was blown away by their merlot which I am not much of a merlot fan. It had soft tannings with dark cherry and nutmeg notes. Most merlot I’ve experienced had strong tannings. This was quite enjoyable with a lasting finish.
Almond Champagne — a very flavorful champagne with hints of almond flavor that was not overpowering with a tamed mild sweetness.
The 5 for 5 is a steal!

My best friend married at this beautiful winery last weekend. As her bridesmaid I know she was under lots of stress due to the weather (started raining). The coordinator at Fortino (sorry forget her name but she was the owners daughter) was prompt in making changes to switching the outdoor ceremony and reception to their indoor open space. She was very attentive to the brides needs and her guests. The whole staff was nice, professional, and very attentive. Upon the bridal party’s arrival we were escorted to the bridal room where we had champagne, and appetizers awaiting. Lovely touch :)
The food Fortino catered was wonderful. There was a choice of rosemary chicken and tri tip along with pesto pasta, green beans and salad.
Thank you again (daughters owner) for the extra serving of food after it was all put away… Being a pregnant bridesmaid and having a busy day had me famished.
Overall it was a great wedding experience. I look forward to visit again with my BFF and her new hubby.

Love their sparkling very dry wine! A few of their wines are good too like the first white one and one of their reds. I think it was pinot? I’ve also had their almond champagne at a Unilocal event and it was also good!
$ 5 tasting fee. Nice friendly service.
Cute place to have weddings and cute tasting room.

We had our August 5^th wedding there, and it was absolutely the best day. I could not have asked for a better venue for my wedding, or a better coordinator (Debbi). She was so helpful and patient throughout the whole process. It seemed like it would be a daunting task planning the whole thing in 6 months from across the country, but she was able to answer ever question in a timely manner.
Many guests came up to us and said that it was the most beautiful wedding that they had ever been to, and were raving about the food (as a guest at many weddings in the past few years, the food can often be pretty questionable, but I would actually go there for dinner if I could). On top of that, there is the wine and the almond champagne which is to die for.
Fortino allowed us to have the wedding that we always wanted, casual, relaxed, fun and beautiful. I can’t believe we had that at such a reasonable price as well. Couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Is it just me or are all the folks associated with wineries (and breweries) the nicest, happiest people ever? Probably has something to do with the fact that they’re surrounded by booze all day long… Regardless, I always enjoy the opportunity to interact with vino peeps.
Had the pleasure of working closely with the Fortino staff a little over a year ago. They’re a lean, mean administrative team of 4 – 5 employees. You’d never know it, though, ’cause they’re top notch wine professionals. I was so impressed with their offerings that I sent my Dad a bottle of their Zinfandel as a present.
You see, my Dad lives in Middle America and is hooked on a particular variety of wine that isn’t terribly awesome. He buys this Lodi Zin (that will remain nameless) by the case and likes busting out a bottle with nice meals. I’ve never been a huge fan of said wine, but since moving to the Bay Area, have quickly discovered that this variety is just plain gross. And overpriced, considering what quality you can get ’round these parts for less than $ 30/​bottle.
Anyhoo, I sent him a bottle of Fortino Zinfandel (shipping to IL wasn’t too pricey, either). He held on to it from April, 2011 to this past 4^th of July weekend. Was waiting to open/​enjoy it while we were together. Kinda corny, but also a very Dad-​like gesture. Had it been me, that bad boy would have been polished off long ago! :)
The Zinfandel was even better than I had remembered! Not too jammy, a little dry and paired perfectly with the BBQ ribs we ate for dinner. Don’t even get me started on Bay Area BBQ… that’s one food that California needs a lesson on. But I digress, since the wines in this fine state are pure perfection.
Fortino, you guys are awesome! When I have time, will definitely come visit your tasting room down South :)