Sunlit Oaks Winery

Wonderful place. Beautiful views and the owner and his daughter are just the nicest people. Very personable. When you sit outside at one of their chairs and table, shaded by umbrellas, she will come out with the next pour. My favorites are the Petite Sirah, Late Harvest Zinfandel and for dessert the Muscat! Delicious. Today we had live music. Just perfect!

I’ve visited just about every winery in South County countless times over but had somehow never made it to Sunlit Oaks. Had a few coupons for free tastings from the Morgan Hill Wine Stroll, so we decided to check it out yesterday. They have a small, quaint tasting room and great wines (5 per tasting), but what really sold us was the beautiful views of the valley and the personable service we received here. We’ll definitely be back!

My wife and I recently discovered this small gem of a winery while exploring the countryside around Gilroy, CA. One of our favorite wineries was down the street a little ways (Thomas Kruse). Alas, Mr. Kruse has retired and sold his winery. Discovering Sunlit Oaks has softened the blow, however. We always prefer small wineries where you can meet and talk to the winemaker, and this one certainly fits the bill. It is located on lovely hillside overlooking the valley around Gilroy. The tasting room is a small building adjoining a fairly large outdoor area with picnic tables and benches — a perfect location for a family picnic, which is what we did this afternoon, in fact.
(The review below who said the tasting area was just a table on a patio behind the house must have mixed this place up with another winery in the area. The tasting room here is not on a patio, and is actually several hundred feet from the house, which is up the hill from the tasting room.)
All the wines we tried were very good. We particularly enjoyed the Sangiovese and the late harvest Zinfandel, which we found comparable to the old vine Zinfandels from Lodi that we have recently fallen in love with. The owner/​winemaker John Grogan and his daughter are both friendly and hospitable. Mr. Grogan is always patient and helpful with questions from relative wine novices like us (although I would say we are more intermediate wine aficionados now).
Overall impression: a friendly, family-​friendly winery in a great location with very good, reasonably-​priced wines.

Not impressed with the quality of the wine, I don’t think they grow any of their own grapes and the tasting area is very rough and it was extremely windy the afternoon we went, which the owner said is fairly usual for the area they are in. The views are nice, though.

We visited early in 2014. It’s a new place, and it seems like they’re still learning how to make wine. The property is okay, with a nice patio area in the back, but there’s not much of a tasting area, more of a table/​counter behind the house. The grapes used are not especially good, and the winemaking definitely needs improvement. The wine here is not among our top 10 for the Morgan Hill/​Gilroy area. Hopefully they’ll sort things out in the coming years.

Such a hidden treasure in the Santa Clara wine region! Yes this place is still up and coming — don’t come here expecting a big fancy tasting room (yet). But the property is just AMAZING. They have lots of lovely tables with umbrellas to have a picnic at and just take in the view. It’s so peaceful there — can’t wait to go back. Personally I prefer my wineries a bit rustic — I’d rather be on a patio of wood chips than a manicured lawn (yawn), but that’s just me! So if you like wine and being a bit au natural, this is a must see!
Oh and the wines are really good! I see people here raving about the moscato, and if you like sweet wines then yeah go to town on that one. But their reds are really well done. Loved the Sangoivese (apparently they just won an award for it!) and the Syrah the most.
Sunlit Oaks is definitely worthy of being a destination in and of itself (esp if you’re bringing a picnic), but if you’re headed to Satori, but all means, take the time to drive out to Sunlit as well!
Oh keep in mind they are only open the first and third full weekend of the month. (So if the first of the month happens to fall on a Sunday, they’re open the following — full — weekend.)

The people here are very friendly! It was pretty busy being wine passport weekend but they remained calm and friendly. The moscato is AMAZING. I drink that out a juice box.

This place is still in the process of getting everything together but the wine there was amazing and the staff was so nice and knowledgable about suggesting wine to us. My favorite was the Mosscato and I ended up buying a bottle of it! They have a nice picnic area where you can bring your own lunch and enjoy the day.

Although they are still in process of building a full tasting room, this place is awesome. The view, the wine, the people and tasting area is awesome. Joined the club and can’t wait to come back. Only 30 mins from san jose. Its my secret vineyard

Great view from their tasting area. Good wines. Great Moscato! First day open to the public. Looking forward to visiting again.