Lazy Creek Vineyards

Visited ¹⁰⁄₁₈. Hosted by Vicki, a very nice and knowledgeable hostess.
Nice range of pinots with a syrah and gewürztraminer thrown in as well. The 2012 Estate pinot was my personal favorite. Nice cherry notes on the wine.
Very nice place to visit.

After a couple failed attempts, I finally made it to Lazy Creek — just before they were starting to close for the afternoon. They kindly held the tasting room open and I got to try out their wines and bought several bottles to bring home. Super cute new little wine tasting room, very friendly staff and grounds that reflect an ongoing working ranch — huge veggie garden, chickens, old weathered buildings mixed in with newer buildings and current construction projects. I look forward to returning to enjoy more of their delicious wine.

Just revisited Lazy Creek last week and they still produce great wines.
They have a new (to me) road sign which makes finding the winery much easier — no more obscure metal sign which they say they may install near the wine tasting room. The drive over the creek is a charming as ever but the improved signage has resulted in increased traffic which may make it difficult getting past another car on the narrow one lane road while entering or leaving the vineyard. Caution advised!
Drank my bottle of 06 Reserve Puncheron Blend Pinot before I got there and bought a bottle of 07 RPB when I left. Easily as good or better than Goldeneye for less. Would buy more of it if there weren’t so many other great pinots to drink. I also like their syrah but still have a bottle of it sat home. Check the, out!!!

Super adore this place. Its a definite stop for me the next time I am driving through Mendo. Purchased the red table wine.
Loved the sheeps, roses, cats, the entire feel and look is adorable. The wine cave is pretty pretty rad.

I apologize I will not be offering any names of wines I liked here… After visiting 5 wineries that morning I cannot recall the wines I liked for the life of me… But I can recall the experience we had here… The lady who poured our wine was sweet and caring and absolutely wonderful… She made sure we enjoyed cheese with our wines and she wanted us to try a little of every wine she had open that day. Both my husband and I enjoyed this experience very much. Our baby also loved it, because he got to see the chicken, a beautiful pond they had in the back, great trees and a black kitty cat… This is a great winery to bring kids at because they will find something to do here. We will return on our next trip to Mendocino.

Great reds, friendly cats and chickens. It is off the road along a creek and the grounds are very beautiful. Definitely a «do not miss» stop along the Anderson Valley.

shadow of its former self… wine is just not that good anymore… too many great spots nearby to waste time here

Small but important and incredible winery. Visit if you can — well worth it!

Sadly, I learned that Josh and Marybeth sold the winery…

Do you ever get the feeling that you love something so much, you just can’t express it in words, even if you try? This is how I feel about Lazy Creek. From its gorgeous farm setting, to Josh and Mary Beth’s warmness, to all of the farm critters running around, this is Lazy Creek.
Certainly some of the most elegant Pinots in all of Anderson Valley (and that is saying something!). Don’t think that they just make Pinot here: The Gerwurtz, Pinot Blanc, Chablis-​style Chardonnay, and Syrah will also win you over.
Their wine is not inexpensive, but it’s worth it.

Just up the road from Navarro, Lazy Creek has a minuscule hidden sign. As others have said, if the gate is open drive on up. And about that drive, do not even attempt it if you have a low to the ground car! It’s a long gravel driveway with lots of bumps, really fun for me, but I know some of y’all drive stupid cars.
Once we got to the top, the place looked like a farm. Well, it was a farm so I guess that’s why. There was another infinitesimal sign reading «wine» in front of a little pathway. All very mysterious and neat. Finally we see some people leaving with bottles in hand and a guy tells us to head over there. «There» was a large old barn with giant doors. He comes back with some clean glasses and in we go. Inside it was a cool dark wine cellar with giant casks of wine surrounding us. We were joined by a small family a moment later and then the tasting began.
Only five wines to try but each one was better than the last. Some of the best Pino Noir I’ve ever had! I couldn’t get over how good this wine was. The setting, the talk of all the delicious foods it pairs with, it all worked perfectly together. The guy running the show was really cool too. Did a good job selling the wines as we bought some bottles from here too.
By far my favorite winery of the day.

First: You’ll never believe they make wine here.
Then: You won’t believe how good it is.
It looks more like a farm than a winery.
There is no pretense. The wines are gorgeous.
We were coming here before Lazy Creek really took off.
Last time I looked, one of their wines sold-​out in pre-​release.
Good for the Chandlers. I am happy for their success.
Sad for those of us who don’t buy pre-​release wines and join wine clubs and all that rot.
But it’s a very special place.
And I imagine it will stay that way.
Do yourself a favor, next time you are in the area, check to see if the gate is open.

If the gate’s open come on in! So we did.
On the first try, Friday afternoon, we were blocked by a pile of dirt halfway along the road. On the second try, Saturday afternoon, we made it through and wondered where we were headed. We were promptly greeted by two barking, bounding guard dogs that I thought were about to eat me. Don’t worry their bark is worst part.
The wine maker was out at the Alsace festival and our pourer was friendly but not very informative about the wines. All their Alsace styles were good and dry. I think their Gewürztraminer is only .5% residual sugar, compared to others at atleast 1.5−2.0%. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a good taste on the pinot or the syrah since they had been put in hot baths to take the chill off, but were never taken out. The wine steamed as it was poured.
I am giving a good faith fourth star because I want to like this family owned small winery. We’ll give it a try the next time we can.

On a random road trip through northern California I found myself in Philo tasing a few wines after a long day exploring the coast and the mountains. I got very excited when I realized we were minutes away from Lazy Creek Vineyards, who’s wines I had tried many years before. I called up and asked if my fiancée and I could come over right away for a tasting and they said «come on over.»
The drive in through their property is gorgeous as the dirt road bumps along the side of a lazy creek and pops you out at the homestead where we were greeted by a rooster watching over his flock of hens. We wandered into the grouping of houses where we were swarmed by very excited dogs and Josh Chandler. Aside from his LC wines, Josh does some work for Standish, and is known in my family as the master of Pinot Noirs.
He took us into the barrel room where we got right down to business trying his wines while telling stories and laughing it up with other locals. The Gerwertztraminer was amazing, the rose refreshing, and the pinot… devine. Needless to say I walked out with a healthy amount of wine in my arms but was most proud of my purchase of a pair of 2001 pinot noirs. We opened one this year on Christmas and nearly cried it was so damn good.
If you find your way up to Philo, go see Josh Chandler and try his wines… they are as good as it gets!

Excellent wines for great prices. The Gewurz is amazing, and I’ve enjoyed their other wines — looking forward to the Syrah in the next few years. I don’t know if anyone wants to be called ‘funky cool’, but this place is absolutely worth a taste (or 5).

Great small place to stop, worth the long drive up a dirt road. Gracious poors with cheese in between. The Rose was devine. FYI their dog loves cheese so don’t forget to kick down!

Their dogs and kids play outside the modest but gorgeous winery. The owners make several excellent pinot wines (the estates are superb), a delish rose, and rich and wonderful syrah. The best part of the whole experience is how unpretentious the owners are. One of the best wineries I’ve ever been to. If the gate is open, the winery is open. Look for the small sign off of 128 or you’ll miss it.