Elizabeth Spencer

3 words: Free Welcome Wine!
The wines are delicious, the staff is super friendly, and their courtyard is comfortable and relaxing. This will definitely become regular stop for my wife and I.
$ 25 for the standard tasting, $ 40 for the reserve.

Loved their wine. Very friendly. They put us in their back room and was a great experience.

If I could give zero stars, I would.
Unfortunately, my good friend was too scared to write about her experience, so I’ll be her voice instead.
Elizabeth Spencer is a racist establishment that recently denied service to a group of girls due to their ethnicity. The group was properly dressed (it was a bachelorette party) and well mannered.
The wait staff moved the group to the very back of the restaurant to limit visibility.
Eventually, after slow service, and the continued obvious purposeful poor service, the wait staff simply stated «it’s probably best if your group left.»
It’s heart breaking to hear about this. As an Asian American, I will never, ever, support this establishment in my lifetime. If you have a similar experience, I urge you to please share.

With so many quality wineries in the area, I am surprised this business is doing as well as it seems to be. One reason may very well be the beautiful grounds, where picnic tables are scattered about a beautifully landscaped garden. The experience is much better than crowding into the counter of a tasting room. However, the service is slow and not all that well informed. The regular tasting forces you to try wines that may not be of interest, including in our case a Riesling that was a throwaway line. We also had the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay which didn’t express any of the fruit for which that region is famous, and is startlingly over priced at $ 60 per bottle.
We then tried a decent, if overpriced Merlot followed by three Cabernets. While all of the Cabernets were excellent, two of them were $ 95 per bottle, and simply not worth the price when compared to other $ 50 – 75 Cabernets from the region.
But my biggest gripe with this winery, is that although we purchased two bottles of wine, they still charged us for the tasting. I was shocked when our bill was presented; i .have been visiting wineries and collecting wine for over 30 years, and I do not believe that that has ever happened in my entire life. The staff was neither apologetic nor explanatory, and our overall experience was that this is a money grab and a tourist trap and you can definitely get better wines and better service and better value at the dozens of other wineries in the valley. I give it 1 star for the experience, plus an extra star for the physical setting.

My husband and I visited on a cold rainy day and we were concerned about tasting in their tent. But we soon found it is a heated tent that was extremely comfortable. Their garden looked gorgeous so I could imagine tasting there on a warmer, sunny day would be very enjoyable as well. The tasting list allows for a lot of flexibility so you have an opportunity to taste what you like instead of sticking to a fixed list. We were able to add on some premium tastings including an amazing Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. And, being from Virginia, we enjoyed hearing about Spencer’s ties to Charlottesville and the Outer Banks, which are evident from the signs out front. It’s worth a visit!

I cannot say enough good things about this winery. Every time I swing by, it’s like dropping by an old friend’s house. The atmosphere is super relaxing, so this is a good place to just chill, drink wine and learn about the different wines. I’ve been a wine club member for a bout a year now and cancelled two other clubs because the wine here is so good! All of it! I am not partial to white wine, but theirs are fantastic. The Pinot Blanc is one of my favorites and made for a festive treat at my holiday party this year.
This past weekend, I did a blind tasting with friends to celebrate my birthday. Tracy was our hostess and she was fabulous! We entered the cottage to find a long table set with four glasses each. Tracy walked us through the tasting and provided us with information about the tasting notes of each type of wine. We had a blast! In fact, we loved the wine and the energy at the winery so much, the other wineries that day paled in comparison! We also went back the next day to another regular tasting and they sent us all home with bags of lemons.
Simply put Elizabeth Spencer is a fabulous winery because of the wine and the people. Thank you for a fantastic birthday!

Visited during January. This is not a winery. We’d highly recommend other wineries north of and including St Helena (see my other reviews). $ 40 per tasting (ie. per person). Nice enough outdoor tasting area (though limited spots in warm area) — no views, no vineyards on site. A long while between top ups and fairly generic information from staff. Tasting fee only waived on purchase of a case rather than a bottle or two as all other wineries did. This definitely felt like a rip. Wine wasn’t memorable for the price and we did buy more expensive wines elsewhere. A change in the tasting fee system would probably bring a better review (though comments re the wine would still stand). If you loved this place maybe you didn’t drive a little further.

I cannot say enough good things about this winery. My husband and I spent two days in Napa last month and this was by far our favorite winery, both in service and quality of the wine. We had a fantastic experience with Kathy, who was extremely knowledgable, personable, and very generous with extra pours during our tasting. We purchased the Grenache and the Block 7 Pinot Noir, but everything we tasted was outstanding — I regretted not buying a bottle of the Block 7 Chardonnay, so tasty. I will one hundred percent be purchasing wine from these wonderful people again. Don’t visit Napa without a stop at Elizabeth Spencer!

Worse treatment ever. Poor customer service. Tracy was extremely unprofessional. SHADY Behavior of Tracy charged my credit card $ 584.00 without my authorization and or knowledge. She had a negative outburst to my guest during our wine tasting for using the wine dispenser. I’m not sure if she was menopausal. My guest was unaware the wine dispenser was not part of the wine tasting as it was inside the cabin where we had the tasting. If there was a problem, she should have advised me rather than having a negative outburst which was extremely unprofessional. There were multiple times ES staff used the dispenser filling wine glasses throughout the day and during our tasting for another party event. My guest may have used it 2 – 3 times. If they were so concerned, they should have had a signage and or locked it up. It was very SHADY and totally unfair for Tracy to charge me for the entire four bottles stored in the dispenser. She had no knowledge how much was consumed by the ES staff and how long those bottles have been stored in the dispenser. She just decided to conveniently charge me for everything after settling our wine tasting bill of about $ 600++ and told us not to worry about the wine consumed on the dispenser.
In addition, there were many service failures at ES winery. I booked a wine tasting event 3 – 4 weeks in advance for 15+ guests with Peter and they totally forgot. If I have not followed up the day before the event would not have happened. According to Levi at ES my event was not even scheduled.
Further, when we arrived Sunday, the cabin was not ready for our wine tasting event. Tracy was so confused and only reserved two Magnums. An unchilled Pinot Blanc and a ES Rose’ that tasted like beer. No wine glasses prepared for red and white tasting and no wine tasting menu ect. Tracy then left the wine room and was gone for a long time. An hour past and my guests were wondering when the wine tasting was going to start. I searched for Tracy and she said that she didn’t know we were set up for wine tasting event. I was shocked!!! I’m not sure what to think how ES staff runs a winery that can’t be reliable. Clearly, the ES winery is not up to par with service and management.
We have been a supporting member of ES for about 5 ++years. Certainly, we don’t feel the loyalty they have demonstrated to resolve this issue in a positive and professional manner. I advised Tracy to cancel my wine membership when she refused to credit the charge back to my credit card.
I had to advised ES they will face legal consequences if they don’t cure is issue.
Three days had past, Curtis at ES called and stated that they will reverse the charge but terminate our wine membership. These people at ES do not take responsibility for their negative unprofessional behaviors/​actions. How unprofessional are these people at ES winery?
Anyway, I told him don’t bother because I already cancelled my membership on Monday two days prior.
To all ES wine members… Do not leave your credit card number with ES. They may charge your account without you knowledge. They are not loyal and mistreats their members. These people are very low class and unprofessional.
I would never step foot in there low class winery and staff again. ES is definitely not a top drawer winery.
There’s a lot more far better wineries than waste your time at this DUMP. I cancelled my membership the minute I found out about this unauthorized/​fraudulent transaction. I had to cancel my credit card and reported this unauthorized charge to my Bank from these frivolous people at ES.
This was a total inconvenience for me. I had to call all the companies I have an auto pay with and provide them with my new card number.

We’ve done several vacations to the Napa area and usually try to do some different things each trip. This time we did the Blind Tasting at Elizabeth Spencer. After we entered the tasting room and I had made inquiries about the reservation, the lady running the tasting offered us a glass of wine and asked if we would mind waiting a few minutes while they finished setting up. She came back in a few minutes later and led us to the building behind the patio area. The four glasses with wine were waiting for each us. We weren’t told what type of wine was in each glass. She then led us through the exercise of smelling and tasting each wine, asking what flavors and aromas we experienced. There was enough wine to go through it twice, allowing us to discover any difference in letting the wine air. There were breadsticks and water to clean the palette after each wine. The final step was to name each wine from a list of six. I only picked one right, but I won’t dock ES any stars for that. My wife picked three out of four correctly. At the conclusion of the tasting, we enjoyed a glass of the 2005 Mount Veeder Proprietor Cabernet Sauvignon. A very enjoyable experience.

The service is just so slow, it’s painful!
The good thing, we got into line at Rutherford grill, and had the time… But we waited over 30 minutes for someone to acknowledge our presence once we sat down…

My husband and I started off our day of Napa tastings at Elizabeth Spencer. We knew we’d be traveling with our dog, so we only visited dog-​friendly wineries and vineyards. At Elizabeth Spencer, the staff was extremely welcoming and friendly.
The tasting was conducted in tasting room’s beautiful patio/​garden space. The atmosphere was fantastic! We also had an incredible host, Kathy. She was so friendly and very knowledgable about the wines. Extremely personal tasting experience.
Beyond the experience, the wines are incredible! We also visited Frog’s Leap and Pine Ridge and our favorite wines were at Elizabeth Spencer! We bought a bottle of their cabernet sauvignon and joined the wine club. Highly recommend a visit here!

The first thing I noticed when I entered the building was the friendliness of the staff. They greeted us warmly and offered a welcome taste of wine. We were seated in the outdoor area which was peaceful and lovely. Like at least one previous reviewer, Kathy really made the experience special. She was informative about the wine she poured and about the winery. She also was able to suggest places to see in the area.
To top it off, the wine was delicious.
Kathy clearly enjoys what she is doing and is quite good at it. There was someone in training shadowing her that day. That trainee couldn’t have learned from a better person!

Perfect Experience! Amazing wines!
So so so pleased with our experience here today! I cannot say enough! This winery is small on the inside but absolutely beautiful in the outdoor garden area! I have never had such amazing service and I want to especially thank Kathy, who provided not only a fantastic tasting experience but had great tips and was very friendly! We loved her!
Tasting time: 10:30am on a Thursday (we stayed for nearly 2 hours)
Fantastic! A must visit!

If it weren’t for the Tasting Passes App I probably wouldn’t have stumbled into here.
I came here after having a wine tasting at Alpha Omega. My gf and I shared a tasting here because we had planned to go to another tasting after this one. Honestly, there was nothing memorable about the wines here. Probably because AO had left such a good note, the wines here were just OK.

Perfect for: wine tasting with friends, pre/​post lunch hang out, sitting and relaxing, meeting fellow wine fans.
The tasting happens in the garden, where you can sit and take time, chat and relax. Great service.

Came here because we had a promotion through Lexus. The tasting menu was about $ 20 (non-​reserve) and included both wine/​red wines. While some of the wines just weren’t for me, the outdoor seating area was really nice. The tables had a lot of sun and it was quite quaint sitting out in the garden.

Loved my visit here! The wine tasting was truly enjoyable and we got so much more than the tasting menu.
Unpretentious, welcoming, and delicious wines. Can’t wait to come back on my next visit to Napa!

A Napa Valley gem right off the highway. Our party of five was greeted immediately and given a complimentary sample of Pinot Blanc that was great! We sat outside on a wonderful Rutherford evening to do the Charter Tasting, which came with a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon for $ 20.
Great and highly recommended. Katie, a college student at UC Davis, educated us about a lot of the wine more than other tours and tastings we had done earlier in the day. It was not only delicious, but she was nice and made our experience here great.
Overall, the Cab was the best we had today!
On a side note, the bread sticks were amazing. So as my friend said, «come for the wine, stay for the sticks».

5 stars for Elizabeth Spencer and Tracy! We had a wonderful experience celebrating my husband’s birthday here this afternoon. Tracy is a true wine lover and it shows. The excitement in her face when talking about oak vs steel vs neutral barrels was awesome to witness.
Such a great tasting «room». I say room because there is also a cottage and a garden area with a tent and heaters. It was so relaxing and beautiful.
I was so impressed with all their varietals and price points, which is a major plus in outsourcing grape production. I was overjoyed to have such a large selection of white wines as I find that hard to find in Napa Valley. The differences between the Rutherford Chardonnay which is in a neutral barrel vs the ES which is in an oak barrel is amazing and so fun to be able to taste side by side. LOVE the Chen Blanc. Almost has a sparkling wine taste without the sparkle.
Loved all the amazing reds as well, but especially their trademark Cabernet.
We quickly joined the wine club and cannot wait to come up in April for the Rose release party!