Five Vines Wine Bar

Great selection of wine and beer. Excellent food and reasonable prices. Have had the flatbread, Panini and cheese ball. All delicious. The owner (our waitress) is just a doll. Very friendly and welcomes dogs on the patio. A quaint place which is a nice change from the larger, noisier restaurants around town.

Definitely had a great time here. Fin atmosphere and people. Drinks were great, only wish was the service was a little quicker

The owners here are exceptional! I love allowing them to surprise me with a flight based off of a short discussion of what I like, they always serve up great wine. All of the food I’ve ordered here has been very good too. The bruschetta is insanely good.
The live music adds to the fun atmosphere, check out their calendar to see who’s playing.

Great selection of everything. Food, wine, beer. Great service. Very knowledgeable of everything.

Great staff they know about the wine they serve and what’s good to try. Clean place great sausage and cheese. Great location and romantic.

Love this place! Randy is the wine specialist. If you want to know anything about wine he is a wealth of knowledge. Their wine selection is very unique as Randy takes the time to find high quality unknown wines. The staff is extremely friendly. It is a family run business and I have had the pleasure of meeting them all. So much so that it has the feel of the tv show cheers when you come in. You will be happy with your decision to come downstairs to the 5 vines experience. And be ready because once you experience it they will have you coming back for more.

5 vines is one of the best wine bars in town. Wonderful owners and great clientele. Susie is a very special gal that makes everyone feel right at home. a real treat for everyone and great cheese ball and assorted fig jams and meat and cheese platters! awesome place, fun and very special, very relaxing ! Rolene Rada

I came here with my friend after work one night, we were looking for a more cozy and intimate (also better priced) location than the larger wine bar next door. Boy are we glad we chose this place instead! We were just in time for Five Vine’s happy hour, which was well priced. We had a chance to interact with Suzy, the owner and she was such a pleasure to chat with. We felt like we were guests in her home. Everyone in the bar was having a good time.
For overall ambience and happy hour pricing, I’d definitely count this as one of my new go to spots in the area.

Great place! Nice selection of your everyday type wine, Delicious small plate menu. The cheese ball is a good choice and their grilled ham & cheese is like adult style sammich. Killer Grinds with friendly service. Nice place to Chillax and listen to some Chill music.
AMERICA

Best wine bar in Orange County! Great for date night or casual get together. Family owned and run, very knowledgeable and accommodating — love the classy but cozy vibes.

This is a great, relaxing, fun wine bar – high on friendliness, low on pretentiousness. I suggest doing their blind flight. You get 3 tasters and if you correctly guess the varietal of each one, you get it for free. We did not succeed at this endeavor and were told after that nobody does. Ha. It was fun regardless. Thankfully, they have a good menu of small bites so you can keep drinking without getting too silly. The hummus/​pita, bruschetta, and olive tapenade are all good. Service is very attentive and nice. You can tell this isn’t a super corporate place; it’s very «ma and pop.» We’ll be back.

Great selection of wines and beers. Friendly staff. Cool place next to Old Town San Juan. Need more filling small bites though. But maybe that’s why they are small? Lol.

I stopped by for a glass of wine and a small bite; service was friendly and prices were average. The place is quite small and we weren’t really greeted when we walked in, so we were confused but ended up sitting down at a table. We tried two wines and the cheese ball, which was pretty delicious. I know Rancho Capistrano is next door and how do you decide which to go to? Well Five Vines is definitely smaller, more intimate, and has a small happy hour, whereas Rancho Capistrano has a beautiful patio and a delicious raspberry/​blackberry chocolate wine.
I’m really conflicted on a 3 or 4 star rating because one of my biggest pet peeves when dining out is when I recognize something that I could easily get at the store. I’m 99% sure the crisps served with the Mormor cheese ball is Trader Joe’s raisin rosemary crisps. I’m also pretty sure the dubliner, manchego, smoked gouda, and chevre cheese selection is from Costco — not knocking on Costco’s cheeses, but when 2lbs of manchego costs $ 13 at Costco and a few slices are being sold as part of an «artisanal cheese board», I’m not sure how I feel about that… I don’t consider myself a cheese expert but when I hear «artisanal» cheese I guess I expect a cheese selection like Patina’s or Providence’s or maybe even featuring California cheesemakers (Cowgirl Creamery, Barinaga Ranch, whatever)…at least tell me the area of the country the cheese came from instead of: «Dubliner is a delicious Irish cheese, Manchego from Spain!». Ok, what kind of aging has it gone through and what specific region did it come from? A few people who’d gone also remarked the exact same quip… so I can’t be the only one. Small knock.

Best wine bar in San Juan! So much fun, great music on Friday and Saturday nights and great wine selection. John is the greatest wineologist and always has the best suggestions! Come here anytime you’re in SoCal and need a good glass of wine or beer :)

Forgot how much I love this place. Great wine and beer selection and yummy bites to savor as well. Owners are so friendly… makes you want to come back over and over to support their dreams. Festively decorated for the holidays too.

Absolutely the only wine bar in San Juan Capistrano (The very large establishment next door is crap) and the people here are incredible too!
Sure the place is tiny and you may very well find yourself sharing a stool with a neighbor… But hey you just made a new friend. And had a great glass of wine!
I wish only that they had a full kitchen, but the menu that they do have is creative and delicious.
Come early and stay late, the wine and beer lists are extensive.

Stopped in after dinner last night for a bit of desert and a glass of wine. Service was good and the wine selection had good variety.
Nice small place in the heart of SJC that offers music and a nice environment to relax and chat with friends.

I loved the peaceful, intimate, and comfortable atmosphere inside this sunken room, with a few small tables outside. I went with the flight of Suzy’s Playful Pinot Noirs ($ 15) — I liked the wine-​stained rings above the featured wines and descriptions listed on their paper tasting placemats; as much as I enjoy pinot noirs, I didn’t particularly care for the wines selection in my flight.
Service was pleasant; we weren’t offered much additional descriptions or information of the wines, as others had described; perhaps sitting at the bar top makes a difference. Still, a fun find in San Juan Capistrano, and glad to have experienced it!

Get Your Wine On!
Five Vines Wine Bar in SJC is a small, intimate spot to relax and enjoy some great wine, some great small bites, served up by friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Unfortunately we arrived later than we wanted and they were closing in 15 minutes, but we stayed well past ½ hour after closing and they accommodated us and we never felt rushed or got any vibe of «get out».
A very extensive wine list awaits you, with your choice of a small pour, tasting flights, a glass or a bottle of some chosen wine that ranges from California, Uruguay, France and Spain.
Small bites include top notch cheeses (Chevre Goat from France, Smoked Gouda from good olé USA, Manchego from Spain and Dubliner from Ireland, and more), as well as a sausage board where you get a ½ sausage each from a checklist. The real winner though is the Mormor’s cheese ball! Stunningly delicious, secretive recipe of a homemade blue cheese ball with olives, chives and other secret spices and ingredients.
This is served with crisp crackers and fresh fruit. Both the crackers and fruit worked to compliment the Mormor Cheese Ball.
Tips and Tidbits: live music on Friday & Saturday night from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm, they offer a wine club membership for special discounts, craft beer is available for non-​wine drinkers, HH during the week, including Fridays from 2 – 7 with a discount on wine. They have a great website chocked full of information, including a calendar of events and if you are inclined to make a full evening-​outing at Five Wines, you can as they also have dessert wines, desserts and specialty truffle chocolates to pair.
As there are some really good dining options in SJC, you should definitely drive down, see the Los Rios Historic District, stop in and relax and enjoy some wine and apps and move on to dinner, you will be happy you did!

This was supposed to be part of a wine crawl for «Bookmark Sunday», but this ended up being the only wine bar we actually sampled some of their offerings.
The bar is right across from the Regency Theater in San Juan Capistrano (
) in the Los Rios Historical District. For a small place there is a decent amount of seating on the patio (
) and inside the bar itself.
The interior is sunken with some high tables for two and a very nice bar area (
) in the back. Our server Ashley came over and informed us the bar was closing in 15 minutes (the 8:00 PM closing time on the door is incorrect, it is 7:00 PM on Sundays), so we quickly ordered the Mormor’s Famous Cheese Ball (
) and started looking over their extensive list (
) of wines.
When Ashley returned to get our drink order my better half knew exactly what she wanted, a 2012 Clarksburg Moscato SIP. I wanted Ashley’s opinion on what would pair well with the cheese ball and after several excellent suggestions, I settled on a 2013 Pueblo del Sol Tannat (
) from Uruguay.
The wines were delivered before the cheese ball, which gave the wines a chance to breath. The cheese ball came out a short time later and was nicely plated. Laina seemed to really enjoy her Moscato and I thought the Tannat had a very deep color and was full bodied. The cheese ball is a closely guarded family secret consisting of Bleu Cheese, Black Olives, Chives and some undisclosed ingredients with Trader Joe’s Raisin Rosemary Crisps and a sliced Bosc Pear. Each of the ingredients were good on their own, but combined, they were absolutely delicious. The olives and chives combined with the sweetness of the crisps, really helped cut the pungent flavor of the bleu cheese. The combination of the three items provided three different textures with every bite which was extremely palate pleasing. The Tannat paired very well with the cheese ball.
The service was exemplary throughout. We never felt rushed to leave even though we stayed about a half an hour after closing and Ashley even offMore trouble than it is worth! I would probably get my money back and be done with it. Ashley offered me a second glass of Tannat, which I declined (didn’t want to wear out my welcome). There are no check in offers, but if you provide a tip and tell the server before the bill is run up, they will give you a buck off your bill.
Rohlinism: Never miss a chance to save money!
There were several interesting items on the menu we didn’t get to try, so a return visit is definitely warranted!