Truckee River Winery

Great site for wine, food and fun! Six bocce ball courts, BBQs, and other games to play, all for the cost of a bit of wine. Don’t miss this place!

Don’t be discouraged by the red barn and small tasting room. It can be a sign of great wines to be tasted! Such is the case with this fine winery in Truckee. Owner Russ Jones knows his wines, especially Pinot Noir. As a graduate of UC Davis, he has spent much time studying and learning in Oregon, Washington, and the Pasa Robles area. Winemaking started for Russ and his wife back in 1989. Over the years, they have grown and now have a cozy, comfortable tasting room with very friendly staff to try their great wines. Most of the grapes are sourced from the Lodi and Monterey regions. All the wine making process from crushing, to fermenting, to aging, to bottling is done locally. You’ll likely be greeted at the front door by their wine canine connoisseurs, Max and Hamond. At the wine bar, you’ll have two fine wine flights to select from; traditional and reserve. As a couple, we tried both and didn’t waste a drop. The 2014 Pinot Gris is sourced from Lodi. It is moderately acidic with good apple notes. The other white Lodi sourced wine is a 2014 Chardonnay. That wine is a very nice crisp, citrus, and floral treat. The Red Barn Red is a local favorite and by far the most popular. It’s a red blend of Merlot, Zinfandel and Tempranillo. It has some smokiness and tastiness that adds to the full body tasting experience and it is an easy every day red wine. The 2013 Zinfandel from Lodi is sourced from a vineyard that has been around since the 1930’s, so it is a true old vine wine. Ahhh… real Zin! Toasty and earthy… what’s not to like? The 2014 Merlot is another Lodi sourced red. It’s a good easy drinking smooth Merlot that would pair well with many dishes. Next, the menu transitions into Russ’s favorite varietals, the Pinots. Two Pinot Noirs showcase the quality of the winemaker’s skills and love for this varietal. The 2014 Pinot Noir is sourced out of Monterey County. Aged for a good two years, you’ll savor the taste of cherries and medium tannins. Bring on that pork chop for pairing! Next is the 2012 «Best Man» Pinot Noir. Another wine made from grapes sourced from Monterey County, these grapes came from Gary’s Vineyard. Yes! Everything that is great comes from that place and coupled with a very passionate winemaker, you get something no less than super awesome! Aged for a nice long three years in new French Oak, you get all the rich deep flavors and notes that you were expecting. These two Pinot Noir wines will entice even a non Pinot lover. They will also tempt you to want to purchase more than just a couple of bottles because they are truly just that great! The 2013 Malbec is sourced from the Chalk Hill AVA in Sonoma. It’s tannic and chocolate flavors linger nicely. Rounding up the lineup is the Apres Dessert Wine. It’s a traditional fortified port style wine made with Tinta Madera, Tinta Cao, Touriga and Sauzao. Have your best chocolate ready for that one! Not on the list is a Rose’ that was released for Valentine’s Day. It’s a blend a Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Merlot. A very nice treat when it’s in the 70’s in Lake Tahoe during the skiing season! This a great quality winery close to Lake Tahoe and a great compliment to the town of Truckee. Make sure to add this into your list of places to visit when on your next trip to the area and chat and sip with the tourists, locals, and staff. There is even Bocce available outside if you’re interested in getting in a little game while you relax and enjoy!

What a great hidden gem this place is! This place is really small from the outside and we weren’t quite sure to expect, but what a surprise this place turned out to be. This place has small tasting room, but full with big taste. First of all, the tasting prices are very cheap (5 tastings for 5 dollars I mean come on) and the wine is great. The highlights were definitely the Pinot noirs, but the Malbec and their sparkling flight was also great. Such a great stop in the area to enjoy some wine tasting!

Come here for everything but fine wine. The service is friendly and attentive. The front room has a welcoming bar, and the back room has board games galore. The food is reasonably priced and not bad (try the pastrami sandwich). The wine tasting menu is cheap and varied. The middling wine can be forgiven; we had a good time.

Awesome pinot noirs. Relatively inexpensive tastings. Upgrade to the reserve tasting because it’s worth it.

Awesome winery to do samples at! Tiffany was our server and every pour was at least half a glass! So for $ 5 on the traditional tasting you got to try 5 wines, well worth every penny! Plus we also got the traditional cheese tray, which I highly recommend. Paired nicely with our wine tasting and only $ 8. I ended up buying the Gary’s Pinot and probably the best wine I’ve tried all week! I would recommend this winery to anyone who wanted a nice quaint atmosphere, great pours, and friendly service!

Stumbled on this place with a masive search of a winery on the way home from Reno… Claire was our server… absolutely amazing… she made this wine tasting that much more fun. wines were good and the place was a bit small but had a special charm to it… they Bocce all over the place. so check that out… will be back

One of our favorite spots to come and hang. The adults have wine and bocce! (We usually bring our own snacks) And our three year old runs around and plays in the sand next to the bocce court. Yes, they insist on seeing your id (even though I’m closer to 40). Last time I handed her my id the woman said, «wow, that is you.» I’m not really sure what that means… And every time they come out and check my little cooler to make sure we didn’t bring our own booze. But I guess they have a lot of people doing that. We come here a few times a year and we will certainly be back! It’s so cute and pretty there and it’s a great spot to meet up with friends and family.

Great outdoor space, good wine and food. Staff was super friendly. One gal in particular was wearing a sleeve to cover a beautiful tattoo… wish management would have allowed her to show it. Will be back.

I wanted to love it. The front of house woman (Katie) was so incredibly unfriendly, however, she left a very bad taste in everyone’s mouth. She was annoyed to tell us about tasting options, and then acted as though we were trying to pass fake IDs, «This ID looks NOTHING like you,» (we are 39, 36 and 34). Disappointing on our one vacation evening out sans kids. The horseshoes were fun, but I will not be a return customer.

Excellent wine and a wonderful cheese pairing. Katy did a wonderful job explaining the wines and showing us what the shop had to offer. The kids enjoyed all the games, inside and out. What a delightful surprise!

A lovely little winery with a casual atmosphere and chill vibe. We stopped here on a whim and stayed for hours. The tastings are well rounded (we sampled the «reserves» for $ 10) and particularly enjoyed the Rose and 2012 Pinot Noir. Nice selection of food too (spicy grilled cheese was a fav). Definitely will be back again — soon!

I have wanted to come here for years and finally had the chance. Super cute location, outside layout is nice and can accommodate lots of people (seating all over, bocce courts) so I can imagine it helps with a crowded feel. Inside is small but cute, they have a small but very good food menu to accompany their wines — brilliant. Tasted the Chardonnay but had a glass of their Pinot and loved it (Don’t remember the name it the more fruity one). They also offer beer and other snacks which is a great add for those who don’t appreciate wine (crazy as they might sound). The folks who work there are friendly, none of the winery snobbery here.
Definite two thumbs up and will absolutely be back.

Amazing staff, great prices, food and all the wines were great. I particularly liked the dessert wine and bought one. I would definitely recommend this place!

This is a great place to chill. You can bring your own food and buy wine, play bocce ball and horseshoes. Bring kids and dogs and catch the last rays of sun in the evening.
Family run winery serving food and wine. Lots of outdoor seating. Enjoy!

This is one of the best places to go chill out. They have a minor but well established selections of beer on tap (5). A great selection of bottled beers and a great selection of wines.
The bocce courts are laid back (6 of them) and they have some grills so you can bring your own food and cook on the premisses, just buy your alcohol from them. People were cooking up some great food at dinner time, playing bocce and just having a great laid back evening, That’s what this place is all about, besides getting to know some good wines!

Such a cute little place! The tasting room is on the smaller side but they have a large outdoor area with tables and bocce courts. It seems to be a popular venue for private events/​parties because there were a couple wrapping up the day we went to visit. They have 2 different flights to choose from for your tasting the regular wines and the reserve wines. I went for the reserve tasting ($ 10) and it was a generous amount of wines I got to taste. I forget if it was 6 or 8, but I know I left feeling a little buzzed!
They have some food options for you as well, sandwiches, salads, appetizers etc. We went for the «Master Platter) which serves 4 (they were kind enough to package it up for us when we couldn’t finish it all) which included ample bread or crackers plus 6 types of cheeses, 3 types of salami and fire roasted tomatoes. There were some seriously delicious cheeses on that platter!
They also have a bocce league there (Thursday nights) so if you are a local you can joine the league and come every week for some bocce. If you are looking to partake in Bocce and you aren’t part of the league you probably want to avoid Thursday nights.
They had a lot of tasty wines, my favorite was the 2012 Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel which was the Double Gold winner at the SF Chronicle tasting. When we got home and opened the bottle my husband took a sip and said «I think I am kind of in love with this wine!». Now I wish we had bought more! I guess this calls for another visit next time I am in town!

They hosted the Ice Carving competition for North Lake Tahoe SnowFest 2014. This entry is from Chris Banovich:
For sipping wine, this place provides all the amenities of coziness, including Hammond, the giant Schnauzer:
The «Apres Port» is excellent ($ 4.50/glass): it has a peppery structure for nice balance, without being too cloying.

Nice little gem in Truckee. My husband found this place via Unilocal,and trust me, it would be easy to drive right past it without noticing it. It’s a really tiny tasting room with a bar (5 seats), a small table for 2 inside, and a rocking bench outside. However, like everyone mentioned, they have bocce ball courts outside so you can enjoy your wine out there as well. $ 5 for regular tasting, and $ 10 for reserve tasting. Not bad at all considering you get about 5 wines to taste. Quite a few of their wines on the reserve list received awards from the San Francisco Chronicle. Overall their wines were not bad. I think the regular tasting wines were just ok. The Malbec Rose was quite interesting but sadly was not something I really enjoyed, despite liking Rose’s usually. I did however, like my Pinot Gris quite a bit and ended up buying a bottle of that to take with me. Their Merlot and Pinot Noir were also quite delightful and because the price was a tad high on the Merlot, we walked away with a bottle of the Pinot instead. Good wines overall.
The tasting experience was quite nice as the staff were quite friendly. I also liked that they are dog friendly here (if your dog is well behaved), so we were able to bring our Golden Retriever inside with us. He got to meet the big 110lb schnauzer that belonged to the owner’s daughter.
And guess what? They offer food as well. Thank goodness because my husband and I had a bagel before driving up to the snow park with our dog, and didn’t get a chance to grab lunch, until we made it to the winery at 5pm. We both ordered a half sandwich, half soup that came with a bag of chips and a small brownie ($ 11). I had the corn chowder, which had too many potatoes, with a Proscuitto Panini on sourdough. The sandwich was surprisingly good. I didn’t care much for the soup though. My husband’s chili was a better choice. The brownie they served is worth complimenting because it went so well with their Aprese Dessert Wine. It was totally unintentional, but after taking a bite, I drank a sip of my dessert wine and was shocked at how well it paired. They obviously didn’t do it intentionally but something they ought to consider! It was so good, I made my husband try it. I even took his brownie to pair with the dessert wine I had (not offered in the reserve tasting).
Solid 4 stars! Not to mention that they had the cutest wine trinkets, tumblers and champagne glasses to sell. Do stop by if you’re around!

If your reading this you MUST stop here. My fiancé and I were recommended this by another winery in Autumn, CA. We are so glad they told us about this place because not only do the wines taste great but the wine is a bargain!
We had such a great time here! We tasted some wines, bought a bottle, opened it there, and then drank the bottle while playing bocce ball in the fantastic weather.
They have a great Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands, highly recommended.
What are you waiting for… GO!