Cline Cellars Review

Free taste tests and great scenery. People were friendly and helpful

Great selection to choose for your tasting. Mike F was a fantastic guide to the wines and very knowledgeable. Very beautiful grounds to stroll in.

This is my favorite winery. I first visited with the passport but joined. The grounds are beautiful and wine is tasty.

Great Zin, and amazing people. Looking forward to our next visit.

Too crowded so we jetted;) seems like nice property though

We have enjoyed being members of Cline for many years. When we pick up our wines, we always stop for a wonderful brunch in the beautiful space provided to members.

Loved our visit to Cline this past weekend! The grounds are beautiful and the staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. The tasting room got a little packed, but since we came late, it was last call and people were mostly on their way out.

We got our pick of 5 free tastings from a nice selection of both whites and reds. I love their Mourvedre and Lodi Zinfandel. Our tasting guide also offered a few extra tastings of their reserve collection - so nice!

I also loved that they have plenty of picnic tables and wide open grassy areas to mill around.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff.
Great wine values.

It was my first to Sonoma and my friend said that we had to go to Cline since her friend highly recommended it. I didn't know what to expect cause my only experience in wine tasting was in Napa a few years back. It was raining on and off all morning. I was immediately impressed that Cline had a basket of umbrellas for their guests to use. That was a nice touch. The store itself was cozy and looked pretty busy but somehow my friend & I was able to secure a spot at the counter to get some free wine samples. We were only limited to 5, but I think we tasted at least 8 or 10 varieties. The sommelier was very nice and helpful because of her great art in explaining each wine to us, I decided to become a member. The service was great in addition to the variety of wine available, I wa impressed. Our trip to Napa afterwards didn't compare since in Napa the wineries charged for the wine tasting with the exception of St. Louis Martini who gave it to us complimentary since I had a military ID. I highly recommend Cline Cellars!

Great wines, laid back friendly people. Love the picnic area

Amazing massive venue built to cater for large groups and has something for everyone. Great wine selection. Aviary with birds around the back make it nice for the children and has great facilities.

Oh Barb you made our experience so wonderful! Thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge and passion for Zinfandel and the Sonoma region.

Lovely winery!!! Ron was so kind and helpful in the tasting process. The wines were so reasonably priced and it was such a wonderful experience. I would definitely come back & recommend to my friends. Thanks for such a great time!

Awesome tasting. The server was so informative. We bought a bottle so our tasting fee ($10) was waved. We tried so many delicious wines, it was hard to narrow down what we wanted to take home. Loved the salted chocolate with the dessert wine. Had to buy a bar for later.

Helen was lovely and both the wine and the prices were shockingly good. The whole property is beautiful!

With tour group of about 20 people. Unfortunately Cline feel short compared to the other wineries we visited previously that day. The other wineries we visited earlier were welcoming and inviting, open to discussing the wine making process, answer questions, tour the vineyard to a point, and seemed happy to have us as guests.

Not at Cline, they seemed to be scripted, somewhat cold, rushed and just looking to finish the day. They short answered a few questions and were almost pushing us out the tasting tent before the people were finished with their tasting.

There was a true lack of effort to make us feel welcome. No one bothered to tour us around anywhere besides the tasting tent and gift shop. The wines were good but when they want to sell you Cashmere Black Magic at $25 that I can buy at Total Wine & More for $15.99, that kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I hate people who think I am a fool and take advantage of the situation.

There is a ton of other wineries in the area. Next time I will be visiting them instead.

Wonderful family run operation that focuses on giving back

An excellent winery with beautiful grounds. We took the 3 PM tour. Fantastic!

Bob, our tasting guide, made the whole experience wonderful. He is a doll and a wonderful man. He gave us some tips and even a few jokes. It was apparent he cared about our experience and we loved chatting with him. Bob at Cline made this the best choice for our girls weekend. Highly recommended.

We have been members here for years. Very good wine and always nice folks to help you.

Absolutely the best winery in Sonoma, hands down. That would be my opinion, of course. I can't say I've been to too many wineries on my wine tasting trips in Sonoma, an estimate would be about 15. My favorite is Cline. No contest. Their wines are full bodied and flavorful. Whenever I'm looking to have a glass of quality wine, I always look for a bottle of Cline.

I've been a member of their wine club since 2001, so they provide my wine fix with automatic shipments of two bottles per quarter. It's about $60 for two bottles, including shipping. With these wine club shipments, my wife has since become a Cline wine fan as well.

An interesting fact I learned on my last visit. The Jacuzzi line of wine is part of the Cline family. Fred Cline is the grandson of Jacuzzi, who is the same Jacuzzi as the hot tub. With some money that he received from his grandfather, he started Cline Cellars. At least, that's the story as I heard it. I can't vouch for it's accuracy, especially because it was after the wine tasting, not prior to.

A good educational tasting tour run by Russ as part of our Grayline Tour of the valley. Some nice wines here and a replica Spanish Mission building.

This is a great winery! The winery itself is beautiful and the staff is super friendly and helpful. The rose wine is great.

A great selection of eclectic wines in an idyllic location. Definitely one of the top wineries to see in the area.

The service here was the best we've had at any of the tastings. Even on a crowded Saturday afternoon, the servers took time to answer our questions and tell us about the different varietals. Also, beautiful piece of land they're on with a pond and fountain out back. Prices are very reasonable and the first five tastings are complementary.

What a great experience. Our wine tasting expert Dennis was so knowledgeable and friendly. We took the tour of the grounds. It was informative and very beautiful. What a great introduction to the Cline family and a brief history of sonoma and napa valley.

I had a bucket list item to explore of the wineries of Sonoma Valley. Cline Cellars was where I bought the wine that tasted like chocolate! They had a wonderfully informative wine tasting. The place is built next to eucalyptus trees and in the middle of a Spanish mission one of the last remaining ones so education, great wines, and incredible landscaping.

Beautiful property, friendly staff, and most importantly, great wines. We had a hard time picking a favorite!

Very nice surroundings with a fish pond, gardens and even miniature donkeys... The staff was very friendly.

The best winery, good wine, great location, awesome family business

Very good wine at reasonable prices. Perhaps not the fanciest or most elaborate tasting rooms, but very cozy and down to earth and the staff are well informed and fun.

They had a live band. Multiple buses on a normal weekend schedule and were very well staffed. All of the servers were very knowledgeable about their wines and absolutely friendly and entertaining

Nice family winery. Beautiful grounds. Very good wines. A worthwhile destination for a wine tasting.

A great place to visit, very well placed. Not to mention the extras around the property. Thank you for such an amazing experience.

Perhaps a bit straight-laced and button-downed for Sonoma, and the wines showed the full range from light and ephemeral, to the deep and profound. The Late Harvest Mourvedre paired with the salty Cline chocolate lingers in my memory. Cheers, Salud!

Beautiful peaceful gardens, chill staff, and tasty wine!

Wine tastings here are FREE that being said they arent my cup of tea waaay to sweet. But i enjoy the value. The grounds here are beautiful. Tons of small ponds open picnic tables, grassy areas to explore and a multitude of cafes in the back full of exotic birds. Nelson approved!!! Go explore!

This was my favorite winery!! The place is absolutely adorable and the surrounding area is gorgeous. They have cages with different birds and ponds with animals and an absolutely gorgeous outdoor sitting area.

Though you are supposed to do the tasting inside, the inside is so fun! It's so eclectically decorated and they have so many cool things for sale. But the tasting -- omg! Best priced one in the area in addition to the best priced wines in the area. And I think the best ones I tasted! Dave was our "host" and he definitely outdid himself.

I'd come back here in a heartbeat.

Excellent hosts very kind . Ask for tasting and you get 5 nice blends

Not a typical snoby NAPA winery. Beautiful place, awesome wine, family friendly. Will come back.

Beautiful layout, good wines. Try the champagne mixed with dessert wines

We came for the wine and stayed for the incredible staff! Thank you Mike F and Claudia for the wonderful hospitality and libations.

(4.5 stars)

Overall, a fantastic family winery with wide selection of unique and value wines with a casual ambience.

~1 hour (39 mi) from SoMa
No Reservations Needed
No Food Available

$10 for any 5 pours
(Waived with any purchase, bottles start at $14)

Pro:
* Cheapest tasting I ve seen in Sonoma, free with any bottle purchase, and lots of affordable bottles to choose from
* Many affordable bottles ranging from $14-$22
* Some fantastic, distinctive wines (see below)
* Incredibly friendly staff, happily throws in extra tastes
* Relatively knowledgeable staff (with exceptions)
* Two friendly donkeys
* Small Mission museum (open 10-4pm)
* Nice picnic tables and small lake
* Open until 6pm
* Large grounds to wander around and explore
* Helpful website that provides a remarkable about of detail about each wine, including production details, exact grape proportions, and even pH level.

Con:
* No views (just the grounds)
* No food available
* Lots of young children running around, many crying babies

Wines We Tried:

- 2018 Estate Viognier - Estate grown Sonoma Coast viognier. Notes of orange blossoms, peach, and apricots, but overall a basic wine lacking structure or complexity ($20)
- 2017 Marsanne Roussanne - North Coast blend of Marsanne (62%) and Roussanne (33%) with a refreshing minerality and citrus notes. My girlfriend loved this one and we took home a bottle. ($24)
- 2016 Chiaro Bianco - Estate grown 100% viognier blend from Sonoma Coast (Petaluma Gap) aged in terra cotta clay vessels (amphorae/qvervri) . This was a deliciously crisp and bright white wine bursting with guava, apricot, and peach, textured with some fresh grassy notes. One of our favorites from the tasting. ($45)


- 2015 Bridgehead Zinfandel - Contra Costa County zin with a firm structure and herbaceous notes, with a hint of eucalyptus and sage. A likable wine, but didn t move me. ($37)
- 2016 Heritage Zinfandel - Another Contra Costa County zin with a bit more spice and coffee. I liked this one a bit more than the Bridgehead, definitely an enjoyable wine, but again, not moving.
- 2015 Grenache - This 100% grenache from Contra Costa county sparked my attention. Not as soft as you d expect from a grenache, this had a lot of structure and depth, with a cornucopia of spices and herbs and some bright blackberry. One of my favorite wines from the tasting.
- 2015 Furvus Rosso - This estate-grown syrah blend from Sonoma Coast was aged in terra-cotta clay vessels (amphorae), giving it a more textured mouthfeel. It stood out immediately as a deep and complex wine with floral highlights accenting the mixed berries, particularly blackberry and currants. Truly a distinctive wine, and my personal favorite of the tasting. ($65)

Great place to learn about wine history in California. Friendly staff

This is the sister winery of Jacuzzi. Our server there told us about this place and it's right across the street so we stopped by. It's definitely not as crowded as Jacuzzi but the grounds were much bigger. Their tastings are also free. Tasting room is small, probably fit 10 people around the bar. They also have severs on the porch which we ended up hanging out because it was cold out and there were less people waiting out there.

Our server was Don, he was very nice and Informative. The was was OK, maybe a couple that stood out.

The grounds are worth visiting. Walk around back and check out the variety of birds they have. There are some fountains and ponds and further out back some mini Sicilian donkeys. There's also a model museum of the Cali missions.

Beautiful wines, great outdoor seating and gardens, very lovely staff. Just Ask for Barb

The wonderful winery, Jacuzzi Family Vinyards goes way back in the history. And from that history, another great winery was born, right across the street from Jacuzzi Vinyard, called Cline Cellars. The Founder was the grandson of one of the Jacuzzi brothers, who taught him the magic of wine making. I really love that kind of history behind the wineries of today.

They were surrounded by beautiful landscapes, roses, and lots of outdoor seating. It was just gorgeous space to be in, and admire the vineyards. They really take care of their land to provide a wonderful, peaceful environment.

All of the wines we tried were all superb, but since we already bought several bottles from another vineyard, we decided to limit ourselves to just 2 bottles. We decided on Farmhouse White and Oakley Eighty-Two Red. We are very happy with our purchase and the experience. The young female staff here helped us with the tasting, she was very friendly, polite, and helpful. It is so great to have high quality wines directly from wineries after tasting them, it is such wonderful experience! Read my full review of winery and wines on my blog at foodlovergirl.

Nice atmosphere and wines; however, the prices for the wine at the winery are a lot higher than in a store for the exactly same wine. I always thought that by purchasing directly from a winery you cut a middle man and distribution costs, I guess not the case for Cline. Pretty disappointing...

Had a great time. Dale did our tasting and was great. We arrived just in time to have a tour also with Colleen. The grounds were lovely.

My husband and I had an absolutely amazing time. I cannot recommend this place enough. Amazing atmosphere and beauty at every corner. Kevin did our tasting and totally made our visit! So kind. We will never forget this and will definitely be back! Thank you for the incredible experience.

Lovely place to stop and enjoy a BYO picnic mixed with a tasting or a bottle.

Though the grounds are lovely and the wine tasty I'm giving this a one star because of the little zoo. Walking through and seeing the caged birds, and in particular the young coturnix chick's in the cage that are literally dying was like being in the developing world. CLINE I plead with you to stop this cheap trick of having poorly caged animals here as a selling point.. Your wine and environment is good enough without torturing these animals. Since they can't be released into the wild since they all seem to be wild from Asia at least don't replace them as they die off.

Our favorite winery! Such a nice relaxed place with amazing wines.

Cline is a friendly, cozy winery on the road into Sonoma. It is also one of the few wineries that offers free tastings (up to 5 wines, although sometimes a few more). The wine is good and the tasting room staff is always excellent. They also have the last California Mission in their backyard which is an added bonus if you love history. The grounds are also beautiful and on nice days they open tasting rooms out on the patio.

Sister winery to Jacuzzi across the street. This winery was first and it shows in the far more understated tasting room and buildings. Beautiful grounds to explore and free tastings! I found the wines on the whole to be above average, but preferred those across the street at Jacuzzi. Did love the Cashmere White and picked up a bottle. A must visit along with Jacuzzi.

Delicious wines and an amazing experience! The wines are very well priced for their quality. The man who did our tasting was very knowledgeable and gave us tips for wine tasting. You should definitely stop by this winery on your next trip to Sonoma.

Really liked the wines here, staff very friendly & helpful. Farmhouse White was really good, as was the Rose, and all the reds we tried.

Absolutely beautiful! We made a reservation in advance and everything was set up upon our arrival. We had a wonderful time! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming! They have plenty of space to distance yourself from other parties. Never felt unsafe or unnatural to us. Time flew by and we had such a great time! Thanks everyone for making this possible!

Nice selection of reds. The Zinfandel was the highlight.

Family friendly place, lovely outside set up so the adults can enjoy a glass of wine while the children run around.

Great engaging staff. Lots of history great wine tastings

We love Cline Cellars, they have great wine with a casual friendly atmosphere and their wine club is great!

Joe is a great human being. Go meet him.
They all want you to try all their wines and to learn more about wines and enjoy the experience.

Service could be a bit better, but still excellent wine and beautiful surroundings. Really worthwhile!

Beautiful day today. We are here quarterly to pick up our wine and it is always nice.

Unpretentious setting with great value wines. Known for their Zins, the "Big Break" is a killer one. Free tastings for their normal stock, with a $20 tasting for a flight of 5 of their pricier reserves (though they waved it after our small group purchased 6-7 bottles).

Beautiful and rustic grounds worth exploring, with enough distractions like the California mission museum and several ponds for the non-drinkers and children in your group.

Very pleasant, beautiful ground. Great price for high-quality wines

We catered a rehearsal dinner in the Villa, which was gorgeous and amazing, and the kitchen was well equipped. The setting there is lovely and the staff was helpful and knowledgeable.

Great environment to enjoy an afternoon with family. We really enjoyed our tasting with Gary and will definitely be back again.

This was our favorite winery in all of Sanoma and Napa. They had the best wines! Free tastings! Right on our way in to town it was the first stop we made and we will be ordering their wines to deliver out of state, because they were so good! Quaint little winery with beautiful grounds and friendly staff.

Free tastings, but wines aren't that great. Very crowded as well.

The location is nice, it s pretty and wine was good. Reason for the one star is because we tried to get an Uber to pick us up at 4;30 but because our Uber was 15 minutes way, they walked us to the gate outside the property and made us stand there and closed the gate on us. We bought 2 tastings and 4 bottles of wine which isn t a lot but as paying customers you can t have the consideration to just wait till our car arrived!!? The winery is off a highway and in the country so it s not close or convenient. It s frustrating because we were not intoxicated, had a great experience and they made us walk to the end of the property and closed the gates. It was ridiculous and made us feel insignificant.

The best place for a Sonoma wine experience, staff is attentive and know
the fruits that produce the wines they sell and can answer questions about the end products

Cline is definitely one of the best wineries of Sonoma. If you only have one place to visit during your stay, you should definitely aim for this one.

We had a great free tour of the winery and of its history. The place is beautiful and our guide Tom accompanied us so well. It was really interesting, and we felt his true passion for wine and for teaching people about it.

Afterwards, Tom guided us through an amazing testing of the somptueuse collection of Cline s wines.

If I come back to Sonoma one day, I will definitely buy more bottles from Cline Cellars.

Very knowledgeable about wines, fun, $10 tasting is reasonable and not stingy. Beautiful!

My wife and I had the opportunity of having a fantastically personalized tasting with Dale. He was very knowledgeable and gave fantastic advice as we navigated through our tasting. Although we ve had the opportunity to to visit wineries and vineyards in Europe and other parts of the states over the last several years, this was the first of a few we had a chance to do in Napa/Sonoma. We came away very impressed with the winery and the wine and left with a few delicious reds that happened to waive the tasting fee. Our kiddos enjoyed feeding the fish and checking out the Missions museum as well as nibbling on some of the snacks we picked up in the tasting room. I m neither a wine snob nor wine novice but can t imagine many folks walking away disappointed in their visit to Cline Cellars. Thanks!

Superior organic wine and excellent service! Loved the ambiance and lively staff. Affordable, wonderful wine!

More of a "boutique" winery. The staff is very friendly, and down to earth making you feel invited as soon as you walk through the door.

The grounds are gorgeous with natural springs and beautiful landscaping with a historical past.

The wines are full bodied, which are offered through, of course, a wine tasting.

Beautiful grounds! Perfect for families and very educational. There is a Mission Museum and Bird sanctuary on the property.

Gorgeous property and amazing staff. Also thoroughly enjoyed the complimentary tour! Can t forget about the great wines too!

We ve been in Sonoma for the past three weeks. We ve been to a ton of great wineries but none compare to the this sweet place! It s gorgeous and we LOVED hanging out with Dennis! He taught us a ton about their wines and was so much fun! We will absolutely be back!!

Cline Cellars was one of my favorite stops on today's Sonoma wine tour. Marty was entertaining, informative, and incredibly nice. He went above and beyond by giving extra details of the grape and vineyard and also suggestions on how to taste their wines (order) and what we might want to try next. He truly made our experience great! I also loved the atmosphere and the grounds. Cline's beautiful ponds make a great setting and provided a bit of entertainment for our driver. The facility is clean and comfortable. I highly recommend this winery and if you like dessert wines, give the Late Harvest a try!!