Sterling Vineyards Reviews

Beautiful views
Like the tram ride up the hills
Wine is good

Amazing wines,great atmosphere. Cant wait to return.

The largest vineyard in the region, A tram takes you to the facility, Very unique for a vineyard tour, Mediterranean style house, nice little gift shop

Great experience. Much more variety than their store bought offerings. Wonderful facility and warm staff.

Beautiful views, love the interactive nature of the walking tour/tasting. The patio is wonderful to spend time on.
That being said, it rained and things fell apart pretty quickly. It seemed like there was no pre-established plan for when the gondolas can't run due to lightening. But I would go back, because it really was beautiful.

Beautiful estate, winery, and vineyards, the place is grand, multiple buildings & floors for you to self tour, get your tasting pour; or members only tasting room.

A nice roof top patio with breathtaking view of the vineyards and rugged mountains, fresh air, and open. We saw a lot of bachelorette and birthday ladies up here.

I do enjoy the aerial tram taking us up top. It reminds me of the gondola in Heavenly Lake Tahoe, just less high tech and swing a bit! You get the beautiful view here though!

Tasting thru rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cab, Bordeaux blend, and more. We enjoyed the Syrah and of course the Iridium $250 bottle, only 300 cases produced, the official wine for The Emmy Television Award Show!

Martha was our wine educator, in the member tasting room; she was quite awesome.

The place is big, cater to big crowd, and parties; very structured, and a bit too corporate these days as it seems.

Everywhere we go there s a big screen showing their wine making process, every robotic-like, a little less personal, and commercialize for my personal liking!

When the place this big, it takes away that wine country living vibe of the vineyards where you can just walk out to taste the fruits, or be able to touch the leaves...

As I enjoyed my visit and the wine, it s something I come with my mentor who s a member for a long time. But it s not my style kind of place!

They are also NOT dog-friendly, lucky we have a service dog!

So if you have a big group, you would enjoy this place, but if you like to support a smaller winemaking place, this is the opposite!

We started off on the right foot beginning our tasting at Sterling Vineyards. The winery tour was self-guided and touristy but we'll set up and hitting all the main points. The Aerial tram ride was fun and the grounds were beautiful with the picturesque backdrop of the Calistoga vineyards! They provided wine samples along the way and a great tasting at the end. In my opinion, was the best overall winery experience in our visit!

The views from the tram on the way up were nice and the wine was okay but rhe overall experience fell flat. It felt very mechanical and there was no connection between the staff and their jobs like they were just going through the motions. I would preferred to have spent money on a tasting elsewhere.

Great views and recommend the silver experience, the cheese and wine are a perfect combination

Love the cable car ride up and the gorgeous views from the upper deck which is your final stop. Wine is decent but the view is spectacular!
35 dollars gets you the entrance and 4 wines.

Just a limo driver stop over for birthday part restaurant.!

Went to Sterling winery and was really happy that I chose to go there during my recent visit to Napa. The winery itself is very nice and clean. The servers were very nice and explained the wines well. I pretty much enjoyed all of the wines they served and would order them again. We finished the tour with a tasting combined with a cheese and meat platter the was really good as well. This is a one stop shop if you don't have a lot of time to visit multiple wineries.

This is a unique spot, a gondola ride to the tasting area. A view second to none.
Christine as hospitality manager.
An already great place that got even better.

This is a great place, but very expensive. The tram ride is nice and the views are stunning. The sample sizes are a little bigger than other places, but you're also paying upwards of 3x's the price, so its a trade off. If you're in the area, why not, but I wouldn't make a special trip to go there.

Excellent experience good wine to make you enjoy the beautiful scene

This place is a nice winery. I came with a group of friends to celebrate my "napabash." The place is nice but it was not the experience I expected. The wines were chosen for us under the self guided tour which is inside the building. It would have been nice to have a walk around the actual Vineyards and other areas. The wine stations are too close to each other. The view are nice from the terrace but not what I expected. Overall it was nice but not the best winery to visit. Their wine are pretty good though.

Decent vineyard! I thought the flat rate of $35 just to visit was a bit much. Some of the workers were rather aggressive, but decent overall.

Excellent and informative self guided tour taking a behind the scenes look into wine making. Great tourist draw of gondola up the hill to the facility. Wine was ok but not spectacular. Views were spectacular.

Cool to see process but the employees need public skills.

If you do not want to pay for a $35 gondola ride stop here. Otherwise, this is unique. You ride up a hill, see a factory for something like glorified catwalk and taste some wines. It is certainly way more than some of the 35 wine tastings you get along Napa. It is not a personal visit, too many people and a little rushed but the views are stunning. Well worth the price. And, the wine is good.

Sterling was the low point of our recent winery tours.

Generally, when you make a reservation at a winery, you are greeted on arrival and begin a friendly tour or tasting with knowledgeable staff who are happy to tel you about their wines and winery. At Sterling, though, we arrived for our 4:00 tasting/aerial tram ride to be met with long lines and an assembly line type experience. This had all the class and elegance of a day at a down-market Six Flags.

On arrival, after retrieving tickets at the ticket window, we stood in a crowded, roped off line for more than half an hour in the blistering heat waiting on the tram. There was no place for older people to sit, and children were running wild. There's a short video that runs on loop about the history of the winery, but it is not very informative or entertaining.

If you've dressed up for a day of visiting wineries, be warned that there are misters blowing water on the crowd as you stand in line, which are hell on the hair and makeup. Unfortunately, no fans.

I knew this would be more commercial but was taking first timers and thought they'd enjoy the tram. Instead, we spent at least half of the visit discussing whether to just bail.

Once we finally reached the tram, we rode to the top and the assembly line continued. We lined up again for the first wine tasting, as sauvignon blanc, where the woman pouring repeated the same two sentences to each person in line.

We following signs for the "self guided" tour, which was totally devoid of information. There were a few tv monitors with subtitles describing some of the process, but for the most part we were staring at production facilities with no idea what we were looking at.

The next stop was a merlot station. The wine was just horrid. It burned my throat. I dumped it out. I never dump out wine.

We then pushed through crowds and walked past more things that were not explained to us, to wait in another line, this time a cheap cabernet. I drank it because I'm only human, but it was not good at all. Again, the pourer just repeated the same sentences to everyone as he poured.

Finally, we arrived on the terrace, which is the only reason to visit this winery and the only reason I gave this review two stars. The view is simply splendid, unmatched by any other I've seen in my many Napa/Sonoma visits. Really, it is stunning. I wish we could have enjoyed it more, but there were children nearby who would not stop screaming and the parents did not even seem to notice. Also, it was hot, hot, hot, and the few fans available were simply inadequate. Why they do not have overhead fans on the terrace is just baffling.

On the way out, I decided to go to the bathroom. I saw water (I hope) running down the floor from one of the 2 stalls, and when I went in there was trash and paper all over the floor. I decided to wait. Then, we went to wait again in line for the tram back to the bottom, where we got to hear the tram operator yell at people to take the shuttle van down the hill to avoid the wait. We were so relieved to reach our car and leave Sterling behind.

If you want to visit a winery with basic cheap wine, screaming children, bachelorette parties, and assembly line type service, then this is the place for you. The view makes up for a number of sins, but even with that I would never visit this winery again.

Nice wine and tour. Friendly staff. Nice ride on tram.. view is amazing.. can't wait to go back

The cable car ride is a nice addition to the experience. The entrance is a pretty good photo spot too. The tour itself is okay but not really great. Perhaps the guided tour (for an extra $10) would be better but it's subject to availability.

Overall, it was a nice experience in Napa. Better come early and get a bottle and enjoy at one of the tables overlooking the nice view.

Had a reservation confirmed with a child only to be refused entry at the gate because they only have certain times for kids to go. We were not the only ones either. Two other families were denied even though we all had confirmed reservations. Whoever is taking these reservations should get their act together.

My wife and friends visited Sterling Vineyards this past weekend. This is one of Napa's mega Vineyards, with a tram up to the actual vineyard. Had to pay $28 to take the tram up and the wine tasting. Enjoyed the self guided tour, their wine barrels were huge. Overall it was a good experience, not sure it is worth $28. Would suggest if its your first time in Napa to visit the small family vineyards, you'll get better attention and will be surprised in the wine quality.

Wow! The actual building isn't anything special but the tram & staff are great. Lots of educational stops throughout the self guided tour. Of course the wine is great too & theres plenty of it.
I've always enjoyed sterling wines but I have a lot more respect for the company now.

I started off having no clue about what winery to go see so that we can make our family trip and the drive to Napa Valley worthwhile and memorable. I chose this winery based on a recommendation from a front desk agent in the hotel that we were staying in San Francisco. We were not disappointed at all and I would highly recommend visiting Sterling Vineyards when you visit the beautiful region of Napa Valley.
The fact that the vineyards nestled within the scenic hills of Napa Valley is gorgeous is truly an understatement.
The experience from beginning to end was excellent. The tram ride from one side of the winery to the other was a great experience and fun. The self-guided tour showed us the process of fermentation for the creation of the wines. I liked this tour because we can see the whole winery at our own pace. We really had a wonderful time at their wine tastings. I wanted to buy both the bottle of red wine and bottle of white wine but unfortunately, it will be too heavy for us to carry all the way back to New York. The best part of the trip was taking in the breathtaking and stupendous view of the whole wine country.
During our visit there, my wife carelessly lost her jacket but two of the great staff members there named Corey and Clint found it and were both very helpful and friendly.
If you are visiting Northern California and if Napa Valley is part of your itinerary, strongly consider visiting this winery.

My recent visit to this winery was great! Everything from the winery to the wine itself was spectacular. Our wine educator, Amalia, provided us with a phenomenal experience, teaching us about Sterling Vineyards past as well as the history of the different wines we were tasting. She made us feel very taken care of and as if we were the only people in the tasting room. I ll definitely be returning soon!

Omg. Victor upstairs was absolutely awesome!
We love the different stations but he was the best!

Simply gorgeous. Unbelievable views. Absolutely worth the wait and cost to go up.

Meh... wines not bad, service fine, lovely views, but $90 for 2 adults and 2 kids when only one of us wanted tasting is expensive.

I liked the gondola lift, views from the top and accommodating personnel.

A big show winery but done very well with the best views in the valley.

Perfect spot for a visit to Napa! Reasonably priced winery tour, with plenty of samples and a beautiful overlook. The air tram was a fun addition, and very fun to wander around and sip on the self-guided tour. Friendly staff and amazing wine!

Tourist trap, but an educational, scenic one. Wines are just okay, the blanc de blanc bubbles were great! But the aerial tram and scenic terrace make for a romantic spot on a weekend getaway.

My visit to Sterling winery was pretty disappointing, mostly because of the high cost and the poor quality of the wine. If you are spending the day, or several days, in Napa Valley I would highly recommend you go elsewhere. The little ride on the tram to the top of the hill was nice, but nowhere near the price that is charged to get in. And, the five wines that we tasted were not very good at all. You can see similar views at other wineries in Napa that will actually serve you great wine.

Worthy of visiting but recognize this is a corporate production. The staff are pleasant and kind. We did the self service tour which was adequate. Gondola was fun and different. Videos along the tour were informative however, you can tell it caters to the masses. The wine and estate we're really great. Beautiful views of the valley.

What an amazing place and lovely tour! Great wine tastings as well!

Interesting place. Especially by the method of "delivery" to the factory / factory / "winery" itself - a small suspension road, with small "wagons" for four ... Wine is delicious .. :)

The only vineyard where you take a tram to the winery.

Wonderful view and pleasant place, with varied wine tasting. I suggest moving straight to this winery due to the many Shuttle's on the way.

Very beautiful view! Not quite as small and hospitable as the other vineyards in the area. This one felt a bit more touristy but the tram ride is fun and amazing view.

Nice tram to the winery shortest pours of all the winery's we visited. The young guy at the first tasting was very rude but good wine.

Had a great experience with my friend here, and tried 7 different kinds of wines. The service is very good, other than great tastes of the wine, I also learnt a lot wine tasting knowledge.

The lounge is on the top of a hill, the view is amazing as well.

Gondola ride was different, and views were unbelievable. Wine was not good at alland station to station seemed too corporate .

The wines were okay but the views from atop are beautiful. Just relax on the roof on a beautiful sunny day.

Fun experience, good wines and a jaw-dropping location.

Perfect day @ Sterling Vineyards with the Calistoga view on the roof!

I have no idea why everyone flocks to this place; we paid $60for the silver tour, which is $25 more than the regular worthless tour. Nothing to do there and nowhere to buy a bottle of wine and sit and enjoy the nice view. Don t do it!!

Good experience for the sky gondolas, but that s it. They really didn t care about giving the history of the wine, it is a self serve walking tour and they have a wine stop in each corner with each type of wine. We were upgraded to the silver experience at no cost and we could try some special selection wines that were better, but weren t served at the right temperature. We would recommended for the view at the terrace bar and the gondolas, but not a real wine lover experience

Great winery with beautiful views! Their snack platter paired great with their wines. (These photos were taken back in May, weather was about 80 degrees)

Great views from the top where you are served wine. Views are the best part of the experience.

The environment is just breathtaking and the wines were absolutely incredible. This is an awesome vineyard and I will definitely be visiting whenever I'm in California. An absolutely amazing place.

Sterling Vineyard probably has the best view of the Valley from its terrace. We upgraded the tasting tour and got to sit in a small terrace and taste some of the reserve wines. It was definitely worth it! Our server recommended getting the cheese plate, so we did and it was really delicious. He also was nice enough to give us more wine for free :)

Now about the wine:
I am not a fan of white wines, but I loved the Chardonnay. The Cabertnet was also very good.

The location was amazing! However all it takes is a bad experience from a staff member to understand how terrible the customer experience can change. Silver member room states clearly to wait for seating.. as we watched multiple tables seated ahead of us taking premium locations, we finally get asked have you been helped. No we had not... only to be told we have to check in at a little kiosk table behind us. Nothing showed or noted that piece and the receptionist was unable appreciative we had followed the signage and promptly asked for our credentials and placed us in a location of her choosing not ours. Never again will my business or money spend time at sterling winery! Lost costomer!

This place doesn't worth visiting. The general admission just includes tram and several wine tasting, nothing with tour in the vineyard. It's not worth $32. I will definitely suggest you not going there.

A most impressive winery, an overall experience of stunning scenery, cable car rises and excellent wines. Recommend to any wine lover who comes to the Napa Valley.

Beautiful vineyard! The aerial tram tour sets this place apart with great views. Photo ops along the entire tour. Kyle, one of the bartenders at the end of the tour on the terrace, was extremely kind and welcoming. He was very attentive and helpful!

One of the best pairing tasting experiences . Our host Steve could not have been any better! He was AMAZING!

This was a nice tour, loved the tram! Lots of twist and turns, the whole process preparing the wine from start to finish is very interesting.

Amazing experience and service!!! Martha made our visit absolutely unforgettable, we will never forget her and the great time we had there!! We will definitely be back every time we are in town and recommended this winery to everyone we met afterwards!! It s a MUST GO!! Amazing atmosphere and you can t beat the views anywhere else!

Interesting self guided tour, sky tram is a nice start to the tour.

The chair lift and patio are pretty but the tour itself is really nothing but tasting 4 wines that you don't get to select. The building is under construction so you literally don't get to see anything but a small bit of equipment and barrels. Very disappointing after spending $30 for admission.

We had the best time here. Everyone was very friendly and the views were amazing.

4.5 stars. I liked it! It s more like an experience than wine tasting, but it s a pleasant experience.
We took the platinum package and really enjoyed it:
The food was definitely 5/5, thanks for chef and kitchen staff!
The wine I d say 4/5 to my taste (if we speak about tasting, seems like I tried much better wines by Sterling Vineyards)
The staff was amazing in the restaurant. In all other places the service good, but not very friendly, maybe because it was a weekend and it was a hard crowded day.
And I defined felt in love with the view. I can t decide between 4 and 5.
I d put 4, but it s no less than 4.5 :)

Delicious wines! New staff with friendly service. Reserve wines are very good.

The view and gondola ride were a neat experience. Purchased silver tastings for husband and I, but wished we just did general tasting and when we got to the terrace at the end spent money on a glass of wine and cheese platter instead. The view is what makes this winery and their Cabernet is pretty tasty as well.

The food and hospitality was excellent just like the wine

A large winery tour includes many wine tastings. Nice, just make sure there is also someone who can drive afterwards

Sterling is gorgeous winery. To get there, you take an aerial tram up the hillside which was relaxing and very unique for the area.
The Silver Tasting was really nice with some excellent red wines and, if you can, get Maurice to be your host, he's wonderful!
After the tasting, you get to look around the property at some of the equipment rooms used to make the wines while getting a few more wine tastings along the way. The Fermentation Room has some good ones and the host there was very nice and welcoming.
At the end of the self-guided tour is the terrace which has a beautiful view looking out over the valley and towards Castello Di Amorosa.

I knew Sterling would be a nice stop, but it was better than I expected and I definitely recommend it.

Bad service, Very unpleasant experience, Don't go there!

Not a fan of the wines, upgraded to the Silver tasting hoping to taste better wine through the reserves but all it meant was I received 3 more mediocre wines (was not a reserve tasting, still have no idea how to buy that). Will not return.

The whole group enjoyed it. We we're like kids in a playground.

The cable ride was insightful. ... the wine was great. ... the views was spectacular. ... we had fun. ...