Char Vale Vineyards and Winery

Sharon Black

2024-04

Lovely winery with a couple of small parking lots. We were here for the Wine Road barrel tasting weekend and they had a few nice wines for the tasting.We got to try the barrel wines and the finished wines.

Anya Sinha

2024-04

I came here with my family during my birthday weekend and we fell in love! Everything from the scenery to the wine to the personal attention from our hosts Valerie and Nicholas made our visit one to remember. They even gave me a birthday present ☺️ We’ll be coming back soon!!! Thank you for the memories!

Monique Hooks

2023-11

The wines here are lovely and very approachable. I have been a member at several wineries in the Russian River region and Char Valle is by far one of my favorite. Wines are consistent, the owners are friendly and welcoming (very important for us as people of color in Sonoma County), and the setting is beautiful.

Taylor Tabb

2024-04

If you are looking for a personal, unpretentious, and beautiful wine tasting experience, Char Vale is really unbeatable. Nicholas is witty, engaging, and had thoughtful answers for even our group's most daft questions about winemaking. Their selections are fantastic, and as a micro-vineyard, there really is a lot of care and attention put toward every bottle. Can't recommend Char Vale enough!

Juanita Munoz

2023-07

Sitting among the quaint and peaceful surroundings of the grapevines and enjoying the delicious Pinot Noirs is a truly relaxing experience one should gift to themselves. What makes this even more enjoyable is the wonderful service and conversations with Nicholas, tasting room Manager. His knowledge of wines, friendliness and attentiveness, makes this a most pleasant and enjoyable experience. Saluti!

Meghan Myers

2023-07

Char Vale is a must stop every time my husband and I are in Napa. We absolutely LOVE their wine, but the hospitality is second to none. Nick is a fantastic host, and the owners are great! Some of the many things we love about Char Vale (besides wine) is the quiet tasting space, personalized service, and our amazing host, Nick. We are always greeted with a smile, hug, and welcome back. 5/5 recommend to everyone we know. Char Vale is amazing!

Penny Koenig

2024-04

A must visit! This is owned by a couple with only 3 employees. While visiting the area, we found their winery and fell in love with their excellent wines! Only negative is that they do not deliver to Nebraska, otherwise we would've definitely joined their wine club.

David Johnson

2023-11

The most peaceful winery to visit in Sonoma County, not only are the wines phenomenal but the view is perfect. Either flight will make anyone sign up for their membership, they are the definition of Sonoma County wines.

Erich Rohwer

2024-04

Look around! I did and there is plenty of great wineries to choose from. BUT wanted to taste and experience the unique flavor and culture of Sonoma and holy hell did I score with Char Vale and Nick!!!!! Dig into the region, the passion and the character of Sonoma. The wines sing to the area and the people. Literally you’ll taste it and love it. You won’t regret a visit, actually you’ll consider the investment one of the best you’ve made in years.

Caroline Sain

2023-10

We’ve stopped at Char Vale a few times now - Each time has been a wonderfully relaxing + charming wine experience. Host Nicolas is so knowledgeable + fun!Great wines at good prices with pretty vineyard surrounds - def. worth the stop!!

Sharon Ferguson

2023-07

Excellent wines, lovely setting, Nicholas (hospitality host) is charming, generous and extremely knowledgeable. We are club members and are fortunate to be able to visit Char Vale often.Perfect place to bring friends for a leisurely afternoon.Kudos, too, to Val and her husband (owners) for making the winery such a beautiful place to relax and enjoy a perfect wine experience.

Russell Bagnato

2023-11

We had a great experience at char winery. Nicolas was amazing and very knowledgeable. The Pinot vertical was outstanding and the rose was definitely something all should try.

Kevin Talley

2023-07

This is a great micro vineyard! The Pinot flavors are amazing and the tastings are reasonably priced! We were walk-ins on a Friday afternoon and the vineyard was very accommodating and found us a table without issue. I would definitely recommend Char Vale Vineyards!

Laura Bedoyan

2023-08

We had a lovely time tasting Char Vale’s award winning Pinot Noir and did an educational tour of the winery. We learned a lot about their wine production and how much the climate influences their grapes. It is a craft and Char Vale has mastered it. We enjoyed every minute of our visit and are looking forward to our bottle of Pinot Noir that we purchased! Thank you very much.

Bruno Gagnon

2023-07

This is a small family-owned winery in a lovely area on our way to Occidental and Monte Rio. Due to their unique location, the quality of the pinot noir is exceptional. They make great wines and the tasting experience is personalized. We are members and go on a regular basis. Our host is usually Nick and he always takes good care of us. Highly recommended!

Jeffrey Pemstein

2023-08

We recently visited Char Vale Vineyards, and have been wine club members since 2021. The recent vertical Pinot Noir tasting [2015 to 2019] was a testament to the high quality of their product and the consistency of their wine making prowess. Key to all of this is Nicholas Dougherty who is an exceptional steward and ambassador for the winery and region.If you appreciate high quality California Pinot Noir and Rose in an unpretentious setting, like it should be, Char Vale is your destination. Ask for Nick and tell him Raider Jeff sent you!

Corinne & Kevin

2023-07

This is a wonderful small winery. Great wines and a great atmosphere. Nicholas was a wonderful host and we enjoyed our time there very much. We will definitely be back next time we are in the area!

Alan Gates

2023-06

The wine is solid but the ownership ruined the experience. We visited Char Vale about a month ago and enjoyed nearly all of the wines served. This is rare in my experience. The tasting room host at the tasting was friendly and informative. We liked it enough to join the wine club. At that point most vineyards would wave the two tasting fees, Char Vale did not, but hey it’s pretty good wine and we were assured our membership would cover future tastings for the two of us.Two weeks later we returned and decided to invite two local friends. The man who had hosted us before seemed to recognize us and welcomed us back. One of the owners introduced herself to us and then seated us. Shortly after seating she brought out a form for our membership, she apparently could not find any record of our membership. This seemed distasteful in front of our friends but again she returned having found out her membership list (I’m assuming paper) was out of date.We enjoyed the wine and the friendly host (Nick I think), though one of our guests had to leave after the first glass. At the end of the tasting the host came as it was closing time and charged us for the two guest tasting. Though it would have been nice to waive one since he only had a single glass, it was still fair, and we paid and tipped 20%.Shortly after paying, the owner comes out with another POs machine to charge us again for the tastings. She insists that there is no record of payment, in front of our guest, and asks for payment again. I show her proof of my transaction in my credit card app, and she still seems to insist we pay. After a somewhat heated argument she leaves it with a threat to charge the card on file with the wine club after doing some more research.To say the least, this is the worst hospitality I have received from a winery ever. We will fulfill our initial wine club order and then never return to this winery again…. I can tell the owners seem to like to respond to these reviews, so I’ll just add, they have our email on file and could have apologized for the misunderstanding at anytime in the week I waited to post this review.

teresa sala

2023-07

…More

Tom Robinson

2023-07

Nicholas was a fantastic host at Char Vale Winery. Don’t let the unassuming entry fool you. His knowledge, humor and incredible Pinots will forever be a place to revisit.

Henry Shao

2020-05

Very nice winery, with a great view of the vineyard. There are nicer picnic tables outside. The service is very pleasant and well.

Yuan Zhang

2023-05

Lovely family run winery. Wonderful Pinot, especially the 2019 vintage. You can tell that the owners and winemakers poured their hearts into making the best wine and genuinely enjoy sharing their wine with everyone. Plus the scenery and service is top notch. Thank you Vale for hosting us!

Yvonne Robinson

2023-07

We had such a fun time at this winery. Unsuspecting from the road but a fantastic vineyard view and the most delicious wines. The vineyard host is so knowledgeable and hospitable.

cwand23 Wand

2024-03

Very nice establishment! Cozy atmosphere, low key, peaceful, and lovely wines and view

Carmen Pollet

2021-05

Our 1st trip to a winery in California. It was an excellent experience. Beautiful views. Nicholas was pleasant and very patient answering our questions and explaining their process and the different wines. Finnegan was an adorable addition to our experience.

Diana Jakubaityte

2019-05

Amazing wine and great atmosphere!My husband and I were looking for a great wine tasting experience in Sonoma county and we came across Char Vale Winery. When arrived we were greeted by Nick who introduced us to most amazing wines, he was extremely knowledgeable and told us so much about what makes the wine so special! You MUST try their Pinot Noir!!!We had the best wine tasting experience and ended up buying 6 bottles of wine, and joining the wine club!!! Amazing place, looking forward to coming back there soon.

Tari Trethewy

2018-05

Visited this winery with my BFF months ago and loved the atmosphere in the tasting room, while looking out at the deck and vines. Justin pours some great wines and he takes good care of his customers! I met Tim, the Wine Maker while touring and barrel tasting some wines that will be bottled soon and some that need to sit a while longer. He is a great tour guide and a very knowledgeable and respected wine maker in this area. I met the Chars, the gracious, down-to-earth owners of this wonderful winery during the tour, tasting and food event, as well as some new members, like us. This little gem is awaiting your discovery.

Teresa Brown

2023-05

Wonderful wine and view!! Nick was so informative and friendly. The wine is excellent especially the pinot noir 2019! Or 2017..both were very good!

Corey Ponder

2022-05

Nick and the owner were great hosts and the pinots were phenomenal. Very unique flavor profile

Cynthia Smuzynska

2022-05

Beautiful property, but unfortunately we were unable to do our tasting here with our group of 8 because we had an 11 month old baby who was unvaccinated.. despite the tasting being outdoors. Owner claimed that I didn't inform him of the infant when making the appointment (I did) and blamed it on Sonoma County regulations, yet we were able to go to another tasting - inside! - without issue. Of course there is nothing on the winery website about this rule, either. An example of how parts of the Bay Area have lost the forest for the trees with respect to Covid.