Bink Wines

Two stars go to the wine and the negative three stars goes to our hostess Monica. Not only did she ignore us, but she was frustrated when we asked her about where the wine came from and why they didn’t have more options. We both fell like she did not give the the makers of the wine a what they deserved in a tasting room environment. You guys deserve better!

This is perhaps some of the best wine we have tasted for the price in Mendocino. Nice to support a local winery as opposed to corporate too. That it was run by all women was an extra surprise. We had been to several other wineries in the area and enjoyed them all but the wine at Bink was special. We were hosted by Monika and her dog Rupert.

Out of the four wineries we visited in this area, we visited this was my favorite. Monica was knowledgeable and interesting, and the wine was delicious.

We have been to Napa and Sonoma on many occations. This was our first venture out to Philo celebrating our 10^th Wedding Anniversary and were very excited to check out this area. We walked into Bink and were met with a acerbic German woman named Monika. Her demeanor was sarcastic and off-​putting and made us both uncomfortable. We were excited to try the wines but the entire exchange was a distraction from the experience. We wish them success and encourage them to greatly improve their approach to customer relations!

Oh, Bink! We had such a great time here. This is a winery that is owned by a woman (hip hip hooray!). When we walked into the tasting room as a group of 6, I thought the woman pouring might be overwhelmed by us, but she was really wonderful. She explained all the wines in great detail, gave her opinions on them, joined our conversation, told us about herself, and provided us with some mushroom appetizer. There really wasn’t any wine here we didn’t enjoy. Everyone in our group bought bottles. I would highly recommend coming into Bink and doing a tasting.

Really nice product from the nearby AVA of Yorkville Highlands.
Cindie, not Cindy, hosted us at the tasting room in Madrones Complex, Philo. She is a total riot and served the entire line of available varietals, some of which are quite nice drinking right now, while some need some time in the bottle to get their balance and complexity.
We bought the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and recommend you try other varietals on their list. Not a waste of your time or palate when visiting Anderson Valley. Some good values here.

You are in for a treat if you enjoy crisp and well balanced whites.

In an area that excels with pinot, this winemaker has more success with Bordeaux grapes. A good merlot can be found here for $ 28. Bink is conveniently located in one of the tasting rooms at The Madrones along with Drew and Knez.
There aren’t many gas stations in Anderson Valley which means gas prices were 40 to 60 cents higher per gallon. Try to gas up in Cloverdale before making the trek up Highway 128 and you can use that savings for another tasting at Bink.

The tasting room was tasteful, comfy and filled with local art which mostly consisted of flowers.
Our Winetender, Monika (pronounced Moo-​Née-​Kuh) was the fanciest winetender of the day. She smelled divine and had the voice of a German angel. She had hair the color of hellfire & was very fashionable wearing my fave colors. I should have taken a pic of her because she was just that stunning!
Not many whites on their wine list but, we had a nice Sav Blanc and a Rose to taste.
No tasting fee charged here, but I’m not sure if that’s because Monika and I were becoming the best of buds during our tasting, or if they really just didn’t charge one in general.
Great little winery, I wouldn’t take a super large group in here, but it’s a definite must try in this area.

We finally stopped in at The Madrones and found BINK. A great tasting experience with Monika, a pleasant and knowledgable hostess. ALL of the wines we tasted… and we were treated to several extra specials… were excellent. The Sauvignon Blanc is the best white I have had in a long time. But… their Cabernet was to die for. We loaded up with a few bottles to hold us over until our next stop by. Chet in Mendocino, CA.

Great wines and sociable people! We stopped in here on a beautiful April afternoon and were immediately greeted with a refreshing white wine. We moved on to some tasty reds, an chatted it up with server the whole time. Worth going back to!

Bink is located at the Madrones which hosts other tasting rooms such as Drew Cellars and Lula.
Enjoyed our tasting and walked a way with a yummy Syrah.

Love a good glass, bottle, or several of wine? Stop in to Bink for a tasting and grab some bottles to bring back home!
Stopped in last weekend with some friends for the first time and the ladies working there were fantastic! Super welcoming, knowledgeable, and their wines were delicious. Purchased a few to bring home and hold us over until we return again for more (which we’re very excited to do). I highly recommend making a stop here on your wine adventure through Anderson Valley!

Firstly, Monika, who manages the tasting room is absolutely wonderful. She was very friendly and very kind enough to open a few special bottles for us as we were getting overly excited with the wines they were currently pouring. It was truly a real thrill to sample both current releases and library wines (more on the wine later). Tasting room is comfortable, but not ideal for huge groups. Dogs were friendly and sweet!
Now on to the good stuff… I’ve had the chance to try some AV vineyards before produced by Sonoma wineries and I’ve always been impressed by their complexity and smell. So getting the opportunity to go directly to the source and discovering AV wineries was a real treat. We had very little time in our day to visit the wineries we wanted to, but we were fortunate enough to catch Bink before they closed up shop.
Firstly, the grapes they source from are top notch vineyards, most notably: Weir and Hawks Butte. The Weir Pinot Noir was fantastic and very comparable to many other high-​end Pinot producers. Their Hawks Butte line of Merlot and Syrah is also fantastic, very easy drinking and fruit-​forward. I’m not even a Merlot fan, but their Merlot is VERY drinkable. In general, their wines are very fruit forward and can really taste the cool-​climate wines.
Oh, did I mention that their wines are reasonable? Their Weir Pinot Noir is priced at $ 40, when it could easily be a $ 50-​$ 60 bottle. Their Syrah and Merlot can also easily be a $ 30-​$ 40 bottle, but is priced at a totally accessible $ 25! While definitely not on the extremely «cheap» side, but considering the quality of the grapes, these wines are totally reasonable!
If you go to Bink, it definitely won’t disappoint.

Love their wines! Great tasting room environment with fabulous art from a local artist. Monika is lots of fun and knowledgeable about the Anderson Valley and their wines. Their Sauvignon Blanc is one of the best in the Valley and one of the few wineries to do bigger fruited varietals like Merlot and Cab Sauv since they have a ridgetop property in the Yorkville Highlands where it is sunnier above the AV fog belt.
Best thing of all is the tasting room is dog friendly! I could hang out here all day chatting up Monika about all things local to the AV.
Cheers!

Bink just opened a tasting room in the Anderson Valley wine country. The tasting room is beautiful, the staff friendly, the wine as always wonderful and the price is right too. Anderson Valley is getting to be quite the wine area with ever more wineries and tasting rooms. The shopping and dining have greatly improved as well. On your next trip to Mendocino, be sure to stop at Bink and enjoy great wine and real hospitality!

I must preference this review with a full disclosure: I consider Debbie and Cindy good friends and even helped a little bit with the first vintages. With that out of the way…
I was really blown away by the 2002 Hawks Butte Syrah; Inky, dark, brooding, bursting with red-​berry goodness! Just the right balance of new and neutral wood, NOT a Syrah that you could plant in the ground and grow a tree from the over-​use of new oak barrels.
Bink is a true labor of love that started from the vineyard up. Every bottle brims with passion and love. If you are looking for a soul-​less wine from a typical Disneyland-​esq Napa Über-​winery, then you are looking in the wrong place. This, my friends, is what wine making is all about.