Barra of Mendocino

Stopped in on the way to Ft. Bragg to pick up a few bottles for the beach trip. Lori was very nice and informative, picked up a nice Girasole blend and an extremely well balanced Barra Cabernet. Healthy pours and nice picnic area, very reasonable prices as well. My Shih-​tzu had a good time as well.

Lori led us through a welcomed lesson on the wines and the history of the vineyard. Others we have been to were not nearly as enjoyable.

Lori was pouring for us on this day and she is/​was AWESOME!!! We had such awesome wines from both the Girasole and Barra! What a BLAST!

When we began the process of planning our 30^th class reunion, we had a lot of great local venues to choose from. After reviewing all the options, Barra became the favorite as the best fit for layout, options and costs for the nearly 100 person event. They have a fantastic event coordinator, Katrina, and the rest of the staff was very helpful and easy to work with.
We booked our event for August 9^th, and Katrina was great at quickly answering all of our calls and emails. She had a lot of good suggestions for events and wine too!
We used one of the recommended and approved caterers that have access to their food prep area, and were very happy with the selection and quality of the food. Their familiarity with the venue made setup and cleanup a breeze.
The long curved bar worked really well for serving wine and beer, as well as all the appetizers provided by the caterer. People could socialize near the bar and still get drinks and food without feeling too close together.
The structure of the building lent itself to four seating areas centered around the fountain in the middle, and made it fun to decorate. There was plenty of light and access to the garden, and the sound system was easy to use by plugging in an ipod and laptop. We even had room for a table with a slideshow against one wall.
The event itself went off with very few of the usual hitches, and what few we had were taken care of.
We were very happy with the event! Thanks again to Katrina, Barra, and all the staff that helped make our 30^th class reunion a fun experience.
I would definitely recommend having your event here! :)

Beautiful property and super nice staff! We were on a road trip and we stopped off here to picnic. The lady was very hospitable and did not mind our loud children and she even allowed us to have our dogs off leash in the picnic area. The tasting was free and the wine was good.

Great wine, and very nice people. Treated my wife and I like family. Anxious to stop by again. Didn’t have a wine I didn’t like. They do it right.
BEST winery in Redwood Valley!
Thanks. You guys rock!

It was meant to be.
My husband and I happened to order and enjoy a bottle of the Barra petite sirah with our dinner in Fort Bragg.
As we were driving home the next day we happened upon Barra Winery in Redwood Valley — we had to stop and try some of the other varieties.
The building is architecturally interesting with its hardwood beams and stone. The inside is clean and welcoming. I especially like the fact that the wines are organic. We tasted numerous pours and ended up buying a 2011 cab and another 2009 petite sirah.
To be honest though, I wasn’t impressed with the other label, Girasole. It wasn’t as bold and flavorful in my opinion.
Bonus — we found out the Chocolate, wine and spirits festival is in 2 weeks and we are already planing our return visit.

A beautiful building and the BEST certified organic winery in Mendocino. This is the winery were it all began for me. One sip of their 2008 Petite Sirah and I was an instant wino for life. Sweet cherry’s compliment the blueberries in this wine along with a slight espresso/​tobacco splash. Absolutely amazing, and if you are a dark, heavy red drinker this is right up your alley! Katrina who is in the tasting room Monday-​Thursday is a ray of sunshine and so knowledgeable! Family owned for over 60 years and committed to organic growing. This is a must stop if you are traveling through Mendocino or if you are a local that has not made it out yet. You are missing out! Bring a picnic to enjoy in their back garden area. You will not leave disappointed.

Katrina was awesome! So friendly and great info! Definitely recommend stopping. Fabulous wines!

My review is solely for their Mother’s Day Brunch that we just attended. First off, the owner came over to us in the very beginning and checked in with us, making sure we had everything we needed (we had two infants and two toddlers) and was so gracious and wonderful. That was the best part of our experience. Everything went downhill from there. After standing in the longest line for buffet brunch ever, I made my way through line to get food for my toddlers (that we paid for). After I got them settled, I went back through line to finally get food for myself (the mother, on Mother’s Day) when the caterer so rudely says «you’re back for seconds already?» And then she gave me attitude for not bringing my plate back (my kids plate that they were eating off of, and that I PAID for). She sighs loudly and says they have to be very careful about their plate count because they only brought a certain amount. I’m sorry, isn’t it a health/​sanitary hazard to bring your used plate back through a buffet??? Also… it’s a buffet!!! Regardless if it was my 1^st or 2^nd time through line, it shouldn’t matter! It’s a buffet!!! And adult ticket was $ 25 by the way. So after the caterer got upset with me for using another plate, she nudges to the caterer next to her and says that it’s my second time back in line. So instead of serving me frittata from the current serving dish that’s already been served from, he turns around and scrapes the egg scraps from the old serving dish that was on its way to the dishwasher!!! So offended! What is the matter with people??? After paying $ 125 for a breakfast brunch, most of us in my party left feeling hungry and we just all wanted to get out of there because of rude catering staff. What an awful Mother’s Day brunch experience. Such a shame, because the owner was such a sweetheart.
ETA 5÷13÷13 — I made some phone calls and found out that it is against FDA code to reuse buffet plates. Health code violation!!!

Met reps of the family winery at the SF Vintners Market this past spring. The tasting room is a beautiful facility. It looks like an upside down champagne glass with the stem broken off from the parking lot. Lots of space inside which they make use of for special events. They were still recovering from Sunday’s event when we arrived on Monday morning. Jason, the winemaker, gave us a tour of the facilities. The crush portion is known as Redwood Valley Cellars. The winery makes two lines of wine, Barra of Mendocino and Girasole. Girasole is what you’ll find in stores. You’ll find Barra at the tasting room and some restaurants. We tasted both lines and preferred the Barra wines. We bought two bottles of their estate cab and went on our way to the next tasting room.

Have never seen a more hospitable winery. We did buy 3 bottles and sat down at a table outside to enjoy some. The brought us glasses, water, napkins and a board for cutting the cheese we had. It was closing time and they told us to stay as long as we wished and just leave the glasses on the table!
Tasting room was beautiful stone and sweeping beans reaching up to the ceiling. The wines are moderately prices, two lines. Quite nice and some variety. They seem to take great pride and have been doing this as a family for 66 harvests!

I am a total fan of Barra’s. I love their muscat and have drunk about a case of it over the course of 3 – 4 months. It’s a little sweet but not too.
They also have a nice Sangiovese. And a good Zinfandel.
Very friendly and worth a stop. Great picnic area with lots of nice shade and grass.
Update: And they have been so supportive of the Slow Food Movement, donating all the wine for a beautiful dinner at Masa’s in honor of Carlo Petroni’s visit here to America in the summer of 2011. The dinner was a benefit for the Slow Food Youth Scholarship Fund.

I’m starting to think I shouldn’t share all these cool Mendo wineries, as the unrushed, uncrowded experience is part of the charm, but against my better judgment here goes…
Stopped in here with my cousin on the way back from Arcata for his first real wine tasting, and it was an excellent introduction. Slightly confusing to get to from the freeway, even before you’ve been tasting any wine ;-) you have to take the frontage road from the north or the south for a bit.
The fun, welcoming server introduced us in an unpretentious (but very informed) way to the various wines. She was very informed in addressing my more advanced questions and observations and in making my cuz feel at home with some of the basic differences between the varietals.
The chardonnay was smooth and buttery, and is probably the first chardonnay I’ve tasted I would seriously consider buying. I had already bought enough on this trip, though, and I went with the Zin, which was complex and almost spicier than the Sangio. Not a bad wine here, though. The seasoned triscuits were a little odd as a palate cleanser between tastings, as they were a little too flavored, but it’s all good.
And it’s all organic, always has been!

Also reviewed as Redwood Valley Cellars… two wine lines [Barra and the cheaper Girasole]. The Barra line includes a nice Chardonnay that is not overoaked, a charming Muscat Canelli, and a Pjnot that I liked.