Charles Creek Vineyard Tasting Room & Gallery

CLOSED. This tasting room has closed.

Friendly staff and gear knowledge. Was cheap and easy to get a sample with lots if history and background into what the energy was all about.

Charles Creek offers a great tasting experience. As a local it is always a pleasure to stop by their tasting room, visit with their staff and enjoy the recent vintages. In addition, I find myself going to their tasting room for last minute gifts of wine and treats. They are a welcome addition to the Sonoma Plaza.

The wines here were average with the exception of one or two and the tasting room was quite small and could easily become overcrowded. The tasting fee was only $ 10 and was waived with the purchase of any bottle (which I did). Overall, a nice place to taste wine but nothing extraordinary.

Very nice folks.

Loved this place! After leaving a winery nearby for terrible service, we came upon Charles Creek. First of all, the giant pig made of corks is just awesome! 2^nd, the staff was SO welcoming, helpful and friendly, I could have chatted with these ladies all day! I got 6 tastings (6 is just a guideline, you’ll usually get more) for $ 10. Their wines are just delicious. I’m not a Chardonnay drinker, but boy do they do a killer job with it! I also bought some merchandise, they have a great selection of gifts, but I purchased a nice marble a coaster and got a discount for doing a tasting too. I Highly recommend Charles Creek!

Our first stop on a mini-​wine tasting tour in Sonoma, and we had a blast. The selections of wine were great – considering I’m not a huge fan if wine. I can’t remember the name of the man who helped us, but his character alone was great! Extremely friendly and only $ 5 for a the tasting!

Chocolate Raspberry Port… these three words made us stop in and we were so glad that we did! The port was delicious but so were all of the other wines in our flight. The service was great & there were quite a few things to look at in the shop. Definitely a lot of fun.

We decided to stop here on our way out of Sonoma Plaza. It was a very cute tasting room and I loved the cow made of corks! The host was extremely friendly and they had some pretty decent wines. It was definitely worth the stop.

Excellent wine. Located in downtown Sonoma. Definitely a worthwhile stop when visiting Sonoma. 2005 Cab is awesome!

Charles Creek is one of the nicest tasting rooms on the Square. Kitschy cow sculpture made of wine corks is a must-​see and they offer a variety of gifts and chocolate in addition to their wines.
Service was friendly and patient, which we appreciated. Additionally, we loved the variety offered. Of everything sampled, we were hooked on the chocolate-​infused port. While we tried ports in other places, this is the one to which we return. With a piece of sea salt chocolate, it was awesome. We also picked up their sampler of sea salt bar chocolates.

They got a giant bull made up of wine corks… pretty groovy!
$ 10 Tasting Fee… pretty good wines… fee is waived if you a buy bottle… it was tempting!

Can’t remember the name of the middle-​aged gentleman who helped us, but the man was really in-​the-​know. He told us all about the weird names for the wines and family history behind the vineyard and winemakers. We were seriously impressed with his personal touch to the tasting. He even went beyond the normal 5-​wine tasting and went through about 8 with us for free because of our wine tasting card. Now, here is my only recommendation. There are two porters — a chocolate and a chocolate/​raspberry. Don’t fall for the latter. Even our pourer told us that the latter wasn’t very good. I definitely bought a bottle of the former, and man is it dangerous because of its sweetness and high alcohol content.

Wonderful small tasting room on Sonoma square. They make a wonderful Chardonnay and the best chocolate port on earth! Stop by and be happy!

Late in the day, just before this place closed, my wife and I hopped in for a quick tasting. Nearly an hour later, we walked out with a smile on our face and a couple bottles of wine under our arms. Simply, it was the best winery we visited during our trip in the fall of 2011.
What was so great? Three things:
1. The service was great. The pourer (Alan, I believe) let us taste all we wanted (maybe because it was the end of the day) and was informative and patient during the process.
2. All the wine was quite good. The Chardonnay, however, was the best we’ve ever had in our life. Seriously, this stuff was amazing.
3. The cow made of corks. How fun is that?
Stop in during your time in Sonoma. You’ll be happy you did.

Friendliest tasting room in downtown. The wine is good too. I’m not a rookie anymore when it comes to wine tasting and learning about wines. These guys have a pretty convincing story. The service is excellent and the atmosphere is fun. Unlike other wineries, they aren’t trying to ram the bottle upsell down your throat or lord over you with the dreaded 1 oz pour cap on the bottle.
A great stop when you are in downtown.

Charles Creek is one of many places you can stop at for free wine tastings along Sonoma Square. The shop has some very curious items that no doubt look even funnier when you’re tipsy. That being said, I wasn’t particularly blown away by any of their wines except perhaps the chardonnay. However, the little old lady behind the counter was an absolute darling. I’d go back just to hear her speak!

This place is awesome! My boyfriend are I went wine tasting at different places in Downtown Sonoma and this was by far the best! Alan provided wonderful service and gave us a great background on all the wines we were tasting. He didn’t charge us for the tasting which was really nice of him!
The wines were really good and so was the company! We intended to buy a bottle in Sonoma and after numerous tastings, this one being the first, we ended up coming back the next morning to buy a bottle of Merlot. If you’re looking for great wine and ambiance, this is definitely the place to go!

My reviews of wine tasting rooms are based on these considerations:
quality of wine — friendliness/​willingness to educate/​answer questions about wine — location
I realize that depending on a) how crowded a wine room is and/​or b) who the person doing the pouring is, ones experience can vary. All that said, my friend and I went here today and had a great time.
The wine is good and since we were wearing our «I Love Sonoma Valley» stickers, the tasting was free. The lady behind the counter didn’t rush us and was very talkative. She knew a lot too and was able to answer all of my questions. A great impression for a first visit.

This place is centrally located by the central plaza in Sonoma and they have a great hook to get you in the door and cow made out of used corks, cheesy, yes but great spot for a photo.
They have a great selection of wines for the tasting, the usual suspects from whites to reds, I think it was $ 5 for the tasting but free with a purchase so if you have someone in your group buying more than one bottle they will be cool enough to cut the tasting costs. The people that work there were really good about the wines and the pours as well. I never really had desert wines before but I was so impressed that I bought two bottles of it. Definitely try this place out.