Cline Cellars

Incredibly fun winery! Excellent staff, delicious wines tailored to a variety of palettes, and the setting is a lush wonderland that is equal parts romantic and kid friendly. My girls loved feeding the fish and visiting the cute burro!

You get what you pay for. I have been here twice in group outings, as the tastings are inexpensive. Both times, I have been disappointed by the wine and especially the customer service. At the last tasting I attended, our tasting guide literally talked the ENTIRE TIME, without allowing anyone to engage with him or anyone else in our group about the experience.
At one point, when another group member and I whispered a short conversation to each other, he embarrassed us in front of the group by stating that he was not here to compete with us. Regardless of how I feel about the wine (subpar), I would never return or recommend Cline based on customer service alone. There are plenty of other Sonoma wineries in the same price point range that will provide much better wines and infinitely better customer service.

Free tasting room attracts a big crowd but you can buy all their wine way cheaper at most grocery stores so I’m not sure what the point of joining would be…
Pretty grounds

This was such a great place to visit, it was recommended by a friend and I must say definitely a great recommendation. It is family friendly, has beautiful scenery, great variety in wine. My family and I had a great tour done by Bob E. Learned about the history of Cline Cellars and the Jacuzzi vineyard across from them. Very much enjoyed the California Missions Museum, the pond with all the Carp and turtles and the indigenous birds. And of course who could forget the wine! Thank you for such a great experience.

I agree with the reviews on here.
PROS:
Beautiful grounds and different places to take it all in!
Tasting set up in the main house and in different places outside.
Loved sitting by the pond to see turtles, ducks and ‘piranhas’!!
REALLY loved sitting on the love swing on the porch.
Yummy piece of salted dark chocolate with one of the dessert wines!
CONS:
Not really a con but maybe adding a little deli counter to enjoy some food on the grounds since there’s lots of great places to picnic!

Upon our first arrival to the Sonoma/​Napa area we were immediately referred to check out Cline Cellars since they do free wine tastings. We headed straight there since it was on our way to Napa and we are so glad we did!
Driving up we were in awe of the beautiful gardens and flowers that happily greeted us. The grounds are well cared for and beautifully manicured. The tasting room/​main building is a wonderful plantation style house with a wrap around porch adorned with bistro tables and relaxing benches. Off the building there are picnic tables and a garden patio with another set of tables.
We walked in and were greeted right away. It was a bit busy but they cleared us a spot for a tasting and did not make us feel rushed at all. The ladies who helped us were so informative on the wines they were pouring and helpful in guiding us in our choices. The wines were delicious and refreshing. We were excited to buy our first bottle of wine from them! They also have a small shop with trinkets, gifts, and fresh cheese and meats. We bought some meat and cheese to have for dinner with our awesome new wine purchase!
After the tasting we walked around the grounds around the back of the house. There is a relaxing pond, beautiful landscapes, a nice path, and an exotic collection of birds. We spent another hour just relaxing and walking around.
We were so impressed by the professionalism and experience we received from Cline. It was our first stop and thought maybe we were in the «honeymoon» phase of the Napa area. We kept thinking if this is what a free tasting is like, then wow we can’t imagine what the pricier tasting will be like! Turns out Cline was one of, if not THE best winery we stopped at on our trip. Most other places took our money and barely paid attention to us or gave us less attention because of our younger age. I just want to say thank you to Cline for your wonderful hospitality and leaving a lasting impression on us. We can’t wait to buy more wine from you and you will be our first visit when we come back to Sonoma again! We are looking forward to it!
This is a winery I will continue to and love to support. If you are thinking about Cline, stop thinking and start heading there!

Cline is for the birds!
Drink fine wine, feed creepy fish.
‘Noma trumps Napa.

I may be biased to Cline Cellars since it was the only winery that we visited in Sonoma but it was heavenly!
The atmosphere is lovely and the wines are excellent as well (especially the Zinfandels and dessert wines). When we were tasting the wine, they offered a bite of chocolate with the dessert wine and we couldn’t help but fall in love!
The also offer some food selections so you can easily spend a few hours there drinking some wine and munching on some of their snacks! I would highly recommend this winery to others!

A midsize winery and a hidden jewel in the Sonoma Valley, you absolutely must stop here for a tasting. The wine is absolutely delicious and satisfying; it doesn’t need to be paired with anything. Highly recommend the 2014 Ancient Vines Carignane and the 2014 Ancient Vines Mourvèdre. After the tasting, the grounds are beautifully landscaped and lovely to tour.
Located on the temporary site from which the 21^st Sonoma mission began, the grounds hold a collection of models of all 21 California missions, along with a description of their founding and history. It is a great overview of that piece of California history.

This was by far my favorite winery we visited during my birthday tour!
1. They had a wonderful balanced selection of wines that pleased all palettes in our party. My palette prefers smooth finish and I finished by buying black magic cashmere ($ 25) and Lodi zinfandel ($ 14)
2. Tastings were free (which resulted in us finding 6 bottles we liked) 2 live oak, big break Zinfandel and desert Mourvèdre!
3. Our server was so nice and funny, Bob was awesome. He wasn’t stingy about the pours, made suggestions and had a fun time with us. Surprisingly out of the 4 wineries he was he only person to read my ID and wish me a happy birthday! But in all seriousness, I hate when I explain my preferences and they can’t make any suggestions to help shape my tasting order; Bob was the opposite he actually listened and helped me make a 5 wine listing that made me want them all.

Cline Cellars is my ‘Go to Winery’ in Sonoma. It is a short drive from San Rafael. It is family friendly. The Zinfandels are outta this world delicious, especially the Big Break Zinfandel. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and the staff are all amazing!
I always ask for Laura Green, as she always takes care of me and my guests with her friendly demeanor and knowledge of the wines. She is the quintessential wine Steward and has always made every visit to Cline special! Thank you Laura!
I will revisit Cline over and over as it is just a great time, every time!

Beautiful estate but mediocre wines. It may be worth your money to do the tasting and walk around to get a sense of the surroundings, but depending on your specific tastes, you may or may not walk away with some of their vintages.

This is a favorite stop with my friends as the wines are good and affordable. They used to be part of Visa signature, but tasting are generally free with purchase. Beautiful grounds to walk around.

I work for a company who distributes in the wine industry. My level of knowledge with respect to wine is probably somewhere in between a c– and a d+. I know a good one from a bad one, that’s about it.
I went to 4 different Vineyards which we carry, and sampled a large variety of wines. Throughout the entire day, out of all the Vineyards we toured, this outshined the Rest by far. Like dwarfed them. And they were all good.
My group was lucky enough to score Michael, the vineyard manager, as our tour guide. I hate that word, manager. Mike was an expert. And I feel the title doesn’t reflect his level of skill and charisma. He was a genuine dude, and Incredibly knowledgeable.
And I am not just talking about knowledge with respect to wine. He was knowledgeable with history, Californian history, u.s. history, Spanish history, the history of wine, wine in California, wine in the old world, wine in the New World.
Mike took a great deal of history and synthesized it in a way that applied towards this Vineyard, and it wasn’t anecdotal nonsense. It was actual history.
Mike also provided honest information, which lends integrity to the company as well. We went to 4 different Vineyards, and all of them talked about being sustainable leaders in the industry. Mike mentioned the same thing, but added that Sonoma County in general is moving towards being sustainable. The entire County wants to be the first County in the world with all sustainable vineyards. The difference being that Mike was not afraid to lend credit to the rest of the Vineyards while the other Vineyards predominantly horde of the credit of being sustainable to themselves. I guess that’s splitting hairs, but it seems right.
Other wineries mentioned their use of French Oak, and how much influence it provided various wines.
Mike argued Cline Cellers tend to not use French Oak because of how much it damages the environment. Cutting down the trees, shipping them here, forming barrels, getting x yield, then throwing the barrels away, or selling them.
The leftover barrels which Cline Cellers does use, they build fences and floors out of, or use them in some other way to build into the facility. They have similar patterns with respect to their use of water, and grapes. He even hold sheep depends which they released into the Vineyards to get rid of all of the weeds around the vines. When the vines finally do produce grapes, The Grapes which aren’t usable to produce a high-​quality wine are turned into compost and reintroduced into the soil to provide enrichment. They have developed a genuine internal ecosystem.
Beyond all that, their wine is great. And their level of sustainability and pride in their product really made me a bigger fan of Cline than I was before.
I ended up buying like 5 bottles of wine (!!!) when all I really intended to come for was to sample a few bottles. They were decently priced. I feel like the whole experience was not only wonderful, but entertaining.
The facility is also beautiful, almost luxurious. But not to the point where it becomes uninviting. It was well maintained and clean. There was also a great deal of thought put into it. Mike even mentioned how the few ponds they have on their facility were once used to be a product of hot springs before an earthquake in the late 19^th century.
The Vineyard is beautiful, the wine is incredible, and the price is very affordable, especially for a very decent wine. I will definitely be back.

This was my first ever experience wine tasting, and I’m very glad this got to be the place! They allow you five free wine samples. One side of the wine sheet is for reds, the other for white wine (large selection!). When you order the sweetest red (last on the page), they also give you a sample of cline chocolate to taste with it (extremely complimentary). The workers there are super fun and very knowledgeable! Overall I had such a great experience! Would recommend on a wine tour!

At the other wine tasting room, we were told they were shutting down soon but Cline, which was a quarter mile away, was open later so that if we wanted to go we could. So we did. Why not, it took only two hours to get up here.
The place was charming, with lovely grounds to go with their wide and inexpensive wine selection, which is a detour from your average Napa Sonoma vineyards. Plus they offer complimentary tasting, which is nearly unheard of these days in this region. I’m no drinker but have been up and down California wine tasting regions for as long as I could remember, to me, Sonoma is the little sister that had grown up and its beauty has outshined its sister Napa. We followed the flight of red with a flight of white, discussed their wines and where they tend to get exported to. I picked up a bottle of Rose, which is very fruity and sweeter than the French version, though I’m told they tend to use French Rhone region type of grapes. It’s fine for a hot summer day and goes well with your cheese pâté and baguette.
Walked around the grounds as the rain was coming down. It felt like a wet spring was coming on.
I timed it, it did not take much time to return to home, only 40 minute. A keeper for future picnic destinations in the wine country. Get your basket filled but grab a chilled bottle from Cline. I’m a convert.

This is such a lovely winery and it feels so close to home, I just love it! Cline is one of our little local treasures. You can pop it for a bottle and to catch up on some gossip with your friends or pack a nice picnic and rest somewhere on the grounds. It’s so green, tranquil and relaxing. You can grab a snack inside too if you need a nibble. They are totally kid friend so bring the whole family. Decent amount of parking, make sure to get there before the limo tours start pulling in.

All around great place to stop and enjoy the property with some wine tasting. There are picnic tables around the grounds so I bet you can do a picnic with some wine! Especially near the fountain.
There’s parking all over so if the front is full, head to the back. When you head to the back you’ll get a better perspective of the property as there’s a lot to wander — gardens, meet donkeys, a CA Mission museum besides the wine tasting.
Russ was great to talk about the wine process then we headed into the wine tasting part. I’m not a white wine drinker so all I can say is it tasted like white wine. I enjoy reds. The Pinot wasn’t bold enough it was just a red. Now when they landed to the Ancient vines and reserves, yummy. And like all the other reviews, the prices were not bad at all!
Our tasting was free and sounds like the general one is so if you have to pay a bit more for the reserves — try it as the prices still aren’t bad if you know you will purchase some wine.
It was a very enjoyable place to stop off to enjoy scenery with wine!

The wonderful winery, Jacuzzi Family Vinyards goes way back in the history. And from that history, another great winery was born, right across the street from Jacuzzi Vinyard, called Cline Cellars. The Founder was the grandson of one of the Jacuzzi brothers, who taught him the magic of wine making. I really love that kind of history behind the wineries of today.
They were surrounded by beautiful landscapes, roses, and lots of outdoor seating. It was just gorgeous space to be in, and admire the vineyards. They really take care of their land to provide a wonderful, peaceful environment.
All of the wines we tried were all superb, but since we already bought several bottles from another vineyard, we decided to limit ourselves to just 2 bottles. We decided on Farmhouse White and Oakley Eighty-​Two Red. We are very happy with our purchase and the experience. The young female staff here helped us with the tasting, she was very friendly, polite, and helpful. It is so great to have high quality wines directly from wineries after tasting them, it is such wonderful experience! Read my full review of winery and wines on my blog at foodlovergirl.

This is a stunning property! They have a nice little store with a variety of gifty things, and wine-​related items. They also have a small cooler with meats and cheeses if you want to enjoy a snack on their property. There is a tasting bar inside the store, and if you walk through the store, there is a nice deck overlooking a pond. The pond is stocked with fish and turtles and you can purchase fish food from a vending machine to feed them.
Walk a little further and there is another large deck next to the pond where the single vineyard reserve tasting is poured. We did the reserve tasting and it was fantastic! The pourer was very friendly and knowledgable, and we ended up buying a bottle.
Continue walking around the property and there is a small museum and about six cages of different kinds of birds.
This is a great place to stop while wine tasting in Sonoma!