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Sterling Vineyards
1111 Dunaweal Lane
Calistoga, CA 94515
(800) 726-6136
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Open daily 10:30 to 4:30 pm
$15 per person, weekends and holidays $20, $10 for children (tram only)
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Tours:
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Self guided tours
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Amenities:
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Visitors are carried up to the winery by aerial tramway
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Price Range:
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$15 to $75 per bottle
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Established:
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1964
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Vineyards:
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1200 acres
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Production:
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400,000 cases
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VIP Tasting:
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Yes
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Sterling Vineyards Description
In 1973, Sterling Vineyards opened their aerial tramway to shuttle visitors up the hill to one of the first destination wineries of the modern era. Two hundred thousand people per year now take the three-minute ride to the 300-foot-high hillside winery.
The winery is designed to appear like the white villages of the Greek island Mykonos, and incorporates bells from St. Dunstan's in London, a church destroyed in World War II. Sterling has four different lines of wines, including the Reserve, Single-Vineyard, Napa Valley Wines and Sterling Vintner’s Collection. They also produce small quantities of special wines – often obscure varietals -- for their club members.
The Sterling experience has many options for touring and tasting their Bordeaux- and Burgundy-style wines. A self-guided tour winds around the production facility, overlooking the winemaking process. Every day at 11am is the Reserve Tour and Tasting, where visitors enjoy an escorted tour of the winery followed by a private tasting in the elegant Reserve Room. ($45 including tram ride; call for reservations.)
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Sterling Vineyards Features |
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Types of Wine |
Amenities |
Resort Like Kid Friendly Hip & Stylish |
Bordeaux Burgundy Rhone |
Gift Shop - Special Private Tasting Art Gallery Wine Education Seminars Tours - Regularly Scheduled |
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| Staff Knowledge & Friendliness |
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| Amenities, Comfort & Cleanliness |
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| Overall Impressions |
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Disneyland like experiencewino222, Ukiah Visiting Sterling is like visiting another world. The self-guided tour (which we took) started from the parking lot and quickly ascended up the hill, over a pond and fountain to a monastery-esque building on top of the hill. Once the doors opened up top, we were guided down a narrow walkway where the first tasting "station" was set up. They start you off with a clean, crisp white. Then, you are pretty much free to roam, though there is a definite direction to the whole tour. The second tasting leads you out onto the vast outdoor patio looking south over the entire Napa Valley. The views were pretty breathtaking. We got an up close and personal look at the crush facility and got to peer over the metal catwalks onto the huge stainless steel fermentation tanks. The end of the tour brought us to the other end of the winery, to another patio, where we finished off with a glass of Cab. I could see how this place would be a must-visit for out-of-towners,. Even people who are not totally into wine could find enough to do and see here to make their visit more than worthwhile.
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Review Disclaimer
The above reviews are the subjective opinion of Winery Advisor members and not of Winery Advisor LLC.
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