Chalone Vineyard

Pinots+. Casual & Relaxing wine tasting and cheese plate today after hike at Pinnacles National Park. Locally grown and produced. Friendly folks with casual tasting room upstairs with view over trees. Lots of vines all around on drive up to tasting house. Tasting fee removed with purchase of couple bottles. You can call to get direct shipments if you cannot make the drive also.

The wines are okay (we ended up not buying any of them), but the experience itself is very nice, tucked up into the hills at the base of Pinnacles National Park, especially when sipping your wine out on the balcony with perfect warm, sunny weather tempered by a cool breeze. The chardonnay from here apparently won 3rd place at the famous Judgement of Paris, but we didn't find any of the wines here anything to particularly write home about. Still, they were enjoyable to sip and the overall experience was quite worthwhile, especially as a wind-dowm activity to relax after doing some hiking!

Come for the delicious wines, stay for the excellent vibes. Thanks Kayla, for walking us through a delightful tasting and to Greg for making such spectacular wines!

A beautiful vineyard near the Pinnacles. They have a very inviting tasting room with a patio that is perfect on a cool winter day, but might be a bit hot in summer. Their forté is definitely white - we had a Chenin Blanc not usually on the tasting menu that was beautiful. We also enjoyed the Grenache but found the Pinot a bit young. Chardonnays were light and unoaked.

Visited for the first time with my fiancé and it was a great experience! Normally, I’m not a big Pinot Noir or Chardonnay fan, but everything we tried was amazing across the board! We enjoyed our tasting with another group and our host was also amazing! Will definitely come back!

Great experience at Chalone winery! Among the best wineries I’ve been to in California. The tasting was really good, interesting wines, and amazing staff, very courteous and friendly! They have a very nice patio to sit, relax and enjoy the view while tasting wine. The landscape setting is just lovely, and the atmosphere is very relaxing. The host will be happy to talk more about their wine and show you the wine storage room if interested. Additional perk, you are 5min away from Pinnacles National Park, so this makes the Chalone winery the perfect stop!

We arrived right after last call for accepting new patrons for tasting, but they let our group of 4 come in anyway. The tasting experience was great! They gave us an extra taste that was not part of the flight. The manager was very knowledgeable, charismatic and fun. And we left with 3 bottles of their wonderful wine!

Beautiful vineyard and surrounding area. Their wines were great, and the $20 tasting fee is waived if you purchase a bottle. Particularly liked their Pinot Noir and Rose.

Came here for a wine club event and I'm definitely coming back!! Wide variety of wine to choose from and I believe they're one of the oldest in Monterey! Plenty of seating and it's also right in the heart of Carmel By The Sea! The wine is good, the scenery is good, it's a good place to study/work at! Can't recommend this place enough!

Amazing and kind service, I showed up already because of traffic but they told me I'm right on time. Very kind. Our service was kind and so knowledgeable about the wine! Carson deserves a raise!!!! The setting was beautiful and comfortable ;) would recommend! It was a great pre dinner wine tasting for my boyfriend's birthday!

We were looking for a place to try our first wine tasting in Carmel-by-the-Sea and peeked into a few spots before finding this one--it was by far the most welcoming and inviting. The staff gave really clear explanations and were able to answer all of our questions about the wine. We really enjoyed several of the tastings and ended up taking home two bottles. Great experience!

Excellent opportunity to taste fabulous wine. It was a cozy environment with great music, customer service, and deep knowledge of the wines.

Great attentive service by our host Our group sat outside on a comfortable couch and chairs. We were promptly provided water. We ordered the Winemakers Selection Flight at $40 pp, a bit extreme even for Carmel. Also ordered the cheese plate that paired with the wines that we ordered at $35. Overall it was a nice experience for treating an out of town guest but pricey. I understand the costs issues as I have been going to Chalone for over 20 years at their Soledad tasting room.

Excellent seating area inside by the fireplace or outside in the square. Excellent knowledgeable staff even though our waiter was not a wine drinker, seemed like he would be better with beer or a mixed drink. And another plus that all the wines tasted can be purchased at a store near our house.

The new Chalone Tasting Room in Carmel is a welcome addition to Carmel-by-the-sea. Part of the Foley Family of wines, this addition adds some unique standouts to their portfolio, particularly their Syrah and their Grenache from the Chalone Appellation. The tasting room interior is beautifully decorated and the custom furniture used inside to fit the space makes everything feel very well thought out and intentional. The tasting room manager Stacey is a wealth of knowledge and exudes passion for the brand as well as all the staff that make up Chalone Vineyards. Brian assisted us during our visit and is enthusiastic about the wines he was able to share with us and is really knowledgeable about the wide offerings available in the tasting room as well as the wines available as part of the wine club. This place is a must-visit spot if you're wine tasting in Carmel-by-the-sea.

My husband and I had an opportunity to visit the new Chalone Tasting Room in the Carmel Plaza this last Saturday. They just opened this past November in the space recently vacated by Hahn. Chalone is owned by the Foley Family Group whose portfolio also includes Chalk Hill, Ferrari-Carano, Silverado among many others from CA, the Pacific Northwest, New Zealand and even France and Argentina. First impressions - the wine room hasn't changed too much since the days of Hahn with the exception of furniture and artwork. It's still light and airy with a modern feel. There are comfortable couches/sitting areas as well as tables set up for people to relax and enjoy. They even had a fire on this chilly January day. We were greeted warmly by Brian, who conducted our tasting. We started with a lovely Rose of Grenache. While I'm generally not a huge fan of Rose, this one was quite nice. We also tasted the Pinot Blanc, both the Chardonnay Musque (stainless steel) and the Chardonnay Reserve (oaked), the Grenache, the GSM and the Syrah. Our tasting ended with a special pour of the 2015 Silverado Solo, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Leap District. If I had to pick favorites, the Solo was top of my list as I typically love heavier reds. However, along with that we also took home a bottle of the Rose of Grenache, the Pinot Blanc and the Syrah. Brian did a wonderful job sharing his knowledge of the vineyards and the wines. It was quite the lovely experience and I would definitely recommend a stop.

We got a chance to try Chalone wines first at the Winemaker's Celebration event in Carmel, so while walking around Carmel Plaza a couple of days later, we definitely had to stop in for a full tasting. I believe it was Kayla who took care of us, and she did a great job. Luckily, it wasn't very busy, so we got her full attention. She was very helpful in explaining the wines, and telling us about the winery. The wines were great and we ordered a few for shipping home. The tasting room also offers a cheese flight to accompany the tasting flights for a very reasonable cost, but I think it was comped because we bought enough bottles. Definitely a good place to stop in with friends.

Amazing tastings and cheese pairings! Plus, customer service is great. The ambience is super chill and fancy!

What a wonderful new addition to Carmel Plaza. The staff are all warm, professional and highly knowledgeable about wine. The wine tasting is superb, one of the best in town. A great spot for enjoying friends and a lovely experience. Thanks so much Chalone!

The service was excellent, and the ambiance was amazing, all conveniently located in downtown Carmel.

Great wine tasting stop.We were able to meet with the winemaker and taste some fabulous wines. The service was excellent and the wines we purchased will remind us of the afternoon we spent at Chalone.

Amazing tasting with live music the second Sunday of each month. The ambience , the music and the excellent wine is highly recommended

We stopped off here to try some wines. My husband had never been wine tasting. ( I know!!! It's a wonder we even got together.) Brian was our wine expert for the afternoon. He was helping someone at the counter when we walked in and still was able to recognize us as welcome us in. We had our dogs with us, as usual. He was very gracious answering our questions and helping the hubs understand different grapes. I read some other reviews about service here...you want Brian!! He's 5 star service.

Execeptional expereince due to the attentive nature and knowledge from Brian. We visited twice during our stay in Carmel and ended up buying wine to take home with us. Brian was knowledgeable and interested in us and how we were enjoying the wine asking what our favorites were. Very welcoming and modern feel to the tasting room. Don't miss this expereince, the wines were incredibly good and so was the service! Thank you Brian

Fantastic wines, better than I remember from the days when they had far more production. Excellent service, and an unexpected treat of very pleasant live guitar music!

Today was our second time we went to Chalone at Carmel Plaza. First time was absolute fantastic (thanks to the male waiter that made a descent job with us and a gave us an extraordinary wine flight, this is what the 2 stars are about), today was 95% disappointing. The waiter was not interested in any description of the wines, didn't offer any purchases beside the tastings or asked us four people for our comfort or how we liked the wines. It's sad because after the first experience we brought our friends here to share that great time we had there before. I cant tell you the name of the uninterested waiter, because she even didn't introduced herself to us. Next time - because your wines are great - we'll watch out for the waiter we had first time. By the perspective of service: it would have been the same sitting at home and pour wine ourselves.

4* Chalone Tasting Room, recently opened Carmel Plaza, interesting décor Several wine simples; they did not pour any pinot noirs Chardonnay was very good The charcuterie platter was wonderful Staff was inconspicuous

We enjoyed our wine tasting here after exploring Pinnacles NP! We did a tasting and then enjoyed a bottle while looking at the beautiful views. They have an indoor and outdoor seating area.

Our merry group of four had a wonderfully relaxed and informative visit at Chalone, as guided by our very professional & friendly host Brian. He set us up in a comfortable indoor area in the well-appointed tasting room. I felt like I was tasting wine in my living room & if it weren't for the call of The Cheese Shop, we might have lingered even longer. Brian gave us great background on the history of Chalone to set the stage. For me, this tasting was different (in a good way). The whites outnumbered the reds for a change! The Rose was delicious, even with a bit of residual sugar. The Chenin Blanc exhibited good acidity, leaving a very clean taste on the palate. Both the Pinot Blanc & the Chardonnay Musque showed pretty fruit on the nose, & a similar expression on the palate. Brian was very adept at describing the wines, & explaining the presence of the somewhat unusual (in California) Chardonnay Musque grape. Grenache & Syrah are two of my favorite Rhone red varietals, & these did not disappoint. Many that I drink are from Paso Robles, so it was fun to sample from a cooler climate. Extrapolating a bit into the future, these will blossom. The Grenache is not as fruit forward as some, but promises to evolve very nicely. The Syrah is big, & I can't wait to see what it delivers in another 6-12 months. I went home with some of everything, & I look forward to sharing these wines & my delightful experience with my wine-loving friends back in Santa Barbara. I am hoping that my other companions at this tasting do the same. I will definitely re-visit when I return to Carmel & look forward to interacting with Brian again. Cheers!

The wines are okay (we ended up not buying any of them), but the experience itself is very nice, tucked up into the hills at the base of Pinnacles National Park, especially when sipping your wine out on the balcony with perfect warm, sunny weather tempered by a cool breeze. The chardonnay from here apparently won 3rd place at the famous Judgment of Paris, but we didn't find any of the wines here anything to particularly write home about. Still, they were enjoyable to sip and the overall experience was quite worthwhile, especially as a wind-down activity to relax after doing some hiking!

Did a wine flight here, my favorite by far was the Grenache which finished with flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg. The outdoor seating area is lovely and comfortable with the sea breeze. I believe our sommelier's name was Jane, super sweet and informative of the different wines.

Outstanding, unique wines. Interesting drive. Really nice staff. Tons of potential. All the wines were great and tasted unique compared to the other wines just down in the valley and in the foothills on the other side in the Santa Lucia Highlands. My personal favorite was the Chardonnay, which was just extraordinary, though the Pinot and Chenin Blanc were memorable as well. The drive up to Chalone (which shares most of the same route to Pinnacles) is quite the drive, but fortunately there are a decent number of signs directing you along the final route to the tasting room. Be warned: it can be extremely hot. Temperatures were in the upper 90s while down in the valley. I really wish they had more air-conditioned seating options given the heat and the fact that, for whatever reason, the tasting balcony isn't actually that well-situated for views. The views are pretty good for what they are though and it's definitely one of the most unique places to taste wine in the area. Laid-back vibe in the tasting room was nice; there were groups of hikers who came in and fit right in. The staffers were relatively new, but very nice and friendly. They also gave good recs for dinner afterwards. Right now it seems to be just another brand in a larger conglomerate's catalogue, but I think this place could eventually be something extraordinary given the wines, the location, and the history. For now, it's slightly rough hidden gem.

An overdue review of this lovely vineyard. We called in Chalone after a long day of hiking in Pinnacles (late February 2021). Chalone is located on the entrance road on the *west* entrance of Pinnacles (there's two entrances, east/west, and no road connects them!). Following COVID-19 protocols, the tasting was located outdoors on the front lawn of the tasting room. They had quite a few tables set up. The grounds are lovely - you're surrounded by the vineyard and the sandstone spires of the Pinnacles region. I'll be the first to admit I'm not a big drinker, but I seriously enjoyed the Chalone wines! We opted for the tasting and I enjoyed the chenin blanc so much I bought a bottle to take home. In Feb. 2021, the tasting was $20, but free if you bought a bottle of wine. The tasting staff were friendly, attentive, and explanatory. I love to listen to a good set of facts about literally anything, so I appreciated their explanations and little tidbits about the winery/wine/ownership that they shared. The wine is great, the scenery is lovely. I highly recommend stopping by after a day at Pinnacles!

Visited June 2021 during a camping trip at Pinnacles. Since the campgrounds are on the other side of the mountains, it took an hour and a half to get here, taking the highway through Kings City and then up to Soledad. Kendall (F&B manager) and McKenna were both friendly and welcoming. Kendall offered us and our dog water upon arrival and then the wine flight menu for the tasting. The setting: casual and no frills (which we appreciate); there are various options for outdoor seating where there's also ample shade (we were there midday). We were seated at the balcony on the main level. There's also seating indoors. The view is of the surrounding trees and dirt parking lot (you get a peek of the vineyard on the way to the parking lot and if you're lucky, may even be accompanied by low-flying condors). Interesting tidbits: the winery is the oldest in the Monterey region and a trip through the valley conjures imagery from Steinbeck's work. The owner of the winery is a well-respected business leader and a celebrity in the business world. Pro-tip: bring your own charcuterie/snacks. Unfortunately there was no food/restaurant when we visited although that may be changing soon. Also, bring cash for gratuity as there is no option to add it when paying with a credit card. Wish we knew this ahead of time to be able to acknowledge the excellent service we received. What could be improved: availability of snacks (even cheese and crackers). Being the oldest winery in the region, it also would've been interesting to learn some of the history and "insider secrets" to make the experience more memorable (I.e. how the winery got started, challenges the owners overcame, current state of the region, etc). Overall, we enjoyed our visit and the wine we took home - a 2018 chenin blanc.

Love the new Tastingroom. My husband and I had a fabulous experience with Brian and Stacy. We love that you can both taste, Chalone wines, and other wines from the Foley properties. Everyone was so nice. The Tastingroom is very chic. And we absolutely noticed the fabulous stemware. We have visited many other Foley properties, and they have the best stemware at Chalone.

We spent the evening doing a wine tasting. The wine was incredible and service was just as spectacular.

Don't go! We had a reservation last Sunday and made the very long drive to this out of the way winery to find a locked gate. We waited an hour but they never opened. We tried calling and no answer. We wasted 5 hours of driving to get there and have never heard from them as to why this happened. Wish we had called before we left. Not a fun way to spend my 60th birthday trip.

Such a great hidden place. I went to Hike pinnacles and returning and the time tasting at this stunning room is a perfect ending to a day. Christopher and Angelina are amazing. They are real, sincere and know their wine. I look forward to the next time I visit.

Loved our tasting today at Chalone. Stacy was a great host with a breadth of knowledge about the Vineyard and its history that enriched our experience. Yes, Chalone is out of the way, but if you find anywhere near it (say, in Paso) make the time to go by and enjoy its superb low production wines.

What a hidden gem. On our drive up from the South, we were looking for a winery a bit off the beaten path and are so glad we found Chalone thanks to Yelp. Their tasting room is a bit off from 101 (about 15-20 min detour) but well worth the picturesque drive. Coming from SF, we haven't explored central coast wineries at all but we're impressed with what we found. So glad we finally explored this area. The folks in the tasting room (Angelina and Jesus) were incredibly friendly and the wines were delicious. Their Pinot Blanc and Chenin Blanc were very drinkable and unique -- we brought home a Chenin Blanc with us. But their reds were the real stars with full bodied Pinot Noirs and delicious Grenache and Syrah offerings. Their 2007 Pinot Noir was superb, as was the 2013. If we had more space in our wine fridge, we easily would've brought back more. Definitely make this a stop if you're passing by.

Disappointed! Saturday mid-afternoon visit. The young man serving us was indifferent at best. He insisted cheese platter accompanying a $20 tasting was an additional $35! Even though Chalone's web page says tasting plus cheese platter = $35. (See photo) The whites also were not properly chilled.

Can't speak for their wine as we never got to try it. We showed up and a disgruntled lady watched and waited for us to gather all of our stuff and get out of the car and start walking up before telling us the winery is closed between 12:30 and 1. No where on the website or the sign by the road does it mention anything about being closed during this time or we would have come at a different time instead of spending an hour driving for nothing.

first time to taste the wines was at salinas valley food and wine festival so i took my mother in law out to do wine tasting today and the best wine tasting was great Arianna who helped us today was great and knowledgeable about everything i am going to be recommending them to everyone and i can't wait to go back

This winery sits right on the edge of Pinnacles National Monument, so for the last stretch of our gorgeous and grueling hike, I kept envisioning how nice it would be to reward ourselves with a bit of vino... and it was! Given the remoteness of the location we had relatively low expectations in regard to the quality of the pours, but of the list of eight we sampled (four white, four red) all were quite good. The various newspaper articles and awards adorning the walls would seem to vouch that this is a legit winery, who knew?! Prices per bottle started at about $18 for one of the whites and went up to $45 for the Heritage Pinot (my favorite). The pourer waved the $5 tasting fee when the Boy couldn't resist purchasing a bottle of the unique Pinot Blanc. There was a casual vibe about the tasting room (no one seemed fazed by our hiking gear) and the man pouring the tastings was happy to chat everyone up, as well as give an extra pour if you had a favorite you wanted to try again. Unfortunately the deck was closed (though it would have only provided views to the parking lot), and the tasting room is large and orderly but without much atmosphere to speak of, so you better be there for the wine. I'm not sure if it's worth seeking this place out, as it's definitely off the beaten path, but it's a perfect end to a day at Pinnacles.

We stopped in after a trip to Pinnacle NP. It was the icing on the cake for our trip. It should be called serendipity. Chris and Angelina make a great pair. We loved our visit and tour. I had never heard of Chalone being from Texas but apparently they are really a big deal. I felt like They were honored to have us there. Best winery stop os our entire trip. Hands down worth a trip no matter where you are.

Simply so worth the drive. Fabulous wines. Beautiful views and fantastic staff. Keep it up!

Visited 11/22/20, place is out in the middle of nowhere. Limestone growing conditions make the wines unique. Chenin blanc from 101 year old vines, great Grenache, and 2018 Pinot were worth buying. I purchased all three and joined their wine club. Tasting was conducted outdoors due to COVID-19. Make sure to make a trip to Pinnacle National Park since it only another 15 minutes

Super location near Pinnacles west entrance makes this a great stop after hiking in the park. The wines are excellent as well. Beautiful chardonnay and pinot noir.

Oh you bet this place is the real deal, this was one of the first places which really showed the world that California wine is world class. That said, it's a LONG ride to get out here, but it's worth it - if for no other reason to experience a California wine which isn't an over-oaked fruit bomb.

Unfortunately they do not have a tasting room anymore. Disappointed and was looking forward after my Pinnacles hike to enjoy these great wines. :(

i had a private tour of this place. i'm not a big fan of the white wines but this place had some awesome whites! they were very friendly and helpful. i'm sad that their tasting room is closed, i hope in the future they will reopen it

yes, I was here in 1973 when it really was a great winery!! Richard was still the wine maker and he treated every wine like a prized Burgundy.