Whitey A.
Yelp
When I was living in Manila, one of the things I missed most about California was wine tasting. Now that I'm back, I've been enjoying visits to a number of the wineries on the Central Coast. Once of my first stops was Saucelito Canyon Vineyards; I found the staff very friendly and unpretentious. Even better, they're pouring some exceptional wines at reasonable prices.
While I like to think I'm an equal opportunity oenophile, I'm very partial to reds. Saucelito Canyon is a Vineyard after my own heart; their offerings are almost exclusively red; they were pouring one rose (and no whites) on my last visit. The main wine focus here is Zinfindel.
Tip: While I enjoyed several of the pours included in the tasting, I was particularly taken with the 2015 Zinfindel Peterson Ranch. It opens with a taste of berries, and ends with a soft, round, spicy finish. I bought a bottle to take home, and they waived my tasting fee.
Unlike many of the wineries I've visited in Napa, the prices of the wines here are intended to be affordable, and most of the wines are drinkable now, without cellaring. While price isn't everything, I never found that charging upwards of eighty dollars a bottle for non-vintage wines enhances the overall experience. At the end of the day, a wine isn't good because you pay more for it; it's good because you enjoy the way it tastes. Utilizing that metric, I consider the wines at Saucelito Canyon to be very good indeed :-)
The tasting experience during my visit was excellent! My friend and I sat outside at a small tasting station they had setup there. All the sommeliers were welcoming, very friendly, and obviously enjoyed both the venue and the wines they were pouring.
Bottom line: If you insist on expensive glass doors, overpriced mediocre wines, and sommeliers with serious attitude problems, then Saucelito Canyon isn't the place for you. On the other hand, if you want good wines with excellent prices and attentive, friendly, knowledge sommeliers, I suggest you come here for a visit.