Lone Buffalo Vineyards

I give this small family owned winery a 5. The wines were great especially the Zinfandel. The staff was great and explained everything in detail. I really really enjoyed this hidden gem. I recommend the nice drive and a picnic here with friends. Great wine at a great cost.

My kind of winery. Intimate and friendly.

Wow there are some harsh reviews on here! I do know wine. I am a musician who plays many wineries in Paso Robles. My neighbor is a wine salesman and reps wine from all over the country.
Rarely am I impressed with wines.
I came here with low expectations and I thought they had exceptional wines at a very low price point
There blend «where the buffalo roam» was an amazing everyday table wine that is easy to drink and could pair with most anything.
The zin and cab were very impressive as well.
I will come back again definitely.

Really friendly tasting room experience, good wines, nice atmosphere, sweet dog, appreciate that these owners promote other wineries and breweries in the area and provided maps for us to continue our journey.

When this place first opened at its new location, it was a fun place to visit so I joined Lone Buffalo’s wine club. However, over time as they became more successful, they started to become more pretentious.
First, I have a severe food allergy where I cannot drink white wines. For my wine club membership, because of my food allergies, I paid more so that I would get exclusively red wines. However, EVERY time I walked into the bar, the male owners gave me a hard time about my food allergies. When I would go in to pick up my wine club shipment, at first they great about my «reds only» wine club membership. However, as they became more successful, the male owner would give me grief about my «reds only» selection even though my account was noted «reds only». In fact, one time he told me «I was lucky he was switching the white wine for a rose». The fact that Lone Buffalo was charging me more for my «reds only» selection and then giving me grief when I reminded them that I was not supposed to get the white wine selection was a true turn off (and in my opinion a horrible business practice).
Also, the winery bills itself as «dog friendly». However, beware of this «dog friendly» policy. One time we were in the tasting room for a wine club pick up, with no other patrons present, with our two dogs. We were enjoying our tasting and our dogs were just walking around sniffing causing no harm whatsoever. The female owner then decides to let her dog out (who was asleep so she had to wake him to bring him into the tasting room). The owner’s dog, for reasons I do not understand, begins to growl at our dogs causing the owners to ask us to remove our dogs from the premises. After being asked to leave, my girlfriend volunteered to take our dogs off the premises while I was collecting the wine club shipment. My girlfriend asked if she could have a pour of the new release, to sample while sitting outside, and the female owner declined my girlfriend the tasting.
As time progressed, the best experiences we had was working with the owner’s daughter. However, the negative customer experiences provided by the actual owners is what resulted in my cancellation of my wine club membership. Since that day, I never have returned to the winery.
As for Lone Buffalo’s wine, it was ok. They rely heavily upon American Oak and the winemaker has not been able to figure out how to minimize the earthy/​mineral finished caused by the American Oak. I feel it is overpriced, at the winery, for the quality of product received. Actually, since quitting the wine club, I have noticed that Total Wine sells their flagship wine, Where the Buffalo Rome, at a price point cheaper than what Lone Buffalo charges their wine club members.

I am most definitely not a wine expert. I’m not even a passably knowledgeable amateur. I’m pretty much a wine cavewoman, so keep that in mind. I just drink what I like. So you cool, highly-​educated wine people can totally ignore the rest of this review if you like, I won’t be offended.
My friend and I were disposed to think well of the Lone Buffalo as it was recommended by the folks at another winery we liked. The drive there is lovely, the tasting room has pleasant rustic décor, we were greeted in a friendly fashion, all good. There were two large parties there at the time, but we still managed to find a spot at the tasting bar. Each wine has a cute buffalo moniker (Bison Blanc, Thunder Beast, Noble Beast, etc.). The wine maker/​owner is a charming gentleman with a great mustache, he seems just like a nice person. However, the wine… well, it just did not suit us. We really tried! We really, really, wanted to like this wine. I don’t think I’ve ever actually walked away from a winery without a bottle to take home, I usually find something I like enough to buy.
At the end of our tasting («now you’ve had the whole herd» said the afore-​mentioned charming gentleman cheeseball), we tried to think which one we liked enough to buy. But we just couldn’t do it. I felt terrible. The charming gentleman waited expectantly, convivial good humor radiating from his kind face. When we thanked him profusely and sort of intimated our intention to leave, the jovial glint in his eyes hardened to granite: «That’ll be five dollars each for the tasting then.» Alrighty then. We left, suitably chastened, with a bad taste in our mouths.

Ok wine. Horrible service. The owner seemed put out by having to serve our group. There are so many great local wineries in this area but this was not one of them. I would say skip Lone Buffalo and save your time and money for a business that will make you feel welcome.

Recommendation: Skip it on the wine trail and enjoy better wine where the staff wants you there! My Vernon, Wise Villa and Dono de Cielo are a must! Beautiful day for wine tasting and Lone Buffalo was stop #2 celebrating my bachelorette party. There were 10 of us and we were greeted after about 5 minutes by Phil (old man and wine maker) asking if we had called first and completely dismissive when we said no. They set us up and each time he wanted to tell us about wine made comments of women and how much we talk and can’t get a word in edgewise. Wine ok, tasting room cute and Jill so sweet. I’d suggest keeping him in the back to prefect the wine rather than customer service. We would have easily bought 5 bottles between the 10 of us and chose to spend our money elsewhere!

I liked some of the wine here and the atmosphere, BUT the owners were very rude. The lady asked for my honest opinion on one of the wines so I told her it didn’t smell very good, but tasted good. She gave me a dirty look and sort of put me down in front of everyone. Then, she walked over to her daughter to talk about me… I mean at least wait until I leave. The girls I was with and I felt very uncomfortable and unwelcome. We even bought a bottle of wine from them… I don’t like people like this; how do you expect to gain business and regulars? I just like a more friendlier crowd. don’t recommend this place! sorry!

Phil and Jill are. The. Best. The Placer Wine Trail is lucky to have a vintner as knowledgable and experienced as Phil and Jill is probably the best hostess around. We’re big fans. Not of Napa-​style wines, which leave me feeling 60 years older than I should and $ 60 poorer than I’d like to be. Lone Buffalo charges $ 5 per tasting (one $ 5 tasting fee waved with each bottle purchase, pretty typical around here), grows region-​appropriate varietals, and has a fantastic wine club. There are lots of wineries on the trail now (I mean, comparatively). Some are good. Some try too hard. Some can’t figure out the foothill climate. Phil really gets it.
If you’re looking for something dusty, overwhelming, or pretentious, you won’t find it here. These are foothill wines created in small quantities. If that’s not your thing, that’s ok. Napa’s not that far away! If you’re up to trying it out and seeing what the Placer area has to offer, I’d suggest giving any of the wines a try. But maybe especially the Where the Buffalo Roam!

I was recommended to come to Lone Buffalo. They have a good location on Wise Road which is good for hitting several Placer County wineries and even a brewery. The winery has a great look with a upscale rustic look and a nice tasting room and patio. Unfortunately, the wine was a bit off.
Judging wine is an imperfect science with each palate being different. I did not like with wine, but the winery was pretty good. It is also hard to judge based on one vintage since grapes and styles are always changing. The staff was nice, and the room was pretty cute so I am giving them 3 stars mainly for the environment instead of the wine, but I am hoping that things will be better on a future trip.

The wine is great the guy host is an ass. Yes we were on a tour with friends and we were having fun. Don’t stop us and yell at us to listen to your story of the grape. Wine 4 host 0. Not everybody cares about what elevation a grape is grown at. We just wanted to have fun… roll with it guys, learn how to have fun.

One of the many on the wine trail. The drive up is pleasant. So full for the visit and no seating about.
Staff was somewhat timely to acknowledge upon entering on a busy day. A little disorganized to whom was helping who. It was whatever staff tending to who lever needed assistance.
Wine tasting was explained. A small fee unless you purchase.
Five tastings. First was one of the whites. Definitely not one to my senses. Smell was a bit offsetting. The taste wasn’t great. Dry but flavor was there. Second was a red. Nothing earth shattering. Fast forward. Something for most people here, these wines didn’t really do it for me. Not sure if result of smelling first one. We didn’t pick up anything.
Good: ease to find parking.
Bad: nothing to my taste. Smell of one can be a turn off. Staff attentiveness is suspect.
Might try again. Improbable though.

This was our least favorite out of the three wineries we visited.
Pros:
Beautiful outdoor setting
Outside picnic area
Fire pit for the winter
$ 7 glasses of wine if you choose to just have a glass on the premises
Dog friendly
Cons:
They charge a $ 5 tasting fee pp, although we purchased a bottle of their Tempranillo, our wine steward only deducted $ 5 off the price of the bottle.
Maybe I’m spoiled because the winery I visited before Lone Buffalo deducted $ 10 off the price of my bottle for our generous tastings
$ 30 for a Tempranillo, the price we paid, original price was $ 35, IMHO, I think it’s pricey.
Very small pours compared to our last two stops
Although we were impressed with the tranquil setting, this was our least favorite winery. Not as friendly and welcoming as our first two stops.
Overall, we weren’t really impressed with the wines here, we chose the Tempranillo because that was by far the best out of our tastings.

Where to start?! I was lucky to come across lone buffalo when a friends too me around the auburn wine trail! There tasting room is extremely cute! All of there wines were fantastic! On my last trip up there we were lucky enough to taste some new wine that the owners daughter had helped create. And WOW they were they amazing. «Just Cuz» was one wine that really stood out. There daughter did such a fantastic job. My mom and I ended up buying multiple bottles because we loved it so much! Highly recommend stopping into lone buffalo and trying some great wine! Make sure to bring some snacks there outdoor area is adorable and a great place to relax with a glass of wine!

The wine is so good we became club members. They are always friendly and always welcoming.
Their «Where the Buffalo Roam» is my favorite Rhone style blend outside of France. We always buy more of that and some Tempranillo, Grenache and other wines when we pick up our club selections. My wife and I have been lovers of fine wine for 25 years and we belong to a few clubs. While we change clubs often, we have kept the Lone Buffalo membership because the wine has never suffered a bad year. They just get better.
I’m editing my review because I just read the bad reviews. I see complaints about their tasting policy, and I can assure you that their policy is the standard in the industry. The $ 5 fee will be applied to the purchase of a bottle of wine. Expecting that several people can pool all their fees toward a single bottle of wine is ridiculous and no reason to punish them with bad reviews.
Another bad review complained about the rude old man who pours the tastings. I can only say that the reviewer got the wrong winery. There is no old man who pours there. Over the years, the only man that I have seen pour is the winemaker. He is always informative and friendly. His wife and daughter are the usual servers. It’s a family business.
They deserve a five star rating.

Good at making wine. Bad at making customers. If 3 people taste to select a bottle, each must pay $ 5 to taste, but only one person’s $ 5 goes to wine. Other two relinquish their fees. Thus a $ 25 bottle will cost you $ 35.
Other wineries offer better pricing.

I don’t know why my former review was removed but I will write another one. While visiting Lone Buffalo my group and I were treated VERY poorly by the older man that pours the wine for tastings behind the counter. This certainly wasn’t an isolated incident because someone who read my original review actually sent me a message saying that they had a similar experience. I will spare you the details and just tell you that I will NEVER EVER return to this winery. I don’t know how they are getting Unilocal to remove their bad reviews but last time I looked there were a few reviews with one star, mine included.
Their wine isn’t anything special either, one of their cabs tastes like paint. I hated my experience there and I will not return because of the man inside of the tasting room. I think he hates anyone who isn’t as miserable as he. Take a chill pill, sir. life isn’t bad, you work in a wine room.

On a recent visit to Auburn, my wife and I found this wonderful boutique winery! Jill was an absolutely amazing hostess. The vibe is low key and unpretentious. The wine flight was top notch!
The main reason I love small wineries is the opportunity to learn about the vintners process and artistry. I was pleasantly surprised by the wines at Lone Buffalo! While not a huge fan of blends, the «Where The Buffalo Roam» red blend was a wonderful surprise. The use of several varietals gave a well balanced French– style to this wine. The Thunder Beast Zin was a wonderful example of how to bring out the best in a single grape variety. The aroma of fruit was extremely well finished with a hint of pepper and not at all overtly tannic or acidic.
I do enjoy a good port as well and was actually planning on stopping in Napa for a bottle at Prager. But after tasting the wonderfully balanced not overly sweet port at Lone Buffalo, I saved a trip. The port had an absolutely perfect blend of sweetness and alcohol. The rich deep aromas will be a perfect after dinner drink!
I think Lone Buffalo is a gem and look forward to what they produce next! DEFINITELY make a point to stop at this lovely winery!

This is a really cool spot on the Placer Wine Trail. Some greta table reds, very reasonable pricing, and a great place to stop and eat your picnic lunch on the trail. A lot of free range cattle roaming around the grounds just outside the facility, we tried to pet the cows, but they didn’t like us. This place gets super ho in the summer I’m guessing, as our trip in late March was pretty warm.
There is a bunch of cool twisted metal art around the grounds that I suggest you take some time to look at, as well as some leather, Native American stele jewelry you can purchase inside, if you’re into the south0western style art stuff.
I recommend the Where the Buffalo Roam Red