Menghini Winery

This was a great find. We are around Julian on a Tuesday and thought lets Unilocal wineries and find this place. Drive on Wynola was a bit narrow and curvy, but ended at this jewel. The nice lady behind the counter really spent the time to talk to us, despite a crowd showing up. The Chardonnay was excellent and crisp and the rest of the tastings we good also. We bought a bottle so tastings were only $ 5. Overall this was a great find in a sleepy town. Hope we get to come back for the car show!

The price of the tasting went up to $ 10 for 6 tiny tasters and you don’t get to keep the glass (anymore). Bottle prices vary but i didn’t see anything below $ 20 per bottle.
The prices went up and the quality seems to be going down. The wine tasting facility could use a bit of a cleaning, its better just to take your wine and go to the back patio and enjoy the views.

My husband and I got two bottles of wine this summer. We opened one last night and it was pure vinegar. We then decided to open another one and it was the same thing. We spent a lot of money when we went to only have the wine be undrinkable. The only bottle we were able to drink we opened the night we bought the bottles. Very disappointing.

This winery has a very homey and relaxed feel. The Syrah was personally my favorite (i tend to like the spicier reds) but they offer tastings for 5 $ per person, I believe. Once you’ve chosen your wine you can relax on their property, it’s very cozy & there are apple trees in the backyard :)
Great for a couples retreat and a family outing.

Staff was arrogant, uninformative, and rude. The bathroom was disgusting and covered in feces. I was so displeased we left after our first tasting despite having paid in full. Not worth the time or being imbibed. This is a fine place for tasteless people with zero standards. If you have any taste or class take your money and go to Blue Door.

One of the only wineries open mid-​week any where within reasonable driving distance from Ramona — so this was the only choice we had. But I am glad we went. The people were VERY friendly and knowledgable. We arrived just as they brought in a harvest of merlot grapes. We were able to get up close and watch them scoop the grapes into the crusher — and they even let my husband scoop some. They also had a friendly dog :)
The horses came to see me but when they realized I had nothing for them they went back to standing around.
Great place and would go back anytime.

We were driving around Julian looking for something to do and saw signs for the winery and decided to pull in since it was the only one open in the area. Upon walking in a yellow Labrador looking dog greeted us barking and letting me pet him. I pet him and enjoyed his company. An old man came from around the fermentation tanks he was really cool and nice and came up let us try all their wines and we took a bottle of their vino nostra half half white Summer wine so easy and fruity. He had some garlic bread pieces to refresh our pallets. The dog ended up barking twice at the man and running out the door never to be seen again. Great place

This was our first stop after hiking Volcan Mountain. When we arrived there was a pleasant dog/​wolf welcoming guests in the door. Two men were pouring the wine at the counter. We split a tasting of 6 wines for $ 10. The wines were all pretty good with my particular favorite being the Merlot.
We grabbed a glass of wine a piece and headed out back to drink them. Although the glasses were a bit pricey ($ 7) they poured them to the brims.
Overall this was a nice detour after a morning hike. My only two wishes would be that they had any kind of snack food to go with the wine and perhaps a little landscaping.

There was just one couple there at the counter tasting wine. The guy behind the counter gave us a stare down and made us feel very unwelcome. No hello or what can I help you with. Went one chatting with this couple. Guess they don’t like non whites. Place itself was pretty run down or maybe they were going for a rustic look. Can’t tell anything about the wine since the guy wasn’t too keen on serving us.

Rustic place with lots of charm. Dog was adorable and did tricks for crackers the whole time we tasted wine. Man working was friendly and easy going. I’m not a highly skilled wine connoisseur, but I loved the wine and the atmosphere!

Wine OK
Service or lady at front not overly friendly… seemed bothered by our presence but we got her to come around (like it’s our job) in fact we asked her if we could do a wine tasting and she answered with «Well I’m standing here aren’t I»
Grounds are OK
Tasting is $ 10

I’m surprised by a lot of the reviews on here… Maybe I’m just not a wine snob, but I absolutely enjoyed myself when I went a couple years ago. The 2011 rose was one of my favorite wines I’ve ever tried and I should have bought more than one bottle! I’m going to go back soon and buy more. I also thought the winery was pretty cute and had laid back atmosphere I enjoyed. Loved the friendly cats just chilling everywhere.

Did not like this winery. It is dirty, old, cold, smelly and un welcoming. The animals are really cute but it seems kinda un sanitary. The view from the patio outside is actually really pretty, but the patio itself is run down and old. It’s not cute or relaxing. It felt dirty and the bathroom might be one of the grossest ones I’ve been in.
Then the wine. I don’t think there was even one we liked. We tossed most of them. Oh the one sauv blanc was alright. I drank that taste. We were incredibly un impressed and wanted to leave. It took forever to pay and to get our wines. The only reason it isn’t one star was the lady who I believe owns it was nice. Not really in a, she Def should be in hospitality industry but nice in a she’s a nice person way.
I also think those wine bottles have been open for alot longer than one or two days. I don’t think they get enough traffic to trust they open fresh bottles.
Skip it, go to ophelia, it was better.

We were out apple picking for the day and noticed this Winery just down the road. We wandered our way down hoping to have found a gem within the hills. They didn’t seem to put too much care into seating or actual tasting set up. It was a very small bar that everyone had to crowd up against. Outside view is truly beautiful, expect for their actual patio.. . we were sitting on dusty chairs amongst trash, cans of WD-​40, cracked pizza ovens and a wandering black cat. It is a cheap deal with only $ 5 for 7 tastings. We ended up stopping at 5 and left to enjoy the beautiful drives surrounding this winery.

The best thing about this winery is the drive in and out depending on the direction you are coming from. It is located about 3 miles out of Julian and is just a beautiful drive.
I will warn you if you are not an animal lover or allergic to cats this may not be the place for you. The cats are siblings and wonder about the tasting room. They do have a very friendly Golden Retriever. He is calm unless there is another dog about.
The tasting room is very small and can get cramped if there are many folks in their tasting.
I can not say that I was too impressed with their selection. I felt that the other wineries in the surrounding area produced much better wines than this one did. All of the wines on their tasting list seemed generic and didn’t feel there was anything special. It could have just been the season. My wife enjoyed their desert wine enough to purchase it. I felt the price of the wines were too high for the quality. I am not a wine snob by any means, but I can say that I have had much better wines.
I felt that the servers were nice, but you would easily be ignored when regulars or members arrived. We did not experience the back patio area that others talk about as they were making repairs to the stage that is apparently outside.
The grounds are beautiful and the countryside leading in and away from the winery are picturesque. I would not recommend this winery if you have been to others. However, if you want to start here would be a good idea than making this a last winery you try.
It is off of a dirt road so drive slowly as there are bumps you may not see.
SK

Good
Value
On the flight
And pretty grounds.
Bathrooms more in the style of dive bars.

There is good and bad with everything, the problem is when, like at Menghini– the bad so greatly outweighs the good.
The good:
Nice rolling grounds. Plenty of space to take in the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air.
The bad:
The wine wasn’t great, just okay (some not even that).
Also, the folks who were working here could best be described as terse. They seemed to get on well with their regulars, but treated people passing through to sample the wine as though they were a nuisance. Forgive me– but why get into a passion-​project like a winery if you hate talking to people about wine!
The apparent owner wasn’t even terse– just plain rude. I was very put off.
Bad service + mediocre project = a 2 star-​review. Even if the sunshine was lovely.

I went on a tour around, I don’t know much about wine so I stopped at this place. The nicest thing that I could say about this winery was they had a very nice dog. Otherwise, the people who worked here were unfriendly, comparatively to the other three wineries i visited this weekend the wine was not very good. The parking situation was kind of rough. I wouldn’t go back to this place.

Follow the signs to find this winery as it can be a bit tricky to figure out where it is. Once u arrive u (if your lucky) will be greeted by the friendly owner Toni and her adorable cats Bonnie and Clyde. Don’t let the cats fool you this is a very dog friendly winery.
Now sit back and enjoy the wine and great conversations with Toni. We tried a variety of reds/​white all were pretty much spectacular!!! Of course we had to buy a bottle to take home with us. There is an indoor tasting area, outdoor space in the back to enjoy the view and an area to «stomp» the wines!!!

Located just about 3 miles outside of downtown Julian, in a very picturesque and country like setting lies the Menghini winery.
It’s a cool converted building with a history dating back to the 1940’s and then some. Go ahead and ask about the construction, where the wood came from, the tin roof, etc., from the workers on site.
Upon entering you’ll note the small tasting bar adorned on either side by antique barber chairs (very comfortable), and country baskets filled with live cats lazying about. The whole place is easy on the eyes, with tons of cool items to look at. Out back is a porch that overlooks their acreage with various chairs and table to take in nature. If you stick around long enough you’ll see the cats playing about or stalking in the grass out back.
The outside grounds are nice to explore and very photogenic.
Tastings are $ 5 a person and that includes a total of 6 tastes including a few reds, a few whites and a desert wine. Owner and staff were very chatty and felt comfortable to talk to with lots of suggestions about things to do in the area (where to eat, etc.).
You can purchase bottles of wine here and a few other items (water, soda), but not really a huge winery gift shop.
The only real issue one *might* have is if you are allergic to cats. Upon my initial entrance the unmistakable smell of cat ‘ammonia’ lingered in the air inside which I’m not a huge fan of. And even though it’s in the «country» the out back porch could use a little ‘grooming’, but otherwise a nice relaxing distraction and drive outside Julian and well worth the visit.