Charles R Vineyard

Powerhouse. It’s not a trip that one would find regret in, not unless you hate great wines, good vibes, refined cheese and crackers, breathless surroundings in the cool breeze meadows and the high hills. I was hospitably told that families are welcome at «Charles R.», because the young tots have a yard to run around in or a bag of blocks to dive into.
Five stars. Now your question is, how does «Charles R.» or any neighboring vineyard’s tasting room really gonna stand tall with Napa Valley, Paso Roblas or Solvang? The answer is the wines of Livermore are legit. With all sincerity, Livermore wineries can play with the big boys. More on that later.
Top Three at Charles R.: 1. Sauvignon Blanc 2013, 2. Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, 3. Vino de Amor Port 2009; the latter I picked up. Quite a singular Port that’s ticklish just enough, but subdued so there isn’t too much sweetness overkill. In my fifteen year wine swilling hobby I’ve only picked up three Ports, so this Vino de Amor would only be my fourth Port I’ve taken home in such time span.
I love the man and wife who run this place. I want to, I dunno, eat brownies and sip wine while talking families, weekend getaways and Livermore geography with them all day. I wanna exchange Valentines cards with them, and get all cheesy.
Let’s lower the curtain. If you’ve had that snobby attitude that Napa Valley and Sonoma are the only true wine-​tasting expeditions worth taking, then please allow the consideration that Livermore is under the radar and a sport worth taking up. In my thirties now and getting closer to forty then back to age thirty, yes, wine swilling is a sport.
Jump in the car. Take a whirl into Livermore. Put your phone down. Done. An hour or two later. You’re here now so pick your phone up again. Mosey on in, feel that breeze. Look around, looks like a Town and Country magazine doesn’t it? Place yourself at the bar. Agree to low tasting fee. Tell them you’re going wine tasting all day. Done. They say we’re glad you started with us. Done. Say there was a Sean C. on Unilocal who said to start here. Done. They say, I think I remember that guy, he wrote a sparkling review. Done. They pour. Tip your class, put your nose in, breathe in, and say, Thank you Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Yeah, you know it. You’re going to have a wonderful day in Livermore wine country — «it’s gonna be our new thing…»
#mouthwatering
#sublime

So many problems with this winery. First off, they decided to do a fish event in the main room which made the entire room reek of fish. Not everyone likes fish, and tasting wine is just as much about the scent as it is the taste. To completely overpower the room with the smell of fish shows a lack of basic understanding.
Then the staff could not remember which wine they had already given us for tasting, had absolutely no selling sense (telling us you don’t like the wine is not a great endorsement), and then informed us that we couldn’t even buy a bottle that we were tasting. Why is it on your tasting list then? Isn’t the whole point of a tasting to get people to try your wines so they BUY them? Finally, I’m not saying that they water down their wine, but it definitely tastes like it. There is little to no flavor and after a couple sips of each I had to dump the rest. For every single wine. You may be thinking, well this is one person. I was one of four people and my entire party felt the same way. Everyone was grimacing as they tasted the wine and everyone dumped it early, even the ones who normally finish whole glasses with no problem. For those of you who can stomach the wine, power to you. But I’d suggest passing this place up for pretty much any of the other wineries.

Just stood and talked to Bonnie for the longest. This lady is a class act. Thank you for the hospitality!
Beuatiful grounds. Good wine. $ 5 to taste can be applied to purchase.

Nice room, plenty of patio space/​tables but watch out for costs here adding up quickly! We bought a $ 30 bottle and they only took 1 $ 5 tasting off… not the norm for other area wineries that usually comp more tastings if you buy a bottle. They also came over at the end and offered us port and made it sound like it was part of the tasting flight but then added an additional tasting charges.
For $ 5 the tastings were fine but it seems like the costs add up waaay too fast /​shady-​ly. I’d prefer another winery where you buy a bottle that covers tasting costs and they don’t add on extra fees for additional pours without telling you.

Love their wines, smaller family owned friendly business and the lovely backyard patio keeps getting nicer all the time. Often has live music, bring a picnic!

Is absolutely the Best when it comes to wines. Julio grapes produce quite a lovely variety of Petite Syrah’s and Cab’s. A must try for you wine lovers, worth the trip.

driving up a one lane road, Charles R Vinegar literally looked like the end. i yield to oncoming cars. parked in dirt. walked into a tasting room, was told the «cella had the barrel tasting. it was a 10 minute hike.
event:LVBTW (3÷22÷15)
barrel tastes: cab 2013,
–very smooth, no tannin, had body.
–informed grapes cames from «Louis?» nearby.
inventor of wines in cellar didn’t exceed 10 pallets.
–impressed with R’s wine history, i descended the hill and lingered at the front desk to rest. i was quietly offered more pours of CAB’s (09), (10)? they were so smooth,
pricing was 20-​$ 30@, membership free, purchases have disconts. one dAY a sober
one amongst is taking some wine home someday…

We had a great time tasting here on Sunday. You must try the Port with the brownie. Grab a bottom of Zin and sit in the courtyard it is totally relaxing.

THIRD STOP at the livermore valley harvest wine celebration:
samples:
chardonnay — this was served outside in front of the property. after a bit of a walk under the hot sun, this was a nice, refreshing, cool drink to begin our time here. loved the crisp apple notes in this white wine.
syrah — this was served on the back patio, behind the tasting room. this was not as bitter as i’d expected, and i could taste some deep berry notes on this red wine.
perks:
+live music outside in the back patio
+outdoor patio seating, mostly underneath an awning to keep cool
+local vendors selling arts and crafts on the side of the tasting room
+food tent in the back, by the band and patio, selling salads, tacos, corn bread, and sodas
+cool, wine lovers/​divas tshirts inside the tasting room for sale
other:
additional wine tasting inside the tasting room

We really enjoyed this winery.
It was a bit disappointing that our fee for the Livermore Wine Harvest Celebration weekend only covered 2 tastings — I have not yet figured out what our $ 45 covered…
However, once we paid the upgrade fee to go inside for tastings, we were pleasantly surprised. The folks pouring were very friendly and the wines quite tasty.
Nice patio area with music outside.
This was actually the only place we purchased wines on our outing today and we will return!

Every time we have been here the people behind the bar have been very friendly and welcoming. We went once on a Friday and had the place to ourselves — and Charles R himself poured for us! It was a great experience, hearing him tell us about the wines. Tastings were always no charge, but when we went last Labor Day they were charging $ 5. I’m not sure if that was because it was the Livermore Wine Weekend, or if that is now the norm, but it’s still a good price.
Their wines are just a little different than usual. I’m a white drinker, my husband is a red, but both of us liked almost every wine.
The winery is at the very end of the road — I would suggest starting there, especially since they open earlier than the rest. It’s a small tasting room with tables to sit at and you are welcome to bring your own food.

This place is amazing. Time and time again, and today took the cake!
I’ve been here several times, and each time my guests and I are welcomed warmly. Sometimes they pour extra generously, but even when they don’t pour more than usual, their flight is usually about 8 different wines, so you definitely get your money’s worth. And they’re always so friendly and really show us their passion for what they do, which I definitely appreciate. I love the small, family owned feel to this place.
So I actually coordinated with one of their volunteers to plan for my 30^th birthday party, which was today. They were super wonderful and accommodating, right from the start. We had a group tour of the barn, and Jean is very knowledgeable about the whole wine making process, which made the tour fun.
We had tables reserved for all of our food, and I had a band come in to play music, and it was just the best time! Jean was also on top of everything, making sure everyone got their wine and also giving us insight into their wine.
The atmosphere is great, the people are awesome, and the wine is fabulous — they actually turned me into a red wine drinker because they age their wine longer so that there’s less to no tannin left in the wine to make it leave that bitter aftertaste that I don’t like. I like all of their red wines a lot, and their port is to die for! Especially paired with the port brownies! It’s just truly awesome and I’m looking forward to the next time we’re going out there!

Good wines and live music. Barbara was very nice and definitely recommend shelling out the 2 $ for the port tasting and port brownies at the end.
My group bought 2 of the ports and if you substitute water for the port in any brownie mix, prepare to have your Tastebuds thanking you!

We had a wonderful time at last night’s Fourth Friday — Uncorked event. The staff was friendly and informative. We enjoyed the food, the music and wine, while meeting new people along the way! The owners are always welcoming, which we love about this place!
The winery has one of the best locations for tasting in Livermore. The tasting room is a good size, but the patio is wonderful! We enjoyed watching the little bunnies bouncing around the back patio.

Really nice people. The owner, Bonnie, warmly welcomed us and had some chips and dip out. Tasting awas $ 5, comped if you buy a bottle. We were treated to some limited edition Cabernet. Everything tasted good to me but then again I’m willing to admit that I have a standard human palette with little regard for the sommelier experience. I go for the ambiance, crowd, and conversation.
Setting was nice, tasting room was a good size. Checkers and some other simple games to keep the kids occupied.
I probably won’t be back soon. Nothing against the place — it was really nice. I just have other vineyards in the area I prefer and there wasn’t anything super unique to make me want to come back.
Install a bocce ball court though, and you may see me again frequently! Maybe some other fun games like croquet?

Stop 5 on our wine tasting day trip to Livermore:
Short review: If you’ve reached Charles R, you’ve gone too far.
Slightly longer review: After going to McGrail and 3 Steves, my girlfriend and I decided to continue on down the road to Charles R. The vineyard is a bit secluded and the tasting room looks like a nice, well-​lit quaint cottage.
The place was a bit busy when we arrived, so we played checkers for a bit at one of their tables.
This place demonstrates just how important good customer service is. We actually enjoyed some of their red wines, but we decided not to buy based on how our pourer treated us.
This was the fifth place we had been to, so my girlfriend and I were a bit tipsy. Consequently, we decided to share a tasting instead of each getting one. The pourer didn’t seem to like this. She gave us less than a full pour of each wine and ignored us for the most part.
Warning: If you like white wines, this next part might be painful to read. The white wines were not chilled properly! They were still pretty warm, about the temperature consistent with being in the fridge for five minutes after previously being at room temperature. Maybe the whites would have tasted fine chilled, but they were quite bad in the state they were in.
As stated before, the reds were good, but we weren’t going to buy from a place that treated us like we weren’t as important as the other customers.
Also, they had some acai berries which they gave to some customers, and then put under the bar. We were wondering why none were offered to us. It’s so weird to me that places are stingy about 50 cents worth of berries when they are trying to sell you $ 25 bottles of wine.
Overall, this place seemed snobby, which is unusual considering that their wines are not expensive.
I would not recommend this place.

Charles R Vineyard is one of Livermore Valley’s big wine secrets… well maybe that’s not true with 40 some reviews, but before a couple months ago, I’d never heard of it. Have you? Well you should know it now, because Charles R is so great, I joined up. Here’s why:
***Great wines at decent prices: The Sauvignon Blanc that they just made is light, crisp and delicious for only $ 18 and I love their cabs which are $ ²⁶⁄₂₈. If you go a few doors down the prices get higher and in my opinion the wine does not get better. And of course if you go a couple hours down the way to Napa, the price doubles/​quadruples, but then you have a bottle to save for a special occasion… what about the wine you want to bring over to a friends for dinner or the one you want to open when you’re just watching TV?
***Service with a smile: It doesn’t matter how many people are packed into this little tasting room, I always have the nicest people helping us who love to chat about wine
***The Charles R Experience: From the sitting on their patio nibbling on food you brought while savoring a glass of their wine to tasting in their tasting room, the overall experience at this place is so «laid-​back Livermore». I used to love the Livermore wine region because it has excellent wineries that are not Napa Valley pretentious and don’t charge $ 20 tasting fees. This has changed for me over the years as some of the wineries here are a little more snooty… but Charles R is still perfect old-​school wine-​loving Livermore… come check it out for yourself
Unilocal 100 Challenge: ³⁸⁄₁₀₀

Nice little winery at the end of Crane Ridge Road. Ron (the pourer) was very knowledgable and engaging. We got to try a number of their wines, many of which won silver or gold medals from the San Francisco Chronicle. We ended up getting the ’07 Zinfandel, although their Petite Sirah and Port were equally as good. Overall a very good experience!

Charles R just might be my favorite stop in Livermore. I’ve been there 4 times at least, and I am always pleasantly surprised by the consistency and just how great everything is here. I love how it’s a little off the beaten path, but once you walk in, it’s like stepping into someone’s well-​appointed living room. I’ve had amazing some amazing zins and cabs from here, that manage to taste just as splendid there as they did back at my place.
Somehow this place is never super crowded, although it really should be. The service is always top notch as well!

P went to pick up her wine club order at this winery, and I went along for a midweek tasting.
And taste I did! I tried every wine they offered that day I think there were 8 or 10 and I liked them all including the whites. I was limiting my purchases to one bottle and decided on a very pleasant 2007 Zin.
The winery is at the end of the road, through a gate and then down a dusty driveway to the tasting room. The tasting room is large and has some interesting art on the wall. I enjoyed the non-​corporate – winemaker lives on the site vibe, and of course the wines that they produce!