Cuda Ridge Wines

Very nice tasting room with plenty of seating. Friendly staff. Larry does a great job with the wine. I’m particularly smitten with the Malbec. After ordering it in restaurants all over town, I finally joined the wine club. The wines have gotten consistently better over the years and I think Cuda is now in the conversation with the top Livermore wines with Steven Kent, McGrail and Nottingham to name a few.

Fun place to go wine tasting and mingle with your friends. The wine is so delicious!
We expected meat and cheese plates but they have meat, and cheese for sale and plates to borrow. Bring your own snacks.

Cuda Ridge
All Livermore fruit.
This Livermore winery releases every year some of the most exciting wines in the valley. The style has changed from a French style to a more fruit driven style. This new approach might prove to be even more popular than it was before. This years strong line up includes 2 of the best Livermore wines I’ve ever had. Bravo.
Cellar Door
2014 Semillon.
Pale yellow color, greenish hue. Tropical fruits: mango, pinapple. Creamy texture. Mellow acidity. 3.5
2013 Cabernet Franc.
Red and black fruits, cassis, strawberry jam. Warm spice: Nutmeg, Creamy texture, very oaky. 3.0
2014 Sauvignon Blanc.
Citrus: lemon, limes, grape fruits, stinky mango, sulfites/​burnt matches. Good acidity. Some grassyness. 2.5
2012 Merlot.
Deep ruby in color. Deep red fruits: cassis, raspberry liqueur, strawberry jam.
Some forest floor. Black tea.
Creamy texture. Smooth. Fruit driven. 3.0
2012 Cabernet Savignon.
Deep black fruits: plums, black cherries. Big. Great concentration. Firm tannins. Good acidity. 4.0−4.5
2011 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bretty, stinky, meaty. More of the style I was expecting. More of the same on the palate. Some black fruits too: plums, berries mostly. More French in style. 3.5−4.0
2013 Mélange d’amis, Reserve.
Black fruits. Creamy, oaky. Big, massive. Crowd pleaser. Toasty oak. Oak tannins. Big. Great concentration. Long oak spice finish. 4.0−4.5
2012 Bien Aime Reserve.
Deep red and black fruits. Mostly red. Ripe cranberries, ripe raspberries, cassis, plums, oaky. Creamy texture, slightly bitter finish. awkward mid palate. Sweet oaky finish. 3.0
2013 Malbec.
Black fruits: blackberry jam. forest floor, black tea, wet cement. Cedar. Perfumey nose. Good acidity. Big structure. Firm tannins. 3.5
2013 Petit Verdot.
Similar nose. A little more primary fruits. Black fruits, oaky. Firm tannins. Big structure. 3.5

Our favorite winery! My husband and I have been coming here for years and are part of the wine club. It has such a warm and family feel here. Larry and Margie always greet us with a hug and it’s very clear that they put their heart and soul into their winery. Their wines are awesome as well. We love the cab franc and petit verdot. You cannot really go wrong with any of their wines though. They have some crisp whites and some delicious cab too! Their wine club parties are the best! They work with the best caterers in town, including Posada, and come up with some really great pairings. If you are out wine tasting in Livermore, definitely stop by Cuda. Tell Larry and Marg hello!

WE LOVE CUDA!!! :) Great wine, Larry and wife are fabulous! The wines delicious the tasting room is great. I had my bridal shower here and they accommodated for us and it was such a special day. We have also been to several club member events. The last one they had was GREAT! the pairing they did with the wine and food choices were phenomenal. Cuda is definitely one of our go to wineries.
PS. I still am waiting to see that Barracuda car :)

Great Livermore winery. Can’t beat good wine and nice atmosphere.

Best winery in Livermore is an understatement. Their tasting room, like their vintners, is casual and authentic. They’re happy to have a chat with you while you taste and they’re not trying to sell you ‘wine-​lady’ schwag in a gift shop setting.
Many of the wines are French style but they are executed better. They have a boldness and flavor that I find lacking in most French wines. For me French wines are flabby and taste too much like clay. These wines have an excellent profile that is easy to enjoy. I just wish they would get picked up by Safeway so they’d be more accessible in San Diego.

Larry, the owner, personally took time out to pour for me and my boyfriend and chat with us despite it being a Saturday afternoon. Wines were delicious and the atmosphere and staff were so welcoming and friendly!
Definitely make Cuda Ridge a priority during your wine tour or day out in Livermore.

Went to add this to my Favorite Livermore Wineries list and realized that I hadn’t gave it a review. We now belong to the club because it has my hubby and my favorite red wines in the Livermore valley. We like a bold red and they deliver. His favorite is the Petite Verdot and I also like the Cab and Malbec.

Great wine #whatsintgebottlecounts. Amazing hosts, great wine, lovely people! Very knowledgable. Stop off for a tasting @ $ 10 and that’s added to the purchase of a bottle if you opt to go that route!

Cuda Ridge Wines, Bordeaux style wines
First time here, came looking for the Cab Franc, but walked away with:
2012 S & M (66% Sangiovese and 34% Malbec), strawberry and cherry flavors, soft tannin and oak finish
2012 Malbec
2012 Petit Verdot
2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, dark berry fruit on nose and pallate
Staff was knowledgeable and persuasive.

Apparently Livermore, CA has Wine Wednesday where one winery is open until 8pm and they have music as well. Lucky for me, Cuda Ridge was that winery the week I was in town for work. I went with 4 other colleagues and we walked into the tasting room which was kind of small. I was a little disappointed that they weren’t doing tastings that night, since i wasn’t sure what I would like of theirs, but I got over it.
We opted for 2 bottles of their Cab Sauv. One was reserve and one was their regular. They both were very tasty and we were all happy with our decision. We sat outside on their patio and it was so nice to look at the vines and watch the sun set.
This winery is one that I would definitely come back to visit and hopefully I’ll be able to taste more of their wines next time.

Cuda Ridge Wines are extraordinary and outstanding, and the staff is helpful and friendly! Proprietor and winemaker, Larry Dino, ALSO supports local artists by providing display space for visual artists and musical events for performances by local musicians. Come and sample their great wines!

I really, really like Cuda Ridge. The owners, Dino and Margie, are so friendly and welcoming. The tasting room is nicely decorated and the patio is perfect for relaxing. They put on fun events, too. Make sure you try the Cab Franc!

Nice wines, friendly service, no crowds to fight.
$ 10 gets you a tasting of 5 decent wines and if you buy a bottle, the $ 10 fee is waived. Their cheapest bottle (semillon) is just $ 19 and is a nice, refreshing summer wine. So for $ 20 you can taste 5 wines and take a bottle home too… WIN.

Good wine. We tried them for the first time Friday and they were good. Priced right, and nice wine. A little better than Las Positas. Not as good as Steven Kent, Caddis or Nottingham.

Just tried their Cab Franc at the Wente restaurant, which the restaurant sells for $ 66, and it was delicious. If this wine is indicative if the rest that the winemaker produces, I can’t wait to visit the winery and try them all.

This is my go-​to winery in Livermore. I don’t have a bad thing to say about any of it. Larry and Margie are awesome! And so is their wine! I like every single bottle they pour!

Excellent winery. If you are a fan of bordeaux style wines you must come and visit this winery. The wine club offers 15% off wine, with 2 wine club only release events each year where you can taste the new wines paired with food. In the summer there is a car show and an open mic event. If you are looking for the harder to find varietals such as cabernet franc, petit verdot, and malbec you can find them here and the more common cabernet sauvignon and merlot are good as well. The owners are friendly and are often the ones pouring in the tasting room and are the winemakers as you would expect in a true boutique winery. The wine club committment is only 6 bottles per year. This is one wine club my wife and I will stay in forever.

We stopped by Cuda Ridge this weekend for the Grand Opening of their new tasting room off of Arroyo road. The location is away from the typical Livermore Valley wine trail, which makes it great if you want to get away from the crowds. Their outdoor seating area is also nice too.
We paid $ 10 for 5 tastes and a glass ($ 5 refunded with a bottle purchase). Not sure if this is going to be the rate once the opening has run it’s course, but even so — it’s not a bad deal and pretty much in line with other wineries in Livermore. The wines on their menu ranged in price from $ 19 — $ 34. We tasted a Sauvignon Blanc, Cab Franc, a Cab Blend, 100% Cab, and a Petit Verdot. Some places tend to serve their whites too cold, but Cuda Ridge did a great job at keeping their Sauvignon Blanc at an acceptable serving temperature. This definitely allowed the wine to really show off. Probably one of the best wines for the money that I’ve had in Livermore. The Cab Franc was another standout. Of the two Cabs, I prefer the 100% «Black Label» to the blend. It’s certainly a personal preference, but I found the Cab blend to be a bit mellow for my tastes. The Black Label, however, is a fantastic wine with great tannins.
Overall I was very pleased with my first visit to Cuda Ridge. I always enjoy finding new wineries in Livermore. Looks like I have another to add to my growing list of places to visit more often! Cheers!