Monte De Oro Winery

This winery is impressive as you drive up toward the end of Rancho California Road.  The building sits on a rise and is expansive and inviting.  In the early mornings there are typically balloons taking off from here making for picture perfect morning shots with their vineyards out front.

The winery is owned by OGB (One Great Blend) Partners, which is a collection of 68 family owners from across America, South Africa and the UK.

The Vineyards are located around the valley.  The first, Vista Del Monte was planted in 2002 with 18 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.  They added 18 acres at the DePortola vineyard and 23 acres at the Galway vineyard in 2003 planted with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Zinfandel, Viognier, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat Canelli.

In 2007 they broke ground on the winery and in 2008 planted their 4^th vineyard at the winery growing Cinsault, Mourvedre, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Tempranillo.

Committed to sustainability the winery created a basement wine cave under the winery rather than building a barrel room above ground that would need to have a system for climate control.  One of the most impressive sites in the building is walking across the glass floor that allows you to see down into the barrel room.  They are also planning to build a gravity flow winery which reduces the energy needed to pump the wine as well as being gentler on the grapes, and they are looking to add solar panels to supply energy in the future.

The tasting room here is huge with beautiful views of the patio and beyond that the valley. They offer a variety of tours and private tastings that you can schedule in advance in addition to the Standard and Black Label Tastings available daily in the tasting room.  Also open on the weekends is the MDO Bistro offering a Bistro menu Friday thru Sunday from 11-4.

When we visited the winery was busy and it was towards the end of the day.  We tasted through a wide variety of their wines, most of which they produce about  250 cases each.  All of the wines are very affordable running from $18 to $33 per bottle. watched a group head out for a tour while we were there and I would like to return to do a tour and learn a little more about their wines.

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Direction’s Via Google Maps

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