the benziger family winery

Didn't particularly care for most of their wines. Just a personal thing. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour him the information on biodiversity. This is really a unique winery and different from any of the big ones. Nice to meet family members and get their take on growing up in the wine business. All employees were very generous with pours and did a great job answering questions. We traveled here on a Tuesday with a group of about 100 people. They were ready for us and were not overwhelmed at all. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Love this wine, have been to the winery and would recommend it highly. Enjoyed a tour with one of the owners Kathy and had such a fun time. The shopping is wonderful as well. Order their wine a few times a year and am never disappointed.

The wine was good, the grounds were beautiful! A little busy, but the staff was great nonetheless. The only organic / bio dynamic / sustainable winery we visited. Very interesting.

Visited this place due to good reviews. The winery itself was very large and beautiful. They offered tours or tastings. The tour was $25 per person and the tastings were 15. The tour had tastings included as well. We did a tasting as we were not interested in a full tour while traveling with a young child. The wines weren't really my taste but I did appreciate that the place was family owned still. If you're in to the biodynamic thing, it's a good place to see for sure.

We had a very relaxing visit to the Benziger Family Winery. The staff was very nice and spent a lot of time with us, so we were able to enjoy the tasting. The Winery is dog friendly, which is a plus, and is a very beautiful location. I would highly recommend a visit!

I feel like I'm crazy seeing these excellent reviews. This place has been recommended by multiple sources, but the wines here are not that amazing! The reserve wines are definitely drinkable, but not stand-out, best-in-show types of wines you can easily find nearby. We tried the reserve tasting. The man in the Wine Club Member Tasting Room was awkward. When I tried to talk wine with him, he wasn't very responsive. I don't know if it was because he just didn't know much about Sonoma wines or if he was shy. He wasn't rude or providing poor service - just awkward. The cabs are the Tribute were my favorites of the selection, but the price point on the Tribute ($80) is kind of annoying. I like the biodynamic shtick and they excellent grounds, but that lends itself to be family-friend, which I personally hate. It's not Disneyland; it's wine tasting.

We took our teenage grandkids on the hour-long tour at Benziger's. Rode on a tram behind a tractor through the vineyards. Our guide (driver) was very informative while showing us the different varietal vines. The tour of the grape production area and storage caves was well done as well.The tour ended with an excellent wine tasting session with a well informed server. This is probably one of the best escorted wine tours that we've been on. Highly recommended.

This was a second visit to this winery. Previously we were admiring of their efforts toward being a more eco-friendly facility and this time we found they had surpassed the past and are doing even more. Now they have sheep that munch on the grass between rows of grapes instead of having power mowers. The sheep's by-products are added to the trimmings from the vines, the kitchen leftovers, the skins of pressed grapes and other bio-degradable items to provide compost to enrich the vines. Stainless steel vats are used. Washings water is added to a settlement pond and re-cycled. An insectary of certain flowers that attract bugs that eat or repel other bugs that are damaging to the vines is centered in the vineyard. A private tour allows one to see for their selves the wonderful efforts that goes into producing wine while not endangering nature. The tour guide was a young man who grew up in the area and added local flavor to his narrations. Well done. Now to the wines. Our tastings were done without hard sell pressure some wineries undertake to get you to buy. We did find several of the reds quite enjoyable and did make a purchase. If I have learned anything it is that a persons palette differs in selecting wines so you need to visit and decide for yourself what you like or not.

I visited both of the Benziger wineries(Benziger and Imagery) several times over this part year and ALWAYS make it a stop when out there. LOVE,LOVE.LOVE

Stunning views and beautiful setting. We took a guided tour followed by a wine tasting session. The tour was lovely - for the views and for the information gained. Fabulous vineyard and such a lovely friendly guide. This is an organic vineyard and the Benziger family are rightly proud of it.The wine tasting was excellent and unhurried. Fresh mushroom soup was served alongside the wines, to enhance the flavours - we could have happily stayed there all day.

We did the Partners Wine Tour and it was worth it! The group is small and led by an experienced guide that has the time to answer any questions that you might have. We tasted several offerings at different maturities, which was great to help us learn about the wine. Also, the tasting in the wine cave was a fun experience. The tour is fairly leisurely (slightly over two hours) so I don’t recommend doing this if you’re pressed for time and trying to maximize the number of vineyard locations.

If you plan to join an inexpensive wine club in Sonoma you need to reconsider your criteria. What I love about Benzinger is all the wines are good to excellent. They have a wine club member room for tasting. The staff is very friendly and are good enough to remember you and to welcome you again. The staff is wine knowledgeable. Another great benefit is that belonging to this winery gets you wine club treatment at the sister winery, Imagery Estate. The wines there are more varied in terms of varietals. It is a younger and more lively crowd. And yes, Imagery does get crowded but we always have fun and meet the best people. In both places.

Benzinger Winery is located on London Ranch Road outside of Glen Ellen, and, in fact, next door to the Jack London State Park. Benzinger winery sources its wines from all over the county, and it also owns the affiliated Imagery winery (see separate review – don’t miss Imagery!). Their wines are world renowned and excellent, but can be fairly pricey. We went with friends who are club members, which entitled us to taste in the VIP room, which was packed with VIPers! We eventually found a place at the bar to squeeze in and we had a very nice and knowledgeable pourer. He clearly loved the subject and his wines and loved sharing the wines and their background with the people visiting the tasting room. The wines offered in the VIP room were better than those in the main room, but there was a limited number offered. Only one white, a Chardonnay, was offered but it was excellent. A bit more choices in reds: 2 Pinots, 2 Cabs, a Tribute, and others. All excellent. We understand that the biodynamics tour that they offer is quite interesting but we did not plan ahead enough to fit it in – maybe next time! While you are there, we suggest walking off some of the overindulging of food and drink during your stay by making a visit to the Jack London State Park (separate review). You learn a lot about Jack London, his life and his innovative attempts at improved farming techniques, and you get some lovely walks through some beautiful country.

I tasted your wines at the Safeway wine tasting in Livemrore yesterday. The wines being poured were very good and far better than the selling price would indicate. However, the person pouring the wines was rude. He was more interested in an attractive female than answering my questions about the wine and the winery. Although I was planning on purchasing several bottles, his conduct persuaded me not to so do. The other potential patron left without purchasing either. She did mention that he was making her a bit uncomfortable.

We went there in December with a free tasting for two provided by our hotel. Their wines were one of the best. I really enjoyed their Chardonnay and cab. Beautiful showcase and decorations with beautiful paintings. Iris was very knowledgable. Breathtaking landscape. Iris actually gave us another 2 free tastings to their sister winery Imagery. That I will review separately.