We continued our search for great wine in the Santa Ynez Valley and we definitely found some great wines at Gainey Wineries, unfortunately, what we didn’t find was great service. Instead, we found that the staff at Gainey Wineries were much more interested in selling memberships to their wine club and charging a hefty price for their wine tasting.

Gainey Tasting Room

We were given a choice of a tasting from the Gainey wineries or both the Evans and the Gainey wineries at $10 each and we could also buy a glass for another $10.

In comparison with other wineries we found this excessive.

We chose only the Gainey tasting and after paying were directed to the second tasting room. The room was very dark and we found it uninviting.

The sommelier, although friendly was not given information about the first wine – a Sauvignon Blanc – and was unable to give us any information on the wine. Additionally, she was more concerned with selling the wine club than allowing us to enjoy the tasting.

The wine was quite good. Although, we did not enjoy the Sauvignon Blanc, the first wine, we did enjoy the Chardonnay. We then had a delightful Pinot Noir, which was only available to wine club members due to a low crop yield. We were also told of an amazing Cabernet Franc that was not on the tasting list and again was only available to members. We started to understand very clearly that our hostess was only interested in us becoming wine club members. We moved on to the Merlot, which was very nice but not what we were looking for. We had our final tasting with an exquisite Syrah.

Overall

The service was horrible and we wold not recommend a tasting. However, the wine was extremely good. So, we would recommend the wine. As for becoming wine club members, the savings alone make it beneficial to join. So maybe the sommelier was right after all. We just wish the experience hadn’t been so forced.

We have to give Gainey Vineyard a 25% rating for poor poor service and for being too corporate. For a family having been in the business as long as they have they need to regain the family feeling.

Gainey Entrance

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