Travel
Monterey Is the Wine Country Getaway You've Been Missing
Wine Tasting in Monterey and Santa Lucia Highlands at a Glance
- Taste wine with the winemaker or owner
- The wines are more than Pinot and Chardonnay
- Wine tasting near San Jose - a one hour day trip to Monterey
- The tasting fees cost half of what you pay in other wine regions
- There are working vegetable and fruit farms everywhere
- Tons of other things to do
- Car-free wine tasting - Carmel-by-the-Sea and Carmel Valley have numerous walkable tasting rooms
Bye Napa. Monterey Is the Wine Country Getaway You've Been Missing.
Napa Valley is iconic for a reason and for many wine lovers, it belongs on the bucket list. But if you've been there lately — or priced it out recently — you know the experience has shifted. Advance reservations. Membership required. Tasting fees can run $80 to $130 per person. A crowd-managed choreography that can feel more like a luxury theme park than a winery. Beautiful, absolutely. A relaxing Saturday getaway? That's a taller order.
There's a better option within easy reach of the South Bay. One hour south of San Jose, tucked into the fog-kissed hills above Monterey Bay, the Santa Lucia Highlands is California's most compelling wine region that most Bay Area locals haven't discovered yet. World-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Farm-to-glass culture. Ocean air you can practically taste in every pour. And a vibe that's the opposite of velvet ropes.
Here are seven reasons to make Monterey’s three wine trails, including Santa Lucia Highlands, your next wine weekend — and maybe the one after that.
1. You Might Be Tasting with the Winemaker or Owner
Not every winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands has the owner behind the bar — but more than a few do. And when it happens, there's nothing quite like it. You're not being walked through a scripted flight by someone who's memorized the tasting notes. You're in a genuine conversation with a person who planted the vines, made the wine, and genuinely wants to know what you think.
At McIntyre Vineyards, Kristen McIntyre runs the tasting room and often pours personally. Founder Steve McIntyre — a fourth-generation California farmer and one of the most respected viticulturists in the state — is known to show up in his own tasting room in Carmel Valley for exactly this kind of unhurried conversation about sustainability, farming, and what it means to make wine in the Highlands.
Rustique Winery - Some tasting rooms feel like productions. Rustique is the opposite. Tucked into a charming barn on River Road just below the Santa Lucia Highlands, this is a family affair in the truest sense: Chad Silacci makes the wines, and his sister Sara runs the events and keeps the whole thing humming with the kind of energy that makes you want to stick around for another pour. They often pour your tastes, they love what they do, and it shows in every glass.
Pessagno Winery - Pessagno is a tiny producer run by sisters Carli and Teresa Franscioni. Crafting delicious Rose of Pinot Noir and crisp Chardonnays, their quaint winery on River Road hosts live music days throughout the summer, and you’ll often see a local friend or family member presiding over a giant wood-fired paella pan or live-fire grill, turning local Zio’s Sausages for guests.
These are small, family-driven operations. The kind of places where someone remembers you ordered the Syrah last time and asks if you want to try the new vintage. It's personal, unhurried, and exactly what wine tasting is supposed to feel like: old school.
2. The Wines Go Way Beyond Pinot and Chard
Yes, the Santa Lucia Highlands is world-famous for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir — and for good reason. The region's steep elevation and relentless Monterey Bay winds slow ripening to a crawl, creating wines of extraordinary complexity and freshness. But that's just the beginning of the conversation.
Wrath Wines crafts a stunning Falanghina — the aromatic Italian white you didn't know Monterey could pull off so beautifully. It tastes floral, bright, and laced with a sea-salt minerality that makes perfect sense once you look west and see the Monterey Bay.
Caraccioli Cellars has been 100% estate grown and produced from their Escolle Vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands since 2015 — and what they do with those two noble French grapes is anything but expected. Yes, there's Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but the primary focus here is sparkling wine: multiple cuvées crafted with the kind of precision and patience that puts them in rare company anywhere in California. It's a completely different lens through which to explore the varieties that made the Highlands famous. And if you think that's the full picture, wait until you try their still wines — a high-energy Gamay Noir, a cool-climate Syrah, and a Gamay-Pinot Noir blend that crackles with personality.
Morgan Winery produces estate Syrah and Riesling from the Double L Vineyard that's cool-climate and mineral-driven — closer to the Northern Rhône in its savory depth than anything you'd expect from California. Visit Morgan at the Crossroads plaza on Hwy 1 and Rio Road, just outside of Carmel-by-the-Sea village.
Fifty-three distinct wine varietals are grown across Monterey County. Come thirsty for something new.
3. It's One Hour from San Jose. Yes, Really.
Stop planning around traffic to Napa. Santa Lucia Highlands is closer — and the drive is better. From San Jose, you're wine tasting on the River Road Wine Trail in roughly an hour, with the Santa Cruz Mountains fading in your rearview and the Salinas Valley opening up ahead of you like a wide-open invitation.
Your first stops on the trail set the tone immediately:
Odonata Wines — intimate, artisan-focused, cozy outdoor spaces great for groups with a fridge full of picnic provisions ready to go with your pour.
Rustique Winery — farm-rooted and warm tasting in the historic barn, with a summer 2026 farm stand and u-pick flower field in the works.
Wrath Wines — the benchmark for Santa Lucia Highlands cool-climate whites and single-vineyard Pinot Noir..
CRU Winery — a sprawling, covered patio overlooking the grapes for slow sipping wines from several prime Santa Lucia Highlands and Central Coast vineyards.
You’ll find more delicious Santa Lucia Highlands wines in winery tasting rooms in Carmel Valley and Carmel-by-the-Sea as well.
No appointment-only labyrinth. No three-month waitlist. Just great wine, open roads, and stunning vistas.
4. Your Wallet Will Thank You
Here's the honest math: Napa Valley's average standard tasting fee runs $81 per person, with reserve experiences topping $128 — and that's before a hotel room averaging $470 a night. By comparison, Monterey-area tasting fees typically run $20–$40 per person, with many wineries offering food-inclusive experiences in that same range.
The difference adds up to hundreds of dollars per couple — dollars you can spend on bottles to take home, a coastal dinner, or a long afternoon at Refuge (more on that in reason six).
And here's where Monterey wine country is quietly raising the bar: a growing number of wineries are now pairing their tastings with genuinely good food.
Corral Wine Company in Carmel Valley Village is debuting charcuterie boards and sandwiches sourced from the neighboring Carmel Valley Creamery Co.. Odonata Wines keeps a fridge stocked with gourmet picnic provisions, so you can grab what you need and find a perfect spot on the property. And Folktale Winery serves a full menu of localvore dips, seasonal salads, and wood-fired flatbreads that make a full afternoon out of a single stop. And that’s before you check out their amazing gift shop filled with cool local provisions like their estate-made honey.
You're not just tasting wine; you're gathering and grazing in the open air with people you care about. Less screen time, more sunshine.
5. The Farms Are Part of the Experience
Here's something Napa simply can't offer: the Santa Lucia Highlands and the River Road wineries sit at the edge of the Salinas Valley — the Salad Bowl of America — and some of the families farming world-class grapes are also growing the lettuce, cauliflower, lemons, and avocados that feed the country. This isn't a talking point. It's a way of life that shows up in every corner of the River Road wine trail.
While the vintners’ vegetable farms are not open to the public, a few of their farmer neighbors offer experiences that allow you to get closer to your food and flowers.
Evan Oaks at Agventure Tours leads farm-to-table experiences through the Salinas Valley, combining agricultural tours with wine tasting in a way that makes you rethink the word "pairing."
Closer to the tasting rooms, the road from Carmel Valley to the River Road wineries below the Santa Lucia Highlands offers a fun pitstop: The Farm in Salinas. Open May through October, this farm offers tours, events and farm stand goods just five minutes off the River wine trail--just 10 minutes from Odonata Wines. Just a bit further down the road, Lavender Creek Co. hosts events during summer lavender season. It’s located 25 minutes from Scheid Vineyards’ Greenfield winery and CRU Winery in Soledad.
Rustique Winery is adding a farm stand and u-pick flower field in summer 2026 — exactly the kind of agricultural immersion that makes a wine country getaway in Monterey feel like a full reset.
And at Earthbound Farm Stand, on the way to wine tasting rooms in Carmel Valley, tulip season arrives each February through March — a u-pick flower experience surrounded by organic fields, seasonal café food, and the easy rhythm of farm life. Perfect for an afternoon before or after wine tasting in the Carmel Valley Village.
6. The Adventures Don't Stop at the Tasting Room
There are so many things to do in Monterey wine country. It pairs naturally with some of the best outdoor experiences in California — and most of them are minutes from the tasting rooms.
Hikers should head straight to Garland Ranch Regional Park, minutes from the Carmel Valley Village tasting rooms and Earthbound Farm Stand. The park offers miles of trails through oak woodland, open meadow, and chaparral — with views of the Santa Lucia Mountains that look better after a glass of Pinot.
For a full-on adventure day, Pinnacles National Park 25 minutes from Cru Winery and the River Road tasting rooms at the doorstep of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Condors, volcanic rock formations, talus caves — it's one of California's most underrated national parks, and it makes for a perfect first stop before an afternoon of tasting.
For a more coastal afternoon, order a bottle of bubbly to go from Caraccioli Cellars some provisions from Nielsen Brothers Market nearby and walk down Ocean Avenue. Pop the cork, spread out a blanket and watch the fog and dogs roll on by.
And then there's Refuge — America's first co-ed outdoor relaxation spa, tucked into the hills at the Carmel Valley Athletic Club. A Himalayan salt cedar sauna, eucalyptus steam rooms, Nordic cold plunge pools, and cascading hot pools overlooking the Santa Lucia Mountains. Day passes are open to everyone, no membership or hotel stay required. Book ahead for weekend visits— it fills up.
7. Car-Free Tasting? Yes, That's a Thing Here.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is one of the only places in California where you can genuinely park the car, check into your inn, and spend the entire day tasting — on foot. The village is one square mile, and right now it's home to more than a dozen tasting rooms, all walkable from wherever you're staying.
The free Carmel-by-the-Sea Wine Walk app and mobile guide maps every stop and unlocks exclusive offers at participating rooms. No app download required — just your phone and your curiosity.
Current Wine Walk participants include Dawn's Dream Winery, Scheid Vineyards, Windy Oaks, Caraccioli Cellars, Cypress Grove Winery, Domaine Messier, Wrath Wines and many more.
When you're ready to explore beyond the village, Carmel Valley is an easy drive east — a sun-soaked inland pocket where the fog lifts and the tasting rooms spill out onto outdoor patios. Stroll between McIntyre Family Wines, Corral Wine Co., Bernardus Winery, I Brand Winery, Joyce Wine Company and more. Grab a bite next door at The Wine House while you sip local wines. Stop into the Carmel Valley Creamery for a scoop and Jerome's Market for local provisions. It's wine country the way it was always supposed to be: unhurried, personal, and a little bit magical.
Ready to Plan Your Santa Lucia Highlands Trip?
Start with our winery map, and make a reservation at one — or seven — of the region's 50+ tasting rooms. The Monterey Bay is waiting.
Explore Santa Lucia Highlands Wineries →
