The Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticultural Area (AVA), recognized in 1981, was the first AVA in the nation to be defined by its mountain topography. The wineries that flourish in these mountains are for the most part small, family-owned, boutique operations — many don’t have tasting rooms and are rarely open to the public.

At Vinocruz we offer the largest selection of Santa Cruz Mountains wines — more than 150 wines from more than 60 wineries operating within the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, plus a warm and comfortable wine-tasting room in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz.

The Santa Cruz Mountains produce some of the world's finest wines. For decades this has been somewhat of a secret California Wine Country, but word is starting to get out. People in the know have been enjoying Santa Cruz wines for decades — we want to welcome you to join them. Drop by for a tasting!

Find out more about Vinocruz and our mission to bring you the best Santa Cruz Mountains wines.

Now Pouring – Week of Feb 26th – March 4th

Every week we select five wines to uncork for your tasting pleasure.

• Sensorium 2010 Viognier
• Brosseau 2008 Chardonnay
• Big Basin 2010 Pinot Noir
• Baiocchi 2010 Orellana
• Bartolo 2009 Petit Verdot

Learn more about the wines on this week’s tasting menu

California wines were just coming to the world’s attention when the Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticultural Area (AVA) was recognized in 1981. It had been just five years since the famous “Judgment of Paris” wine competition, a taste test in which a number of California wines were judged by a panel of experts to be as good or better than their lauded French counterparts... [Read More...]

Frederick William Winemaker Pouring: Sat. Feb 23

Come join us on Saturday Feb 23rd, 2-5p.m. for a special pouring with Frederick William Cellars.  This is a rare opportunity to meet the winemaker and taste these limited production wines. Frederick William is an artisanal producer of fine wines in the Santa Cruz Mountains.   They ferment very limited quantities of varietals of field blends that they love, selected from small vineyards and from lots of consistently producing high quality fruit, resulting in very interesting and layered … [Read More...]

Sensorium Winemaker Pouring: 12/15/2012

Come join us on Saturday Dec. 15th for a winemaker pouring for Sensorium Wines from 2-5pm! Sensorium Wines was founded in 2002 by winemaker Jeff Ritchey and owners Lee Ritchey and John Zasio. Sensorium's award-winning winemaker, was previously winemaker at Clos LaChance Winery in San Martin, California. With his guidance, Clos LaChance increased production from 10,000 to 30,000 cases and built a new, state-of-the-art, 30,000-square-foot winery. Jeff's wines have won numerous awards and … [Read More...]