Sterling Vineyards
An aerial gondola is the only way up to the winery, and every tasting includes the round trip. Above 100 degrees they close it and the hill closes with it.
Why go
Everything here starts with the ride. A round-trip gondola takes you up the hill and there is no other way in.1 The winery will not sell you the gondola on its own. So the cheapest way to the top is the Sterling Stroll at $55: sixty minutes, five wines, self-guided through the winery.1 It takes children at $25 for ages three to twenty, which almost nothing else in this valley does.1 Tour & Terrace at $85 finishes seated on the Southview Terrace with a cheese board, weather allowing. The Founder's Experience at $150 pairs food and wine in the redesigned Founder's Room at the peak.1 On 23 to 25 October the winery hosts DAOU Vineyards on the Diamond Mountain Terrace, a $55 guest tasting and a collaboration dinner.1 Nothing on the page names a single wine, so I have no bottle to point you at.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Stroll if there are children or you want the hill without ninety minutes at a table. Five wines, an hour, all ages.1
- Order: Tour & Terrace at $85 for the Southview Terrace, which is also all-ages.1
- Avoid: a hot afternoon. Over 100 degrees the gondola closes for safety, and there is no other route to the winery.1
What locals & experts say
- Sterling Vineyards, on the only way up:
All tasting experiences include a round-trip gondola ride. Gondola-only rides are not currently offered.
1 - The same page, on when it stops:
If temperatures exceed 100°F, the gondola will close for guest safety.
1
Both are the winery on itself. The only outside call on that page is a Tripadvisor badge, and I will not hand you that, so I have no critic's line for you.
Good to know
- Hours: open daily from 10am, last Sterling Stroll at 4:30pm, retail at the Visitor Center without a reservation until 5:00pm.1
- Groups: parties of 7 to 14 book by phone, 15 and over through the group inquiry form. No pets; service animals are welcome.1
- Hygiene: not established. No inspection instrument for this county is on file here.
Verdict
could-visit — You get to the winery by aerial gondola and there is no other way, which is either the reason to come or the reason to skip it. Every tasting includes the round trip, gondola-only tickets are not sold, and above 100 degrees they close it for safety, so a Calistoga afternoon in August can lose you the hill entirely. It is also the one place in this batch built for a family: the Sterling Stroll is $55 for adults, $25 for ages three to twenty, sixty minutes and self-guided, with a family group capped at fourteen. The ladder runs to $150 in the Founder's Room and $250 for a three-estate day. Nothing on the winery's page names a single wine, and the only outside voice it offers is a Tripadvisor badge, which I will not hand you.