Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards
This Saratoga mountain winery pours $35 walk-in tastings in its historic barn, Thursday to Sunday, with piano most Saturdays. Its own homepage promises it will stay open "for years to come."
Why go
The tasting works without a plan. Small groups walk in, first-come, and taste through the current releases in the barn for $35 a head.1 The patio pours wine by the glass or bottle when you would rather sit than taste.1 Groups of ten or more book by email.1 The remains open and will be for years to come
banner on the homepage answers a real story, and the owners tell it themselves in a signed letter. A version circulated that the winery has been sold to Saratoga's Madronia Cemetery. Nothing could be further from the truth,
write Michael and Kellie Ballard, who then give their own account: the cemetery is a preservation partner, initiation of the new owner's operation is at least 15 to 20 years in the future,
and operations continue unchanged.2 The same letter carries the history: Pierre and Eloi Pourroy planted the first grapes here in 1892, and the Ballards renamed the 1994 business for their two daughters in 1996.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the portfolio tasting, then a glass on the patio if the afternoon holds.1
- Avoid: arriving after 4:30pm, when tastings stop starting; group tastings stop at 3:30.1
Good to know
- Hours: Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5pm, closed Monday through Wednesday.1
- Members' villa grounds open Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting, with picnic tables first-come.1
- The road is back. After two years of landslide closures on top of Covid, the owners write that the highway and driveway are rebuilt and open.2
Verdict
listed — The walk-in rule separates this from the appointment-only estates up the road, and the land under it has a real story: vines first planted by the Pourroy brothers in 1892, the Ballards naming the winery for their daughters in 1996, and now, per their own signed letter, a preservation arrangement with Saratoga's Madronia Cemetery that begins 15 to 20 years out while tastings pour on unchanged. The Ballards deny the sold-and-closing version of that story flatly. Until somebody judges the wines in print, the visit and the letter are the whole case.