Winery: Little Vineyards Family Winery
Ownership: Owned and operated by the Joan and Rich Little and family.
Location: Glen Ellen, Sonoma Valley, CA
Winemaker: Ted Coleman, brother of Joan Little.
Types of Wines: Mainly estate-grown, hearty red wines such as:
- Syrah
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Zinfandel
- Petite Sirah
- Bordeaux-inspired blend.
Wine Price Range: They offer wines under a label called Band Blend that are $20 per bottle at release. Their Little Vineyards Estate-Grown wines range from $35 to $50 at time of release.
Production Size/Distribution: They produce about 2200 cases per year. They do not distribute nationally.
Tasting Experience Options:
- Their estate tasting room is open Thursday through Monday from 11am to 4:30pm for walk-in tastings.
- They offer 2 tasting flights: Their Classic Release Tasting includes 5 current release wines and is $15 per person and they offer a Library Tasting that includes older vintages and current award winners for $25.
- On Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 11am they offer a vineyard tour and tasting for $40 per person which does require an appointment.
Tasting Experience Rating: We rate the overall experience at 93 points*.
Wine Rating: 90-94 points*.
The Good: The estate is really beautiful with views of the mountains and vineyards all around. If you are looking for a terrific place to sit outside on a patio, where you are literally at the edge of the vineyards, this is the perfect place. A bocce ball court with wine barrel tables to set your glass of wine on await you and a member of the Little Family is very often around to chat with. Rich Little is often there to entertain visitors outside his music studio which is on a second patio above the tasting room.
The wines are rich and luscious, and especially good for their pricing.
The Bad: The only bad point to mention will be considered by many as a good point: it is very informal. The people are friendly and fun and the setting for tasting is mainly on a patio with picnic tables.
*Ratings are on a 100 point scale.
- 90 to 100 points=Outstanding
- 80 to 89 points=Good
- 70 to 79 points=OK (not good but not bad)
- 60 to 69 points=Wish we had gone elsewhere.
- Below 60 points=Run fast in the other direction.