Los Gatos Wineries: 8 Tasting Rooms Worth Visiting in 2026

Why Los Gatos Is Such a Great Wine Town

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My office is in Los Gatos, and one of the things I never get tired of telling people is that you don’t have to fight traffic to Napa to spend a great day in wine country. From downtown you can be sipping Pinot Noir in a historic stone cellar in five minutes, or sitting on a deck at 2,600 feet looking out at Monterey Bay in about half an hour. That’s a pretty special thing to have in your backyard when you live in the middle of Silicon Valley.

What makes the wineries here different is the mountains. The vineyards around Los Gatos climb into the Santa Cruz Mountains, where cool ocean air, fog, and steep slopes produce smaller crops and wines with a lot of character. The tasting rooms tend to be small and family run, so there’s a good chance the person pouring your wine helped make it. Below I’ve pulled together the wineries I think are most worth your time, along with some practical tips for planning the day.

A Short History of Wine in Los Gatos

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People have been growing grapes in the Santa Cruz Mountains since the mid-1800s, and by the late 1880s the region already had dozens of wineries. The big Los Gatos milestone came in 1888, when Jesuit priests and brothers from Santa Clara College (now Santa Clara University) founded the Novitiate winery on the hillside above downtown to help support their new seminary. They made wine there for 98 years before closing the Novitiate brand in 1986, and the old cellars are still producing wine today under Testarossa.

In December 1981 the federal government recognized the Santa Cruz Mountains as an American Viticultural Area (AVA), and it was the first appellation in California defined by its mountain topography. The AVA covers roughly 480,000 acres across Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo counties, but only about 1,600 acres of that is planted to vines, split mostly between Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay. That’s a big part of why so many of the wineries here are small, and why the wines can be hard to find outside the area.

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8 Los Gatos Wineries Worth Visiting

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Tasting hours, reservation policies, and fees change often, especially with the seasons, so please check each winery’s website before you go. I’ve linked them all below.

Testarossa Winery

If you only have time for one stop, make it Testarossa. Rob and Diana Jensen started making wine in their Silicon Valley garage in 1993, which might be the most Silicon Valley origin story a winery could have, and four years later they moved into the historic Novitiate cellars. Testarossa describes the Novitiate as the fourth oldest continuously operating winery in California, and walking through those thick stone walls you can feel the history.

The focus here is Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the wines have earned more than 1,900 scores of 90 points or higher from wine critics. There’s also an on-site bistro and wine bar if you want to turn a tasting into lunch. You’ll find it at 300 College Avenue, Los Gatos, and if you get turned around on the way up the hill, just follow the signs for the Novitiate.

Saison Winery

Saison Winery is the easiest wine stop in town because you can walk to it from just about anywhere downtown. It comes from the team behind Saison, the well-known San Francisco restaurant, and the wines are made from Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards like Regan, Zayante, and Enz. The tasting room opened in 2022 in the former Left Bend Cellars space.

The lineup is wide for a small winery, with Riesling, Chardonnay (including a skin-contact style), Pinot Noir, Grenache, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Cabernet and Merlot blend called The Hearth. It’s a great spot to start or end a day of shopping and dinner downtown. You can visit their tasting room at 346 N. Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos.

Byington Vineyard and Winery

Up in the hills off Bear Creek Road, Byington Vineyard and Winery has been making wine since 1987, and the setting alone is worth the drive. The 95-acre estate centers on an Italian-style villa with a wine cave, a tasting room, and event space, and on a clear day the views stretch all the way to Monterey Bay.

Byington is known for estate Pinot Noir along with a range of other varietals, and it’s one of the better wineries around here for making an afternoon of it, with picnic areas, hiking, and live music on many weekends. You can visit them at 21850 Bear Creek Rd, Los Gatos, CA 95033.

David Bruce Winery

Just down the road from Byington, David Bruce Winery is one of the pioneers of the modern Santa Cruz Mountains wine scene. Dr. David Bruce was a dermatologist who fell in love with wine as a medical student, bought land above the fog line, and cleared and hand-planted the vineyard himself. The winery was bonded in 1964, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2024, and was one of the California wineries included in the famous 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting.

Pinot Noir is the heart of what they do, and the 45-acre estate also grows Chardonnay and Syrah. It’s a relaxed, unpretentious place to taste, and it pairs perfectly with a stop at Byington. You can visit them at 21439 Bear Creek Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033.

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Burrell School Vineyards and Winery

This is the one I recommend when people want something with a little personality. Burrell School sits on a hilltop on Summit Road next to a red and white schoolhouse from the 1890s, and the whole place leans into the theme with wines named things like Detention, Teacher’s Pet, and Valedictorian.

The wines themselves are serious, with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, and an estate Cabernet Franc, and the deck overlooking the vineyard is a lovely spot on a sunny afternoon. You can visit them at 24060 Summit Road, Los Gatos, CA.

Wrights Station Vineyard and Winery

Wrights Station has one of the more interesting backstories in the mountains. The property sits on the site of Wrights, a railroad town from the 1870s that was a stop on the old South Pacific Coast Railroad, and the opening of one of the old railroad tunnels is still there. Owners Dan and Molly Lokteff pour in a 1947 farmhouse with indoor and outdoor seating, surrounded by redwoods and vineyard views.

The estate wines are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the Chardonnay in particular has gotten a lot of love from local wine writers. There’s a bocce court and plenty of room to spread out, which makes it a great stop for a small group. You can visit them at 24250 Loma Prieta Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95033.

Loma Prieta Winery

If you love a view, Loma Prieta Winery is hard to beat. It sits at about 2,600 feet in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and from the deck you can see out toward Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz coastline. Paul and Amy Kemp founded the winery in 2003, fell in love with Pinotage on a trip to South Africa, and in 2013 grafted their entire 3.5-acre estate vineyard over to it.

Pinotage is a South African grape created in 1925 by crossing Pinot Noir and Cinsaut, and you rarely see it in California. Loma Prieta calls itself the largest Pinotage producer in North America, and they make it several ways, including a sparkling version and a blend with Petite Sirah. They also pour Pinot Noir, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon. You can visit them at 26985 Loma Prieta Way, Los Gatos, CA 95033.

Lexington Wine Co. (Thomas Fogarty Winery)

Lexington is the Fogarty family’s sister label to Thomas Fogarty Winery, and it focuses on Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. The grapes come from Gist Ranch, a mountain vineyard in the Skyline area at about 2,400 feet and roughly 13 miles from the Pacific, which was planted in the early 2000s.

One thing to know before you go is that Lexington doesn’t have its own tasting room in Los Gatos. The wines are poured at the Thomas Fogarty Winery up on Skyline Boulevard, so plan this one as its own trip rather than part of a Los Gatos loop. You can visit them at 19501 Skyline Blvd, Woodside, CA 94062.

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How to Plan a Los Gatos Wine Day

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The wineries around Los Gatos fall into three natural groups, and picking one group per day is the best way to enjoy yourself without spending the whole afternoon in the car. Downtown is the easiest, since you can walk to Saison on North Santa Cruz Avenue and it’s a short drive up College Avenue to Testarossa. The Bear Creek Road loop pairs Byington and David Bruce, which are only a few minutes apart off Highway 17. The Summit Road and Loma Prieta area is the most scenic and has the biggest concentration of small wineries, including Burrell School, Wrights Station, and Loma Prieta, along with a handful of smaller family wineries.

A few practical tips will make the day a lot better. The mountain roads are narrow and winding and Highway 17 is no joke, so have a designated driver or book a car. Many of the mountain tasting rooms are only open Thursday or Friday through Sunday, and a lot of them want reservations for groups, so check websites and call ahead. Bring a jacket too, because it’s often noticeably cooler and breezier on the ridge than it is downtown. If you want to keep going, Saratoga is right next door and has its own collection of tasting rooms.

Wine Events in Los Gatos

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The big one is the Los Gatos Wine Walk, put on by the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce. Downtown shops and businesses become tasting stops for an afternoon, and you stroll from one to the next with your glass. Recent spring editions have featured more than 30 local producers and sold out, and the chamber has also held the walk in the fall, so keep an eye on their website and grab tickets early. It’s a 21-and-over event.

For winery events beyond downtown, like release parties, open houses, and winemaker dinners, the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains events calendar is the best place to look. Many of the wineries in this guide also host live music and member events on their own estates, which you’ll find on their websites.

What It’s Like to Live This Close to Wine Country

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I’ve been helping people buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley for more than 23 years and have closed more than 460 transactions, and Los Gatos is one of those towns that people fall in love with and never want to leave. A lot of that comes down to the lifestyle. You get a walkable downtown full of restaurants and shops, quick access to hiking and the coast, and world-class wineries just up the hill, all while staying close to the major employers in the valley.

That lifestyle shows up in home values, too. If you’re curious what homes are going for right now, my Los Gatos home prices page tracks the latest sales, and if you’re thinking about buying here, my guide to buying a home in Silicon Valley is a great place to start. And if you already own a home in the area and want to know what it’s worth, you can get a free home valuation or just give me a call at 408-413-3087. I’m always happy to talk about Los Gatos, whether it’s real estate or where to find a good glass of Pinot.

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