Located up in the rolling Saratoga Hills, Savannah Chanelle was recommended to me by my good friend Katrina, who is familiar with the area as she still lives in the Bay Area & works at a local elementary school nearby. I was home for Memorial Weekend and as my job has been ramping up in difficulty and hours, needed a bit of a getaway. This was the perfect retreat. See me and Kat clinking our glasses to the left, not realizing until we got back home that it also happened to be National Wine Day. It also wasn't until after-the-fact that I read up on the history of this place. You can read all about the history of the winery on Savannah Chanelle's website here. But a simple fun fact is that the winery's current name comes from the name of the owner's two daughters, Savannah & Chanel.
To get here you follow a long, windy woodland highway and have to make a sharp turn to drive up to the winery - the turn is not very well-marked so be sure to pay attention to your GPS as you near it! There is ample parking available and we did not have trouble finding a spot around 1pm on a Saturday. On the level of the parking lot you are first greeted by a classic red barn, picnic tables, and a gate to the left which you can get through by going through the barrel-shaped entrance pictured above to the right. To wine taste or purchase snacks/bottles from the barn is free, but if you would like to go up to the picturesque villa area beyond the gate, you will need to purchase a wristband for $10 per person.
Once Katrina and I had purchased our wristbands, we walked through the wine barrel entranceway and strolled up to the main villa. There is another bar area where you can also wine taste and purchase bottles or glasses up here. We tasted a few reds and mutually agreed that the 2016 Pinot Noir was our favorite, so we bought a bottle (which was discounted from purchasing the wristbands).
There is a beautiful lawn area strewn with white chairs and tables where we found a spot to lounge for the afternoon. We were soon joined by my sister and her boyfriend, who joined us about an hour after we had first arrived. The four of us enjoyed the beautiful Saratoga mountain views and caught up... all living very separate lives between the Bay Area and LA. We had all gone to high school together.
One of the most beautiful decorations on the lawn is this clear turquoise fountain surrounded by rose bushes. We took a break from lounging & chatting to conduct a mini photoshoot here. My sister and I had both decided to wear our new pieces from Spell's latest collection, Lioness. See us sporting our Spell dresses below!
I wish we could've stayed for a music, but we all had already made evening plans, not knowing that Savannah Chanelle hosts live music evenings at the vineyard. To view the music schedule, follow this link here. This summer, the winery is hosting music from 5-7pm on Fridays (no cover), 5:30-8:30 on Saturdays ($12), and 1-4pm Sundays & some special holidays ($12). Overall, if you are spending time in the Bay and have time to spend in Saratoga, this winery is a lovely place to spend a day up in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Cheers!
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