Awhile back, a Realtor friend, Colleen Kulikowski, was visiting from the Buffalo & Niagara Falls area of New York. Together we attended the California Association of Realtors conference in San Jose, CAR EXPO, where we enjoyed some great sessions and at which I was a panelist one day on social media and real estate blogging. I very much wanted her to see more than just the inside of a conference center, though, so in the evenings and days before and after we saw some sights along the coast and went wine tasting in Los Gatos, Willow Glen, Monterey and central San Jose at the fabulously convenient J Lohr Tasting Room.
As we walked up to the door, I volunteered to pay for our tasting – just before noticing that it’s at no charge! This is pretty rare today in Santa Clara County, Monterey County or Santa Cruz County wineries. (When a tasting is free I always buy a bottle anyway if I enjoy the wine, and normally I do.)
Our hostess was very nice and gave us a printout of what could be tried that day and explained that we could select 6 and then she would “put them in order”. Colleen and I prefer different types of wines so had little overlap in our selections – it was great to have so much variety.We both liked a number of wines and both made purchases (so they did ok on the free tasting by us).
The J Lohr venue is very pleasant, by the way, with some shirts, wine items and other things of interest which can be purchased. Several would make great local gifts. It is light and bright, unlike some tasting cellars which may be windowless, and there’s plenty of room in which to move around. The counter where we stood also offered hooks for our purses. It would have been wonderful had there been more seating – two seats at the end of the bar were occupied by a happy couple – after a long day at the conference it would have been so appreciated to be able to sit down. Most tasting rooms don’t have seating, though, so we didn’t expect it per se: just would have been a plus.
The location in Silicon Valley is exceedingly convenient, as it’s just under 2 miles from downtown San Jose (near the Shasta-Hanchett areas of central San Jose), just off the Alameda near Race Street. (That neighborhood is great for other shopping too – both Greenlee’s Bakery and Schurra’s Chocolates are very close by.) The staff is very welcoming, personable and knowledgeable. The wine is great. Price for tasting – free – can’t be beat! If you enjoy trying wines, this is a great opportunity to do so without going far. Overall, it’s two thumbs up.
J Lohr Tasting Room
1000 Lenzen Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126
(408) 918-2160
Open 10am – 5pm except for a few holidays
http://www.jlohr.com
