This will be the first of many reviews of wineries in the greater Gilroy/Morgan Hill area. As a wine lover who lives in the area, I’ve found that we don’t have any comprehensive guides to wineries locally. This is the first step towards trying to fill that gap. This is the winery review for Lightpost Winery. In my reviews, I like to separate the review of the visit from the wines – as I believe that they are not connected in any way. I’ve had many opportunities to enjoy a winery’s wine, but could not stand the tasting room or people. Vice versa, I’ve often had a wonderful visit at a winery, often due to the people and/or environment, and have come away with no desire to ever drink their wine again.
What to Expect from the Visit to Lightpost Winery
First, let’s focus on the visit in this review of Lightpost winery. Lightpost Winery’s tasting room is setup in a large building that was built to be and for many years was the headquarters of Thomas Kinkade, the famous painter of lights. Hence, the name Lightpost Winery. The grounds and tasting room are beautiful, although slightly bereft of the natural beauty of the area’s hills. You get the sense that you are in suburbia, which you are, but the privacy of both the inside and outside tastings are more than adequate for enjoyment with friends and family, or by yourself.
Lightpost Winery has a diverse offering for tasting, generally allowing you to select wine tasting flight of whites, reds, or a mix of the two. They bring out the flight fully poured, allowing you to taste at your own speed. In the summer months, which can get a little hot in Orchard Valley, you may want to choose to sit inside, especially if you are planning on taking your time. This will avoid letting any of the whites/rosés from becoming warm. However, if it’s not too warm outside, I’d definitely recommend tasting on the patio, as the environment is calming and peaceful.
The staff at Lightpost Winery is always welcoming – providing good insight into the tastings as well as the individual offerings. The most common tasting room attendant had good knowledge of the current offerings, but sometimes didn’t have all the answers to my sometimes excessive questions.
Lightpost often has live music on their patio. While I’ve never been able to make it, it seems like a very good time.
What to Expect from the Wine
Next, let’s focus on the wine in this review of Lightpost Winery. Lightpost Winery has a diverse offering of wines, which span many varietals and styles. All of their offerings are technically from with the Central Coast AVA, but most come either from the Paso Robles or Santa Cruz Mountains areas. Of note in their offerings:
- Their most expensive wines are Cabernet Sauvignons from either Paso Robles or the Santa Cruz Mountains.
- They have a variety of Pinot Noirs.
- They offer Rosés, generally from Pinot, but also offer a Grenache based Rosé.
- Their white offerings are generally Chardonnays.
- They’ve recently added some Rhone style red blends.
In general, Lightpost offers wines that are very fruit forward in the California style. If you are unfamiliar, this generally means that they are both fruit forward and generally have high alcohol content (and less acidity), because they let their grapes stay on the vine longer than in the old world style. If not careful, grapes can sometimes be left on the vine a little bit too long, resulting an a slightly charred flavor in the wine.
My Perspective on Lightpost Winery
I’ve tasted at Lightpost Winery probably a half dozen times. It’s always been a pleasant experience. In full disclosure, I was a member at Lightpost for a few years from 2020 through 2022. At the end of that time, I had decided to end my membership at Lightpost. I still have a handful of bottles from my membership, and am waiting for a good time to open them with friends. The reason I ended the membership is that I felt like their price point was steadily rising, which is pretty common practice at small wineries, which I understand. However, I didn’t feel like the quality of wines was improving alongside this price increase. Therefore, I didn’t feel like I was getting as much bang for my buck as I was when I first joined. I felt like my wine dollar could be better spent elsewhere. That being said, I don’t think that Lightpost is bad in any way, and would be more than happy to enjoy an afternoon drinking their wine.
Visit Details
Sound like a visit to Lightpost Winery is in your future? Here’s some more pertinent information:
- Kid & Pet Friendly! Bring your little (or big) ones!
- Website
- Reservations
- Location/Directions: Just minutes off highway 101 on the west side of Morgan Hill.
Other Nearby Options in Morgan Hill/Gilroy
Looking to make a day of it and check out other options? Try some of these!!!
