Woodside Vineyard expands outside, offering an attractive tasting area

The folks at Woodside Vineyards have constructed a very attractive outdoor tasting area that will be open through at least 4:00 pm today. “We plan to continue our outdoor weekend wine tastings until the Governor’s Mandate related to ICU bed capacity is in effect,” wrote Michael Maloney, who was acting as waiter and pourer today.

If you’re looking for a spur-of-the-moment rainy day activity, the area is covered (but open on all sides). There’s wood-fired pizza and burgers to go with your tasting. And lots of good wine specials are being offered, such as the 2014 Woodside Pinot Noir for $144 per case ($12 per bottle).

The winery is the oldest in San Mateo County, but its roots go much further back. Its Cabernet wines are made from La Questa vines first planted by E. H. Rixford in 1884 with stock from France’s Château Margaux winery.

Bob Mullen started the winery in 1963. It was the 120th winery in California that now numbers 5,000 or so. “Buff” Guirlani took over ownership in 2010. He’d opened AutoVino in 2006, which shares space with the winery.

Woodside Vineyards’ outdoor tasting room is located at 205 Constitution Drive in Menlo Park. Call (650) 407-3293 to see if they will be open next weekend.

Photo by Linda Hubbard (c) 2020