Sapphire Hill Winery Spotlight

Lisa: A friend recently introduced me to this fantastic tasting room tucked away in Temescal Alley here in Oakland. It features incredible wines from Saphire Hill Winery and I can’t wait to share this hidden gem with you. Let’s go check it out.

Meet Hallie and Tony Gamboa, owners of Saphire Hill Winery since 2022. The winery is in Healdsburg, they source their grapes from the Russian River, Alexander Valley, and Dry Creek Valley. They started as wine club members when they were approached by Chris and Lisa, the previous owners, to buy it.

Hallie: We were lucky because Chris and Lisa had a robust wine club at Sapphire Hill Winery, with a lot of lovely people who want to support small business.

Lisa: Hallie and Tony love to host, and that’s what they love about now owning Saphire Hill Winery. They get to host every day, and they want to replicate how the previous owners always made them feel.

Tony: What drew us to Sapphire Hill Winery was the hospitality, and the wines were incredible. They are fantastic wines, and they were kind to us and taught us a lot about wine without being overbearing.

Lisa: While their main tasting room is in Healdsburg, they wanted to bring part of that to Oakland, where they live. So they opened this tasting room in November of last year.

Tony: Going back and forth from Healdsburg to Oakland we know how much of a chore it can be to get up there so the idea of bringing the wine country to the East Bay and everything we enjoy about our Healdsburg tasting room to Oakland was appealing.

Lisa: So, if you’re looking for a glass or a bottle, check out their tasting room and say hello to Hallie and Tony!

Hallie: We’ve had people say it feels like being on an episode of Cheers because they come in and we say “Lisa good to see you again we have the wine you like,” so that’s been a nice part of it.