Your Guide to San Martin Summer Wineries, Farms, and Trails
July 16, 2026
July 16, 2026
If you live in San Martin, you already know the running joke. Someone from out of town asks where to go for a Saturday, and you end up describing three separate driveways, a demonstration garden on Highland Avenue, and a farm off Giampaoli before they interrupt to ask which one is downtown. There isn't one. San Martin does not have a downtown strip or a city council. It is an unincorporated community of about 7,000 people tucked between Morgan Hill and Gilroy, surrounded by vineyards, horse ranches, and open hillsides.
That absence is the whole point. A summer weekend here is a circuit, not a stroll, and once you accept that, the calendar starts to look generous rather than scattered. This post is a plan for residents who want to use the season instead of scrolling through it.
The tasting rooms closest to home are family-run, which sets the tone. San Martin sits at the southern end of the Santa Clara Valley wine region, and the tasting rooms here are nothing like Napa. No crowds, no $50 pours, no velvet ropes. You pull up to a small family winery, sit outside with a glass, and watch the hills turn gold in the afternoon.
Four names anchor the circuit. CordeValle Winery is the property most South Valley residents still call Clos LaChance, and there is a reason for the confusion. Founders Bill and Brenda Murphy announced in March 2025 that they had sold Clos LaChance; afterward, the property began operating under the new name "CordeValle Winery," aligning it with the adjacent CordeValle Golf Resort brand. The tasting room keeps a limited weekly schedule: hours run Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the tasting room is closed Monday and Tuesday. If you want to bring your own food or your dog, you have room to do both. Most weekends, the on-site "Bistro Clos" pop-up by Cellar Door offers casual, made-to-order bites; you can also bring your own picnic, as we did, if that's part of your wine-country ritual. If you've got a pup along for the ride, dogs are allowed in the Mulberry Grove and the garden patio just outside the tasting entrance, and the property is ADA-friendly.
Little Uvas Vineyard is the one people bring visitors to for the story. This one is unlike any tasting room you've been to. Little Uvas sits at 255 Fitzgerald Avenue in San Martin, and the tasting room is called "The Garage" because that's exactly what it is. Owners Rich and Rosy Bergin opened in 2022 and built the space around seven acres of estate-grown grapes, plus a collection of classic cars on display inside. They share the building with the DeRose Tasting Room, so you get two wineries in one stop. The weekly rhythm rewards regulars: Hours are Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Friday afternoons feature pizza parties, and Thursday nights they run "Corks & Pasta" events for $50, which includes wine and two pasta dishes.
Miramar Vineyards is where you go when you want quiet. Miramar sits on ten pastoral acres at 12255 New Avenue in San Martin, tucked into the eastern foothills. It's a smaller, quieter tasting room that feels like visiting someone's property rather than a commercial operation. Open Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. If you want a mellow stop away from any crowds, this is it.
And Kirigin Cellars, a short drive away, carries the longest local history: Kirigin Cellars has been making wine since 1916, which makes it one of the oldest continuously operating wineries in the state.
Two things distinguish this summer from last. The first is the name change at CordeValle, which is still working its way into local habit. The second is a concert calendar that is now firmly scheduled and worth pinning to the fridge.
The KRTY.com Song and Wine Series at CordeValle runs Thursday and Friday evenings across the warm months, with a full published slate:
| Month | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 18 | 19 |
| July 2026 | 16 | 17 |
| August 2026 | 6 | 7 |
| September 2026 | 10 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 1 | 2 |
Those dates come straight from the venue's 2026 lineup, which also sells Thursday and Friday season passes for regulars. Cordevalle Winery has the ambiance, the wine, the space, and the amazing staff to host the best winery events in the Bay Area. If you want to arrive without planning around parking, know that the property occasionally closes early for private events, so check the calendar before you commit to a specific Thursday.
For the day-drinking crowd, the other 2026 addition worth flagging is the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley, which pulls a rotating slice of San Martin, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy wineries into one afternoon. If you want someone else to do the driving, the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley runs every weekend year-round. The trolley is an actual cable car that picks up at Luxe Flower Bar & Cafe at 1st and Monterey in downtown Morgan Hill. Cost is $149 per person, which includes a champagne welcome reception, a gourmet box lunch at the second winery, and tasting fees at three different wineries. The tour rotates among local wineries in Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy, so you get a different experience depending on the weekend.
If you have not built a good San Martin Saturday in a while, here is a version that respects the drive time and the summer heat.
The itinerary works because nothing on it is more than fifteen minutes from anything else. That is the argument for living here in the first place.
Summer heat has a way of rewriting weekend plans, and the good news is that the trailheads locals actually use are all short drives. San Martin does not have its own trail system, but several great hikes are a short drive away. Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve (10 minutes north) The 4-mile Arrowhead Loop Trail winds past serpentine rock outcrops, through oak groves, and along seasonal creeks. Views of Mount Hamilton and Mount Umunhum from the ridge are worth the climb. Open 7 AM to sunset for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
For a shaded option, Uvas Canyon County Park (15 minutes west) Waterfalls in winter and spring, shaded creekside trails year-round. The Waterfall Loop trail hits multiple falls in under 4 miles. By July the waterfalls will be quiet, but the creek shade is the trade the trail is asking you to make.
For a longer day, Henry Coe State Park (20 minutes east) One of the largest state parks in California with over 200 miles of trails. Day hikes to China Hole or Frog Lake are popular. Backpackers come for multi-day trips through the backcountry. Bring plenty of water; there is little shade in summer.
The overlap between all three is that you can leave the house at 7 a.m., be back before the heat lands, and still have the whole afternoon for a tasting room or a nap on the porch.
A few things worth keeping in mind for the season. Miramar and Little Uvas both keep short hours, so a spontaneous drop-in on a Monday will not work. CordeValle's concert nights sell out to season pass holders first, and the property occasionally closes at 3 p.m. for weddings, which is worth checking before you drive in. If you are bringing wine home in July, bring a cooler. Bring a cooler for your car. You'll want to buy a few bottles, and San Martin afternoons get warm.
The larger point is that summer here is not something that happens to you. It is a set of standing invitations, most of them within fifteen minutes of your driveway, and the calendar rewards residents who plan two weekends ahead instead of one.
If you have been thinking about how a San Martin lifestyle fits into a next move, whether that is finding a place with more room for the garden or eventually right-sizing to something closer to town, Amy Martinez is happy to talk through the South Valley in the same detail you just read. Let's connect.
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