Taste the best that Wine Country has to offer while also enjoying a unique experience that is sure to be quite memorable.
This guide will help visitors navigate Sonoma County when planning a trip and looking for MORE than just wine tasting – Go beyond just tasting wine with a fun, amusing and elevated experience on your next trip to Wine Country, California. Sonoma is a famous and popular destination for travelers who love wine and food. However, it can be hard to plan the perfect trip. Use this list to make it easier. From Sonoma Valley to Russian River to Healdsburg, there will be a location on this list close to where you are staying in the uber arge Sonoma winery region.
From $10 to over $200+, there is also something for everyone’s budget. I came up with this awesome list after 17 years of experience living in the region and loving every minute of it. It was grueling research, haha.
Click on a link below in the list or scroll down to read about each location. You are sure to find a wine experience that fits you, your palate and comfort zone. Wine, food and fun, it’s ALL here. (in alphabetical order)
10 AMAZING WINERY EXPERIENCES IN SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Time to discover the BEST that Sonoma County Wine Country has to offer.
Planning a trip to Northern California soon? The Sonoma winery region is like a Wine Country Wonderland. Following are a few wineries that should definitely make your list. Video journals on each of these experiences will be launched next week! I can’t wait to share even more of my winery experiences with you, I have visited most of these locations more than once, because they are just THAT much fun.
BALLETTO VINEYARDS SELF GUIDED VINEYARD TOUR AND WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE
Balletto Vineyards, a family owned and operated winery, produces award winning 100% estate grown wines from the Russian River Valley. This is single vineyard wine with a true sense of place.
Vineyards surround the tasting room. It is beautiful here. On the drive to the front door, one passes a landscape blanketed in vineyards, row after row. Grapevines surround you and roll away slowly up and down the hillsides lost in the distance, a 360 degree view from their building. They even have a Field of Dreams Baseball diamond surrounded by vines.
This is the Russian River Valley AVA. With all of these vines right here on site, it is no surprise that at Balletto Vineyards, they offer a Self Guided Vineyard Tour & Wine Tasting. They encourage visitors to enjoy a no-appointment necessary step outside and enjoy the outdoors kind of experience. After the walks, you can taste wines from the vineyards. Along the way, learn what goes on in a vineyard during the year, sustainable farming practices and other interesting tidbits of information. Marker signs along the pathways tell the story of the family, the Russian River Valley vines and the winemaking process.
After the walks, you can taste wines from the vineyards. Along the way, learn what goes on in a vineyard during the year, sustainable farming practices and other interesting tidbits of information. Marker signs along the pathways tell the story of the family, the Russian River Valley vines and the winemaking process.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON BALLETTO >>
BELDEN BARNS PRIVATE MOUNTAINSIDE TOUR AND HISTORIC BARN WINE TASTING
Belden Barns is a family owned and operated small batch winery on Sonoma Mountain who has been painstakingly undergoing the process of re-developing the historic vineyards, barn and farmstead back to its historic standards. Visitors can enjoy a chic, rustic and elegant private tasting here.
This one of a kind experience allows guests to hike the mountainside and taste wines in a historic 100+ year old barn right among the vines on the family farmstead. Enjoying a small batch estate wine tasting flight in the shade of the barn, with dappled light from the crystal chandelier lighting overhead, all while taking in the beauty of the surrounding live oaks, flowers, and vineyards. It is very shabby chic elegant here in a stunning natural setting. Sooo instagrammable too!
The outdoors paired with the historic barn and paired with a majestic oak “wishing tree’, paired with all this lovely wine, provides a gorgeous backdrop for visitor photos. Belden Barns offers a truly unique setting for the Sonoma County wine country area. Perched atop a mountain with sweeping views of the surrounding valley, the tasting room offers you a memorable backdrop for your wine tasting experience.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON BELDEN BARNS >>
BOWMAN CELLARS SMALL TOWN WINE & CHEESE LATE SUNSET ON THE PATIO
If you are searching for great wines poured by equally great people while enjoying a hip west county atmosphere… then Bowman Cellars is the place for you. Owned and operated by Alex and Katie Bowman whose passion for each other matches their equal passion for wine and for good times. It is so much fun here!
A tasting room that is open in the late afternoon for that magic sunset hour unlike most wineries whose permits have them closing in the early hours. I enjoy lounging on the beautifully landscaped patio are or at the tasting room bar into the wee hours of the evening. Drinking wine and eating cheese and charcuterie of course. Open til 6pm when you can order your last glass and enjoy the sips paired with the sun going down.
Once you get to know the space and the people, chances are good that you will return again and again. Hospitality and a west county friendliness that is hard to explain are the name of the game here.
The explanation includes a desire to return and share the experience with others, it was just soo much unexpected fun!
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON BOWMAN >>
BUENA VISTA WINERY HISTORIC TOOL MUSEUM, WINERY TOUR & WINE TASTING
First founded in 1857, Buena Vista Winery is California’s 1st premium winery in operation. As of the current day and age this legendary property has been re-born under the vision of Jean-Charles Boisset, part of Boisset Family Estates, a renowned and charismatic family with a collection of historic wineries and roots in Burgundy, France.
Only 5 minutes outside the town of Sonoma, the original winery building is also a California Historic Landmark. A location that is on many tours and California travel maps. With a working winery, tasting room, landscaped patio and outdoor walking paths, they also boast a history filled visitor’s center and wine caves. Talk about ‘experiences’. There is definitely a lot to see and do here. I choose the 19th and 20th century tool museum on this particular visit as I had already experienced many of the other offerings and was excited to see the museum presentation.
Some say the museum looks similar to a medieval looking torture chamber when they enter but these are simply the historical props of Sonoma County’s agricultural farming past. With a backdrop of ancient stone walls made up of the original winery building and being set to a fabulous narrative history lesson detailing more than a century of handcrafted wine harvesting and making tools, this presentation greatly details the amount of skill and effort that goes into each barrel of wine!! From the vine to the wine.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON BUENA VISTA >>
JORDAN WINERY & VINEYARDS CHATEAU TOUR & LIBRARY WINE & FOOD TASTING
A winery established in the early 70’s, built in the style of great wineries in France, and with a relentless commitment to creating a top Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon with consistent quality vintage after vintage. The Jordan Vineyard and Winery Chateau should be on all Sonoma County visitors top 10 list.
The Jordan Estate property is known for the highly desirable wine country trifecta of food, wine and hospitality. Service and visitor experience is at the forefront of the planning that goes into each and every visit. The standards are high here and have been for over four decades.
During the Winery Tour and Library Tasting guests will enjoy a walking tour of the stunning property paired with a seated food and wine pairing with library wines from throughout the decade. It is a guided journey across the chateau landscape with views of the vineyards and edible garden beds, past the farm animals and water reserves, a taste of food and wine in the private dining room and a educational lesson through the oak tank and barrel rooms.
All ending with a seated experience in the Chateau itself with library wines and small bites of charcuterie and cheeses and of course, their estate olive oil to sample along with homemade crackers. At Jordan Winery, they have a dedicated Chef, Todd Knoll who honors the land that the Chateau is on with a commitment to sustainable foraging and farming.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO JORDAN WINERY >>
JOSEPH JEWELL GOURMET PICNIC LUNCH VINEYARD TOUR & TASTING
Joseph Jewell Wines is a personal story told through… wine. Of course. It is Sonoma County! Based in the quaint town of Forestville in the heart of the Russian River Valley, they are dedicated to capturing the unique terroir of the vineyard with each bottle having a distinct site location to better show sense of place. These are single vineyard wines of distinction.
With a small tasting room along the row of eateries and retail shops in downtown Forestville, Joseph Jewell also offers various guest experiences to get people out of the tasting room and into the vineyard where the dedication to terroir shows through that much more. They offer visitor experiences like a Gourmet Picnic Lunch Vineyard Tour and even Luxury Helicopter Vineyard Views for those more adventurous travelers. That’s right, I said helicopter… how cool is that?
With about 60 acres of planted vineyards, it is pretty cool. Just sayin’. Lots to see here and whether you hike or fly over, this is a stunning site with some pretty amazing views that you won’t get elsewhere in the region. While this is a more pricey option, if you can, it is a stunning view and with enough time, you can even explore the California coastline on your ride, which is right over the hills from the vineyard.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON JOSEPH JEWELL>>
MARTIN RAY WINEMAKERS TASTING, FOOD PAIRING & WINERY TOUR
Martin Ray Winery in the Russian River Valley is one of the oldest continually working wineries in California. As a pioneer of the region, Martin Ray was dedicated to crafting single varietal wines that were region specific at a time when this was still relatively unheard of. Fast forward to today and the winery is still keeping to tradition and the ideology of ‘ Wines of Place’.
They like to tell the story of an appellation and a specific vineyard here. What better place to experience a Winemakers Tasting and Winery Tour!!
The tour highlights the history of the winery and philosophies in the cellar present day as you explore the stunning estate property. On the estate tour, there were twelve acres of varying clones of Pinot Noir vines. We meandered through the newly renovated property enjoying gardens and vineyard views while sipping on a lovely Rosé that they pour as soon as guests arrive.
There is a bocce ball court, refereed when needed by the resident chickens on site, haha. They are too cute and uber friendly. Play a round before you leave. During the journey, guests visit the barrel room and winemaking facility through the coolest wine country doorway. Built from old redwood barrel staves, the entrance doors look like a large wine cask, see photos here or for those Lord of the Rings fans, looks kinda like a hobbit door in the hillside.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON MARTIN RAY >>
PARADISE RIDGE HERB GARDEN SENSORY TOUR & CHOCOLATE + WINE PAIRING
For over 30 years, at Paradise Ridge they have been conscientious stewards of the land with vineyards and a winery here in Sonoma County, California passing the tradition down through the family. Unfortunately in the fires of 2017, the family strength was tested when the estate, tasting room and winemaking building were destroyed.
Luckily the vineyards, art and Kenwood tasting room survived and has become a source of comfort to the Wine Country community and locals in the area. They are in the process of rebuilding the Santa Rosa Tasting room and until then, it is more important to support and visit their Kenwood location for a taste and an experience to life others up.
At the Paradise Ridge Winery Tasting Room in Kenwood, they have a unique and educational experience in their Herb Garden & Sensory Tour paired with their Premier Herb Infused Chocolate & Wine Pairing. Hint, hint, it includes lots of chocolate!! It also involves lots of fabulous wine… Sign me up.
Hosted by a culinary and wine specialist, this experience begins outdoors in the herb garden. You learn more about the winery while also learning about the chemistry of the wines and their relationship with herbs through food.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON PARADISE RIDGE >>
RED CAR WINE WEST COUNTY VINEYARD WALKING TOUR & TASTING
Red Car Wine, vineyards on the edge of the Pacific… with a focus on cool climate grapes and single vineyard wines that truly show a sense of place in the glass. The Red Car tasting room vibe is a hip and fun one! They create fans here, of the brand, the place and not to mention their lovely wines. This is West Sonoma County and it shows.
It is a vision of cooler vineyard sites and the complex, aromatic wines they can express. So of course, Red Car is a fantastic choice for a Vineyard Walking Tour and Tasting, Right?!? How better to learn about sense of place, than to visit the very place itself.
These one of a kind walking tours take place in Freestone’s Zephyr Farms Vineyard, a seven-acre property surrounded by breathtaking views, redwoods and coastal fog.
Red Car is the only winery to source fruit from this exclusive location and the bottled juice from this site is a favorite for new visitors and wine club members alike.
Guests arrive at the hip West County tasting room and are chauffeured by Red Car Winery staff up to the site, only minutes away. Of course they get to enjoy a glass of rosé upon arrival before heading out.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON RED CAR >>
ZO WINES FARMSTAY OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCE & WINE TASTING
The words Farm and Stay seem perfect for each other, especially when that farm is located in serene Wine Country California. At Zo Wines in Healdsburg along the Dry Creek Valley wine road, they encompass the idea of staying awhile.
The estate also has a bed and breakfast style accommodation. A Farmstay Experience for guests as well as various wine tasting experiences to pair with. Again, seems like a perfect pairing. Zo Wines offers overnight stays and farm experiences, guests are welcome to walk the property and enjoy the surroundings. The location couldn’t be more perfect for a day spent wine tasting in Northern Sonoma.
Right in the heart of Dry Creek Valley and less than 5 minutes from the famous Healdsburg square full of restaurants, shopping and world class wines. They even have a 3 star michelin restaurant right down the way. Nice.
Here at Zo, guests can stay among the vines at the inn, and taste the distinctive hand-crafted, small-lot wines. The Triple Ten Vineyard surrounds the tasting room and inn and was named for its heavenly perfection of 10 acres.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE AND MORE INFO ON ZO WINES >>
