6 Wineries You Should Visit During the Holiday Season

When there’s a chill in the air, there’s a warm welcome at Sonoma County’s wine-tasting rooms. The hospitality of Wine Country is a great pairing with the holiday season: A place to linger awhile and join in on free-flowing conversation, all while sipping wine. Gifts abound, even for the non-wine lovers on your list. And even if there’s no lazy curl of smoke rising above the tasting room chimney, wineries are a good place to warm your hands in the winter.

1. Muscardini Cellars, Kenwood

Enjoy magical tasting experiences under the winter tent at Muscardini Cellars, where visitors are surrounded by a dazzling display of 2,000 sparkling lights, stunning silver snowflakes, and twinkling olive trees. Celebrate the holidays with the Muscardini family’s seasonal wine and sensory jar experience, a delicious wine and chocolate pairing from Master Chocolatier Chef Sebastian Beline of Paris, or try your hand at a blind-tasting experience of Thanksgiving-perfect wines.

2. Ram’s Gate Winery, Sonoma

There may not be a Sonoma County winery that goes as all-out on Christmas as Ram’s Gate, perched atop a hill at the “gate” of the breezy Sonoma Carneros region. The fireplaces blaze during the holiday season, and the winery’s modern rustic style is perfectly spruced with fir trees, wreaths, and a crimson 1954 MG Convertible filled with wine gifts. The year-round star attraction is wine and food pairings with chef-prepared micro-entrées like duck cassoulet with bacon and huckleberries.

3. Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma

History comes alive at Buena Vista. Founded in 1857 by “Count” Agoston Haraszthy, this was Sonoma County’s first commercial winery. While the focus is on classic Sonoma County varietal wines, you can also book one of the daily tours of the lavishly restored 1860s-era champagne cellars, which are sometimes led by a costumed version of the Count himself. If you crave a cozier experience, warm yourself by the fireplace in a tasting room filled with historic winemaking artifacts.

4. Chateau St. Jean, Kenwood

This elegant Sonoma Valley winery can always be counted on for fine vineyard and mountain scenery outside and beautiful holiday decor inside. The tasting room is well stocked with wine-related gifts, and there’s a gourmet deli for lunching outside on Sonoma County’s warmer winter days. Holiday favorites include the winery’s Gewürztraminer, late-harvest Riesling, and Cinq Cépages Bordeaux-styled blend.

5. Lambert Bridge Winery, Healdsburg

A curl of fireplace smoke above this Dry Creek Valley winery makes it a welcome sight on dark winter days when it appears out of the gloom like a mountain lodge. Cozy up to a pour of Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon by the stone hearth at this warmly lit, redwood-paneled tasting room, or bask in the glow of a candelabra in the barrel room.

6. Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Geyserville

This one’s on the list as much for the wines as for the gift-shopping angle: Famed director Francis Coppola is said to personally ponder over and approve — if not downright invent — every item of merchandise for sale in the tasting room. At this sprawling chateau and film museum, you’ll find highlights from the director’s career as well as a wide variety of wines for every taste, from Sofia sparkling wine for holiday toasting to some serious Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

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Written by Sonoma Insider James Knight