Wine Tasting Itinerary: Sonoma Valley and Beyond

Sonoma Valley

The birthplace of the California’s commercial wine industry in the 1850s, Sonoma Valley now covers 14,000 acres of vineyards, accented by more than 50 wineries and tasting rooms. Within its pretty patchwork of farms and some 13,000 additional acres of open parkland, Sonoma Valley is also home to many of the County’s best recreational and dining destinations.

First, fuel up for a day of tasting with breakfast at the cult-favorite El Molino Central. The small white stucco, teal-trimmed eatery makes its mark with organic heirloom corn kernels painstakingly hand-ground on a stone wheel for tortillas and tamales, and excellent chilaquiles made even better with a side of refried Rancho Gordo heritage beans.

If you’re looking for a pampered get-around, the Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley awaits with a chauffeured tour in a vintage 1890s San Francisco cable car. This hand-built replica of an authentic trolley operates as a private charter vehicle that can handle groups of up to 28 passengers on six-hour field trips to top wineries. Tasting tastes even better with open-air views, a sound system, and on-board refreshments featuring a country French picnic lunch catered by the girl & the fig.

Or, venture out on your own, starting with a don’t-miss classic. Founded in 1857, Buena Vista Winery is the oldest commercial winery in California, complete with caves that are actual historical landmarks. The aging tombs have recently been renovated for modern safety measures, but remain elegantly dark and mysterious. Guided paired tastings are the best way to explore everything, where a host first offers the barrel wine, then the finished wine, and explains the evolution. You can also taste wine and explore a multi-media Wine Tool Museum. 

Deerfield Ranch is another gem, featuring more than 23,000 square feet of wine caves spanning the heart of winery, and cut in the shape of a wine glass. Tucked behind beautiful Redwood portal doors sit hundreds of barrels, leading to the Grand Room furnished in overstuffed couches and chairs. Such comfortable seating is a good idea, considering tasting flights can include up to 20 wines (try the standouts of super Tuscan style “Super T Rex” red and the Old Vine Zinfandel).

Then, venture a little further into Sonoma Valley along scenic Highway 12 and visit other popular wineries on the way, like Kunde, St. Francis, Chateau St. Jean, Ledson, or VJB. Find your short way back to Sonoma via breathtaking wine country scenery.

Next, catch your breath beneath the shade trees in the eight-acre Sonoma Plaza (the largest town center in California), then tour the surrounding National Historic Landmark adobe buildings designed in 1834 by the Mexican Governor Mariano Vallejo. A stop-in at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is recommended, too, to discover the largest visual arts organization in the San Francisco North Bay region.

Lunch is calling now, and the longtime classic, French-country the girl & the fig on the square is a delight, for seasonal plates like duck egg ravioli with spring mushrooms, onion crema, green garlic, spring peas and baby carrots sprinkled in smoked paprika. Not too long ago, Lady Gaga turned heads as she dined here, accompanied by her boyfriend and two bodyguards.

You’re in a perfect location, too, for shopping at numerous boutiques — there are dozens of great salons, galleries, and stores all around the Square. In a novel combination, The Corner Store is a home accessories boutique.

That evening, stay at Sonoma Creek Inn, a darling, reasonably priced 16-room hideaway. Many of the recently updated, colorfully decorated rooms have private outdoor patios or porches, and the hosts offer complimentary tasting passes at area wineries.

Or, for a night of luxury, the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa is a historic, mission-style property originally opened in 1840. It evolved into a health retreat for wealthy guests in the 1920s, and is now top-of-the-line contemporary, thanks to a recent resort-wide renovation that includes the entire lobby, heritage guest rooms, meeting rooms, and landscaping.

Whichever lodging you choose, dinner at the AAA Four Diamond Award Santé Restaurant at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa is a worthy indulgence. The upscale California cuisine eatery was completely revamped last spring for a chic, modern dining room plus a new Santé Terrace overlooking the fire pit and the signature geothermal mineral pool.

The chef’s tasting menu spans four courses, while the regular menu tempts with plates like Iberico pork shoulder loin with lacinato kale, bing cherries and poached granny smith apples turnip puree in aigre-doux pork jus, or EVOO poached salmon with sweet carrots, artichokes, caper berries, picholine olives and chickpea tots sprinkled in preserved Meyer lemon gremolata. Bonus: the wine list features more than 500 Sonoma and Napa wines.

Carneros-Sonoma

Carneros spans 8,000 vineyard acres and offers more than 20 wineries. It’s not possible to visit all the wineries in a day, of course, but you can plot your strategy over an excellent breakfast at Lou’s Luncheonette, where chef-owner Chad Harris puts together ridiculously good comfort food with down-home soul for breakfast and lunch. Start your day with buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, a buttermilk waffle, fried oysters, or a basket of feather-light biscuits.

Located just south of the town of Sonoma, the Roche family’s new winery subtlety sits on the valley floor within their Tipperary Vineyard, located on their estate in the Carneros AVA. Wine tasting at the Roche Winery & Vineyards “Tasting Plaza” is highlighted by features like outdoor fireplaces, cabanas, private group tasting areas, and the view of thousands of acres of vineyards planted on the western slopes of Sonoma Valley.

Now, head to a hidden treasure — Schug Carneros Estate Winery. Coming up the winding drive, through the vineyards bordered by rose bushes towards the German chalet-style winery, it’s hard to imagine that there are also caves tucked into the bucolic hillside. Yet the stone structures are polished and glossy and lined with gorgeous barrels. Knowledgeable guides on the private tours offer a blend of the winery’s history, insight into the Carneros region, and an overview of Schug’s “secret” winemaking techniques.

Such a good trip deserves a toast of sparkling wine, and you can find that at Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards. Established more than 25 years ago, this winery was the first sparkling wine house built in the Carneros region. However, the Ferrer family has actually been making sparkling wines for more than 150 years. A variety of tours delve into the important role that caves play in the winemaking process, from a basic educational tasting that includes the main cave overlook, to a private look at how crafting sparkling wine can take three to 10 years.

Ram’s Gate, on the other hand, is relatively new, and set in a 22,000-square-foot winery designed in a stunning barn style along Highway 121 across from Sonoma Raceway in Carneros/Sonoma. This is modern Carneros style and must be seen to be appreciated, accented with recycled French granite paver-stones and massive floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open to sweeping vineyard and bay views. 

Now, you can head back Sonoma way, and drop in at Cornerstone Sonoma, a wine country marketplace offering an eclectic mix of lavish gardens, Sunset’s Gardens + Outdoor Test Kitchen, sculptures, landscape architect installations, clothing boutiques, and art and home design shops. It offers periodic live music performances and other events. There are more tasting rooms right in the Cornerstone, too, including Meadowcroft Wines, and Obsidian Wine Co., as well as the Prohibition Spirits distillery. Get more details in our Guide to Cornerstone Sonoma and Caneros Wineries.

For the evening, relax at the vintage motor-court chic Vineyard Inn Hotel. The red tile roof and palm tree lined 22-room inn looks modest, but each guest room is distinctively decorated, and there is a solar heated swimming pool and full fitness center.

Another nice option includes Glen Ellen Inn, tucked away with “Secret Cottages” on the Calabasas Creek behind the inn’s oyster grill restaurant. Each has its own fireplace, hot tub, shower, TV, fruit and pastry basket, in-room coffee, and honor bar.

Or, for luxury, there is the Gaige House + Ryokan, part bed and breakfast, part luxury resort. With 23 graceful Asian-inspired guestrooms and suites plus eight new “Zen” suites featuring granite soaking tubs and private Japanese gardens perfect for en-suite spa treatments, you’ll feel like you’ve escaped to a private oasis.

Bennett Valley

Enjoy Vineyard Inn’s complimentary continental breakfast, or stop at Glen Ellen Village Market for a real feast. Located near dozens of top wineries, next to a stream at the bottom of the entry road to Jack London State Historic Park, it’s a lovely place to plan your day.

The hot breakfast spread brims with breakfast burritos, croissant sandwiches, bacon, sausage, hot cereals, roasted potatoes and three kinds of egg dishes, plus giant and mini muffins, and more than 30 varieties of donuts and pastries baked fresh daily.

Continue on into the Bennett Valley AVA, located south of the city of Santa Rosa, on high ground between the Sonoma Valley and Cotati Valley. It’s sumptuously pastoral, since there are 650 vineyard acres here, but only four wineries, and only two wineries that are open to the public.

Matanzas Creek Winery was founded in 1977 and its managers have spent the time planting not only grapevines, but more than 4,500 lavish lavender bushes in their two-acre estate garden. It’s a spectacular sight each summer when the bushes burst into bloom.

Great shopping is nearby in the bustling Montgomery Village Shopping Center, and this open-air mall is also home to the terrific Monti’s. Enjoy a lunch of wine country cuisine anchored by wood-fired rotisserie meats such as Liberty Farms lavender roasted duck, and find your perfect wine pairing from more than 40 selections by the glass.

More shopping awaits in the Railroad Square area, which sits on the west side of Highway 101 and stretches roughly from the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country to Western Farm Center, and boasts a beautifully restored Northwestern Pacific Railroad train depot made of locally quarried stone. The depot now houses the Santa Rosa Visitors Center / California Welcome Center.

There are several interesting independently owned stores in the region, such as Whistlestop Antiques, where owner Dee Richardson has a flair for whimsy, offering collectables like a bowling-pin shaped trophy from a 1998 Reno bowling competition, alongside more expected inventory like delicate china teacups.

You might be ready for dinner, now. 

Stark’s Steak & Seafood blends a dark, clubby, ultra-friendly retro atmosphere with a thoroughly modern surf and turf menu, plus an extensive list of local and international wines.

La Gare French Restaurant offers traditional French cuisine featuring fresh ingredients in an elegant yet relaxed setting, with an extensive wine selection. You can order from the full menu or from a special bar menu in La Gare’s intimate wine bar, which features a beautiful copper bar top and accents.

A good night’s sleep is just a few steps away at Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country. The Tuscan villa-style property sports an AAA Four Diamond rating, plus amenities like a gorgeous fire pit courtyard, a swimming pool, and a sculpture garden.

Or, you can roost at the Flamingo Resort where all stays in the newly remodeled luxury rooms include a breakfast buffet and free wine tasting passes.

If you’d rather spend money on more wine than on a fancy room, the Quality Inn & Suites is clean and comfortable, including treats like complimentary breakfast and a pet friendly policy.

Written by Sonoma Insider Carey Sweet.