Sonoma, California City Guide
For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Sonoma, California Travel Guide has been your connection to Sonoma's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Sonoma Wineries
 In addition to its historic treasures, there is a wide range of wine-tasting experiences available in Sonoma, from hidden family-run boutiques to corporate-run tasting rooms with hourly tours. Tip: Don't try to do more than three or four winery tours per day—you're bound to burn out, and those little tastes add up.
Viansa’s hilltop Tuscan-style villa is the first winery visible as you enter the county from the south. One of the few Sonoma wineries that sells deli items, its indoor marketplace is crammed with high-quality condiments, prepared foods, Italian tableware, cookbooks, and wine-related gifts. A self-guided tour includes a trip through the underground barrel-aging cellar with hand-painted murals. Guided tours are held at 11 am and 2 pm.
At Enoteca in downtown Sonoma, twelve boutique winemakers have joined together to sell their collections of wines in a Mediterranean style tasting room surrounded with fine furnishings and wine accessories. Savor wines you can only taste and buy here, all in one place--no driving required.
Just a few blocks from the Sonoma Plaza is the historic winery of Samuele Sebastiani. First planted in 1825 by the Franciscans of the nearby Mission, Mariano Vallejo acquired it in the 1830s. In 1904, Sebastiani bought the location and turned it into a prominent local winery now producing some 200,000 cases annually. The original 1904 winery is open to the public with educational tours ($5 per person), tasting bar, and extensive gift shop. The company's original turn-of-the-20th-century crusher and press are on display, as well as the world's largest collection of oak-barrel carvings.
Buena Vista Winery was founded in 1857 by Count Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian émigré regarded as the father of California's wine industry and close friend of General Vallejo. The beautiful, stone-crafted 1862 Press House tasting room brims with wines, wine-related gifts, and accessories. A Historical Tour and Tasting, daily at 11am and 2pm, details the life and times of Count Haraszthy and includes a viticultural tour, as well as a wine and food pairing.
Sonoma is also one of the world’s most ecologically-aware centers of agricultural industry. The Kunde Estate, run since 1904 by the Kunde family, is one of the largest grape suppliers in the area; all their own wines are "estate," made from grapes grown on their property. The winery offers “Eco-Tours” that climb from the Sonoma Valley floor up 1400' through the vineyards and into the Mayacamas Mountains, concluding with a wine tasting and gourmet lunch. Private tours are available by appointment only, but you can make use of the picnic tables and pond any time during opening hours.
When you’ve had your fill of pinots and sauvignons, pay a visit to Gloria Ferrer, whose family has made sparkling wine for 5 centuries. If you're unfamiliar with the term méthode champenoise, take the free, 30-minute tour of the fermenting tanks, bottling line, and caves brimming with racks of yeast-laden bottles. Enjoy a glass of dry brut—picnic tables here are reserved for those making purchases--and take in the spectacular views while basking in the sun.
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