Sonoma / Wine Country Attractions

Arrowood Vineyards & Winery
This utterly picturesque winery is perched on a gently rising hillside lined with perfectly manicured vineyards. Tastings take place in the Hospitality House, the newer of Arrowood's two stately gray-and-white buildings fashioned after New England farmhouses, complete with wraparound porches. Arrowood's focus is on making world-class wine with minimal intervention, and his results are impressive. Mind you, excellence doesn't come cheaply: Prices start at $29 for a 2000 chardonnay and quickly climb to $85 for their reserve cabernet. Tastings are $5, and $10 for limited-production wines.

14347 Sonoma Hwy. (Calif. 12).Phone: 707/935-2600.Open: Daily 10am-4:30pm. Tours by appointment only, daily at 10:30am and 2:30pm.

Benziger Family Winery
A visit here confirms that you are indeed visiting a "family" winery; at any given time, three generations of Benzigers (pronounced "ben-zigger") may be running around tending to chores, and you're instantly made to feel as if you're part of the clan. The pastoral, user-friendly property features an exceptional self-guided tour, gardens, an art gallery, and a spacious tasting room manned by an amiable staff. The $5, 40-minute tram tour, pulled by a beefy tractor, is both informative and fun as it winds through the estate vineyards before making a champagne-tasting pit stop on a scenic bluff. Tip: Tram tickets -- a hot item in the summer -- are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so either arrive early or stop by in the morning to pick up afternoon tickets.
Tastings of the standard-release wines are free. Tastes of limited productions wines or reserve and estate wines cost $5 and $10 respectively. and the winery offers several scenic picnic spots.

1883 London Ranch Rd.Phone: 800/989-8890.Open: Tasting room daily 10am-5pm. $5 tram tours daily (weather permitting) at 11:30am, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30pm.

Buena Vista Winery

The patriarch of California wineries was founded in 1857 by Count Agoston Haraszthy, the Hungarian émigré who is universally regarded as the father of California's wine industry. A close friend of General Vallejo, Haraszthy returned from Europe in 1861 with 100,000 of the finest vine cuttings, which he made available to all winegrowers. Although Buena Vista's winemaking now takes place at an ultra-modern facility in the Carneros District, the winery still maintains a complimentary tasting room inside the restored 1862 Press House -- a beautiful stone-crafted room brimming with wines, wine-related gifts, and accessories (as well as a small art gallery along the inner balcony).
Tastings are $5 for 4 wines plus a complimentary glass, plus an additional charge for flight of three for the really good stuff. There's also a self-guided tour that you can follow any time during operating hours; a "Historical Presentation," offered daily at 2pm, details the life and times of the count.

18000 Old Winery Rd.Phone: 800/926-1266.Open: Daily 10am-5pm. Self-guided tours only.

Château St. Jean
Château St. Jean is notable for its exceptionally beautiful buildings, landscaped grounds, and gourmet market-like tasting room. Among California wineries, it's a pioneer in vineyard designation -- the procedure of making wine from, and naming it for, a single vineyard. A private drive takes you to what was once a 250-acre country retreat built in 1920; a well-manicured lawn overlooking the meticulously maintained vineyards is now a picnic area, complete with a fountain and picnic tables. There's a self-guided tour with detailed and photographic descriptions of the winemaking process. When you're done, be sure to walk to the top of the faux medieval tower for a magnificent view of the valley.
Back in the huge tasting room -- split into three areas to better handle the traffic -- you can sample Château St. Jean's wide array of wines. They range from chardonnays and cabernet sauvignon to fumé blanc, merlot, Johannisburg Riesling, and Gewürztraminer. Tastings are $5 per person, $10 for reserve tastings.

8555 Sonoma Hwy. (Calif. 12).Phone: 800/543-7572.Open: Tasting daily 10am-5pm.At the foot of Sugarloaf Ridge, just north of Kenwood and east of Hwy. 12.

Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves
When you have it up to here with chardonnays and pinots, it's time to pay a visit to Gloria Ferrer, the grande dame of the Wine Country's sparkling-wine producers. Who's Gloria, you ask? She's the wife of José Ferrer, whose family has been making sparkling wine for the past 5 centuries and whose company, Freixenet, is the largest producer of sparkling wine in the world. Glimmering like Oz high atop a gently sloping hill, the estate overlooks the verdant Carneros District; on a sunny day, enjoying a glass of brut while soaking in the magnificent views is a must.
If you're unfamiliar with the term méthode champenoise, be sure to take the free 30-minute tour of the fermenting tanks, bottling line, and caves brimming with racks of yeast-laden bottles. Afterwards, retire to the elegant tasting room for a flute of brut or cuvée ($2-$7 a taste or glass, $16 and up per bottle), find an empty chair on the veranda, and say, "Ahhh. This is the life." There are picnic tables, but it's usually too windy up here for comfort, and you have to purchase a bottle of their sparkling wine to reserve a table.

23555 Carneros Hwy. (Calif. 121).Phone: 707/996-7256.Open: Daily 10am-5:30pm. Tours daily 11am-4pm.

Kenwood Vineyards
Kenwood's history dates back to 1906, when the Pagani brothers made their living selling wine straight from the barrel and into the jug. In 1970, the Lee family bought the place and converted the aging winery into a modern, high-production facility concealed in the original barn-like buildings. Since then, Kenwood's wines have earned a solid reputation for consistent quality with each of their varietals: cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, zinfandel, pinot noir, merlot, and their most popular wine, sauvignon blanc -- a crisp, light wine with hints of melon.
Though the winery looks rather modest in size, its output is staggering: nearly 500,000 cases of ultra-premium wines fermented in steel tanks and French and American oak barrels. Popular with wine collectors is winemaker Michael Lee's Artist Series cabernet sauvignon, a limited production from the winery's best vineyards featuring labels with original artwork by renowned artists. The tasting room, housed in one of the old barns, offers free tastings of most varieties, as well as gift items for sale.

9592 Sonoma Hwy. (Calif. 12).Phone: 707/833-5891.Open: Daily 10am-4:30pm.

Kunde Estate Winery
Expect a friendly, unintimidating welcome at this scenic winery, run by four generations of the Kundes since 1904. One of the largest grape suppliers in the area, the Kunde family (pronounced "kun-dee") converted 800 acres of their 2,000-acre ranch to growing ultra-premium quality grapes, which they provide to about 30 Sonoma and Napa wineries. Hence, all their wines are "estate" (made from grapes grown on their own property). The free new-release tastings are offered in a spiffy 17,000-square-foot winemaking facility. Private tours are available by appointment, but the picnic tables and man-made pond can be spontaneously enjoyed.

10155 Sonoma Hwy.Phone: 707/833-5501.Open: Tastings daily 10:30am-4pm. Cave tours Fri-Sun approximately every half-hr. from 11am-4pm.

Ravenswood Winery
Compared to old heavies like Sebastiani and Buena Vista, Ravenswood is a relative newcomer to the Sonoma wine scene, but it has quickly established itself as the sine qua non of zinfandel. In fact, Ravenswood is the first winery in the United States to focus primarily on zins, which make up about three-quarters of its 500,000-case production; it also produces merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and a small amount of chardonnay.
The winery is smartly designed -- recessed into the Sonoma hillside to protect its treasures from the simmering summers. Tours follow the winemaking process from grape to glass, and include a visit into the aromatic oak-barrel-aging rooms. You're also welcome to bring your own picnic basket to any of the tables. Tastings are $4 for four tastes, which is refundable with purchase.

18701 Gehricke Rd.Phone: 800/NO-WIMPY.Open: Daily 10am-4:30pm. Tours by reservation only at 10:30am.

Sebastiani Vineyards Winery
What started in 1904, when Samuele Sebastiani began producing his first wines, has, in three successive generations, now grown into a small empire and Sonoma County's largest winery, producing some six million cases a year. After a few years of seismic retrofitting, the original 1904 winery is now open to the public with more extensive educational tours, an 80-foot S-shaped tasting bar, and lots of shopping opportunities in the gift shop. In the contemporary tasting room's mini-museum area you can see the winery's original early-20th-century crusher and press, as well as the world's largest collection of oak-barrel carvings, crafted by local artist Earle Brown. If it's merely wine that interests you, you can sample an extensive selection of wines free. Bottle prices are reasonable, ranging from $15 to $75. A picnic area is adjacent to the cellars, though a far more scenic spot is located across the parking lot in Sebastiani's Cherryblock Vineyards.

389 Fourth St. E.Phone: 800/888-5532.Open: Daily 10am-5pm. Call for tour schedules.