Dreaming of a tour through Sonoma and Napa…. There is nothing like the smell of freshly crushed grapes, the view of beautiful rolling vineyards, the swirling of a bright cherry red wine and the wonderful taste you can seemingly only create while visiting a vineyard.
Sonoma and Napa have been through a lot recently with terrible wildfires that raged through vineyards causing many to evacuate and some to lose their homes, belongings, businesses and vineyards. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted by the devastating wildfires. Many people have had to cancel or postpone their trips to wine country, but now that the smoke has cleared it is time to plan your trip to Sonoma and Napa! My husband and I have been to Napa and Sonoma several times experiencing each season in wine country. Every season brings something different to the region, but in my opinion fall is the most beautiful time of year to visit.
A wine tour through Sonoma or Napa is a great way to experience wine country. It not only provides a safe way to visit each winery, but also allows you to visit wineries you most likely have never heard of. We have taken a group wine tour while staying in San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa. Typically where you stay will dictate where you can take a tour to. I have listed the tour companies we have used to offer you a few suggestions. By no means is this a comprehensive or exhaustive list of all available tour companies. We have only taken group tours, but these companies offer private tours too.
The pros of group tours compared to private tours is they are less expensive and you get to meet other people which usually adds to your wine tasting experience.
As you will be visiting multiple wineries remember to bring wine skins to transport wine back home in your checked luggage. If you are purchasing a case of wine many of the tours or vineyards will sell a box for $10 to $15.
A Taste of San Francisco
If your home base is San Francisco and you will not be renting a car to leave the city, A Taste of San Francisco is a great option for a group tour to Sonoma. They even offer a half day tour, which is the one we opted for.
We really enjoyed the tour, as our tour guide/ driver was very informative and personable. While driving out of the city our guide explained areas and attractions along the route. He also stopped at the Golden Gate Vista Point where the tour group was able to go to the bathroom and take pictures. The half day tour typically visits two wineries. We had extra time at the end of our tour and our guide gave us the option to go to a third winery. Of course, we took him up on it!
The three wineries we visited were Viansa Sonoma Winery, Meadowcroft Wines and Cuvaison Estate Wines.
Platypus Tours
Platypus Tours are a wonderful group tour option if you plan to stay a night or two in Sonoma or Napa. We have been on two Platypus tours. One tour through Sonoma and one through Napa. I would suggest doing the Sonoma tour. They take you to unique wineries and small family owned wineries that would be hard to find on your own.
The tours typically consists of about 10 people which makes the day fun interacting with your tour group and enjoying tastings together. Lunch is provided with the tour pricing, but the tasting fees you will pay at the wineries. Sometimes there is a discounted tasting fee or the wineries will waive the fee, but factor those costs into the tour price as they add up quickly. On average tasting fees will range from $10 to $25 which include 5-6 one ounce pours. Often the fees can be waived if you purchase a bottle or two of wine, be sure to ask if they will waive the fee prior to the tasting. A suggestion would be to split the tastings if you are traveling with someone. My husband and I frequently do this. Some wineries do not allow this, but most do and it doesn’t hurt to ask.
On our Sonoma Tour our guide took us to Deerfield Ranch Winery, Petroni Vineyards, Paradise Ridge Winery and Imagery Winery.
On the tour through Napa we went to Casa Nuestra Vineyards and Winery, David Fulton, Chase Cellars and Tudal Winery.
Terrific Tours
On one of our most recent trips to wine country we booked Terrific Tours. The goal was to try a new group tour company since we had done Platypus Tours twice already and we also wanted to do a tour of Alexander Valley and Dry Creek which Terrific Tours said they could accommodate. We lucked out with this tour since we were the first to ask for a particular area of the valleys to visit and that there was only one other couple booked on our tour. The day of the tour the other couple cancelled and it became a private tour (for the cost of a group tour!). Our driver inquired what types of wine we typically enjoyed and he then customized the tour to fit the wine profiles we enjoy. We wanted wineries that were good but affordably priced in the Alexander Valley/ Dry Creek area and our tour guide found wineries to match just that. The tour was in a van, instead of the small bus we took on the other tours.
Terrific Tours took us to J. Rickards Winery, Dutcher Crossing Winery, Stuhlmuller Vineyards and Merriam Vineyards.
After the many tours we have taken I think each of these tour companies offer something different. If you are traveling to Napa/ Sonoma for your first time I would use Platypus Tours for a wine tour through Sonoma. When you are staying in San Francisco your whole trip then use A Taste of San Francisco. If you are like us and have been to wine country at least a few times or you want to go to a more northern wine region like Alexander Valley call Terrific Tours to see if they can accommodate your requests. They may not be able to, but for our tour they did.
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