Sonoma County wineries are open for outdoor tastings. Here are a few recommendations of tasting rooms to visit right now — including special Valentine’s Day events. Please call ahead before you visit. Click through the above gallery for a peek at the wineries.
FEATURED: Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery
The Fort Ross-Seaview AVA is one of Sonoma County’s smallest, with fewer than 600 planted acres, located on steep coastal ridges inland from the ocean with elevations ranging from 920 to 1,800 feet. These slopes produce some of the finest cool-climate grapes in the county, though Fort Ross winery owners Lester and Linda Schwartz were warned decades ago that great fruit would likely not flourish in such foggy conditions. Proving the naysayers wrong, they carved out 53 acres of vineyards planted to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, in a nod to their South African roots, Pinotage.
The winery was closed for a time in August while a nearby wildfire was brought under control. “We were very fortunate and are immensely grateful for the firefighters who held the line and prevented the fire from reaching the property,” explains vice president Johanna Bernstein. The tasting room reopened as quickly as possible, offering samples of four estate-grown wines together with a pairing of charcuterie or artisanal cheeses, with house-made morsels that might include duck with dried sour-cherry terrine, local rabbit rillette, and marinated vegetables ($45).
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