Sonoma wine country is a perfect place where you will find
the authentic California countryside experience as well as several mid-sized
modern cities making it a perfect place for enjoying the best of urban
attractions and rural experience. Sonoma spans over 1575 square miles with about
1,00,000 acres of lush wine growing land. It has over 200 wineries and about 60
miles of Pacific coastline.
With our personal experience, we can almost guarantee that you will enjoy big
time here if you know precisely where to go and what to do. Acres and acres of
grape plantations cover vast lands and hills, and the view is extremely pretty.
You should also try to go in the harvest season when you can actually see loads
of grapes on these plants. Sonoma region also has beautiful beaches, historic
forts, wine train, fishing, boating, hiking, museums, shopping, golf, casino's,
festivals, camping and biking opportunities. Even though Sonoma Valley is
located just 30 miles north of San Francisco, it offers a range of activities
which we have discussed in detail further in this article. Please note that
since wine consists of alcohol, it is important to stay within legal limits if
you are driving.
Topics:
• Sonoma wine regions
• Napa or Sonoma - which is better ?
• Getting there
• Popular Wines and Vineyards
• Things to do, Attractions and Activities
• Nightlife
• Weather (Best time to go)
• Gay and Lesbian interests
SONOMA WINE REGIONS:
Sonoma has 5 distinct wine-growing districts: Los Carneros District, Sonoma
Valley, Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and Alexander Valley, with small
towns in each. Winery hospitality staff are knowledgeable, friendly and eager to
explain the various wines and how they were made. You will find the premium
quality of white wine , red wine and champagnes. You will find vineyards all
around the county, just driving around the place is very pleasant and relaxing.
Winery tours take visitors behind the scenes to barrel rooms, crush pads,
bottling lines, cellars and caves.
SONOMA OR NAPA WINE REGIONS- WHICH HAS BETTER VINEYARDS / WINE?
Both Sonoma and Napa wine regions are located next to each other and have their own specialties. Napa wine county is more commercialized and undoubtedly a much larger tourist destination than Sonoma vineyards region. Napa not only has many more wineries, it also is much more elegant, commercialized, happening place and has many more corporate owned wineries than Sonoma. On the other hand Sonoma has more smaller and family owned type of wineries. It gives a more old country-style, relaxed and friendlier environment. So it all depends where you would like to spend more time, but we suggest that you should visit both..
GETTING THERE:
How to reach Sonoma county - Day trip or Stay there:
Since most of the tourists arrive at the San Francisco Airport (Bay area/Silicon valley region) , it is best to rent a car from the airport and then drive one hour north to the Sonoma wine region using highway 101 North. You can also reach Sonoma wine county by flying to Santa Rosa airport using Horizon Air from Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle. There are shuttle buses (Airporter Express) directly from airports to the county (about $30 one way). Although we will recommend you to stay here for at least a few days to fully enjoy it, but it is your own personal preference. Other option is a day trip from San Francisco to wine country (both and Sonoma and Napa) using a tourist agency which is probably a good option for people who just want to have a very light experience of wine region and visit 3-4 vineyards and some light wine tasting. Once you arrive in Sonoma county there are several ground (bus) transport options available, although we recommend you to use your own/rental car to drive around to save time.
POPULAR WINES AND VINEYARDS:
Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Savignon & Blanc, Merlot and Syrah.
MOST POPULAR WINERIES:
We think that the Alexander Valley vineyard, Korbel, Kenwood, Rodney Strong, Balletto, BR Cohn, Camellia, Chalk Hill, Gloria Ferrer, MartinRay, Paradise Ridge, Family wineries, Benziger, Gallo, Schug ang St. Francis wineries are the best.
THINGS TO DO AND POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS OF SONOMA WINE COUNTRY (and nearby places)::
* WINE TASTING:If we start talking about wine and vineyards, then we will probably need a whole new website for it, buy just to give you an overview of it -
The region around Russian river, Guerneville and Healdsburg are very famous. Prefer driving along the inner roads over highways to enjoy true colors. Most vineyards have a map of the region which includes vineyard locations. Try all wine flavors specified above, ask questions, smell wine before drinking to feel the aroma and even spit in the buckets located in the counter if you do not like it.
* Visit the River Rock casino of Sonoma wine region, located on the beautiful Russian river and Alexander valley. Apart from gaming/gambling opportunities, they offer picnic tables, BBQ's, Private beach, River front and hot showers.
* Wine county Ballooning over vineyards: A Balloon over Sonoma (Wikiup Medows Drive, Santa Rosa), Above the wine country ballooning (Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa) and Up & Away Ballooning (Sonoma County Airport).
* Boating and Fishing at: Boathouse, Bodega Bay Sport Fishing Center, Hagemann Trout farm (Bodega bay) and Petaluma Yacht Club.
* Rent a cabin on Sonoma coast facing the Pacific ocean or where the Russian river meets the ocean at Jenner. Visit the Sonoma state beach and Goat rock beach.
* Taste the Sonoma county goat cheese which is home to four of the country's finest producers of Goat cheese. You should plan visiting Laura Chenel Chevre, Redwood hill Farm and Creamer or at Achadinha Goat cheese company.
* Russian river is a famous destination for Kayakers and canoers. Also visit Bodega Bay Surf Shack for Kayaking.
* Guerneville's September Jazz festival, Cotati Jazz festival, Kendall Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival, Sonoma Harvest Festival , Santa Rosa's Farmers market near Santa Rosa Plaza in summers (every Wednesday) and Gravenstein Apple festival (August).
* Point Arena Lighthouse and Museum, 115 ft tall and Steel reinforced concrete lighthouse opened in 1908.
* Luther Burbank Home and Gardens: Life and work of the horticulturist who introduced 800 variety of flowers, fruits, nuts etc.. Also visit the Carriage house Museum.
* Safari west wildlife preserve: Using a safari vehicle you can see giraffe, gazelle, cheetahs, oryx and ostrich.
* Hike at the Armstrong Redwoods state reserve and Spring Lake Regional Park.
* Infineon Raceway: One of the only two road courses on the NASCAR cup race circuit. You can even learn racing techniques with the help from Jim Russell racing school.
* Fort Ross State Historic Park: The site of trading post and fort established by Russians in 1812.
* Train Ride: On Santa Rosa 12, a 20 minute steam train ride through a forested railroad park past scaled down reproductions of buildings ad waterfalls.
* Whale watching: Bodega charters on Eastshore Road. Also see the sea lions and seals at Jenner.
* The Sonoma Plaza is the focal point of this busy little wine country town. A walk around the Plaza will take visitors to many historic sites and to fabulous shopping and dining.
* Shopping Malls: Santa Rosa Plaza, Codding Town Mall, Historic Railroad Square (Santa Rosa), Petaluma Village Factory outlets, Jacklondon Village (Glen Ellen).
* Cal-State indoor skating, Rohnert Park.
* Russian river Rodeo festival in June at Duncan Mills.
* Calistoga's Petrified forest and old faithful geyser.
* Golf: Foxtail Golf Club (Rohnert Park), Adobe Creek, Rooster Run (Petaluma), The links (Bodega bay), Northwood (Monte rio), Oakmont Golf, At fairgrounds (Santa Rosa) and Windsor Golf course.
* Skydiving at Skydive Cloverdale on Airport Blvd.
* SPA's: The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, Osmosis, Flamingo, Massage Envy, Body works and many more.
* Armstrong Redwoods: Redwood forests and magnificiant Sequoia is a great picnic location.
Excursions:
* Being so close to San Francisco you may also consider visiting the GOLDEN GATE bridge, Pier 39,Alcatraz, China Town and the famous Crooked street of SF Downtown.
* Drive further to experience - "Big Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree" (Height 315 ft., Diameter 21 ft), where you can literally drive your car through the middle of the tree at the Avenue of the Giants in Legett town, CA.
NIGHTLIFE / POPULAR BARS:
Flamingo, Barcode, Seven Ultra, Tex Wasabia, Toad in the hole, Upper Fourth, Wine Spectrum (Santa Rosa), Tradewinds (Cotati), Ace in the Hole (Sabestopol), Blue water Bistro (Bodega bay), Kodiac's Jacks, McNears (Petaluma), Main Street Station, Rover Rock (Guerneville) and Ruth McGowan's (Cloverdale).
WEATHER AND BEST TIME TO VISIT SONOMA:
Sonoma Country has wet, mild winters and warm dry summers. Summer evenings are mostly cool. You will find smaller crowds in wineries in November or February-March, rains and the grape plants are dormant. The wineries are usually quiet during December through March. Between May to August the vines are full of vegetation, and the grapes show magnificently. Although its hot (around 90 degree Fahrenheit or a little more on certain days), but this is the best time to see the true colors of wine regions. Vineyards can be a bit crowded but if you can visit on weekdays then you will be able to avoid most of the crowd. September and October is harvest time and again a good time to visit.
GAY AND LESBIAN INTERESTS:
- Guerneville area along the Russian River is the home of a number of gay and lesbian resorts.
- SF Pride in San Francisco is one of the largest parades.
