Wine Country
A First-Timer's Day in Sonoma
Sonoma converts people. Visitors come expecting a smaller Napa and leave preferring the original — family producers, tastings poured by people who made the wine, and a town square you can wander between stops.
The shape of the day
- 10:30 AM — first tasting in the valley proper; book this one ahead. Morning pours with the fog just lifting are the best of the day.
- 12:30 PM — lunch on the historic plaza. The square's restaurants fill by 1; reserve or go early.
- 2:30 PM — an estate stop toward Glen Ellen or Kenwood, where the Valley of the Moon does its golden afternoon thing.
- 4:00 PM — optional third tasting or cheese shop raid on the square before the easy ride home.
Why three stops, not five
Sonoma rewards lingering. The producers here have time to talk — rushing to a fourth appointment means missing the conversations that make the region what it is.
Getting there: 1 to 1.5 hours from San Francisco, and the whole point is that nobody in your group drives any of it. Our Sonoma tours →