Ever since I moved to San Francisco, a weekend in wine country has been at the top of my bucket list. Two years later and I finally made it up there for a day trip, which turned out to be plenty of time to experience a taste (no pun intended) of what Sonoma wine country has to offer.
Here’s the itinerary:
- 8:30am – Depart from San Francisco (we went with a group and rented a party bus for the day to avoid having to assign DDs)
- 10:00 – 11:30am – Tour and tasting at Benziger Family Winery
- 12:00 – 2:00pm – Tasting and lunch at B.R. Cohn
- 2:30 – 4:00 – Tasting at Chateau St. Jean
- 5:30pm – Return home
Our first stop was Benziger Family Winery, for a tractor-drawn tour of the vineyard, followed by a tasting. Voted “best tasting room and best tour” by Sonoma’s People’s Choice Awards in 2018, this winery focuses on ancient biodynamic farming techniques that instill “authenticity” (our tour guide’s words…not mine) into the wines they produce.
When we arrived, we had a few minutes to explore before hopping on the tractor to begin our tour. Stopping at the top of the hill, our driver explained the history of the vineyard and the unique growing techniques that differentiate their wine from other growers’ in the region. Then we continued our tour of the vineyard — ending at the wine cave where we were educated on how winemakers use different wood barrels to infuse specific flavors into the wine.
The tour finished at the tasting room, where we had the opportunity to taste four different wines. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t like any of the wines we tried, but I have a very undeveloped pallet, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Despite that, I would still recommend this as your starting point for the day because the tour provided a great introduction to Sonoma wine country.
Our second stop, and by far my favorite winery of the day, was B.R. Cohn. As opposed to the formal tour and tasting at Benzinger, the atmosphere here lent itself to a less structured experience, which I really enjoyed. We spent some time exploring the olive tree-lined paths before finding our way to the tasting Pavillion, which overlooked the beautiful vineyard at the back of the property. There, we were treated to a leisurely tasting by servers offering generous pours and as little or as much information as you cared to know.
B.R. Cohn is also famous for its olive oil, so after we’d finished our wine tasting, we stopped by their Gourmet Shop to grab a few samples — and let me tell you, they did not disappoint.
Next, we walked back to the front of the property for a quick bite to eat at the oyster cart before heading to our next stop. Had I planned this trip myself, I would have stayed for a sit-down lunch and done the Tastes of B.R. Cohn, a wine and food pairing, which you can enjoy in their outside seating area. And, I’m not sure if this happens every day, but there was a man playing acoustic guitar in front of the restaurant, which really added to the atmosphere of the place.
Our third, and final, stop of the day was Chateau St. Jean. The original chateau was built in the early 1920s and was subsequently turned into a winery in the early ’70s. Today, it’s in the center of 270 acres of vineyards and offers a variety of tasting experiences, from formal seated tastings in their Reserve Room to casual self-led tastings at their picnic tables. We opted for the latter and grabbed a few bottles + a charcuterie board to share.
I thought the wine here was good, but what really stood out was the beautiful gardens that surrounded the property. These gardens were designed to resemble those found in the South of France, and walking through it was easy to forget you were still in California.
By the time we were finished at Chateau St. Jean, we were ready to head back to the city — and because we’d gotten an early start, we were home by 5:30pm or so, just in time for a nap and then dinner. Overall, I’d highly recommend doing a day trip to Sonoma, whether you’re an SF native, or here on vacation. I’d love to spend more time there and could easily go for longer, but we fit a lot in and I didn’t leave feeling like we’d missed out.
Have you been to Napa or Sonoma before? Let me know if you have any recs for my next trip! Or if you stop by any of the wineries we visited.
xoxo,
Anna