12 Unique Winery Experiences in Sonoma and Napa Wine Country

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Humming Bees and Lavender Fields at Matanzas Creek Winery, Santa Rosa: Matanzas Creek Winery in Bennett Valley has been a haven for wine enthusiasts and lavender lovers since 1991. Guests to the winery can sip Sauvignon Blanc on a terrace overlooking fields of lilac and amethyst; the soothingly seductive perfumes wafting in the breeze to the hum of bees shifting busily among the blossoms. Matanzas lavender fields, farmed organically by master gardener Joel Garcia, are cut, bundled and hung to barn dry after reaching full bloom. Then the dried blossoms are used in culinary, bath, body and home products sold in the winery’s lavender market. (Courtesy photo)

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Tracy Zindell, left, Stavros Tsourianis, and Jennifer Bohnsack walk up the lavender-lined path to Matanzas Creek Winery during Days of Wine and Lavender at Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa. (Alvin Jornada)

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Field of Dreams at Balletto Vineyards, Santa Rosa: They say, “if you build it, they will come." And come they do to this regulation-sized baseball field nestled between the vines on the Balletto Vineyards estate. The story goes that vineyard employees — devout Giants fans — approached owner John Balletto about sponsoring their league baseball team. Rather than just stopping at sponsoring his employees, Balletto provided them with the land, equipment and materials necessary to build their own baseball field among the vineyards. Visitors to the winery can catch community league action on Sundays when “Los Uveros” (The Grapers) play other local teams. (Courtesy photo)

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Noe Nunez, wearing his Los Uveros team jersey, throws from the outfield during an informal baseball practice at Balletto Vineyard's Field of Dreams in Santa Rosa. (Alvin Jornada)

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Living History at Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma: Founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy, Buena Vista is California’s first premium winery. Haraszthy, a vivacious and eccentric pioneer, immigrated from Europe in 1840 in pursuit of the good life. Following in the footsteps of the forty-niners, he found the perfect terroir for "purple gold" north of the Bay in the late 1850s. As the self proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista,” Haraszthy established a reputation as an experimental vintner, a shrewd businessman and a flamboyant evangelist. (He died as he had lived — dramatically — in an alligator-infested river in the jungles of Nicaragua). The legend of Haraszhty and his winery is now recreated by Buena Vista owner Jean-Charles Boisset, a modern-day version of the eccentric count. The winery hosts a series of events throughout the year, including a Living History Extravaganza. (Crista Jeremiason)

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Cancan dancers at Buena Vista Winery's annual Living History Extravaganza. (Courtesy photo)

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A Taste of History at Three Sticks Wines, Sonoma: The historic Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe is the longest occupied residence in Sonoma and one of the town’s few remaining buildings from California’s Mexican period. Constructed by Captain Salvador Vallejo (the infamous brother of General Mariano Vallejo) in 1842, the Adobe has been carefully restored by owners Bill and Eva Price. The Prices now house a private tasting room for their Three Sticks wine label in the historic building. Visitors can tour the Adobe and take in the history, while tasting Pinots and Chardonnays and then finish the experience with a a meal prepared by the celebrated chefs at El Dorado Kitchen. (Courtesy photo)

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The courtyard at Three Stick Wines in Sonoma. (Courtesy photo)

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Horsing Around in the Vines, Triple Creek Horse Outfit at Jack London State Park:
They say, "don't drink and drive," but can you drink and ride? Fortunately, at Triple Creek Horse Outfit in Glen Ellen the riding is, sensibly, taken care of before the drinking. And what a ride it is. Triple Creek offers guided horseback tours at Jack London State Historic Park located in the magical Valley of the Moon. The park features fine riding trails through Jack and Charmian London’s Beauty Ranch which wind around acres of vineyards, through open oak woodlands and under shady groves of majestic redwoods. Complimentary wine tasting is offered at the end of the tour at neighboring Benziger Family Winery. Reservations required. (Courtesy photo)

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Complimentary wine tasting is offered at the end of the horseback tour at neighboring Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen. (Courtesy photo)

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Cabernet on a Cable Car, Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley: Lack a designated driver? Think limousine tours are for tourists? Biking and wining a precarious pair? The Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley might be just what you’re looking for. Built from the blueprints of an 1890’s San Francisco cable car, the trolley safely trundles wine enthusiasts on a six-hour ride through Sonoma Valley. The journey begins at Sonoma Plaza and then makes a handful of stops at local wineries for private tasting experiences. Included in the package is a guide, a picnic lunch from wildly popular the girl & the fig, views of the bucolic wine country landscape, and plenty of wine — and bottled water. (Jeff Kan Lee)

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Wine Wonderland at Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Geyserville: Bringing the kids on a wine tasting trip may not seem the best of ideas, that is unless you are destined for Francis Ford Coppola’s winery. The famous filmmaker’s Geyserville estate is a wonderland with wine: film memorabilia (including Don Corleone’s desk from The Godfather) and Academy Awards are on display; its two swimming pools (3600 square feet in total) are surrounded by chaise lounges, cabanas and bocce courts, and there is always plenty of wine for the adults. (Courtesy photo)

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Movie memorabilia at Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville. (Courtesy photo)

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Poolside bocce courts at Francis Ford Coppola winery in Geyserville. 

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Tulips and Trees at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, Healdsburg: Ever experienced a tulip emergency? The Ferrari-Carano winery has a Tulip-Hotline set up in the late winter/early spring months for fans eager not to miss the winery’s 10,000 tulips in bloom. The five acre winery's gardens also feature over 2000 species of trees and shrubs (conveniently, including Portuguese cork trees), a variety of perennials and annuals (the tulips and daffodils take center stage in the spring), waterfalls that flow into fish-filled ponds and highlighted by bronze sculptures from renowned artists Dennis Smith, Douglas Van Howd and Jane DeDecker. The Italian/French parterre gardens accentuate classic geometric shapes. The Enclosed Garden at the front of Villa Fiore (the estate winery) has a park-like setting, its design more relaxed, its emphasis on color and texture.

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Visitors walk through the flower garden at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Healdsburg. (Alvin Jornada)

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Tulips in bloom at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Healdsburg. (Christopher Chung)

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An all-terrain adventure at Chenoweth Wines, Sebastopol: Of the more than 400 wineries that call Sonoma County home, the grand estates have a knack for getting all the attention. But when you make the turn onto the retired tractor-lined driveway at Chenoweth Wines, it’s the unpretentious setting that makes you happy you’ve arrived. With 800 acres of land, from redwoods to vineyards (even a coyote on the day of my visit), there’s plenty to see here. But it’s the how you get to see it – buckled into an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) – that adds even more bragging rights to a busy day of wine tasting. 5550 Harrison Grade Road, Sebastopol, 707-829-3367, chenowethwines.com. - Dana Rebmann (Loren Hansen)

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Along with vineyard stops and tastings, ATV tours explore the redwood grove at Chenoweth Wines. (Loren Hansen)

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BLTs Off the Vine at Davis Family Vineyards, Healdsburg + Paradise Ridge, Santa Rosa: June through September, chefs John Stewart and Duskie Estes (a.k.a. “The King and Queen of Pork”), formerly of Zazu Kitchen + Farm in Sebastopol, run their Black Piglet pop up at Davis Family Vineyards. Black Piglet serves up “u-pick” BLTs, with bacon from pigs sustainably raised on family farms; visitors are invited to pick their own tomatoes. This year, they will also cater to Paradise Ridge Winery's Wine and Sunset event on August 21 and September 11. Other Black Pig menu items include the popular Rodeo Jax – Black Pig bacon caramel popcorn and bacon hot dog with kimchi. And, of course, the menu can be paired with fine wines at each location. (Erik Castro)

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Portal to the Middle Ages at Castello di Amorosa, Calistoga: It’s no surprise that some refer to Dario Sattui, a 4th generation vintner and the man behind Castello di Amorosa, as a modern-day Don Quixote. Some twenty years ago, Sattui began a 15-year quest to build a medieval-style Tuscan castle in Napa Valley as a place to showcase his wines. The result: a 107 room, 8 level, 121,000 square feet castle complete with drawbridge, secret passageways, torture chamber—and tasting rooms. Guided tours give full access to the castle, and include a private tasting. (Courtesy photo)

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The grand hall at Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga. (Courtesy photo)

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Gondola Glides to the Tune of Old English Bells at Sterling Vineyards, Calistoga: A one-of-a-kind aerial tram glides you on a 360-degree scenic ride up a tree-covered hill to Sterling Vineyards. Debarking at the summit, visitors can then begin to explore the chalk-white stuccoed, many-verandaed winery. Its architectural inspiration? The Greek villages on the island of Mykonos where Sterling founder, Peter Newton, once lived. High in the winery’s towers are 8 bells that once hung in London’s Church of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East. When the Anglican church, founded in the Saxon 10th century, was badly damaged by the Great Fire of 1666, it was repaired and a Christopher Wren steeple added. St. Dunstan's was much later mortally damaged during the London Blitz in 1941. The bells found their way to Calistoga in the 1970s and today visitors and wine connoisseurs alike can enjoy the timelessness of their reverberations. (Courtesy photo)

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Bell tower at Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga. 

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