We were staying in San Francisco and didn’t have a rental car, so we had to find a tour group. I did a lot of research and we ended up taking the Sonoma Valley Wine Country Tour with Green Dream Tours and it was excellent. I would HIGHLY recommend using that company if you ever go. Our driver/guide Mark was funny and informative…everything about the tour was just so great. It’s $134/adult, but that includes all of the tasting fees ($45) and lunch. We definitely thought it was a good value and worth every penny!
Our first stop was at Robledo Family Winery, which is the first winery established by a former Mexican migrant worker. The family owns acres all throughout wine country and they sell most of their fruit to other wineries. As you can tell by the name, it’s a family business so everyone that helped us was a member of the Robledo family. It’s a great atmosphere and we enjoyed their wine. It was funny to see how much friendlier everyone on the tour was after the first wine tasting.
The next winery we visited was Larson Family Winery. I was really excited to visit this winery because they have 3 labs…they even have a wine (Three Lab Cab) named after them! By this point of our trip I was missing my doggies and home so I was excited to rub some lab bellies. In addition to the wine, we also tasted their Three Lab Chocolate Sauce and Chardonnay Wine Brittle.
We really enjoyed the wine plus the extras (I think this was my favorite stop). I ended up buying the chocolate sauce and wine brittle to take home. The chocolate sauce is AMAZING on vanilla ice cream. Anyway, we also ate lunch here. Our driver/guide picked up our lunch from a local deli while we were at the last stop. We ate outside at the picnic tables and it was pretty perfect, plus I got to pet all of the labs!
Our next stop was the town of Sonoma. We had an hour to shop and explore the square. We ended up buying some chocolate at a local shop and enjoyed ice cream at Sweet Scoops. From there we drove to our third and last winery, Nicholson Ranch.
Nicholson Ranch was a great last stop for the tour. The winery is in a beautiful area and has amazing views from the terrace, plus the weather was perfect (we were there in mid-September). After spending some time relaxing on the patio with our wine, we hopped back in the van and headed back to San Francisco. We had such a fun day in Sonoma and I would highly recommend visiting wine country if you are ever in that area.
I've always wanted to visit Sonoma wine valley, but every time I visit family, never make it there. But I have been to a different wine region up there which the name always escapes my memory. #CityTripping
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Love , love love Sonoma! Used to live in SF and have fond memories as a 20-something spending carefree weekends exploring around. Those were the days! #citytripping
ReplyDeleteI would love to go to Sonoma wine valley. We have had plans to explore that area in the past but it has never actually happened. Thanks for linking #citytripping
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to visit Sonoma on our trip to California but we just didn't have time to fit it in while we were in San Francisco. Next time definitely... especially when there's chocolate as well as wine #citytripping
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to visit Sonoma on our trip to California but we just didn't have time to fit it in while we were in San Francisco. Next time definitely... especially when there's chocolate as well as wine #citytripping
ReplyDeleteWine Brittle?! I am super intrigued!! I want to take a trip to Sonoma SO badly, so these were great recommendations. We typically try to visit a new winery on each of our travels, so this post makes my heart smile!! Glad you joined in :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I visited several wine regions in Europe but would also like to visit the Sonoma Valley. It looks like beautiful place
ReplyDeleteLove a good wine tasting experience. I've never been here but has always been on my bucket list!
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