• The "Valley of the Moon" east of Santa Rosa along the Highway 12 corridor
   
• The Russian River Wine Road which includes five Appellations in Northwest Sonoma County

Wine tasting differs a little in Sonoma Valley as compared to Napa Valley. Tasting is more intimate - wineries tend to be smaller and there are generally less crowds. The Dry Creek Valley is Dave's personal pick for small crowds and intimate wineries tucked away among the vineyards. The wineries here are less "commercialized" than some of the wineries you find in Napa Valley or the Valley of the Moon.

Note: Wine tasting is typically one of the following: A. Free, B. You pay and if you purchase wines your wine tasting fee is refunded or C. You pay for wine tasting and there is no refund if you purchase wines. Tasting fees typically run from $5 to $20 and usually includes 4 to 5 tastings per winery. All of the wineries listed below are located in Sonoma County.

A good number of the smaller wineries offer free tasting - some wineries will have a reserve room tasting fee should you choose to sample these wines. Reserve room wines tend to be a bit higher priced than the regular wines and typically quantities are less. If a winery does charge for tasting, they will usually apply the cost of the tasting towards any purchase you make at their winery.

Some wineries offer tours by appointment only. Others such as a the larger wineries will give hourly or daily tours. More information about Sonoma County Wineries? Visit: www.sonomawine.com,  www.heartofsonomavalley.com or www.wdcv.com

The Harvest Fair held in early October each year at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds is an excellent opportunity to sample award winning wines and then purchase bottles or even cases! A shipping company is always situated near the main pavilion where the wines are sold. Sometimes small wineries will win a gold or best of show in their 'class' and then voila, all of the sudden that particular wine will sell out. Many of the top winners come from small vintages so the Harvest Fair is basically the best time to purchase the medal winners.

From personal experience many of these medal winning wines sell out within a month or less after the Harvest Fair. This event is held each year at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Tickets to the event are $6 and tickets to the wine tasting portion $35 which includes 2 food tickets. Usually a 15% discount is given on purchases of 12 bottles (one case) or more.

Sonoma Wine Country Weekend is hosted by the Sonoma County Vintners and the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers, and proceeds directly benefit local charities for students, children, farm workers and people in need. The biggest wine and food event in Sonoma County, Wine Country Weekend is a combination of the previous year's separate events- The Sonoma County Showcase of Wine & Food and the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction (a fundraiser for Redwood Empire Food Bank and the Santa Rosa Junior College's food and wine educational programs). 

These two links are a good source of grapes during grape season and other winery equipment:
www.rrvw.org - Russian River Valley wines
www.winerysite.com - Wine Country Classifieds

All Phone Numbers listed below are in the (707) area code unless otherwise specified.