Sonoma sometimes gets overlooked by Napa, but it is just as beautiful with very good wine as well. Our friend was visiting from out of state, so we decided to meet up in Sonoma and visit a few wineries. Similar to Napa, there are a lot of wineries to choose from, so it can get pretty tough. After researching a bit, I decided to go with Chateau St. Jean and Benziger Family Winery. I find that two wineries is generally enough for a day, at least for me. The grounds of Chateau St. Jean were absolutely beautiful. I wish we had spent more time there, but we got there a lot later than our reservations due to traffic and had to leave fairly quickly to hit our next appointment. Tip: Make sure to space out the wineries to allow for unexpected things. We paid for for a cheese tray at Chateau St. Jean and were seated at their outdoor patio. The view was pretty spectacular. Afterwards, we headed to Benziger Family Winery. We booked a full tour of the vineyards, as well as their wine caves. The tour of the vineyards wasn’t very long and you get there via a tram. The tour of their wine cave was pretty interesting since I’ve never been to one before. Tastings were good at Benziger and we also got free tastings to their sister winery Imagery Estate Winery, so we went. Imagery Estate Winery has a bit more laid back atmosphere. People were having picnics on the grounds, which was pretty cool. Overall, Sonoma can be a lot of fun on a nice sunny day!
Below are photos from Chateau St. Jean.
Below are photos from Benziger Family Winery.
