Expensive tasting fees that aren't recouped if you buy wine, but decent wine. Was empty when we…read morewent so were able to walk in. Most other wineries in the area are changing their policies of gouging for tasting fees given the wine industry is hurting.

We drove by Black Kite on the way home from Tomales, and we are SO glad we did! We didn't have a…read morereservation, and Cole was so kind to fit our group of 8 in. We sat outside in the comfy chairs, under the umbrellas, amidst the gorgeous flowers and enjoyed some delicious Pinots and Chardonnays. Cole was charming and informative and even gave us some books by the founder to take home! We had wonderful wine and a wonderful time!

Our group of 4 had a tremendous experience at Square with the owner Brad. After introducing…read moreourselves and realizing our common bonds from the past, he treated us to a 4 WD ride to the top of the vineyard with amazing views. We then were treated to a fabulous tasting of Brad's pinots and other varietals, all in the presence of Brad's wife Alana's truly special original oils and sculptures. Lastly Brad poured us his upcoming new sparkling Rose with Bubbles in a custom design can. Very special day indeed.

What an amazing experience! I have been to many Napa, Sonoma, Calistoga wineries and this stood out…read moreas "special". A family operation with ALL the character and charm. One of the owners is also an artist and displays beautiful art and sculptures in the tasting room. Alex, the son of the family was knowledgeable, hilarious, and facilitated a wonderful tasting. Cannot wait to go back!

Occidental is a small Family winery with very limited resources for a visit. The wines are…read moreabsolutely stunning and I would highly recommend a visit or purchasing the wine. Their Pinot sets the bar very high for other Pinot. We look forward for a future visit at some point, it's been 3 years since our last visit. They have been nothing but professional with our exerience in ordering wine, and visiting the vineyard.

Unprofessional…read more Horrible experience at Occidental Winery My first attempt to book a tasting at Occidental Winery in August 2023. I was informed that the assistant winemaker/owner was busy till the end of the year. So I tried again. In May of this year, I finally got a date and confirmation. Which was August 5th Monday. My wife and I both work weekdays, but I really like the wine. Even before Steve Kistler owned Kistler Winery, I was a fan. We both took a day off to accommodate the winery's schedule. Here's the sad part: we got to the winery, drove up, and parked our car. Catherine Kistler approached us and asked for our names, so I told her here and mentioned our appointment time. "Oh, you're not part of my group of 6?" Catherine said that while she's scrolling her phone. I showed her my confirmation. "I see it now. I double booked today's tasting. Sorry, but if you want to come back tomorrow, I can accommodate you." I was like, We both work tomorrow; we took the day off to be here today. "How about come back at 12 p.m. today and let me see what I can do?" At this point, I was upset. We made plans for this day after our tasting, and we have other reservations after. The party of 6 came, so Catherine was attending to them. I told my wife, Let's just go before I really lost my temper. "Oh, try to come back at 12 p.m." She even gave my wife her cell number. The annoying part was she never asked the party of 6 to come back at 12 p.m. because it's more $$$ and folks are all Caucasians. I'm honestly not sure if it's lack of experience. Catherine Kistler is trying to save money, trying to do it all--winemaker tasting booking, etc. It's really unprofessional. I won't do that to any of my patients. Bottom line: I'm no longer a fan of Occidental (Kistler) wines. Promise to share this horrible experience with family and friends.

Sonoma Coastal Winery was a fun stop on our girls' wine trip! I had never been before, but my…read morefriends kept talking about a wonderful employee named Jeremy from a previous visit to Banshee winery. Imagine our surprise when we walked into the tasting room and there was Jeremy! The girls were thrilled to see him again. We had a 2:00 PM tasting appointment, and Michael was our host. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the experience enjoyable from start to finish. Jeremy had sold my friends a wine trivia game on their last trip, so naturally we brought it along and played while tasting. We actually played wine trivia in the car and at a few other wineries throughout our adventure, which made the trip even more memorable. The wines were delicious, and the winery has a warm, cozy atmosphere. The patio offers beautiful bay views, and even the bathrooms are charmingly decorated with thoughtful touches. One of my favorite finds was their unique champagne flutes. When you pour bubbly into them, the bubbles swirl like a tiny tornado inside the glass. It's a fun novelty and would be a great conversation piece for entertaining guests at home. Between the great wine, welcoming staff, beautiful views, and fun memories with friends, SCV Winery was definitely a highlight of our trip. We would happily visit again!

If you are looking for a wine filled afternoon then look no further than this beautiful wine…read moretasting room. A beautiful space with both indoor and outdoor seating with views of Bodega Bay. Their vineyards sit just five miles from the coast and this area is a very cool growing region. This is not an easy place to farm due to the elements of wind, rain, fog and rocky soil. The vineyards require great patience and care. We were assisted by Spencer and his hospitality and knowledge of their wines made for a wonderful experience. He was very kind and helpful. Thank you Spencer! Wine tasting fee was $35 per person and these are the wines we tried - 2024 Chardonnay - Bay Vista 2024 Pinot Noir - Laurel Crown 2023 Pinot Noir - Salmon Creek 2024 Syrah - Sonoma Coast Although I am not a Chardonnay fan at all, I happened to really like their Chardonnay. I was a bit surprised at how tasty and refreshing it was. Between this wine and the Syrah I was sold. I don't care for Pinot Noir, although the Salmon Creek Pinot was not horrible. I definitely go for a bold taste in my red wines. This was a fun stop and I would recommend when you are in the area.

A friend had booked us a tasting experience at Halleck and its easily one of our top tasting…read moreexperiences yet! The property is beautiful with a nice little open area and views for days! Even the drive through the trees feels enchanted. David was the best. He took us on a journey and you could tell he knew his stuff. We also had a chance to meet one of the owners which was a nice bonus. The experience itself is intimate because you're with multiple people at your table but you get to experience it together. The food pairings were also delicious. Ok wine time. This was THE best Gewürztraminer I've ever had. Like, you could have a bottle of this easily on your own. We even took a few home to try with Indian food, and it was delicious. Another hit was their Zin which was interestingly like a strawberry rose but again, very easy and tasteful to drink. I cannot wait to go back because I need more of that Gewürztraminer!

Alison was amazing! She was so welcoming and explained all the wines so well. This was my first…read morewinery experience and it set the bar high for any future experience. Also loved that David made an appearance! You could really tell that they are passionate about what they do and it really elevated the experience!

I stopped by for a tasting with a group and we had a really nice time. We were served and toured…read morethrough the experience by a very kind gentlemen who shared a bunch of interesting history about the winery, the winemaker, and everything that we tasted. I'm not sure how much everything was, as it was paid for by work, so check on pricing if that factors into your decision. I think we had at least 6 tastings, possibly a couple extra. It was my third tasting of the day, so I didn't push things and I was already feeling toasty. I wasn't driving. :)

Adorable Japanese owned winery. This local spot is a small, appointment only winery and focuses…read moremostly on Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. You can do an outdoor or indoor tasting. We did indoors in the wine caves and tasted about 6 wines with a couple special member pours. Really delicious wines, and great staff. Definitely feels more like a charming local spot than the wild touristy areas of Napa and even Sonoma/kenwood. Definitely go support local!

What a lovely tasting experience! Each of offerings in the tasting was delicious - I left with two…read morebottles of rose! More importantly, it was a restorative and relaxing experience. I came out to Sebastopol for some solo time away from the craziness kids and work life. Connie was such a warm and welcoming presence as she came by with her each new pour. I had the patio to myself as I enjoyed the view and enjoyed my wine over a book. Couldn't have asked for a more wonderful experience!

This business does not care about it's customers and is so impossible to reach it's almost comical…read more I was a long-term customer of Fog Crest. In 2024 we received a shipment of wine where all the wine in the shipment was broken. In typical situations, wineries offer replacement of broken bottles, but Fog Crest was impossible to reach in spite of (literally) 50 phone calls and emails. Since I couldn't reach them, I canceled my subscription to their wine club. Flash forward a few months, they charge me another ~$500 on my credit card for wine, but never ship me any wine (in spite of the fact that I had already canceled online). Again, dozens of calls and emails, no answer and no response. Still trying. A few months after that, they charge me ANOTHER ~$500 on my credit card for wine, but don't ship that wine to me either. After probably 100 calls and emails, I finally talk to the wine club coordinator on the phone. She of course acknowledges my dozens of messages, and acknowledges my situation. She says she will replace the wine that was broken and figure out why they've been charging me for wine I haven't been receiving and make it right. But that she can't talk right now and she'd call me back with more information. That was a month ago. I've now called again dozens of times, and emailed. No response. Called and emailed the owner, no response. This is borderline criminal: $1,500 in charges for undelivered product, a non-existent customer service experience, and an online system so archaic that it doesn't process your cancelation and continues to charge you for product.

Joy and her team are amazing. The Sparkling wines amazing. Views. Views. Views. And the best…read moretasting team in Sonoma. Thanks IH. We love visiting every year.

Edit in response to comment: Visit is from November 15th, 2025. Closeup of moldy grape from…read morecharcuterie board is attached below now. We've heard a lot of stellar reviews for Iron Horse, so we were underwhelmed by our experience. To start, we checked in at the front, got a glass of sparkling to start, and was told to wait for everyone joining us to get here. We waited for a few minutes. Our host ended up forgetting us and started walking off with the other party when they finally showed up, and the guy we checked in with had to go tell him we were part of his group. I enjoyed the charcuterie box that comes with the tasting, albeit there was some moldy bits here and there. We got the harvest magnum experience ($90/person). They offer more affordable experiences as well. To be honest, I wasn't impressed with any of the wines. I did enjoy the seating experience, the charcuterie box, and the mini impromptu tour everyone was given of the production. The wine itself was underwhelming for the price and as nothing stood out to us, we finished our tasting and didn't grab anything to go. As we weren't wine club members here, the host didn't pay us much attention. Worth trying once, maybe, to see if their wines are to your liking.

Marimar Estate was one of the wineries we visited when we first moved to the Bay Area and…read moreabsolutely loved our experience. We had their tapas and wine tasting and wow was it delicious. We loved it so much we became wine members. Although we are no longer wine members, I highly recommend Marimar Estate! It has a friendly, family atmosphere that makes you feel so welcomed each time you visit. From relaxing in on the patio on a warm day to chilling in the main hall, it's definitely worth a visit. We actually got engaged at Marimar Estate and the team was so incredible in helping my fiance make it happen. We even flew a bottle of 2023 Godello (the year we got engaged) with us to Hawaii so we could drink that during our wedding toasts.

Good wine, but really need to waive the tasting fee for bottle purchase. What are we doing here??read more

We had such an amazing time at Sonoma Zipline Adventures! We were there for my husband's birthday…read more The whole experience was so much fun, exciting, and definitely an adventure to remember. Our tour guides were hilarious, entertaining, and did an amazing job making us feel safe and comfortable throughout the entire experience. They even sang Happy Birthday to him at the end of our zipline tour as he repelled from the tree. They really made the tour memorable. We also reserved one of a Treehouse for an overnight stay, and it was absolutely beautiful! It had such a fun glamping feel and was fully furnished with everything we needed. I was worried I might be cold overnight, but there was a heater that kept the treehouse nice and cozy. The staff was incredibly kind, welcoming, and accommodating from start to finish. We truly had a wonderful experience and would definitely recommend Sonoma Zipline Adventures and the treehouse stay to our friends and family. So much fun, beautiful scenery in the middle of the forest. Great accommodations, wonderful staff, and definitely worth it! We can't wait to come back!

Went for the Treehouse Adventures (Fern) Treehouse hosts…read morewere friendly and accommodating. Room and toilet were very clean. (Note: limited in-treehouse sink water) Showers are only a short walk away. (Toiletries provided) Snacks and bottled water all included. Zipline guides were very fun and helpful. Amazing views over a small creek.