I love wine so when I go to up to Russian River/Sonoma (I avoid Napa at all costs) I usually hit wineries based on the wine quality. However, I have some visitors coming into town who do not drink much and are more interested in the scenery and interesting tours (they've never been wine tasting before). Benzinger use to be my standby for such guests because they have a great tram tour. The tour and tastings use to be free but I just found out that they are now charging $5 for tastings and $10 for the tram tour. It makes me not want to go there just based on principle alone - Sonoma is turning into Napa!

So the question is where do I go now? I'm looking for a few good wineries that have beautiful scenery, impressive facilities, interesting tour and a picnic area that is available even if you don't buy their food. Thanks!

ttt

Hmm. If Sonoma is really "turning into Napa," are you saying that the only reason you don't want to go to Sonoma vineyards anymore (Benziger, specifically) because you will be charged to enjoy their facilities instead of them giving it up for free? Don't the vineyards have overhead they need to cover, not to mention the right to turn a profit? After all, private vineyards are not government property. Making money is the American way! Also, some people think they're not getting something good unless they pay for it. Sort of lends credibility, so to speak. Personally, I think it's worth the $5 or $10 for your guests to enjoy themselves.

Sounds like V. Sattui would fit the bill! But that is in Napa. They have everything you're interested in. Complimentary tasting, beautiful picnic grounds, etc.

There is a place we found next to Blackstone Winery in Sonoma called Family Winery that doesn't charge for their tastings. It's actually a coop and you can sample many wines from places that charge for tastings there.

We were in a hurry to make a dinner reservation at Cafe La Haye but it was a very interesting place. ***kim***

I agree with Johanna.

Why shouldn't the vineyards be allowed to recoup some of their costs. I would rather pay a small fee to taste better wines, than to get mediocre wines free.

I think that many people go to drink the wine and even arrange for a designated driver. That is not wine tasting. If you are going to drink all of the wine that is poured it will make it next to impossible to judge wines.

Personally, I have had many vineyards waive the tasting fee when they learn that you are seriously tasting.

I wonder, if someone doesn't want to pay a $5 tasting fee, what are the chances that they will be buyiing the wine.

Most of the tasting rooms do waive the fee if you are serious, but really, what is the difference? If you are just trying to get free drinks, they should charge, and $5.00 is pretty reasonable.
I taste wines in anticipation of buying them, I think that is the intended purpose of tasting rooms.
I, for one don't mind paying a small fee. many of the rooms used to charge $25.00 for their reserve tastings, with the purpose, I believe, of discouraging people that were not seriously considering buying.

Geez, I didn't know I would hit a sore spot with free tastings. So let me explain myself before I get more replies from people thinking I'm out to get free booze. First off, I don't mind paying for tastings if I'm at a winery where the average cost per bottle is $30 or up, or if I'm tasting the reserve wines. But a lot places that charge for tastings are charging for wines that average $15 a bottle. The cost for the winery in providing these tastings is so little that they should see it as great advertising. People are coming out to the winery to learn about your product. Now is a great time to market the product. If the wine is good and the staff friendly most people will always a bottle or two after tasting. Since the cost to buy the wine at the winery is more than at most liquor stores I always assumed the added cost was for supporting the overhead and staff of the tasting room itself. I understand that the wineries are out to make money. It just disapointing to see as most wineries becomes more successful the level of customer service tends to drop. Go hit some of the smaller, less known wineries in the Russian River area and you'll see what I mean. I guess it's just the natural evolution of business.

With that said, can we get back to the original question...where do I take visitors who are not much into wine, so they're not out to taste higher end wines, but are looking more for scenery and tours (thanks Kim for your advice). Oh yeah, and that don't charge for tastings

OI.

I totally feel you on this one. I've been dodging Napa for these specific reasons for YEARS. You shouldn't have to pay money for crap wine pours. Grigch Hills, I'm talking to you, ya chintzy, overrated schlubs!

Alternate wineries to consider:

Artesa: owned by the Spanish Cordonieu folks, they have a very informative tour and a modern site.

Viansa: crappy wine! However, they have great gardens, and a really nice food center where you can get great picnic supplies to eat there or take with you. Lots of little samples of things to try. beautiful grounds, very stereotypical Italifornian architecture and the beautiful grounds are very enjoyable..

Aside from that, most of the smaller Sonoma wineries don't charge for tastings, but similarly, they don't have a lot going on, so they aren't that interesting if you're not all that into the wine. Gundlach Bundschu and Ravenswood both have nice picnic areas with a view, and I don't think require a wine purchase to use them, although if they get overused, I would certainly expect that to change.

The best Paid Tasting that I've had in recent memory was at Geyser Peak. It was a reserve tasting, and they offered several options. One of their wine stewards brought us the wine, gave us pencil and paper for tasting notes and sat down with us for a very enjoyable conversation. They waived all the tasting fees with my purchase.

Gundlach-Bundschu is a really nutty bunch of folks-they do charge $5 these days, yet have an interesting tour of their cave and BayArea is on target
with the picnic grounds view. Ravenswod is fun ("No Wimpy Wines"),yet not exactly a small operation IMO. I would say corporate ownership with a long leash.
Up in the RR area is Nalle Winery. Now here is a truly "nutty" bunch of folks-
(just check out their site logo). Nalle is turning out a nice Zin and it's a beautiful drive. After that you could ferry your quests up to Geyserville for a stop at Locals-a tasting room rep. 6-7 small wineires
of excellent quality. They had probably 30 bottles open when we were there-no charge. we opted for the $10 premium taste and got a free logo glass-(it was a Riedel glass for all you wine snobs-haha). Again, the scenery is beautiful.
I don't think Sonoma will ever be Napa, we try not to be! Perhaps it is a combination of too many grapes,poor economy and Two Buck Chuck that has cut their revenues, so they decided to charge.(and, no, I'm not putting down 2BC,sigh....)
When are your guests arriving?
There are calendars of winery events and such at www.wineroad.com and
sonoma.com. Maybe you could take your guests to one of those ?
Have fun!
R5

RazzleD is right, Ravenswood is not a small operation, although the visitors center for the winery is small.

I'd forgotten that Gundlach Bundschu had started charging. *sigh* Damn Napa valley.

Here is a link that I found on Google, it lists a whole bunch of places in Napa to taste for free. The catch is that you generally MUST MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.

The people at Nichelini were very kind to my family when we stumbled across thier winery sans appointment many years ago. Nice very old Italian place, definitely off the beaten track.


http://www.drvino.net/freewinenapa.php

Ravenswood "charges" now too. There is less charging in Dry Creek Valley & Russian River Valley. I am afraid that Sonoma Valley may get too much over run from Napa. But it still feels different!

Thanks everyone for the response.

That's sad to hear that GunBun is now charging. I visited them a few years ago and they are a nutty bunch. They're also extremely friendly and seem to really love watching people enjoy and learn about their wines. I loved their wines and the winery so much that I ended up signing up to their wine club. Since their wines are harder to find this turned out to be a great thing. There's nothing to brighten your day like coming home from work and finding 2 great bottles of wine waiting in your mailbox.

My guests are coming into town this weekend and I think I've decided on Viansa, Chateau St. Jean (they charge but it is refundable with purchase) and then GunBun. And if there's time, maybe Artesa for something different. Thanks again to everyone for their help!