Our trip to San Fran and Sonoma in May will be our first time to the area. I am beyond excited about the trip, but espcially to Sonoma. We plan to do plenty of tastings, but I had some questions about the process.
-How do they work? Pay a tasting fee and get an array of samplings?

-Is there an expectation to purchase bottles? In particular smaller vineyards...will it be awkward if we taste and don't buy?

-Can indicidual bottles be purchased or are cases the only option?

-How long to they usually last? Is there a routine to expect?

-How do you transport wine home if you flew from a state that won't accept wine shipments?

Thanks much for any input!

Aja1

I like the Healdsburg area around the Russian River Valley. wineroad.com and visitwineroad.com are a couple of excellent sites.

Many of them do not charge for tastings, although some do. You can buy single bottles.

Go to any wine shop or the UPS store and buy the styrofoam (12 bottle) boxes and bring the the wine back with you in your checked luggage. I brought 2 cases back last year to NJ, who does not allow shipments.

- Some are free and some you pay a fee to taste several different wines.

- No expectation to buy a bottle. Tens of thousands of people taste and do not buy every single year

- Most wineries you can buy individual bottles.

- They last as long as you want them to. They will pour you a tasting and then usually come over and talk to you about it. When you are done they will pour you the next tasting.

- Put the wine in your checked luggage and bring it home.

Actually, I had dinner last PM with a person from Benzinger (who lives in the city of Sonoma) and was surprised to learn (after many years of same in Napa) that nearly all Sonoma wineries now charge for tastings and many don't apply the tasting cost to a purchase.
Budman is right on with the (great)location, but I like the Pinot Noirs from Sta. Lucia Highlands.
Too bad I cannot get any here.
Buen viaje.
M

Recently visited Sonoma. Most places charged a fee, but the tastings were very generous. The number of samplings varied by the wineries. My husband and I frequently split one tasting, and were still given individual glasses.

We bought at least one bottle from each winery we visited. I probably would have felt awkward otherwise, but we went intending to buy the wine and did not feel pressured.

I wouldn't think there's a routine length of time to expect when tasting. Again, it varied by winery and by how many other people were tasting as well as by how much you want to learn about the wines.

The ultimate tasting experience was at Lynmar not far from Occidental. Great wines too.

To bring wines home, we bought at box at one of the wineries (Taft St - most accomodating) and the inserts which protected the wine. I think it cost about $4. Checked the box and the wines arrived home safely.

The maps and other info provided at wineroad.com (as Budman mentioned) were very helpful.

Have a fabulouse time!

Finally ! I've been telling folks
for quite awhile that tasting rooms here in Sonoma county DO
charge for tastings-why should it be free ??

Anywho, Wine tasting here is quite casual for the most part. You simply walk into the tasting room, step up to the tasting bar and you will be welcomed and presented with a list of what they are tasting on that day.
The charge for the tasting is usually explained up front as to whether or not the tasting charge applies to any purchase you may make. It's all quite simple and informal.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and most of all,Aja 1,have fun !

R5

R5,
We still open and serve some way interesting wines without charge here, lol.
M

Incredibly helpful responses, thanks to all!

Any winery will sell you a shipping box to cart wine home... in amounts of 12 or even 6 bottles. Wine at the winery is not cheaper than the store where you live. What will be a good deal, are wines that are only sold at the winery, usually because the production is too small to distribute. Wineries love when you are a novice taster, don't be afraid to say so. They are there to sell wine, and introduce you to their product. They charge because they have to. Each tasting might be small, but the amount you end up tasting is usually the same as a full glass of wine. I wouldn't expect to visit more than about 4 wineries in a day. Its hard on the liver. If you are in Healdsburg, there is a shipping company "Fitch Mountain Packaging" that will ship your wine to you, no matter where you live in the States. Most of the wineries will direct you to them. You can also take wine with you as checked luggage... a shipping box... not necessarily in your suitcase.

As other posters indicated, wine tasting is typically very informal at any winery that does not operate by appointment. Most wineries with tasting rooms have daily "tasting" hours from 10amish to 4-5pmish so you just show up, pay the fee and go with the flow. We'll usually map out the day with a few targeted wineries although I like to leave time for unscheduled stops...
Since you said "Sonoma" I assume you are staying in that area?
Visiting 3-6 max wineries per day is about right depending on distance between of course. Time totally depends on how you feel about the winery. Since we're local, we've done tons of trips to various areas (Sonoma, Napa, Russian River/Healdsburg, etc) and sometimes we are in and out of a winery in 20 minutes if we don't like the vibe, crowds, or our first taste and other times we can be in there for an hour plus (sometimes we'll stumble across a smaller place late on a quiet day and find ourselves hanging out with a winemaker or host who starts breaking out the reserve wines). As a first visitor, I'd recommend you visit some of the larger places as they often have the most beautiful and developed gardens/grounds/tours etc. but also sprinkle in some small places to get more of a "locals" flavor. Tasting fees can vary greatly between wineries ($3 to $20) depending on popularity/size/type of winery and whether they intend that you keep the glass etc (some places have "souvenir" glasses).
Most mainstream places do not have an expectation that you buy (hence the tasting fee) but if the tasting room host is attentive and pleasant to us, we usually buy at least a bottle (assuming we actually like the wine of course). I feel zero obligation to buy in some of the more commercial and higher fee tasting rooms.

You'll see tons of advice on this forum for suggested wineries depending where/how long you are staying....

Just went to Sonoma the first week of the year. Most of the wineries were charging a tasting fee and they had a tasting list that you would be trying. Hubby was able to get away with free tastings by just chatting with the people and mentioning how tastings used to be free and how he buys wine from these specific wineries. Also, a couple of wineries, we were only interested in trying one wine...that was free.

Oh, and if the wines on the tasting menu weren't to our liking, we usually said so and told them what wine we wanted to taste and if they had that wine open we were able to try it.

As for shipping, I noticed that most wineries had a sign up that said "ask us about how to safely package your wines for the plane ride home" (or something like that). They had a box (I think styrofoam) that they will package the wines into for a safe journey home through checked baggage.

Our favorite wineries this trip were Viansa, Valley of the Moon and Blackstone.