Wine Country Balloons is Sonoma's oldest hot air balloon company, flying continuously since 1979, a heritage that owner Scott van der Horst, who first flew at age thirteen, has spent his career honoring. The seven-balloon fleet operates from Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, with multiple flight corridors that allow the company to dispatch from whichever direction the morning wind favors. That fleet capacity is the operational story: when wind cancels other operators, Wine Country Balloons can often still fly, because they have more balloons and more launch options than anyone else in the valley.
Each flight follows the standard wine country dawn rhythm: meet at the airport before sunrise, ride to the launch site, watch the inflation, lift off into still air, drift for an hour over Sonoma County's wine country and pasturelands. Post-flight is a made-to-order champagne brunch back at the airport in the company's hospitality space. Wine Country Balloons offers private charters, wedding flights, and proposal flights, plus tethered events where the balloon stays attached to the ground for shorter tasting-room experiences. The forty-five-plus year operating history is the trust signal: this is the operator the other operators have been measured against since the late 1970s.
