Sonoma Valley

Founded by master Cabernet-maker Richard Arrowood in 1986 — after he'd already built Chateau St. Jean's reputation — Arrowood Vineyards has remained focused on age-worthy Sonoma Cabernet across four decades and three ownerships. The hillside Glen Ellen tasting room offers a wraparound veranda and a clear-eyed view of Sonoma Mountain. Now part of the Jackson Family Wines portfolio.

Bartholomew Estate sits on the original 1857 Haraszthy property — the literal birthplace of California's premium wine industry. The Bartholomew Foundation owns the 375-acre site, opened it to the public as a park, and funds preservation through the winery itself. Estate tastings, hiking, horseback rides, and a working art gallery — all in one of Sonoma Valley's most historically dense corners.

Morgan Twain-Peterson grew up at Ravenswood and made his first Pinot at five. Today, as one of only two California winemakers with the Master of Wine credential, his Bedrock Wine Co. is a serious voice for old-vine preservation. The historic Bedrock Vineyard — planted on a Civil War-era farm — is now Regenerative Organic Certified, and the tasting room sits in General Joseph Hooker's 1854 Sonoma home, just off the Plaza.

Founded in 1984 by Bruce Cohn, the longtime manager of the Doobie Brothers, B.R. Cohn pairs a working winery with 45 years of rock-and-roll history. The Olive Hill Estate sits between Sonoma Mountain and the Mayacamas, anchored by Cabernet Sauvignon and a heritage grove of 450 Picholine olive trees. Tastings are unhurried, music-tinged, and unmistakably Sonoma.

Before there were vineyards in every valley north of San Francisco, there was Buena Vista — California's first premium winery, founded in 1857 by Hungarian immigrant Count Agoston Haraszthy. The original 1862 Press House and hand-dug Champagne Cellars remain a National Historic Landmark. Restored by Jean-Charles Boisset in 2011. Tastings on the stone floors where California winemaking effectively began.

Capo Isetta is a family wine business with deep roots in California winemaking — Bill Isetta's grandfather "Giac" was a cooper in the 1920s; his father Andy worked at Christian Brothers Winery and later started Old Pioneer Wine Company; Marilyn Isetta's father Ray was Treasurer at Christian Brothers for 35 years. Today Bill, Marilyn, and their son Dominic source from Northern Sonoma Valley vineyards, with Ryan Kunde as winemaker. The Sonoma Plaza tasting room is known for being open late, family-friendly, and game-day welcoming.

Founded in 1973 and named for Jean Sheffield Merzoian, sister-in-law and wife of the three founders. The 1920s chateau was originally a summer home built by industrialist Ernest Goff; its oak-paneled rooms now serve as the Reserve Tasting Room. The Cinq Cépages Bordeaux blend is the flagship. Bocce, rose gardens, redwood groves for picnicking.

Founded in 1858, Gundlach Bundschu is California's oldest family-owned winery — now in its sixth generation. The 320-acre Rhinefarm estate sits at the crossroads of Sonoma Valley, Carneros, and Napa Valley. Regenerative Organic Certified, family-run, dog-friendly, and proudly unpretentious. Known for Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot Noir, with limited-production Gewürztraminer and Tempranillo.

Joe Benziger and Sonoma County artist Bob Nugent founded Imagery in 1987 as a project for the unusual — Lagrein, Teroldego, Barbera, Tempranillo, and other varietals overlooked elsewhere in California. The labels are commissioned artwork (the original 442-piece collection is now archived at Sonoma State). Second-generation winemaker Jamie Benziger leads the program. The estate is currently listed for sale by The Wine Group, though the tasting room continues operating.

Robert Mark Kamen — screenwriter of The Karate Kid, Taken, and The Fifth Element — bought 280 wilderness acres on Moon Mountain in 1980 with his first screenplay check. Phil Coturri planted 40 organically and biodynamically farmed acres in fractured volcanic rock 1,450 feet above the valley. Mark Herold has produced the wines since 2003.

Founded in 1970 by John Sheela and brothers-in-law Mike and Marty Lee at the site of the historic 1906 Pagani Brothers Winery, Kenwood Vineyards was one of the wineries that defined modern Sonoma Valley before the AVA system existed. Famous for the Artist Series Cabernet and Jack London Vineyard single-vineyard wines from Sonoma Mountain. Now back in local family hands — Korbel's Gary Heck reacquired the estate in March 2026 — with the tasting room reopened in May 2026.

Five generations of Kunde farming in upper Sonoma Valley since 1904 — 1,850 acres running from valley floor to ridgeline at 1,400 feet. The defining feature is range: Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier down low to Cabernet, Zinfandel, and Syrah on the hillsides. Mountain Top tour ends at a tasting deck overlooking the Valley of the Moon.

A 16,000-square-foot French Normandy castle on Highway 12, designed and built entirely by founder Steve Ledson. Originally conceived as a family home, the structure was so striking during construction that the Ledsons pivoted to opening it as a winery in 1997. Three named tasting bars, a Gourmet Marketplace for picnics in the Oak Grove. Direct-to-consumer only.

The oldest continuously operating winery in Glen Ellen, founded in 1863 and returned to its original 1880s name in 2015 after a Stewart family restoration. The original 1887 stone barrel cellar still anchors the property alongside 100-year-old Zinfandel vines and a culinary program from Chef Stephanie Gagne. Annual production around 3,500 cases.

The Mayo family has been making single-vineyard wines from across Sonoma County since 1993, with a portfolio that ranges from familiar Chardonnay and Zinfandel into harder-to-find Carignane, Petite Sirah, and Alicante Bouschet. The main Glen Ellen tasting room is dog- and family-friendly with a relaxed courtyard; the Reserve Room in Kenwood offers a serious seven-course food pairing.

The Sonoma Plaza face of three sister wineries — Pangloss, Repris, and Texture — housed in a restored 1902 architectural showpiece with 4,000 square feet of historic stonework. Wines are made at Repris on Moon Mountain and barrel-aged in natural rock caves. Winemaker Erich Bradley sources Pinot, Chardonnay, Chenin, Grenache, and Sauvignon Blanc from heritage Sonoma vineyards.

Founded in 1988 by four friends — winemaker James Hall, Anne Moses, Donald Patz, and Heather Patz — Patz & Hall has spent over thirty years building long-term relationships with California's best small-vineyard growers: Hyde, Hudson, Pisoni, Martinelli, Gap's Crown. The 2022 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay landed at #22 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2025. The Sonoma House tasting room is transitioning to a new location off the Plaza in spring 2026.

Brothers Andrew and Adam Mariani are fourth-generation California farmers who founded Scribe in 2007 on a pre-Prohibition Sonoma winemaking site. Organic and biodynamic farming, non-interventionist winemaking, and a restored 1858 Hacienda turned tasting space have earned Scribe a cult following. Tastings are now reserved exclusively for members of the Scribe Viticultural Society.

Samuele Sebastiani arrived from Tuscany in 1895 and founded the winery in 1904, making it one of California's oldest continuously family-named estates. The original downtown Sonoma property remains the tasting room — historic redwood tanks, antique winemaking tools, and a grand event space intact. The Cherryblock Vineyard, planted in 1961 directly behind the winery, produces the flagship Cabernet.

Founded in 2001 by longtime friends Craig Haserot and Erich Bradley, Sojourn built its reputation on single-vineyard Pinot Noirs sourced from revered sites — Gap's Crown, Rodgers Creek, Sangiacomo — supplemented by small-lot Chardonnay and Cabernet. The winery owns no vineyards; it partners closely with growers and helps direct farming. The downtown Sonoma salon is steps off the Plaza.

Founded in 1979, with more than fifty years crafting elegant, fruit-driven wines across Sonoma County — Cabernet and Zinfandel from Dry Creek hillsides, Chardonnay and Merlot from Sonoma Valley, Pinot Noir from Russian River. Over 400 certified sustainable estate acres. National reputation rests on Executive Chef Peter Janiak's seated wine-and-food pairings — repeatedly ranked among OpenTable's best in the country.

Bill Price — "Billy Three Sticks" to his surfing buddies, for the III after his name — founded the label in 2002 after buying the historic Durell Vineyard in 1998. The tasting room occupies the 1842 Vallejo-Casteneda Adobe in downtown Sonoma, with wines sourced from six estate vineyards across Sonoma County.

Native Sonoman Ty Caton farms 40 acres of steep hillside vines within a 108-acre Moon Mountain property — the rest preserved as wild habitat. Founded in 2000. The Cabernet Collection produces seven single-block bottlings from distinct micro-sites within the vineyard, each shaped by its own soil depth, sun exposure, elevation, and clone. Volcanic bedrock often just 12 inches below topsoil.

Phil Coturri's personal winery — California's most influential organic viticulturist, who has farmed for Kamen, Amapola Creek, and Moon Mountain Vineyard for over 40 years. The tasting house is a 120-year-old Sonoma Plaza farmhouse with antique theater seats, a vinyl turntable, and original Stanley Mouse Grateful Dead artwork. Single-vineyard wines from organic vineyards Phil farms personally.