Pour + Explore (series)

Pour + Explore is Sonoma County Vintners' traveling tasting series. Each evening lands at a different host winery and gathers more than twenty-five Sonoma County producers around a single theme, a grape, a style or a group of appellations, for a walk-around tasting with light appetizers. The series is produced with sommelier Christopher Sawyer. Keller Estate hosts an evening devoted to the Petaluma Gap and the West Sonoma Coast, and Gloria Ferrer has closed recent seasons with a night of sparkling wine.

One evening covers ground that would take days of appointments. Because each tasting is built around a theme, you can compare a roomful of takes on Chardonnay or Rhône varieties side by side, talk with the vintners pouring them, and leave knowing which wineries to visit next. The host changes each time, so following the series becomes a tour of Sonoma County estates, from Petaluma Gap hillsides to Carneros sparkling cellars. Two hours, small bites included, and no need to plan a full wine-country day around it.