For Thanksgiving this year, I went with F and our two usual partners in trouble for Thanksgiving to spend the holidays together in Sonoma. We rented a place via Air BNB that was maybe 10 minutes from Sonoma Plaza. I really recommend renting your own space as it gave us access to a kitchen so we could eat leftovers or make our own breakfast. Our rental had a whole table of various brochures (possibly more than the Sonoma Visitor’s Center) for us to browse through when we were home to plan more adventures, and the owner provided us a wonderful picnic basket that we used on our winery visits.

During our stay from Wednesday – Sunday, we kept our visits in Sonoma, going up through Glen Ellen and Kenwood, as far north as Forestville and Windsor, and back around through Sebastopol and Petaluma. If you haven’t been to Sonoma this probably means nothing to you, but in the next few posts I plan to walk you through how we spent our days.

If you can, I recommend flying into Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport with Alaska Airlines, which has direct flights from Portland, Seattle, San Diego and Los Angeles. The plus of flying into this smaller airport rather than the San Francisco area is that besides already arriving much closer and saving yourself a 1-2 hour drive is that YOUR WINE FLIES FREE! Your wine must still be packed safely and securely to prevent breakage and should be able to be opened so they can inspect if if necessary, but your first case to any outbound US destination will be checked for free. This is the same amazing deal Alaska offers with Oregon wines, so it’s definitely a strong consideration.

I’ve also always have great service on Alaska, and they have been updating their airplanes with seats that have standard and USB power outlets, which I really appreciate for keeping my devices charged. They always have local beverages and snacks available – for instance during one trip they were highlighting Canoe Ridge wine and Seattle’s Skillet Diner’s bacon jam. I am not sponsored by Alaska in any way- I just really like them.

For financial reasons we flew to Seattle and then to Portland on the way back rather than a direct flight, which I don’t mind because the view was gorgeous on each side – a spectacular sunset on the right side flying into Portland, and this on the left side where I was sitting…

If you do fly into the Bay Area, I also suggest as you are driving north to stop and welcome yourself to wine country with a break from your plane and car travel at Gloria Ferrer. They are right by the beginning of wine country and have a big outdoor terrace with many patio tables overlooking the Vineyards. Inside are more tables and a fireplace if you prefer.

Either way share one of their flights while enjoying the complimentary spicy almonds (if you join their mailing list they’ll give you the recipe for the tasty nuts). They also have a small selection of cheese and charcuterie and crackers to further augment your welcome to wine country. I love the extra touch that if you purchase a glass, they have individual coasters for each one to help remind you what you are having, which you can see in the photos of the glasses of Va de Vi and Sonoma Brut.

 
Also towards the entrance of wine country on Route 121 is Viansa Winery. I loved looking at the Tuscan grounds and if you like Italian wines this may be perfect for you! They also have an Italian marketplace and lots of outdoor seating to enjoy your sips and bites. Their grounds, similar to Gloria Ferrer, make it very group and family friendly.

Tomorrow, I’m going to share some photos of one of my picks for the most beautiful winery grounds we visited.

Have you been to Sonoma? Did you stop at either of these wineries? 

This post is the first in my series of looking at visiting Sonoma:

• Arriving in Sonoma – kick off with Gloria Ferrar and Viansa right at the entrance on Route 121
• The gorgeous castle of Ledson Winery and Vineyards
• Continuing south on Highway 12 with visits at St. Francis, Chateau St Jean, Kunde Family Estate, Arrowood Vineyards and Winery, Imagery Estate Winery
• Thanksgiving dinner at the girl and the fig
• My favorite winery in Sonoma that I visited, the sparkling of Iron Horse Vineyards
• Visiting breweries in the Sonoma area: Lagunitas, Russian River, and Bear Republic.
• Love cheese? Recommendations for visiting local cheesemakers in Sonoma
• The sister wineries of Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards