Sonoma Wine Tasting with Outdoor Seating
There’s nothing quite like savoring a glass of your favorite wine outdoors on a warm, sunny day. Your front porch, a friend’s garden, the patio at your local wine bar — the setting matters less than the experience.
At Roche Winery, we know how you feel. We love sipping al fresco, which is why we offer outdoor wine tasting year-round.
We’re not the only Sonoma wine-tasting venue with outdoor seating, either. Some of the county’s finest family wineries are right there with us, ready to put on the perfect tasting experience outdoors or in.
As you plan your next trip to Sonoma wine country — be it a quick day trip from the city or a leisurely long weekend — let this be your guide to the best outdoor wine-tasting sessions in the region.
Sonoma Wine Tasting With Outdoor Seating — Best Options
These are our favorite Sonoma wine-tasting experiences with outdoor seating. If you’ve enjoyed a tasting experience in our roomy outdoor spaces before, you’re probably not surprised that Roche Winery tops the list. (We’re dog-friendly too!)
But there are many other Sonoma vineyards and wineries that offer outdoor seating for guests as well. Like us, some build the entire tasting experience around the al fresco setting. We’re proud to recommend these eight.
Roche Winery
We saved our favorite winery for, well, first.
Sure, we’re a bit biased, but we believe Roche Winery’s two outdoor wine-tasting areas are the best in Sonoma.
Start with our downtown Sonoma tasting room. It’s open later than most other tasting rooms in the area — every day until 7:30pm — which means it’s the best true tasting room (not wine bar) to catch Sonoma’s famous sunsets.
The outdoor patio area has extensive overhead cover, a welcome feature on warm summer days. As inside, our staff offers tasting flights, bottle service, and wine by the glass, so you can feel free to customize your experience to your party’s size and preferences. We don’t require reservations either, though they’re always recommended for guests who wish to sit outside on our always-popular patio.
Prefer a wine-tasting experience amid the vines? Head out to our production winery just outside downtown Sonoma. This state-of-the-art facility is surrounded by our 20-acre “Tipperary Vineyard” in the Carneros AVA and boasts an extensive outdoor seating area with table umbrellas and high ornamental trees for shade. As at our downtown tasting room, reservations are encouraged but not required.
For a truly unforgettable outdoor wine-tasting experience, reserve a private wine-tasting walking tour of our vineyard and production facility. You’ll walk at a leisurely pace through the vineyard as your host describes our winery’s history, approach to winemaking, and of course the hand-selected wines you’re experiencing.
Where: 122 West Spain Street, Sonoma (downtown tasting room); 22097A Bonness Road,
Sonoma (winery tasting room)
Hours: Daily, 11:30am to 7:30pm (downtown tasting room); Daily, 10:30am to 5:30pm (winery tasting room)
Gundlach Bundschu Winery
Gundlach Bundschu Winery is the oldest continually operating winery in Sonoma County. It traces its roots back to 1858 and is still operated by descendants of its founder.
Yet “Gun Bun,” as it’s affectionately known among locals, is laid-back, family- and dog-friendly, and just generally suffused with good vibes. Its leafy outdoor tasting area does a lot for the atmosphere. With live music some days and plenty of secluded seating areas, it can feel more like a city park than a winery patio.
Gundlach Bundschu does require reservations for tastings, with the last seating daily at 3pm. But the outdoor tasting area is spacious enough that you should have little trouble reserving a spot in advance. Book a “Vineyard + Cave Experience” tour while you’re at it — it’s a memorable, educational experience.
Where: 2000 Denmark Street, Sonoma
Hours: Daily, 11:30am to 4:30pm
Buena Vista Winery
Buena Vista Winery is another historic Sonoma winery with a tasting room dating all the way back to 1857. Like Gundlach Bundschu, its shade-dappled outdoor tasting area has a parklike atmosphere that’s relaxed yet just elegant enough to remind you that you’re in one of the world’s premier wine regions.
Then again, if you do want a change of pace, Buena Vista Winery would be the place to head indoors. The historic Press House, where you can reserve a seated or standing tasting, must be seen to be believed.
Where: 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma
Hours: Daily, 10am to 5pm
Cline Family Cellars
Cline Family Cellars offers a variety of outdoor tasting experiences at Cline Ranch, its Sonoma County guest hub. The property features several spring-fed ponds with open seating for guests — a truly memorable setting for your tasting experience. For a more traditional tasting experience, the standard Cline Ranch Tasting happens in Cline’s well-shaded Garden Patio, where you can relax and take in the views.
Where: 24737 Arnold Drive, Sonoma
Hours: 10:30am to 5pm
Viansa Winery (Viansa Sonoma)
A close neighbor of Cline Ranch, Viansa Sonoma is well worth a stop of its own. Specializing in Italian-style wines and boasting architecture to match, its outdoor centerpiece is an elegant terrace with sweeping views of the Sonoma hills and the higher Mayacamas Mountains beyond. Call it a taste — and view — of Tuscany much closer to home. Reservations are required for tastings here, but it’s worth the effort.
If you prefer a more laid-back experience, Viansa’s tasting room also offers wines by the bottle and glass. Once you’ve made your purchase, bring your glass to the open seating area on the main lawn and sip at your leisure.
Where: 25200 Arnold Drive, Sonoma
Hours: Daily, 10am to 5 pm
Gloria Ferrer
Another close neighbor of Cline Ranch and Viansa Sonoma, Gloria Ferrer likewise offers stunning hill and vineyard views. If Viansa is Tuscany in miniature, Gloria Ferrer is a window into the south of France, thanks to its chateau-like main building and sunny, stately terrace. It doesn’t hurt that Gloria Ferrer is renowned for sparkling wines, either.
Where: 23555 Arnold Drive, Sonoma
Hours: Dependent on the tasting experience
Jacuzzi Family Vineyards
A few driveways down Arnold Drive and you’re back in Italy. Jacuzzi Family Vineyards distinguishes itself with thoughtfully crafted food and wine pairings featuring simple, elegant, age-old Italian recipes.
For the full experience, reserve an “All’Italiana” tasting experience in the shaded garden patio. If you prefer lighter pairings — perhaps you’re saving room for dinner, or just the next pairing — opt for the salty-and-sweet “Aperitivo” tasting instead.
Where: 24724 Arnold Drive, Sonoma
Hours: Daily, 10:30am to 5pm
Robledo Family Winery
At Roche Winery, we’re loath to pick favorites, so we won’t call Robledo Family Winery our favorite neighbor. But if you’re already visiting us at our Sonoma Valley production facility and tasting room and you have time for another stop in the area — well, this is it.
Robledo’s spacious covered tasting area features family-style seating, offering opportunity for conversation and camaraderie as you sip its signature red, white, and rose wines. For the full experience, purchase a cheese or two inside and create your own pairings.
Where: 21901 Bonness Rd, Sonoma
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sunday, 10am to 4pm
Frequently Asked Questions About Outdoor Wine Tasting in Sonoma
At Roche Winery, we go above and beyond to make every guest tasting truly remarkable, whether it’s indoors or out. Our incredible staff does a lot of work behind the scenes to make it so.
We know our guests do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to prepare for wine tastings as well, much of it before we ever meet face-to-face. We want to support that work however we can so that by the time guests arrive in our tasting room, they’re able to focus entirely on the wines we’ve prepared for them.
As you prepare for your Sonoma wine-tasting experience, we expect you’ll have questions, especially if it’s your first time. These are the inquiries we hear most often from our guests about outdoor wine tasting specifically.
When Is the Best Time of Year for Outdoor Wine Tasting in Sonoma?
This depends on your personal preferences and the preferences of those in your tasting party. If you don’t mind warm weather, the summer months — June through September — offer the best chance of dry, sunny weather. Rain is virtually unheard of in Sonoma in July and August, and very unlikely in June and September.
If you prefer milder weather with relatively low chances of clouds or precipitation, the months of May and October might suit you better. The weather is cooler and rain chances are higher from November through April, although our “rainy season” still brings plenty of dry, sunny, mild days between the showers.
Are Sonoma Outdoor Wine-Tasting Rooms Open in Winter?
Many are, but it doesn’t hurt to call ahead. Even year-round outdoor wine-tasting areas are more likely to be closed in winter due to inclement weather. Roche Winery’s two outdoor tasting venues — at our downtown Sonoma tasting room and our vineyard just outside town — are open year-round but on a strictly weather-dependent basis, which means we close them for rain and (less frequently) for unusually cold weather.
Are Outdoor Wine-Tasting Areas Shaded?
Again, many are, but it’s a good idea to inquire if it’s your first time visiting a particular tasting room.
Roche Winery’s downtown Sonoma tasting area is fully shaded and equipped with fans to keep guests cool on warm summer days. Our vineyard’s outdoor tasting area has shaded overhangs and table umbrellas to provide shelter as well. Many of the wineries on this list have similar setups.
When Is the Best Time of Day for Outdoor Wine Tasting?
Any time is a great time for outdoor wine tasting!
Most Sonoma tasting rooms are open from late morning through late afternoon. Roche Winery’s winery tasting room is open from 10:30am to 5:30pm, for example. For guests who want to enjoy their tasting experience in the golden afternoon sunlight, we recommend a 3:30pm or 4pm start time, depending on the season.
In-town tasting rooms may have longer hours — our downtown Sonoma tasting room is open until 7:30pm. In any case, mind the winery’s posted “last seating” time, if any. This is the latest you can arrive for a full tasting experience. Most “last seatings” are 60 to 90 minutes before closing.
What Should You Bring to an Outdoor Wine Tasting?
Check the weather forecast and bring whatever you need to be comfortable outside for an hour or two (or longer, if you plan multiple tastings in the same day). Well-prepared guests typically have:
A wide-brimmed hat
Sunscreen or SPF moisturizer
Sunglasses
Layered clothing on cooler days
Breathable clothing on warmer days
Do You Need Reservations for Outdoor Wine Tasting?
It’s always a good idea to make a reservation for outdoor wine tasting, even if it’s not strictly required by the winery. At Roche, outdoor seating is always in demand, so we do recommend a reservation if your party wishes to be outside. We don’t require reservations as a rule, however, and we always welcome walk-ins.
How Much Does Outdoor Wine Tasting Cost in Sonoma?
It depends on the number and type of wines being offered, the setting in which the tasting occurs, and any optional food and wine pairings.
Many Sonoma wineries, including Roche, offer multiple tasting experiences to showcase different wines and provide unique, memorable experiences to guests who want them. For example, our Vineyard & Winery Tour experience combines a guided educational walking tour of our vineyard, a guided tour of our production facility, and a tasting experience featuring hand-selected library and production wines.
What’s the Dress Code for Outdoor Wine Tasting in Sonoma?
“Casual elegance” is the general guideline for wine-tasting dress in Sonoma. That said, most wineries don’t enforce specific dress codes, and we value guests’ comfort throughout the tasting experience.
Can You Pay by the Glass?
This varies by winery. Paying by the glass is less common at production winery tasting rooms, where the focus tends to be on full tasting experiences. It’s more common at in-town tasting rooms — including Roche’s downtown Sonoma venue, where we offer a broad, ever-changing selection of production and reserve wines.