Julia Child once highlighted that wine is best enjoyed with food, a sentiment increasingly embraced by Sonoma County wineries. Previously limited to simple cheese plates or BYO sandwiches, these wineries are now enhancing their offerings with full gastronomic experiences. This gives wineries a chance to showcase talented chefs who can work wonders with the local bounty, and offer immersive tasting experiences that transform wine tasting from an impersonal “belly up at the bar” moment into a truly memorable (and delicious) event. Read on to learn more about ten Sonoma County wineries offering amazing food and wine pairing adventures.

J Vineyards & Winery

The J Bubble Room is a delightful Sonoma lunch experience inside the Bubble Room Lounge, an elegant restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows and floating glass bubble light fixtures. Executive Chef Aaron Meneghelli showcases creative culinary techniques that bring out the best of Winemaker Nicole Hitchcock’s wines. The five-course menu changes every six to eight weeks and always features the best local ingredients thoughtfully paired with a mix of red and white wine, as well as sparkling wine, for which the winery is most known.

St. Francis Winery & Vineyards

St. Francis is a 100% Certified Sustainable winery with a mission-style tasting room topped by a bell tower that houses a 1,000-pound bronze bell (cast by the Marinelli Foundry in Italy). The winery is well known for its food and wine pairings created by Executive Chef Peter Janiak, who focuses on seasonal pairings that feature fresh vegetables and herbs from the estate’s two-acre garden. The classic Wine & Food Pairing is a communal five-course fine dining experience that takes place in the Estate dining room. For those who prefer something a little lighter, the Estate Pairings Tasting includes a lineup of four wines paired with appetizer-sized delicacies on the serene Vineyard Portico.

Gloria Ferrer

The first sparkling winery in Carneros, Gloria Ferrer offers several food and wine pairing experiences worth checking out. Take a journey with the Culinary Journey, guided by your own personal wine educator. It includes a local, seasonally curated tasting menu featuring small bites paired with their limited-production sparkling and still wines. For those of us who love to brunch (who doesn’t?), try the Terrace Brunch, a Spanish-inspired, family-style meal paired with Gloria Ferrer’s Sonoma-grown sparkling wines served every weekend. Or, book the Taste of Carneros to travel (via your taste buds) to their Carneros estate vineyard. You’ll sample four signature sparkling wines, learning more about how terroir impacts flavor. Take the experience up a notch by pairing your bubbles with cheese, charcuterie, and other Spanish tapas.

Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Nestled in the hills of Sonoma’s Alexander Valley outside of Healdsburg, Jordan Winery is known for its French-inspired wines, gorgeous chateau, and views of rolling hills and vineyards. Experience all three during the Winery Tour & Tasting, which includes a tour of the property followed by a seated tasting of current releases, including a Russian River Valley Chardonnay and several vintages of Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, paired with a selection of seasonal hors d’oeuvres. For a more robust wine pairing and tasting experience, choose the Estate Tour & Tasting that begins in the charming courtyard with a continental breakfast and sparkling wine, followed by a Mercedes Sprinter van ride around the 1,200-acre estate, al fresco wine tastings with food pairings, and a pairing lunch at the estate’s highest hilltop, Vista Point.

Banshee Wines

While Banshee’s claim to fame is their exquisite Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, their true shining glory is a dedication to crafting high-caliber wine without the high-dollar barrier to entry. If you really want to go pinky-up, book the Bubbles & Caviar experience. This indulgent pairing combines Banshee’s Ten of Cups Sparkling Brut and a platter of Sterling caviar, crème fraîche, and crostinis. For those with more of a sweet tooth, get your fix at Banshee’s Cab, Cacao, & Beyond! experience, which mixes artisan Fleur Savage chocolates with five Cabernets. You can also simply dip your toes in the water with a Flight of the Banshee experience. This laidback tasting option pairs five wines with five bites, from cheese and charcuterie to chocolate truffles

WALT Wines

WALT has two tasting rooms, one near the Oxbow Public Market in Napa and another right off of the Sonoma Plaza in downtown Sonoma. Explore the terroir of 1,000 miles of Pinot during the Root 101 Experience at their Sonoma Plaza location, a seated vertical flight tasting featuring six single-vineyard Pinot Noirs with food pairings from Sonoma Chef Seth Johnson. For those who’d prefer to indulge their sweet tooth instead, there’s a Wine & Chocolate Tasting that pairs red wine—in this case Pinot Noir—with chocolate.

Bricoleur Vineyards

This Russian River Valley is home to vineyards, olive groves, a honey farm, rose gardens, fruit orchards, a fishing pond, and plenty more places to explore and enjoy amazing wine and food. The winery’s “Season” dinners, seasonal four-course dinners that take place at large communal tables, are always a fun community celebration of wine and food, but for those who can’t make it, the Rooted Wine & Food Pairing is also an amazing way to learn more about the wines while enjoying six courses of seasonal pairings. Bricoleur has really invested in its culinary program, bringing on Chef Charlie Palmer as an advisor, and Chef Todd Knoll as Executive Chef, so you can count on a memorable (and delicious) experience.

Lynmar Estate Winery

Located in the heart of the Russian River Valley, Lynmar’s tasting room is located on a 100-acre estate surrounded by gorgeous, lush gardens and vineyards. During the Collectors Lunch Pairing, set in Quail Hill Vineyard, the chef will walk you through the elevated multi-course lunch, with pairings of their sustainably-farmed Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Each individually plated course is made using ingredients grown on the estate for the ultimate farm-to-table experience, and can even be tailored to accommodate gluten-free and vegetarian diets (with advance notice).

Flowers Vineyard & Winery

Just a few minutes from downtown Healdsburg in Sonoma County is Flowers Vineyard & Winery, a picturesque winery with idyllic gardens and a focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. At their House of Flowers, tastings take place in private garden cabanas and include two options: the Sonoma Coast Journey, a guided flight accompanied by a board of seasonal bites, or the Estate Vineyard Immersion, a more in-depth tasting of estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir served with seasonal pairings crafted by the House Flowers culinary team.

Mayo Family Winery

This small, family-owned Sonoma County winery focuses on small-batch single-vineyard wines, which one can taste with a BYO picnic and the company of their dog, if they’d like, at the Glen Ellen tasting room. However, for those who want to indulge in a food and wine pairing experience, they’ll visit the Reserve Room in the heart of Kenwood. Here, Executive Chef John Locher and his team craft a casual and intimate meal that consists of seven courses (three to four bites each) highlighting seasonal ingredients, paired with a variety of reds and whites, including their flagship Chardonnay and Zinfandel.