FI and I just got back from our vacation in California which mostly consisted of visiting wineries and other venues. I wanted to compile my thoughts on the places we visited in case it might help anyone else who is planning from far away! (Keep in mind that these are my opinions, and they reflect the type of wedding FI and I wsih to have, so they may not be the same as yours. Also please don't take offense if I didn't care for the place you chose to get married; I know that each and every one of the venues we visited could hold a beautiful wedding)
I'll try to go into some depth without going crazy, feel free to message me for any more information or photos (FI took great panoramas at almost all the locations)! Now, in order of first visit to last:
Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery
A little disappointed when we pulled up and realized that it was in the middle of a residential area of Sonoma. They show beautiful pictures of rolling hills and vineyards on their website but don't be fooled! They do have about 1/2 an acre of 'vineyards' across the street and another small patch off to one side. There are two ceremony sites, both garden settings directly off the parking lot. The tasting room is cool but it has a bunch of merchandise that cannot be moved if you wish to use the room for your cocktail hour etc. The Sonoma Room is more like a large hallway on the way to the barrel room, but a cute touch. The barrel room is AMAZING. It's the perfect size for smaller or larger receptions. The market lights hung from the ceiling give it that outdoor feeling and the barrels are cool without being too industrial. If this place was more secluded and had more of a vineyard feeling we might have been sold. But I do not want the garden wedding. We did taste their wines which were good, we ended up buying the Rousanne and the Port. Another note: the woman showing us around (Jill) wasn't interested in the kind of wedding we wanted, she was also rushed because the appointment before us hadn't showed and she kept running back to check if they were there explaining that it was her bride & groom for the coming weekend. We also didn't receive a wedding packet or any addition information from her. Once we decided to taste some of the wines her other appointment did show, and they were definitely new clients -not this weekend's bride and groom.
Cornerstone Sonoma
Upon turning into the parking lot we could tell this place was pretty quirky. The fence surrounding the property was held up on poles giving it a very tornado-blown look. The girl we met with was Kristen, again we didn't get a wedding packet or any additional information. She showed us around to the ceremony site which is a long lawn with a small patch of vines on one side and a hedge on the other. At the end is a very modern pond. Then we saw the tented area was was nice, also surrounded by hedges, and finally the barn. I will say that the barn looks much larger in photos but I guess would still work. The grounds of Cornerstone are just as quirky as the fence, it's filled with garden plots done by different landscape architects. If this isn't something you're into, then this is not the place for you. I will say, the gardens would make for some great photos! Kristen let us look at some of their photo books in her office after the tour but at the end I didn't get the greatest vibe from her. If you're looking for the quintessential vineyard wedding, don't waste your time at Cornerstone. It is definitely for the more modern/quirky brides!
Calistoga Ranch
The drive out to Calistoga isn't too long but this place is for sure a little out of the way if you have lots of out of town guests. The ranch is up in the hills overlooking all of Calistoga and it is pretty breathtaking. As FI put it however, it is very much a resort. The event coordinator (Amy) was pretty dressed down for this place being so expensive which sort of shocked me. She drove us around in a golf cart since it is a big property and it is all pretty steep. First she showed us one of the residences so we could get an idea of the room that we would have to reserve for a 2 night minimum if we held our wedding there. All of their 'rooms' are free standing units with a very indoor-outdoor flow (the website does do them justice if you're interested) but the prices are sky high. Next we saw the ceremony site which is a long lawn with lovely views if you can look past the roofs, and their 'ake (read: pond) on the other side. The reception area is in their wine caves and this was my favorite part! It is pretty big and gives great ambiance. It was also nice that the resort provides golf carts with drivers so that your guests can be escorted up the hill from the ceremony/cocktail site to the caves. Again, not a winery but they did seem to have a lot of return guests. Side Note: this was the first place to give us a wedding packet!
Solage Calistoga
This place had a great vibe right off the bat. We parked and walked up to the reception area. The valets out front asked if they could help us then immediately ran inside to notify the event coordinator, Lindsey, that we were there. We were offered waters and the woman behind the reception desk chatted us up while we waited. Lindsey was
very nice, she seemed to have all the time in the world to talk with us. They have two options at Solage, one for a larger wedding and one for a smaller/intimate one. The first has the ceremony on a large lawn surrounded on 3 sides by garden with the mountains in the background. Cocktail hour is on an adjoining, more intimate, lawn with patios. Then you move inside to the ballroom which isn't like most ugly ballrooms. It is pretty modern with clean lines and lots of windows. The small space has it's own lawn surrounded by hedges (although you could still see the little resort cottages behind it) and a much small room to use. The difference in price between the two spaces was appalling. The smaller one only being a few thousand and the larger one being much more with a $17,500 food and beverage minimum. The resort itself if pretty with a gorgeous hollywood-inspired pool and little cottages.
Cline Cellars
This was our first appointment of the day and maybe it was my lack of caffeine, or the gloomy weather, but this place was immediately on my hate list. The main tasting room and little shop were exactly that -little. We met with Jennifer who hit me as someone I wouldn't trust anything to. She showed us around the property which is a sprawling collection of lawns and gardens. All of which seemed kind of dirty. The whole place has this musty smell and although it was surrounded by vineyards you couldn't see any from the gardens. She also showed us the Adobe Mission which is a one room stand alone building surrounded by a small crooked patio. This was the worst smelling of it all, like the building hadn't been opened since it was built over 100 years ago. Oh, I almost forgot...there is also part of a train on the property that you can use as the bridal suite -also very musty- with the most hideous decor on the inside. Finally she showed us to their barrel room which is a working barrel room. The nice thing is that all of the barrels can be moved to create whatever size/shape space you want but it was very industrial and obvious that they used this everyday. Last, but not least, Jennifer showed us the guest house on the property that you can rent out for the weekend or whatever. It's placed on a little hill towards the back and was the only place with actual views. It looks as though it was built in the 80's which lots and lots medium-toned wood work and again super musty smelling.
Finally as we were finishing up the tour she mentioned that they also owned the winery across the street, Jacuzzi, and that she could set us up a tour there. We had some free time so we accepted and headed across the street.
Jacuzzi Family Vineyards
Like I said, not a place we had planned on visiting but I realized when we got there that all of the photos I liked on Cline Cellars website were actually of Jacuzzi (see...sneaky sneaky). The main event coordinators were busy but their new intern, Ivonne, was available to show us around she was young and a little nervous but we didn't need much more than the information packet and a tour. This place was smaller than the others we looked at. There is one large building with a tasting room in front and a beautiful courtyard in the back. It feels like you're in a different country almost. And although the property is right on the road, all of the venues are in the back so you'd never know. There is also a little lawn overlooking the vineyards with one drawback: a large white marble ornate fountain. Totally not my taste. There is also another reception room with religious paintings on the walls and some more ornate stonework over the doorway. Despite the drawbacks, this place was beautiful and the first place we saw with actual vineyard views!
Kunde Family Estate
We pulled up and I fell in love. After our first taste of actual vineyards at Jacuzzi I knew I had to have them....and Kunde has A LOT! We met with Stephanie who was super sweet. We hopped in her car and drove out to the ruins. It's a bit of a drive from the parking lot and you have to go through some cows but the views are amazing. The ruins (which is basically the stone shell of an the old winery building) was smaller than I expected and not really what we were looking for, but the idea of being so removed from the winery and the highway was pretty cool. Next we checked out Boot Hill which is the top of a hill that is directly above the tasting room and winery but you'd never know. So you arrive at the top of this hill, surrounded on all sides by vines and the top is full of trees. There are restrooms and a gravel area for the reception. I was blown away. I honestly almost cried. It was exactly what we'd been looking for! Stephanie was just chatty enough and great at answering our questions. Afterwards we also checked out their wine cave which is a working wine cave and probably not something we'd need to use. Then it was wine tasting time! We had 13 tastes and I was impressed by how much Stephanie knew about the wines. The drawback with Kunde is mostly the price. The Ruins are very pricey and Boot Hill isn't much better. Plus you don't get much with the facility fee as the caterers would have to provide all the chairs and such, AND you need to rent a shuttle to get your guests to and from the location(s). But boy was is breathtaking!
The Carneros Inn
Again, slightly disappointed by the pictures on the website. The resort does have some views of rolling hills and vineyards but not to the magnitude I expected. Plus, if you want vineyard wedding photos you'd have to drive down the road to another venue and use theirs. Anyways, turns out that FI went to high school with their event coordinator, Brooke, (as well as with her husband and both their siblings!). So she showed us around and was a total salesperson, but not too pushy. She showed us a room and where the ceremony would take place (which has their cottages on two sides, something I didn't like) and then we saw the ballroom which is huge (modern, clean slate) and then the dining room which is for slightly smaller weddings. The whole place is nice, but very resort-y. We felt like we were treated well but it wouldn't hold the type of wedding we had in mind.
BR Cohn Winery & Olive Oil Company
Originally I had this place on my list but then took it off once we visited the day before just to look around their gift shop (and bought some amazing balsamic!). The white-washed colonial style building and the scattered smaller buildings didn't look like it would play into our grand ideas (FI and I both have this vision, and a little more rustic/modern tastes). Anyways, after looking at their pictures online FI talked my into making an appointment. Pulling up again I wasn't sure but once Vallerie (who is also the daughter of the owner) started to show us around I was thrilled. This (along with Kunde) is probably one of the only places whose photos actually match their venues. The amphitheater was beautiful, but did have the big metal machinery in the back, along with the olive grove and Fox Hill also lived up to it's pictures. Shockingly I sort of loved the little pool and patio; an area they recently redid that is the backyard of what used to be the main house on the property (where Vallerie grew up, but is now the tasting room). There is a lot of lush lawn space and a little patio area overlooking the vineyards. The pool is cute and they even have a bridge you could put over it! I like that the place is family owned and they all seem pretty relaxed. Unlike a lot of the places we saw that were so planned out -ceremony here, cocktails here, etc- BR Cohn will give you lots of creative freedom.
Testarossa Winery
Okay so this one isn't technically in wine country, but it's still the Bay Area. I was again in an ornery mood when we arrive and we both immediately hated it. The place is super small and they beautiful wine cave they show on their website is really the hallway/entrance to the tasting room which is a little awkward. The reception area is small and dark with columns throughout. The tasting room is big but we were told the merchandise stays (ugh). Their event person, Jess, rubbed us the wrong way however the upside is that the prices here are great and the town of Los Gatos is adorable.
Okay, that was super long...but I hope it helps someone out there!!! And again, please message me for pictures or with more questions!
Good luck to the rest of you who are planning from far away too
