Sonoma Crush Wine Harvest Festival
Today, we take a little break from the midst of wedding season to head up to Sonoma Valley for a harvest celebration, California-style. It was actually last week that I made this little day trip with my friends Tiffany and Dan. We spent the day touring and tasting at four different wineries– all part of the Sonoma Crush festival, in which one $35 ticket buys you access to fifteen different wineries for the weekend. See a glimpse of our day below:
We started the day at Arrowood Vineyards & Winery, where we checked in for the festival and were given these commemorative wine glasses which we had to keep for all the tastings for the rest of the day. Of all the wineries, I think I liked Arrowood’s whites the best. Their buttery chardonnay and a nice voignier were both highlights.
Such a beautiful day with beautiful scenery!
After the tastings, we settled on their porch for a little picnic.
Our second stop was Deerfield Ranch, where we got to go inside the wine caves (a welcome setting given the heat outdoors).
I wasn’t as big of a fan of their wines, but they did offer a tasty little pulled pork sandwich, which was a nice addition to all the wine.
Third, we visited VJB Cellars, which is situated in a lovely Italian-style piazza with lots of other shops, such as a deli, a pizza place, and a gelateria, which we later took advantage of.
VJB had a little display, featuring wine from grapes to glass. We tasted some of the grapes, saw some fermenting batches, and could’ve tried one of the wines out of the barrel, but we didn’t stick around to wait for the tour guide.
There were some great reds in the mix at VJB too.
Our fourth stop was at Paradise Ridge. I’ve been to their main winery with the vineyards and the gorgeous sculpture gardens, but this was just their little tasting room on the side of the road. The highlight here was getting try a bunch of different grape varieties. Wine grapes are super delicious! Very high in sugar content, but often with thick skins. But one of the reasons we don’t usually eat them as table grapes is because they are very expensive. One of the treats at Paradise ridge was a mini cheesecake. The fruit on top look like blueberries, but they’re grapes!
Finally, we made one last stop at Kaz winery, where we got to crush some grapes (with a paddle, not with our feet), but my camera battery had died by then! (This new Sony with the electronic viewfinders really eats batteries…) So then we headed back to my apartment, picking up some delicious eats from Champa Garden along the way.
A lovely way to celebrate fall in California! Thanks for coming along, Tiffany & Dan!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco but often traveling and working around the world. She creates beautiful, soft, and timeless imagery while capturing the most fleeting of moments. View her work at annawu.com or contact her to book your own session today.
