Occidental Wines

TL;DR

  • Cute for pictures: 5/5

  • QPR: 4/5, bottles priced at ~$130

  • Main varietals: Pinot

  • Tasting fee: Waived with purchase

  • Average wine rating on Vivino: 4.5

Occidental is a fairly new winery started in 2011 but by the seasoned winemaker of Kistler. Occidental only produces Pinots, mostly grown on west Sonoma coast, which is a cool-climate area and makes them different from more inland Pinot grapes. Tasting flight typically consists of ~4 different Pinots and they are delicious! Delicate and juicy without being jammy/sweet. Drive up to the tasting room and the view from the property is stunning, as the building itself. Highly recommend putting Occidental on your list of wineries to visit!


More about Occidental: Website, Yelp , IG

Truchard

TL;DR

  • Cute for pictures: 5/5

  • QPR: 5/5, average price $30-80

  • Main varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot, Cab,

  • Tasting fee: $40 to taste, waived with 3 bottles

  • Average wine rating on Vivino: 4.1

One of my recent favorite finds if you can visit during the weekday. They are only open on weekdays but totally worth the visit! It has everything I love at a winery from intimate tasting experience, great wines with great quality to price ratio, nice vineyard view, and an adorable garden. Loved everything we tasted, especially Roussanne to sip on a summer day and Merlot, Cab Franc, Pinot, and Cab at less than $50


More about Truchard: Website, Yelp , IG

Failla wine

TL;DR

  • Cute for pictures: 4/5

  • QPR: 4/5, average price $40-100

  • Main varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot

  • Tasting fee: $65 to taste, waived with 4 bottles

  • Average wine rating on Vivino: 4.3

If you need a little break from tasting Napa Cabs, definitely add Failla to your itinerary. They specialize in Chardonnay and Pinots from both California and Oregon. You typically only get to taste California wines in the Napa tasting room but after the visit, I definitely want to try more of their Oregon Pinots as well! Not typical but they ended up pouring one of their 2014 vintages due to an unusual availability and I loved it enough to buy a couple bottles. They didn’t have their sparkling wine opened but I ended up buying a bottle based on other wines and loved it when I opened it at home.

More about Failla: Website, Yelp , IG

Square-Peg Wine

TL;DR

  • Cute for pictures: 4/5

  • QPR: 4/5, average price $30-80

  • Main varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot

  • Tasting fee: $40 to taste, waived with 2 bottle purchase

  • Average wine rating on Vivino: 4.3

Tasting experience at Square Peg was a great combination of good Pinot & Chardonnay, art, and vineyard views. Intimate private indoor tasting room is filled with art and overlooks their dry farmed vineyard. They also have an outdoor are that overlooks the vineyard if the weather is nice! Their Rosé was one of the bests I’ve had and loved trying different types of Chardonnays and Pinots side by side. Tasting is hosted by the owner family and was so friendly and informative. They also have a great canned sparkling rosé, which I bought a box of :) Great stop for Pinot and rosé lovers!

More about Square Peg: Website, Yelp , IG

Porter-Bass Winery

TL;DR

  • Cute for pictures: 3/5

  • QPR: 5/5, average price $18-50

  • Main varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot, Zin, Cab

  • Tasting fee: $25 to taste, waived with a bottle purchase

  • Average wine rating on Vivino: 4.2

Porter-bass is one of the most chill and relaxed tasting experience. You feel like you are visiting a friend’s vineyard home and tasting through their favorite wines. a bit of a drive out from the main Sebastopol town but worth the drive and you are rewarded with views of the vineyard and great quality to price wines. $35 for a bottle of Cab in Sonoma/Napa? Sign me up!

More about Porter-Bass: Website, Yelp , IG