Wine Country truly has the makings of its own nation, at least as far as the size of its ever-growing footprint and vast cultural influence. Long-established regions in California stand as equals with newer wine destinations such as British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley when it comes to rich experiences for wine buffs and novices alike. Groups can take advantage of these regions with unique activities and offbeat venues.
Northern California
With over 400 wine brands and approximately 120 wineries open to the public, the Napa Valley stands at the epicenter of California’s Wine Country and offers some of the most diverse venues for groups.
Castello di Amorosa touts itself as the only authentic medieval Italian Tuscan castle and winery built in America. The winery, which debuted in 2007 after over 10 years of construction, sits on 171 acres just south of Calistoga. It includes 107 rooms, 90 of which are devoted to winemaking and wine storage; a Great Hall with a two-story replica of Tuscan frescoes painted by Italian artists; a drawbridge, dungeon and torture chamber; and a medieval church.
The Great Hall is open to groups of up to 140 for food and wine pairings, blind tastings and wine and food education events. Another option for groups is the 12,000-square-foot Barrel Room, which has hosted everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Groups can participate in Grape Stomp at the winery, which includes a winery tour, winemaking demonstration and barrel tasting in the cellars. The event also features a food and wine pairing luncheon in one of the private rooms and ends with a grape stomp, which can be used as a team-building exercise.
More conventional, Hall Rutherford Winery in Rutherford offers reception space in its 14,000 square feet of caves. The Revana Family Vineyard in June completed an expansion of its outdoor dining area, boosting the capacity for tasting opportunities and wine pairing dinners.
Bin to Bottle Winery and Total Adventures in Napa combine forces to offer the Falcon Quest series of wine-related challenges, where clients choose from options such as competitive wine-tasting games, a cork-building game and wine-related scavenge. The adventures and wine blending workshops can take place at Bin to Bottle or can be transported to hotels and ballrooms anywhere in the Bay Area.
For wine blending, groups are divided into small teams, given four different varietal wines and are asked to make the best possible wine. Each group submits a sample to a panel and the winning wine is blended and bottled for all participants to take home.
"Total Adventures in the past couldn’t offer this program because we didn’t have access to the wines," says John Wilkinson, managing partner of Bin to Bottle and owner of Total Adventures. "With the slowdown in the luxury wine business, we have clients willing to sell us bulk wine. Now we can do this."
Napa neighbor Sonoma County is dotted with secluded resorts and as diverse a selection of winery venues as Napa. July saw the opening of the renovated Francis Ford Coppola Winery north of Geyserville, formerly Rosso & Bianco Winery, now featuring a Hollywood-worthy pool area with cabanas.
"The vineyards are still under construction. They are talking about building cabins, but that’s not finalized yet," says Mark Crabb, director of sales for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau.
On the Sonoma coastline in Jenner, Timber Cove Inn recently opened the Ansel Adams Room and Deck overlooking the Pacific. The space can hold up to 70 for receptions. The property also features a tasting room within the hotel and a restaurant.
In October, the 400-acre wildlife preserve Safari West in Santa Rosa will introduce Wines Over Watusi, a private three-hour safari for 10 people. Groups will be able to sip wines from Sonoma and South Africa while watching zebras drink at a watering hole.
According to Paula Higgins, associate director of sales for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, a new trend is for groups to sit down with a sommelier or winery owner who immerses them in details about the wines, such as where the grapes are grown and the relationship between the wine and food.
Picnicking at wineries is another group trend offered by a number of Sonoma County wineries, such as Lynmar Estate at Quail Hill Vineyard in the Russian River Valley area and Korbell Champagne Cellars among others.
Monterey County, known for its chardonnay and pinot noir, encompasses Carmel Valley, Monterey and Salinas Valley.
"We’re very much known for our boutique wineries and family-owned and -operated properties," says Julie Rosenau, sales and business development manager for the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association. "One thing about us, we’re geographically spread out. You really need at least two days—the first day to Carmel Valley Village, which has tons of tasting rooms and family-owned properties, the next day go to Salinas Valley, where most of the vineyards are planted."
The easiest way to explore is using group-friendly tour company Ag Venture Tours, which offers a number of options, such as the Salinas Valley Agricultural Education Tour observing organic farming, harvesting and planting. Groups can also spend a day horseback riding with visits to Carmel Valley wineries.
A Taste of Monterey offers over 70 choices for tasting, as well as a number of group activities, such as Bordeaux blending workshops. One of its most unique options is the Wine Carnival, which includes myriad activities, such as a What’s That Smell competition identifying characteristics of wines through scent. The Grape Spit competition is decided by who can spit a grape the farthest while Barrel Rolling requires participants to navigate a slalom course with real wine barrels.
Situated just north of Sonoma County, Mendocino County impresses with its "green" wine production, featuring 25 percent of its total vineyards as certified organic.
New to the list of Mendocino wine venues is Campovida, located in Hopland. Originally opened by the winemaking Fetzer family in 1983, the 51-acre property was well known for being the first organic food and wine center in the country, and once hosted such culinary greats Emeril Lagasse and Julia Child. It was closed to the public for five years, but reopened this summer under new management. It currently offers seven rooms on-site, including a private cottage, as well as a three-bedroom farmhouse.
The property has a 13-acre organic garden featuring more than 2,000 varieties of fruit, herbs, vegetables and ornamental and edible flowers. Some of the activity options include cooking classes with team-building options and eco tours. Wine tastings paired with samplings from the herb garden are available.
"Campovida caters to executive management and CEOs of corporations," says Megan Metz, experience creator at Campovida. "We are targeting companies that are in line with the vision of Campovida—detaching from rest of world, having a place to unplug."
In San Francisco’s East Bay region, the Tri-Valley/Livermore area is gaining popularity for its wine options. Two of its top wineries, Concannon Vineyards and Wente Vineyard, have recently undergone multimillion-dollar facelifts. The caves at Wente Vineyards were recently renovated to accommodate banquets. Meanwhile, Concannon Vineyard recently launched a new venue called The Underdog Winebar, featuring wine and food.
For adventure seekers, Livermore Valley Wine & Cycle Tours offers groups tours of the wineries throughout the region.
Southern California
Heading south, Paso Robles in the San Luis Obispo area is only behind Napa and Sonoma in size among California’s winemaking regions, with some 170 wineries calling it home.
Vina Robles Winery, in Paso Robles, caters to groups, namely with its blending seminar. Teams are divided into groups and each team is given three different wines along with blending guidance from the winemaker. The groups are given time to do their own blending experiments and the resulting wines are judged, with prizes awarded.
Santa Barbara’s wine region is still blooming, partly due to its center stage appearance several years ago in the film Sideways.
Unique venues abound, including Bridlewood Estate Winery, formerly used as a race horse rehabilitation facility. Today groups can use the central race track and great lake and waterfall areas for events, or they can use the patio overlooking the vineyard. Activities include a carriage ride around the vineyard, live music, bocce ball and croquet and private tastings.
Sunstone Vineyard and Winery offers tours of its European-style property and space for groups in its cave and barrel tasting room.
"When I think about wine venues, I tend to think about Europe. Sunstone feels like you’ve stepped into another country," says Catherine Puccino, director of sales for the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission.
If groups don’t have time to go to Wine Country, they can follow the Urban Wine Trail downtown, featuring nine tasting rooms, some of which can host events.
The Temecula Valley, an hour northeast from San Diego, includes over 35,000 acres of rolling hills and vineyards.
Groups can get a bird’s-eye view of the Valley with California Dreamin’, a hot-air balloon experience designed to encourage teamwork with its Sunrise Wine Country Flight, followed by breakfast and a red wine blending class.
Another way to wake up is with Vino-Vinyasa, a yoga class followed by wine tasting offered at the GrapeSeed Spa at South Coast Winery Resort & Spa.
Washington
Washington’s Yakima Valley as a wine region is still in its infancy compared to other U.S. wine regions, having formed in 1983. There are some 70 wineries open to the public.
"Washington’s wine industry is still relatively young," says John Cooper, president of CEO of the Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau. "One of the distinguishing things about us, we’re not overly developed; there are 600 bonded wineries, a majority of which are very small boutique wineries. When people visit, chances are the person behind the counter is an owner or winemaker."
Individual wineries offer different niches, such as Tasting Room Yakima, a biodynamic winery. Aside from tasting, the winery borders the Cowiche Canyon nature preserve open to hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking.
Yakima Valley is home to several major wine events, such as the Spring Barrel Wine Tasting in April, where all the wineries in the valley bring out barrels and visitors can taste the various wines in their production stages.
Oregon
Willamette Valley, Oregon’s leading wine region, is home to two-thirds of the state’s wineries and vineyards and is recognized for its pinot noir production.
Cooper Mountain Vineyards last year began offering tours and treks based on its organic and biodynamic farming.
"Most of it is held out in the vineyards," says Barbara Gross, vice president of the winery. "The tour goes over biodynamic methodology."
Aspects include which insects are beneficial, helpful cover crops and the effects of natural sprays that are used.
"You can’t soundbite biodynamics," Gross says. "It takes at least 30 to 45 minutes to get people to wrap their head around it."
The winery can set up scavenger hunts as well that end in the tasting room.
Garden Vineyards in Hillsboro last summer began catering to groups. The extensive gardens are open to groups and the winery also hosts ping pong tournaments, lawn games and even screens films on its commercial projector. The farm, vineyard and gardens are all organic, and the wine produced is all estate grown.
British Columbia
The Okanagan Valley stands as the premier wine region of British Columbia, featuring three main areas, Osooyos, Penticton and Kelowna.
"Kelowna is home to many of the founding Okanagan Valley wineries that paved the way for the entire region’s development," says Jennifer Horsnell, director of sales for Tourism Kelowna.
The area is rich with unique wine-related venues, such as Summerhill Pyramid Winery, an organic winery that produces its own sparkling wine. The tour includes entering their geometrically precise pyramid which the winemakers claim instills sacred energy into each drop of wine they produce.
Events can be held in the pyramid, which is illuminated only by candlelight. Bottle sabering is an option, where attendees can experience lopping the top of bottles off their bubbly with a large machete or knife.
Mission Hill Family Estate offers an educational video followed by a tasting in the barrel room which was drilled into an extinct volcano. New for groups, Tantalus Vineyards is a recently opened 13,000-square-foot venue, offering a full catering kitchen for events. Re-opening in January 2011 will be the renovated 1918-era Laurel Packing House, which is home to the BC Wine Museum.
In Penticton, groups can get out on Okanagan Lake with the Casabella Princess paddle wheeler, which offers customized packages, including wine and theme tours. Groups can enjoy a buffet served on board in combination with visits to several wineries.
Nixdorf Classic Cars delivers groups to the Okanagan wineries in style. Wine tours are offered in chauffeur-driven classic convertibles, with space for four people per car and 80 cars in its inventory.
"We’re pretty flexible," says Jim Kyluik, who manages the company and its on-site car museum along with his wife Joan.
The company works with the Kettle Steam Railway and can drop off groups at a winery along the railway system and have them return by train. Similar options are available for one-way rides on Casabella Princess.
