Over Labor Day weekend, my husband and I, along with some friends, flew to northern California for another friends wedding. I love when our friends have weddings in cool places. Before the wedding festivities, we had to hit up the wineries in Santa Rosa, where we were staying, and Sonoma (all very close). We got a driver and piled in their SUV (the only way to do it) for a day of drinking wine, but also breathtaking views and lots of laughs.
While we were there, all of Cali was going through a major heat wave - and north, were we were is not used to this kind of heat! Barely anywhere has air conditioning - and it was a record breaking 104 degrees the day we were out wine tasting. So, we got a bit creative for the wineries we decided to hit up, and big thanks to my awesome sister-in-law (who along with my husband's brother/her husband, live in the San Francisco area) knew a lot of the best places and was able to pivot with the heat and plan out a great day!
Overall, we went to 3 wineries, and ate lunch on the way. I've mapped them all out below, and you can see pics from our day below, too. But a quick overview of where we went because I loved them all for different reasons!
First: Matanzas Creek Winery - This place smells amazing, because it's a lavender field, too. This place has the most beautiful views and lots of shaded areas to relax and drink your wine outside. Next time, I want to visit in June during lavender peek season!
<Before our second stop, we stopped by Cafe Citti for an amazing lunch.>
Second: Deerfield Ranch Winery - This place is in a cave! What more can I say? It was super cool down there - the temp and the experience.
Third: We went to St. Francis Winery, which had me thinking about my grandfather, whose name was Francis. Besides that, the views were also amazing here and had a nice cool inside to hide from the outside heat!
Here is a Google Map of our route and the wineries we hit up. Though there are tons more that are all great, I highly recommend these ones - ESPECIALLY for a hot day! They had great shade, and a winery in a cave cannot be beat. A very cool (literally - the cave stays in the 60s no matter what the weather outside is) experience; a great day overall!
During our time in Santa Rosa, we stayed at the coolest home that my sister-in-law found on Airbnb. It was super nice, spacious for all three couples and had an awesome back patio with a pool. Because of the super hot heat wave, we definitely got a lot of use out of that pool!
I'll share the wedding next! But for those curious - my wine tasting outfit & swimsuit:
