You do not have to drive to Napa or Sonoma for good wine. Every county in the greater Sacramento region has wineries, and the tasting rooms range from urban and modern to rustic and laid-back. Some are in the city. Some are in barns. A few are underground.
The trade-off is geography. The rooms are spread across Sacramento, Winters, Clarksburg, Walnut Grove, Capay, Loomis, Rocklin, Auburn, Placerville, Garden Valley, Somerset and Elk Grove, and none of those towns sit on the way to any of the others. You pick one and stay there for the afternoon.
URBAN ROOMS IN THE CITY
Lucid Winery is in Downtown Sacramento, and the walls are lined with vintage books, which gives the space a library feel. Warm wood, wine barrel partitions and soft lighting do the rest. They pour small-batch organic and vegan wines. Teneral Cellars in Midtown is woman-owned and operated, known for sustainable wines and for giving a portion of proceeds to organizations that help women. The tasting room is built for staying a while, with comfortable seating and an inclusive feel, plus trivia, happy hour and karaoke. Scribner Bend sits along the Sacramento River with classic Delta farmhouse charm: plush seating, a fireplace, and patios surrounded by flowers and greenery. Pizza comes out of their onsite oven, and there is a deli case for snacks.
ROOMS WEST OF THE RIVER
Turkovich Family Wines in Winters has an intimate tasting room with red-brick walls, moody lighting and local art. They pour estate-grown whites, reds and sparkling wine, with cheese and charcuterie to go with it. Heringer Estates in Clarksburg pours in a 130-year-old heritage barn, all rustic wood and twinkling lights, with outdoor fire pits. They run seasonal wine flights and events such as tasting workshops and live music. Grand Island Vineyards in Walnut Grove uses dark wood and stone, with twinkling lights and comfortable seating. There are grounds to walk, plus events such as cheese making and barrel room bingo. Taber Ranch in Capay sits among oak-dotted hillsides, with a cozy tasting room, a patio with plush seating, live music and wood-fired pizza.
FOOTHILL ROOMS AND WINE CAVES
Mt. Vernon Winery in Auburn is family-run and pours in a restored 1950s milk house, with plush seating and dark wood accents. They also host dinners in a candle-lit wine cave with pairings and live music, and there is an outdoor patio surrounded by landscaping when the weather cooperates. Boeger Winery is just outside Placerville in the forested hills. It is family-run, with dark wood beams, stone accents, antique decor and a wood-burning fireplace. José Wine Caves in Garden Valley makes small-batch estate-grown wines and has both a tasting patio and wine caves, where they host candle-lit dinners. The property looks out over the surrounding hillsides. Toogood Estate in Somerset, in El Dorado County, lines its underground caves with wine barrels and pours inside them, with a hillside terrace as well. They also have a more modern tasting room in downtown Placerville and offer lodging if you want to make a weekend of it.
THE SUBURBAN AND NEIGHBORHOOD ROOMS
Casque Wines in Loomis pours French-style varietals in a converted barn, at the bar or on a large outdoor patio, and you can order food from the Flower Farm Café next door. Canto Ao Vinho in Rocklin is an intimate neighborhood room that feels like a European wine bar, with stone walls, warm wood tones and twinkling lights. They focus on Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian wines by the glass or bottle, and host live music and a Thursday happy hour. Atkins Family Vineyards in Elk Grove pairs dark wood with plush leather, which reads more like a mountain retreat than a valley one. Outdoor tasting comes with fire pits and good scenery, and they pour tastings alongside a full menu from the neighboring restaurant.
THE COMPARISON I REACH FOR, AND WHERE IT STOPS WORKING
The closest ordinary thing is a neighborhood restaurant with a good patio. You drop in, you sit, you order, you stay an hour, you go home.
That works for the city rooms. Lucid, Teneral and Scribner Bend are the kind of places you can add to a normal weeknight. It stops working once you leave Sacramento. A tasting room on a farm or inside a cave is not a drop-in. It keeps its own hours, often tied to the season, and the drive is the point rather than the cost. A restaurant sits on your way home. Capay, Somerset and Garden Valley are not on the way to anything.
WHAT I WOULD TELL YOU TO WEIGH
- Someone has to drive. These are tasting rooms, and the roads out to the rural ones are two-lane. Decide the driver before you decide the flight.
- Hours move with the season. Farm wineries often open weekends only in the growing season and cut back in winter. Check before you drive.
- Dinners and cave tastings usually need a reservation. So do the tasting workshops and barrel events. Call ahead rather than showing up.
- Tasting fees add up. A flight here and a glass there is a real afternoon cost, especially if you are paying for two.
- The urban rooms are small. Lucid, Teneral and Canto Ao Vinho are intimate spaces, and a group of eight will feel like a crowd.
If a tasting room is part of why you are looking at a town, start with the town itself. I keep every area guide at the neighborhoods hub, and the about page explains how I work with buyers and sellers around here.
Question for you: do you want a tasting room you can walk to from home, or one you are happy to drive to twice a season? Both are reasonable, but only one of them narrows down the town you should be looking in.
Adapted from Local Tasting Rooms in the Greater Sacramento Area, originally published by Windermere Signature Properties at windermerecalocal.com.
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