Crash course: Sonoma Food & Wine Tour

Renee ReBell founded the Sonoma Food & Wine Tour last year to celebrate the cuisine, wine and history of Sonoma. The first of tour of its kind in town, ReBell guides participants on a 3-hour walking tour of the Square, with visits to restaurants, tasting rooms and food purveyors. She adds in interesting bits of Sonoma history, as varied as the creation of the Plaza by General Vallejo to filming locations of recent movies like Bottleshock.

It’s a fun way to show off Sonoma to out of town guests, a great way to have new experiences in Sonoma for locals, and a chance to let someone else do the thinking – you just walk, eat, drink and enjoy. Here’s your crash course on the Sonoma Food & Wine Tour.

Tips: 

1) The tour isn’t just for tourists. As a local, I visited three places I had never been before (including the Sonoma Wine Shop, the only vegetarian place in town) and enjoyed new dishes I had never tried before at restaurants. I also learned some things – ReBell knows a lot of fascinating history about Sonoma and you’ll leave with plenty of new fun facts. You also get discounts from some of the retailers you visit.

2) Wear your walking shoes and dress for the weather, as you’ll be walking around the entire square, with visits to outdoor historic monuments.

3) Have lunch before hand, but leave room for small plates at four dining establishments. You’ll also be starting the tour with a wine tasting, so having food in your belly is a good idea.

4) The tour is food focused; so don’t expect lots of wine to be served. You’ll do a tasting at two tasting rooms totaling at least five wines. You’re welcome to purchase a drink, if time allows, during visits to restaurants and tasting rooms. ReBell does offer a wine tasting tour option.

5) Bring your own bag just in case you decide to purchase some wine, olive oil or chocolate during the tour and most of the shops and tasting rooms will be closed by the time the tour ends.

6) Don’t bring the kids. It’s an adult experience – with people geeking out over food and wine, the kids might get antsy or not like the food served.

7) Eating restrictions are welcome; just let ReBell know ahead of time.

Getting there:

Register for the tour online (sanfranciscowinegroup.com). Tickets are $110 each and you can sometimes save a few bucks through promotions on Rebell’s Facebook page. The tours are generally limited to 10 people or so, and you will mix and mingle with strangers unless you are purchasing it for a group. Tours run seven days a week at 2 PM.

The experience: 

Tours start at the Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau. The places you visit are subject to change, so it might not match our experience, but should be similar. Our tour started at the Highway 12 Wine Tasting Room, with three wines (white and red) and ReBell sharing the history of wine in Sonoma.

Next stop was Figone’s Olive Oil Company, which recently opened on the Square. The friendly staff provided tasty olive oil samples. A quick visit to Large Leather was next, where ReBell shared history about the building and the relevance of the visit: sommeliers in training get leather samples from the shop to help build their nose.

El Dorado Kitchen is the first restaurant stop. Their delicious ahi tuna tacos were served, followed by the girl & the fig, with a beautifully presented cheese plate. More history was shared with a pass by the Swiss Hotel and a visit to the historic Barracks.

B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille was next on the tour. We tried their tasty pork slider and truffle fries with the option of adding a beer or whiskey to our order. It was a filling stop!

ReBell then led us down an alley to the Hooker House for a fascinating history lesson and a sweet treat at Wine Country Chocolates. The final stop was the Sonoma Wine Shop, where we were served remarkable housemade spring pea ravioli with two wines.

The tour succeeds at bringing people together through food, wine and history. Our group enjoyed our time together so much we ended up having dinner at the Sonoma Wine Shop, followed by milkshakes at B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille. You’ll most likely start the tour with strangers and leave with friends.