Rafael Hernandez leads visitors on horseback through vineyards at Larson Family Winery.
Sampling wine in the tasting room is one thing, but actually spending time with the grapes is an altogether different experience. These three Sonoma Valley wineries have found a variety of ingenious ways to welcome visitors into their vineyards and give them a little exercise along the way.
Horseback Riding
Rafael Hernandez likes to think he helps wine country visitors bring their fantasies to life at folksy Larson Family Winery near Schellville. “They have an image of winemakers that comes from watching movies like ‘A Walk in the Clouds,’ ” he said. “To be able to ride in a vineyard with their wife or girlfriend is romantic.”
As owner of Wine Country Trail Rides, Hernandez provides 90-minute rides on land that once served as Sonoma’s Embarcadero, where passengers arrived by schooner from San Francisco Bay and climbed into wagons bound for town. It also housed the Old Sonoma Rodeo before grapevines were planted on it.
Now, guides lead mounted visitors around vineyards and down individual rows, teaching them about horses, history and viticulture before depositing them in the barn that serves as Larson’s tasting room. When winemaker Carolyn Craig has the time, she rides along to discuss varietals and the process of making wine.
Trail rides for groups of up to eight cost $65 per person and leave daily at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. from Larson Family Winery, 23355 Millerick Road, Sonoma. Covered wagon tours for groups of 12 or more are $250 per hour. 707.494.0499; www.vineyardrides.com.
Hiking
If you enjoy hiking with a purpose, take a Saturday eco-tour with Jeff Kunde. He’ll keep your mind off the four-hour excursion through the 1,850-acre Kunde Estate Winery by telling stories about the land his family has owned since 1904.
“We just go out for a walk and tell you what we do,” he said on a recent Saturday. “We’ll go up to 1,400 feet, take our time, teach you about sustainability and we’ll end up with a nice lunch.”
The fourth-generation vineyard owner has a lot to brag about as he leads visitors across the property he lovingly calls “our family playground.” It extends two miles along the Sonoma Highway and as far as the eye can see back to the Mayacamas Mountains. During the eco-tour, hikers climb to the highest vineyards, where reserve cabernet vines compete with rocks for room in the dusty red soil.
Along the way guests pass an Indian hunting camp, pioneer rock walls, bay laurel and fig trees, owl boxes and 130-year-old zinfandel vines. Back at the winery, they sample wines from those vineyards and enjoy a catered picnic. Kunde’s ultimate goal? To keep the vino flowing.
“You saw where the wines come from,” he told the group. “According to a wine industry survey, the number-one reason people buy wine is because it has been recommended by a friend. We hope you’ll go home and talk about us.”
Individuals can sign up for the Aug. 23 eco-tour with Jeff Kunde for $60, or a special three-mile dog hike on Oct. 18 for $45. Kunde Estate Winery is at 9825 Hwy. 12 in Kenwood, 707.833.5501; www.kunde.com.
Sherpa Trekking
Jean Arnold Sessions has always wanted to trek in Katmandu, but after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, she shelved the idea. In what she now describes as a magical moment, another option presented itself.
She met Ngima Sherpa, a server at Meritage Restaurant who made his living by guiding treks up Mount Everest before moving to Sonoma. Ngima and his brother Gen agreed to bring the mountain to Sonoma, replicating the adventure at Hanzell Vineyards. The result was so successful the winery now organizes about six sherpa treks a year for private groups.
Two sherpas guide each group up the mountainside, describing the real work of summiting Mount Everest. Vineyard employees are along to discuss grape growing and winemaking.
“You climb straight up from base camp, which has been replicated at the lowest part of our vineyards, to the summit, which is a vineyard at 900 feet,” said Jean Arnold Sessions, the winery’s president. “You’re winded when you get there, but the views are beautiful. And if it’s right before harvest, you get to taste the grapes.”
Guests then descend to the winery for cool wine and a picnic lunch.
“We only make two kinds of wine – pinot noir and chardonnay – so it’s important to get people into the vineyards… and to experience the site,” Arnold Sessions said. “Our wines are all about our sense of place.”
Sherpa hikes are available April through October to groups of eight to 12, with advance reservations. Cost is $150 per person plus $50 for lunch and wine. Hanzell Vineyards is at 18596 Lomita Ave. in Boyes Hot Springs, 707.996.3860; www.hanzell.com.
