The 15 Best Wineries in California (Plus, What’s Special about Each One)

1. SIMI Winery in Sonoma County

Founded by Isabelle Simi, a woman ahead of her time, this bucolic winery with a train track running through it lies about 10 minutes outside of charming downtown Healdsburg. SIMI has had a strong female heritage since the Prohibition Era and continues today with the new director of winemaking Lisa Evich overseeing the portfolio of wines. This includes multi-tier wine offerings from three different vineyards including their nearby Russian River Valley chardonnay and Alexander Valley cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. They also have a lovely picnic area and an outdoor pizza oven where you can arrange lunches, dinners and even tastings with wines that you can only quaff at this location.

4. Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery in Sonoma County

The Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery is the closest tasting room to the Pacific Ocean where you can sip Sonoma pinots and chardonnays with those breathtaking California views. During your visit, you can tour the vineyards and enjoy a picnic wine lunch at “Top of the Land,” which is a coastal view perch, or take a Sip & Paint class led by a local artist—just be sure to book both in advance.

6. Flowers Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma County

House of Flowers opened not too long ago in 2019 and was designed by Walker Warner Architects, who also built Kona Village in Hawaii, so you know this vineyard oozes romance. Just picture sipping some of the region’s best chardonnay, pinot noir and rosé, which is made with their award-winning pinot noir, amid individual tables in a private garden setting surrounded by the vines. The new tasting room also offers a ‘Bottles and Provisions’ experience on Sundays with seasonal bites—the perfect way to end your weekend in wine country. Psst: Have a look inside on your way to the powder room as the interior walls hold stunning local art gems as well.

7. Abbot’s Passage in Sonoma County

Located on a historic property in the heart of Sonoma Valley and Glen Ellen, sixth-generation vintner Katie Bundschu opened Abbot’s Passage Winery & Mercantile to the public in 2021. They specialize in predominantly small production, Rhone-focused exploratory blends that have been grafted to a mix of varietals including mourvèdre, carignan and petite sirah.

The winery offers tastings or bottle service at picnic tables in the olive grove, while playing shuffleboard or kicking back in an Adirondack chair and taking in the views. Try to reserve a curated and immersive ‘field table’ multi-course family-style menu that takes place amid the property’s 80-year-old zinfandel vines, and definitely save some time to peruse the mercantile which showcases artisanal products, with an emphasis on supporting female-owned businesses and sustainably made, locally sourced crafts (we love the jewelry!).

9. Baileyana Winery in Central Coast Wine Country

As pioneers of the Central Coast, the Niven family started planting grapes back in 1973. Today the Baileyana brand produces over 30 wines and 11 varietals, so there is truly something for everyone from Tangent to True Myth to Zocker, led by Rob Takigawa, Director of Winemaking. They specialize in a range of chardonnay and pinot noir grown in the Edna Valley of San Luis Obispo, but any visit here must include the tasting room located in the historic Independence Schoolhouse with lovely vineyard views. Make sure to book a cheese or charcuterie board with your alfresco tasting. Now this is our kind of classroom!

11. The Hilt Estate in Central Coast Wine County

The main draw here (after the delicious wine, of course) is the gorgeous barn. But this is not just any old vineyard barn, but a stunningly modern one designed by Gillam Architects that was built with reclaimed wood from the site’s original 1914 barn—step inside and you will seriously want to move right in and curl up in a leather armchair under the cathedral ceiling. Known for pinot noir and chardonnay wines in the southwest corner of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, in Lompoc (near Santa Barbara), the Hilt Estate encompasses three vineyards from Bentrock, Radian and Puerta del Mar and wines from two renowned estates, JONATA and The Hilt.

12. Alma Rosa in Central Coast Wine Country

Alma Rosa has the best of both worlds with a charming Solvang Central Coast tasting room located right in the heart of town, but if you'd like to dig deeper, you can visit the Alma Rosa Ranch House in the Sta. Rita Hills for a private tasting experience. And if you’d like to incorporate a little exercise to relieve the guilt of a little over-indulging from the two visits (we are not judging!), the tastings can include a one-mile hike past the vineyard that culminates with wine and cheese—so it’s worth the leg work, and you can book your journey based on whether you want to see the chardonnay and pinot or syrah and grenache vines.

13. Malibu Family Wines in Malibu Wine Country

Deep in the Malibu Hills off Mulholland Drive, Saddlerock Ranch is a 1,000-acre winery where animals run free past the cabernet vines. The wine-tasting safari in an open-air jeep has long been popular on Instagram for dates and girls’ trips, but this excursion has been put on hold during the pandemic. But fear not—there is also a wine hike that encompasses a two-hour loop where you can still see the famous giraffes wandering the grounds, which is an experience hard to replicate outside of an African safari ‘sundowner.’

14. South Coast Winery Resort & Spa in Temecula Valley Wine Country

Just 86 miles south of Los Angeles, Riverside County’s Temecula wine region has come a long way in the past few decades. A standout experience can be had at the 63-acre South Coast Winery Resort & Spa with over 45 wine labels spanning pinot noir to pinot grigio. This is the only winery in the state of California that has won “Golden State Winery of the Year” in the California Commercial Wine Competition not once, not twice, but five times. And the best part? South Coast Winery boast a full-service resort with rooms, a restaurant and the luxe GrapeSeed spa. Here you’ll want to book a “grapeseed facial” made with botanicals and wine grapes for the health and nourishment of your skin. So, after wine tasting, treat your complexion to more skin-on-skin contact, followed by a glass of wine on the terrace.

15. Carruth Cellars in San Diego

Yes, even San Diego, home of Sea World, has award-winning wine grapes! Carruth Cellars is the largest urban winery on a mission to “bring grapes to the people.” Owner and head winemaker Adam Carruth, a 20-year-plus wine industry veteran and San Diego native, specializes in bold California-style wines at  urban wine facilities in Solana Beach and Oceanside.

The brand also operates five local tasting rooms that include Carlsbad Village, Little Italy in downtown San Diego, and the new Liberty Station where you can sample everything from malbec to merlot and petite sirah to pinot noir, with wine by the flight, glass, and bottle, as well as cheese and charcuterie boards. If you don’t feel like driving—and who does while drinking?—jump in the van and take a “coastal” or “coast to country” specialized wine tour, or arrange a private tasting at the Solana Beach flagship.