Stroll around historic Sonoma Plaza, which is home to numerous tasting rooms, plus cheese shops, wine bars, restaurants (the Portuguese tapas spot Tasca Tasca and the Girl & the Fig for outstanding contemporary American fare are both standouts), and the original Williams-Sonoma. If time allows, spend a day driving north through Glen Ellen and Kenwood, then up into tony Healdsburg-these areas are all rife with wineries and noteworthy restaurants. The dates this year are July 15–17, 2022. This food-blessed town enjoys considerable cachet among LGBTQ visitors-there’s even an annual Out in the Vineyard event, LGBTQ Wine Week in Sonoma, held each summer it’s a must for gay wine aficionados. Visit the original Mission San Francisco Solano complex, which today is part of Sonoma State Historic Park. Start in the eastern side of the county, around the historic town of Sonoma, which was founded in 1823 as the northernmost site of the Spanish Empire’s California missions. With more than 420 wineries and spanning some 1,750 square miles, Sonoma County is arguably the state’s most picturesque and eclectic wine region. To gain a more in-depth knowledge of each region’s wineries and the varietals they specialize in, check out the detailed listings and maps at the California Wine Institute website. Whatever your approach, try to book your lodgings at least four to six weeks in advance, especially during the busiest months, from late spring through early autumn. You can easily customize this plan and focus on just a few or even one of these stunning wine hubs. When it comes to wine, Napa and Sonoma have the greatest name recognition, but each of the regions I’ve covered in this story abounds with stellar winemakers, along with romantic farm-to-table restaurants, dreamy country inns and seaside resorts, and myriad outdoor diversions. I recommend starting in the north and first exploring Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties, then driving south down the coast through Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties the second week. Whether you’re headed to this stunning swath of Central and Northern California to stage your dream wine country vacation, or you’d just like to get a feel for the state’s key wine regions and their specialties, this LGBTQ-minded itinerary serves as a blueprint for pulling off this magical trip in two weeks. These are just a few of the activities that await you on an adventure through California’s most acclaimed wine regions-and we haven’t even uncorked a bottle of bubbly. Trekking through a grove of towering redwoods in the Russian River. Scampering along Santa Barbara’s spectacular Butterfly Beach at sunset. Touring famously opulent Hearst Castle after dark. Watching the sunset on a bluff overlooking Mendocino’s Little River Bay.
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