Petaluma: Wine Country Starts Here

Farmed, crushed, bottled (and tasted!) in Petaluma

Petaluma is bustling with an ever-growing number of wineries and wine businesses. Let’s take a quick tour, following Sonoma County’s advice to “start with Barber Cellars.”

We (Mike and Lorraine Barber) founded our Petaluma winery in 2007. We live right on the Petaluma town line, in the midst of a patch of small vineyards. You can see our most recently planted Chardonnay vines from our kitchen window. 

We dry farm the organic grapes for our wines in vineyards like this around town and throughout Sonoma County’s Petaluma Gap. Our highest elevation vineyard, home to our beautiful Zinfandel grapes, is a sturdy four-wheel drive up the side of Sonoma Mountain on the east side of town. (The vines love this rugged hillside; though at nearly 2000 feet elevation, it’s a bit challenging for us humans.) Petaluma is also home to our crush pad where we hand-sort our grapes, create and age our wines, and bottle them. 

Thirsty yet? We think you’ll see our tasting room is one-of-a-kind. Enjoy a glass or taste them all with a relaxed vibe, local art, board games and books, and Sonoma County cheeses, jams, and pickles. Chat with local folks, or just unwind and Petaluma-people-watch. We’ll happily talk with you about our wines or winemaking process (but never tell you ‘what you’re supposed to taste’ — you like what you like, and taste what you taste.)

Barber Cellars Winery is in excellent company. Other wineries in Petaluma range from our bigger commercial brethren like Keller Estates and Adobe Road to smaller family-run operations like ours, such as our downtown neighbors at the Brooks Note tasting room. Nearby, you can find Syrah and Riesling in the Chileno Valley vineyards of Azari, taste estate grown Pinot Noir from Parum Leo in their hillside vineyard to the south of town, go on an ATV farm-and-vineyard tour at Reis River Ranch, or explore California Pinot Noir and Cabernet at Ron Noble on the eastern edge of town. 

That’s just a sample; there are many others. So much to explore right around town. 

Sounds like wine country to us!

Wine country, a short hop from the City, East Bay, and peninsula

Petaluma is the closest wine country destination for many Bay Area wine lovers. “All roads lead to Rome,” maybe, but you only need one road to get to Petaluma: Route 101, which runs right through town, five minutes from our downtown tasting room.

Getting to Petaluma — approximate local drive times:

• Mill Valley, Tiburon  30 minutes
• San Francisco 45 minutes to 1 hour
• SFO airport  1 hour to 1:15
• Oakland, Berkeley 1 hour and 15 minutes
• San Jose, Palo Alto 1 hour and 30 minutes

Allow for traffic depending on when you’re traveling. (Of course, if you live in the Bay Area, you already knew that.)

The SMART train provides another easy travel option, running from the Larkspur Landing ferry up to Petaluma in 42 minutes, with no traffic hassles.

 

More reasons for Petaluma wine country adventures

Heartbeat of the Petaluma Gap wine appellation

Petaluma Gap received its official AVA appellation designation in 2018, recognizing our distinct climate and topography rather than ‘political boundaries’ on existing maps. The Gap runs from Bodega on the coast and follows the marine breezes (and fog) that flow south-east into town, channeled along the foot of Sonoma Mountain on our east.

Wine grapes grow on an estimated 4,000+ acres within the Gap. 

Cool-climate fruit like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, heat-loving vines like Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, plus lots of Syrah, Italian favorites like our own Sangiovese and Vermentino — we’ve got the variety of microclimates, elevations, and soils to grow it all. And grow it beautifully.

 

Petaluma pairings: A killer local food scene

Wine pairs best with amazing local food. Petaluma’s got that in spades, from high-end California cuisine at the amazing Street Social, Table Culture Provisions or Central Market, all the way through great burritos and fast-dining options.

If you stand in the Barber Cellars tasting room, you’re less than 100 feet from outstanding oysters at The Shuckery or elevated southern-style eats at Easy Rider. And that’s just our one little intersection. 

Walk another block or two, and find fabulous Italian riverside at Cucina Paradiso, hit a buzzy happy hour at Seared, enjoy our friend chef Roberth Sundell’s casual, Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning Swedish restaurant Stockhome…. Petaluma’s restaurants and markets really showcase our local cornucopia of produce, proteins, cheeses and more.

Too many great choices, can’t list ’em all. Plus it’s making us hungry. The point is, the food’s really good here.

 

Basecamp for more wine country adventures

North Bay wine country starts here, but of course it doesn’t end here.

Petaluma is a super convenient base for exploring Sonoma and Napa counties without breaking the bank. Town lodgings like downtown’s historic Hotel Petaluma or the retro/funky French-style Metro (among other options) are typically more affordable than Napa. And wine country tours, private cars, limos or Uber/Lyft transportation options abound.

Exploring wine country further — approximate drive times FROM Petaluma:

• Town of Sonoma  30 minutes
• Sebastopol, western Sonoma County  30 minutes
• Healdsburg, Russian River Valley  35 minutes
• City of Napa  45 minutes
• Yountville, Napa Valley 1 hour

Drop by the tasting room and we’ll tell you our own favorite places to explore.

Petaluma is a great vacation destination hub with convenient access to many of Sonoma County’s best experiences in every direction. There’s the oyster shacks of Tomales Bay and the rugged coast line of Bodega Bay and the Sonoma Coast to the west, the redwoods of Mt. Tam to the south and the redwoods of Russian River to the north, wineries / distilleries / breweries all around town, and dozens of creameries in the rolling green hills west of town where you can sample the best cheeses in California.

Wine country is waiting, and Petaluma is your front door. Come on up — we’ll have a glass ready for you.

The Barbers have been making wine since 2005, opening their Barber Cellars Winery in 2007 and their tasting room in downtown Petaluma in 2015.