San Francisco Travel Forum

planning to visit Sonoma in mid-end May but i heard from friends it's not harvest period, thus, there's nothing much to see.

is this true?

Your friends are correct in that mid-end May is not harvest period in Sonoma, nonetheless Sonoma county it is a beautiful piece of real estate! Leisure days can easily be spent motoring along the roads enjoying the countryside (and weather) visiting wineries. Between the towns of Healdsburg and Calistoga (a plethora hot springs there!) take california highway 128 through the Alexander valley, Chalk hill, and Knights valley. You'll like it.

thanks for the tips!
i won't be going europe anytime soon :(

anyway i won't be driving, will be going sonoma with a tour company, is it still advisable to go despite it not being in harvest during may?

that was an odd reply what?

Ummm.. Europe isn't really a proper alternative to West Coast U.S.

Anyways, even though the harvest isn't taking place, I'd still recommend going. The harvest is one of the busier times of the year, but I find May-June to be just as nice.

In May you would still see rows upon rows of grape vines throughout both the Sonoma and Napa valleys. The architecture of the wineries as well as the stories behind some of the wineries are very interesting and make for great photo ops. I did a self-guided tour of both Sonoma and Napa in beginning of June a couple years ago and there is still plenty to do and see.

In addition to wineries, there's also great restaurants and little towns that have bakeries, markets with local products such as cheeses, pates, etc.

I really enjoyed the visit and have some unbelievable pictures hanging on my wall that show off the beauty of the Sonoma and Napa Valleys.

It may not be the harvest period but they will release some varietals during the spring. I went at the end of May last year and had a fantastic time. It's really beautiful up there at this time of the year.

thanks for the replies, you guys make me very excited to go Sonoma :)