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While some Bay Area counties have enacted strict stay-at-home orders this week, nothing has changed yet in Napa and Sonoma counties — and their wineries and tasting rooms remain open for visitors. And even though a lockdown is likely on the horizon, Wine Country vintners said that people are still showing up for wine tastings, though things are a little slower than they were a few months ago.
“We’re open for outside tastings and people are coming, albeit a little less than normal,” said Bob Biale, founder of Robert Biale Winery in Napa. “Not much less, though.”
Wineries in both Napa and Sonoma counties can continue to host tastings as long as they’re outdoors. County guidelines require visitors to make advance reservations, and visitors must wear masks and practice social distancing. Restaurants in both counties are still open, too, for takeout, delivery and outdoor dining only.
While weekday traffic has been quieter at Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol, the weekend crowds have not ebbed during the recent COVID-19 surges, said CEO Joy Sterling. Last weekend, after the news, was just as busy, she added. “Sonoma County is definitely open.” Even pre-pandemic, the set-up at Iron Horse has always been outdoors and socially distanced. “Who would have thought that two barrels with a plank of wood over it would be so desirable for wine tasting?” she said.
Although Sonoma County prohibits wineries from hosting groups over six people, Iron Horse has limited it to four, but Sterling said some visitors have tried to circumvent that by booking two simultaneous tastings under different names. “I don’t want to sound like a school marm, but we’ve had to get very strict,” she said.
The situation may not last long, however. Once the larger Bay Area region dips below 15% capacity in its intensive care units, all regional counties, including Napa and Sonoma, will enter into a new lockdown phase in which wineries must close for visitors entirely. When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that plan last week, he projected that the Bay Area would likely meet that threshold by mid-late December.
On Friday, five Bay Area counties — San Francisco, Santa Clara, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda — decided to preemptively begin following the new orders, even though the region’s intensive care unit capacity has not yet dropped to the 15% threshold. There are wineries in those counties, too, with a large concentration in Berkeley and Oakland, and those have now closed for visitors.
Although Napa and Sonoma remain open for business, some individual wineries have decided to close ahead of the stay-at-home orders. Anaba Wines in Sonoma canceled tastings this week, while nearby Bedrock Wine Co. closed around Thanksgiving.
I visited three wineries in Healdsburg last Friday, the day after Newsom announced his new shutdown plan but before the Bay Area’s rules went into place, and take it from me: There is something a little bit eerie about going wine tasting right now. At each tasting room, my party was the only one present — though in the case of two of them, another party was arriving just as we were leaving. Then again, weekdays are often slow at wineries, COVID-19 notwithstanding, and one winery employee told me that despite being mostly empty on Friday, they had over 70 guests on the books for Saturday.
If you live in any of five Bay Area counties currently on lockdown, officials are recommending that you not leave your house for reasons other than picking up groceries or other essential services, like going to the doctor.
Still, I have to believe that wine tasting, frivolous as it may be, is generally one of the safer activities available right now. Most wineries have ample outdoor areas, giving each party lots of personal space. Every winery operates its tastings a little bit differently, but I’ve found that in many cases there seem to be fewer close interactions between employees and customers than there would be at an average restaurant, which would make it less risky both for visitors and the more vulnerable winery staff. Experts are divided on whether outdoor dining spreads the virus as it is, saying the risk depends on individual scenarios; there has also been no evidence that winery tasting rooms have been responsible for any coronavirus spread.
And the temptation to get out of the house, to see a bit of nature, may feel harder to resist now than ever. Early winter is one of the best times of year to visit Wine Country. It’s beautiful right now. The vines, entering their dormant period, are turning all kinds of red and orange and yellow — the vibrant kaleidoscope of foliage that we rarely get to see in other parts of the evergreen Bay Area.
Anyway, Sterling pointed out that by the time a new lockdown order comes into effect, it might coincide with the winter rainy season, making outdoor wine tastings significantly less enjoyable.
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
