Sonoma County
Sonoma County may be one of the top wine regions in the world, but the multifaceted destination offers much more than premium viticulture, including towering redwood forests, sprawling agricultural lands that retain their individuality and a rugged coast that stuns visitors with its sheer dramatic beauty.
Indeed, Sonoma County expands the boundaries of what’s possible as a meetings destination due to its amazing topography, varied microclimates and an atmosphere that’s decidedly down to Earth.
“Sonoma County is a geodiverse destination, meaning that there’s more than Wine Country,” said Jonny Westom, vice president, business development for Sonoma County Tourism. “While we have 425 wineries throughout the million square acres that make Sonoma County—larger than the state of Rhode Island—people who are attending [business events] can meet in different areas that still are complemented by the Mediterranean climate but are uniquely different in the sense that they are nestled away in the redwoods. Or, the Bodega Bay Lodge has been voted by Conde Nast readers two years in a row as the Reader’s Choice Award No. 1 hotel in the world, and that’s on the Pacific Coast, right? And yet it’s still part of Wine Country.”
[More California Meetings Content: MeetingsToday.com/California]
Any Californian will tell you that Sonoma County is the place for some of the best small-farm—and wild—food in the nation, if not the world. Think Sonoma County lamb, foraged wild mushrooms, fresh Dungeness crab and scallops caught off the coast, and craft creameries producing myriad varieties of mouth-watering cheeses.
“It’s unfortunate that people from around the world are now using ‘fork-to-table’ or ‘farm-to-table,’ because your farm might be two states away and yet you’re still putting it on your table,” Westom laughed. “Here, you’re actually pulling the produce out of the soil and eating it that evening in the same place that it was grown.”
Westom said there’s also a certain “approachability” about Sonoma County that lends itself to the laid-back California lifestyle.
“At the wineries, you’ll meet people who are ingrained in the winery, maybe a winemaker, a wine owner,” he offered. “And at the restaurants, you’re likely to meet the proprietor and the chef.”
Because of its sheer size, Westom said Sonoma County is also agreeable on the affordability side because of the diversity of its accommodation options.
[Related: How Groups Can Pair Wine With Fine Dining in Napa Valley and Sonoma County]
“If you go to the little town of Glen Ellen in Sonoma Valley, you’re going to find boutique properties that are suited perfectly for executive retreats, and when you step outside the doors of, let’s say, the Kenwood Inn and you’re looking at the Kunde Hillside, that sets the stage for your program at that property,” Westom offered. “But if you’re looking at getting a little bit more out in nature, you might choose a property like the Farmhouse Inn or The Stavrand, which is in the Russian River Valley outside of Guerneville and has redwood trees on the property with fairytale rings, which really inspires a totally different type of thinking than you see when you look at a hillside full of vineyards, right? There’s different dynamics in different parts of the of the county, and there’s 19 American Viticultural Areas here.”
[Related: More Wine Country Meetings Content]
Sonoma County’s diverse geography lends itself to all kinds of outdoor activity options, such as kayaking and biking, or hiking and/or ziplining through its many redwood groves, such as Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Westom also stressed that despite assumptions due to its wine-industry prowess, the destination is price-friendly for SMERF groups as well, aside from its regular high-end corporate groups such as financial, technology and insurance meetings.
A notable offsite venue is Santa Rosa’s Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, as the late creator of the iconic Peanuts comic strip called Sonoma County home. Another longtime favorite is Safari West, also in Santa Rosa, where groups can partake in “game drives” to see exotic fauna such as Cape buffalo, giraffes, rhinoceros, gazelles, lemurs and even cheetahs.
Relatively new on the accommodations scene is the Vinarosa Hotel, which was basically gutted and fully renovated and then rebranded from Vintners Resort about a year and a half ago.
[Related: 3 Sonoma County Wineries Your Groups Will Love]
Napa Valley
The Napa Valley has become synonymous with what many consider to be the best wine in the world, but its appeal lingers longer than a wine tasting thanks to multifaceted meeting and event options that drink in California’s bucolic bounty, one unrushed sip at a time.
“One of the main reasons planners are sourcing Napa Valley is they know when they get here it’s almost a retreat-like setting,” said Becky Barrango, director, business development and sales for Visit Napa Valley. “It’s very relaxing, and that’s really what the bulk of the leads in the RFPs that are sent our way are for—corporate retreats, social retreats, incentives where they can really come together and concentrate on being together without any kind of outside noise. They want to be able to be outside. They want to be able to be in a unique venue like a barrel room or a winery boardroom or a cave. That’s what they’re looking for and that’s what we can offer.”
Napa Valley’s wine industry is always crushing it, so to speak, so most groups want to incorporate elements of it in their programs, from custom wine-blending classes in which groups can produce their own labeled bottles; teambuilding programs such as tastings or grape stomping (when in season); an afternoon wine education class with a winemaker; or group dinners in a tranquil vineyard.
Barrango said Napa Valley is also focused on promoting the wellness aspects of the region.
“The Napa Valley was originally a wellness destination before it was really a wine tourism destination, and those are a lot of the requests that we’re getting now,” she said, adding that popular wellness components include sound baths and yoga sessions in vineyards.
[Related: Napa and Sonoma Wine Country Is Broadening Its Appeal for Groups]
Hot-air balloon rides above the valley and following the dedicated Vine Trail through it are also popular group activity options, along with indulging in some of the finest dining experiences in the country, such as CIA at Copia (The Culinary Institute of America at Copia) or CIA at Greystone. Some of the top restaurants are even available for group cooking classes, with CIA at Greystone primed for educational sessions in its wine tasting room and other locations.
While Napa Valley doesn’t have a convention center, some of its resorts can handle larger groups, such as the 456-room Meritage Resort & Spa or the 350-room Silverado Resort. Both have traditional ballrooms, boardrooms and breakout space, with the Meritage boasting a large lawn area and a “village” with tasting rooms—its own wine cave, in fact—that can be curated as meeting areas.
Silverado, which is currently undergoing a renovation, also offers two championship golf courses, one of which hosts a PGA Tour event each year.
Barrango said Napa Valley’s sweet spot is meetings between 50 and 100, and it has approximately 30 meetings-friendly group hotels. Smaller, boutique properties of five to 20 rooms are popular buyout options for corporate retreats or small incentive groups.
Napa Valley is also known as a luxury meetings destination at top resorts such as Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley, Meadowood Napa Valley and Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection, which joins two other Auberge Collection properties in the area.
Regardless of what hotel, resort or meeting venue a planner ultimately selects, Barrango said the Valley’s hospitality community is primed to help any group find the right fit, even if that means using multiple properties. Many properties have special relationships with wineries to do offsite dinners that count toward the group’s F&B minimum at the hotel, with downtown Napa’s Westin Verasa pioneering this “share the wine” concept that has blossomed Valley-wide.
“[Something] else that is unique to Napa Valley is that our entire hospitality community works together very, very closely. They don’t compete,” Barrango said.
Connection
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This article was produced in partnership with Visit California.
