Gloria Ferrer Winery

A short drive on Highway 121 from Sonoma brings you to the Gloria Ferrer Winery (23555 Hwy 121, Sonoma, CA 95476). The Ferrer family, who brought expertise in making Spanish sparkling and table wines, hails from Catalonia, Spain and, consequently, the winery resembles a small Catalonian village. A wide road sweeps up to the winery through the vineyards. Tours begin at 11 am but vary, so call ahead. They start from the spacious tasting room whose windows look out over the vineyards and valley. Most of the narrative is given in a room decorated with winemaking instruments from the Ferrers’ winery in Spain. The riddling of the bottles to capture the sediment is explained, and then you go to the observation room to see the process of freezing then disgorging the sediment, corking, cleaning, and labeling the bottles of sparkling wine. The tour then descends into a maze of interconnected wine-storage tunnels. It is awesome to stand next to towering heights of stacked bottles. The tour concludes back in the tasting room. Wine tasting is $4 to $10 per glass. 707-933-1917, www.gloriaferrer.com.