Below we outline a game plan for a one-day Lake County Winery Tour. We fit in just about the maximum for how many wineries you can feasibly fit in one day due to their short hours of operation. If you do this, make sure you have a designated driver or set up a limo to take you around for the day because this includes a lot of wine!
After our multiple weekends of adventure throughout California before it turned to winter, we needed another respite from the action. This came in the form of relaxing on a Friday night for once, and then spending a Saturday with our co-worker friends, Bo, Alexa, Liz, and Corwin, bopping around to the nearby wineries and experiencing a taste of what northern California had to offer.
Wildhurst
Our first stop of the day led us to the downtown area of Kelseyville. Wildhurst is located in a small boutique-like brick building, with plenty of knick-knacks to peruse and purchase if desired. The tasting bar is one medium length high top. It was a great spot to start off at as we were the only ones drinking this early and had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions. This spot has a good variety of reds and whites to taste. Their vineyards are not located on site.
Boatique
Our second stop really got the day going, as we went on to our second round of tastings and were able to view the winery’s vintage collection of cars and wooden boats located in their large barn-like showroom. The unique aspect of Boatique is they always have multiple cars and boats out for their customers to check out while sipping on their wines. Go out onto their porch from the showroom and you are greeted with one of the better views in Lake County, looking over Clear Lake and Mount Konocti, complete with a large water fountain below the porch. Boatique has a good variety of wine, with slightly more focus on red.
Laujor
Basically, located across the road from Boatique, this smaller winery that started with a couple hosting customers and selling wine out of their home, has the feel like it is going to explode in popularity soon. Currently, they have a small hosting area separate from their home, with most seating being outdoors on their patio. They probably have an even better view of the lake and Mount Konocti than Boatique, and their feel is simply more “warm and fuzzy.” We have gotten to meet the owners and they are both wonderful people who are down to earth. Their patio has gas-powered fire pits and seemingly endless amounts of warm blankets available when it starts to get cold. On top of this, they are in the process of building a storage cave and expanding the patio to provide more food options and put up more drinking games for people to play. Oh, and they have the best wine in Lake County in our opinion. Megan’s favorite red wine is their Syrah Noir which pairs very well with chili and cornbread. Another cool feature about Laujor is they have a room over their tasting room that you can rent for the night, weekend, etc. It’s nice because they only have one room, so you have plenty of privacy and you’ll have a spectacular view of vineyards, mountains, and the big lake to wake up to!
Thorn Hill
A little way down the road back toward Lower Lake sits a spectacular looking house at the base of a hill with vineyards completely surrounding the nearby landscape. When you enter the building at Thorn Hill, it has a huge wooden table and very ornate chandeliers that fill the main room and then across the back is the tasting bar. This winery has a decent variety of whites and reds, but overall, they were not our top choices. If you are looking for an awesome spot to stay while in Lake County, they have two rooms, one on each side of the main space, available to rent.
Gregory Graham
Approximately only two miles further down the road is this meek-looking reddish building that we had been told was known for their great white wines. We were not disappointed at all. Gregory Graham was finally a place where the white wine rivaled the red wine. While they easily had the smallest area for people to sit and taste their wines (maybe 2-3 spots), the bartenders were very informative, honest, and answered any question that came up.
Fultz Family
As our day was coming to an end, we found ourselves at the Fultz Family winery located just south of Lower Lake that had another good vibe. Their tasting room sits on top of a small hill overlooking a small pond with a large outdoor patio area to relax. Off to the right-hand side you will find the owners also put in a par 3 golf hole you can play, complete with multiple irons (even left-handed!) and golf balls. As we were one of the last customers, our party had this experience all to ourselves. There was a good variety of white and red wine here as well.
All in all, a fantastic day. And just a few things to keep in mind- while Lake County is known for producing great Sauvignon Blanc, this is northern California, so expect to be tasting more heavy, big red wine; the wineries here, and really everywhere, have relatively short operating hours, usually between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.; do not expect a ton of people at these wineries as they are not known to the public like the Napa Valley, but this makes each tasting well under $10 (sometimes free) and they all will waive your tasting fee if you buy just one bottle. Be sure to ask questions because these people are passionate about their wine and love to share!