What to Wear While Wine Tasting in Sonoma
You’ve put together your itinerary, made tasting appointments, and arranged transportation for your next Sonoma experience.
Now you’re free to focus on other details — like what to wear while wine tasting.
Seasoned wine tourists know that great wine-tasting outfits aren’t all about looking amazing. You need to be comfortable too, especially if you’re doing outdoor tastings or touring vineyards.
What to Wear While Wine Tasting in Sonoma
Roche Winery is, well, a winery, not a fashion house. We can’t tell you exactly what to wear in our tasting room, or in any other Sonoma winery tasting room for that matter.
But we do want you to be prepared for your experience. Here’s what you should know about what to wear while wine tasting in Sonoma.
Do Sonoma Wineries Have Dress Codes?
Whether they take reservations or not, Sonoma wineries don’t enforce formal dress codes. You won’t be refused service because you’re not wearing a jacket or blouse or slacks or whatever the case may be.
Sonoma wineries do tend to have some general expectations about guests’ dress choices, however. Perhaps a better way to say it is that many guests have certain expectations about how their fellow guests will dress.
The best way to describe this expectation is “casual elegance.” Many guests prefer to wear clothing they feel good in and wouldn’t feel out of place wearing in a nice restaurant. The ideal wine-tasting outfit probably isn’t the same outfit you’d wear to the dog park or yoga studio. After all, while the focus should always be on the wines, there is an element of people-watching to the wine-tasting experience.
That said, guest dress can and does vary by setting. For example, at Roche Winery’s downtown Sonoma tasting room, early evenings bring guests in smart evening attire enjoying a glass of wine before dinner at one of our town’s fine restaurants. It’s a different look than what you might see at one of the more family-friendly rural Sonoma wineries early in the afternoon, where shorts and T-shirts aren’t unknown.
Indoor vs. Outdoor Apparel in Sonoma
Before you reach for your go-to evening party outfit, consider what your Sonoma wine-tasting experience will entail. Or what options you’d like to leave open for yourself.
If you expect to spend any significant amount of time outside (or want to preserve that option), choose apparel to match. Trade in the high heels for comfortable flats or even walking shoes that you don’t mind taking off-road. Bring an extra layer or two for the weather (more on that below). Wear a practical hat for sun protection.
Plan for the Weather
Sonoma County’s reputation for mild, sunny weather is accurate up to a point. That point is early November, give or take, after which a rainier, cooler pattern sets in and persists into March and April. Conversely, our long-ish summers — roughly June through September — bring their fair share of uncomfortably hot (though low-humidity) days.
Bottom line: The elements could impact your tasting experience, especially if hope for an outdoor tasting.
At Roche Winery, we close our outdoor tasting area if the forecast calls for sustained rain, unseasonable chill, or excessive heat. Most Sonoma County wineries have similar policies. But we do try to offer the experience whenever reasonable, even on less-than-perfect weather days.
All that being said, our recommended winter wine-tasting packing list includes:
An umbrella — for dashing into and out of the indoor tasting room from your car, if nothing else
A sturdy, long-sleeved top
A second layer, such as a light jacket
Long, comfortable pants
Closed-toed, water-resistant shoes
And for summer:
Breathable, lightweight clothing
A wide-brimmed hat (if you plan to spend time outdoors)
Sunglasses
Sunscreen or SPF moisturizer
Light, comfortable footwear
More Wine-Tasting Apparel and Accessory Tips
We welcome thousands of guests to our two tasting rooms each year. Naturally, we’ve learned a thing or two about apparel and accessory choices that work well for wine-tasting excursions — and about choices that are better avoided.
Courtesy of Roche Winery’s staff, here are some more insights about what you should and shouldn’t wear while wine tasting in Sonoma.
1. Think Twice About High Heels
High heels are tempting when you’re in a “casual elegance” mindset, but we’d gently caution against them. At least, against out-and-out stilettos.
This isn’t because they’re too fancy or party-forward, but because they’re more difficult to walk in than flats or chunk heels. Many Sonoma wineries, including Roche, offer guided vineyard and production facility tours, and others have spacious unpaved outdoor grounds that guests can explore on their own. In either case, you don’t want to be the odd person out in your group.
2. Choose a Strapped Purse or Bag Over a Clutch
Wine tasting is a hands-on activity, and while wineries generally provide ample surface space for drinks, you might not always have a great place to store your strapless bag or clutch. On a tour, you’ll definitely have a “too many hands” problem. So choose a practical number that won’t get in the way.
3. Avoid Strong Scents
Strong-smelling perfumes interfere with olfaction (smell) and can negatively affect the wine-tasting experience, not just for you but for everyone there. That’s why we recommend skipping the perfume altogether.
4. Opt for a Smudgeless Lip Stain Over Lipstick or Balm
We of course wash every tasting glass after every use, so this isn’t for our benefit (or the next guest’s). It’s for yours: A smudge-prone lipstick or lip balm can mix with the wine you’re tasting and muddle the tasting experience. It can also get messy, putting you in a position where you’re excusing yourself to reapply in the restroom between tastings.
5. Be Careful If You Choose to Wear White
No guide to wine-tasting apparel would be complete without addressing the elephant in the room: white clothing.
At Roche Winery, we have a “white at your own risk” policy. We know our guests are capable, careful adults, but we’ve seen far too many accidents to pretend that’s a guaranteed defense against spillage. If you’re a better-safe-than-sorry type, consider wearing darker tones for your next Sonoma wine-tasting experience. Some people even go so far as to wear dark red or burgundy colored tops - just in case.