5 Sonoma County Distilleries You Should Know
Spirits are moving us in Sonoma County. Distilleries are popping up all over, crafting hand-blended drinkable delicacies like vodka, gin, and whiskey.
Not only can you see fine spirits being made right on site, you can sample it, to discover whether you like your vodka plain or flavored with espresso, and your gin simple or sloe.
Hanson of Sonoma, Sonoma
Hanson of Sonoma offers a variety of drinking and dining options ideal for celebrating summer in style outdoors or inside at a safe social distance. Guests have many options to choose from, including tasting of Hanson’s organic fruit-infused vodkas and American Single Malt Double Barrel Whiskey, a luxurious martini and caviar pairing, spirit and cocktail flights, and meals from local restaurant girl & the fig.
Griffo Distillery, Petaluma
Located in a business park in eastern Petaluma, Griffo mills organic, non-GMO corn for their award-winning, London-style gin, and distills it onsite in a 250-gallon Kentucky-made copper pot still named Betty. Owners Michael (he has a PhD in physics) and Jenny Griffo are dedicated to uniting craft and science to create precise, complex, and delicious spirits that represent the beauty and bounty of Sonoma County.
Offering a contemporary cocktail bar within the 6,000-square-foot distillery, the tasting room serves up hand-crafted cocktails and tastes of Griffo's gin, pre-release whiskeys, and special limited edition spirits.
Prohibition Spirits, Sonoma
The Italians may take credit for inventing limoncello, but this artisanal company, owned by Fred and Amy Groth, has perfected it, with its Limoncello di Sonoma crafted of local lemons soaked in high proof distilled grain alcohol and agave sugar.
And where else can you get Orangecello or FigCello, made of black Mission fruit blended with citrus, 14 secret botanicals, and a brandy of distilled Wine Country grapes for 30 percent alcohol? It's delightful, a bit like port, and not overly sweet with beguiling notes of anise.
The company's micro distillery also hand-crafts high quality spirits in small batches. Its hip, cool, urban tasting room on the plaza in Sonoma lets you savor the distillery's Specialty Spirits, vodkas, brandies, gins, and limoncello. Or, you can tour the distillery on the east side of the town of Sonoma on specific dates for a behind-the-scenes look at the distilling process and an intimate tasting of select handcrafted spirits.
Sonoma Brothers Distilling, Windsor
Sonoma Brothers is an artisan distillery that's the dream of Chris Matthies, a Santa Rosa firefighter, and his twin brother, Brandon, a Santa Rosa police officer. Their first batch of vodka was released in summer 2015, followed by bourbon and gin in January 2016.
Their tasting room is open by appointment only. Looking for the sippy stuff? You can find it at Sonoma County Oliver's Markets, and at restaurants like KIN in Windsor.
Spirit Works Distillery, Sebastopol
Sloe gin is a case of making something wonderful even better. It is the delicious addition of sloe (blackthorn) drupes, which are a small fruit relative of the plum, for even more botanical flavor.
Want to see the process in action? You can, in the tasting salon at this Barlow destination, where giant copper and steel stills work their magic right next to the bar.
The grain-to-glass micro-distillery handcrafts gin, sloe gin, vodka, and wheat and rye whiskeys. Husband-and-wife team Timo and Ashby Marshall use Timo's British heritage recipes along with Ashby's West Coast-born palate.
The grains are milled on-site, then mixed with flour and hot water to create mash. Yeast is added to the mash to ferment and, after a few days, distilling begins.
Finding More
Of course, this is just the start of the possibilities. Sonoma County offers more than a dozen artisan distilleries, close to a dozen cider producers, and more than two dozen craft breweries, with more of each in the works. Check our listings of Breweries, Distilleries, and Cider Houses, or follow the Sonoma County Craft Beverage Map to find even more craft beverage touring and tasting possibilities.
Written by Sonoma Insider Carey Sweet.
