Miner's Leap Winery - Photo Credit: @russ_hooper
The San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta is a boater’s paradise that in places feels like anther world. But you don’t need a boat to explore this rich agricultural region marked with old-time lift bridges, small towns and miles of levees that in the mid-1800s transformed a once trackless wetland into 55 agricultural islands that still produce food for Northern California (pears and wine grapes are the main crops). Numerous winery tasting rooms have cropped up over the past decade on both sides of the river, all of them dog-friendly.
Newest on the scene is Heringer Estates’ new tasting room in a purpose-built barn set among vineyards just outside the town of Clarksburg. Walk-in visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and live music is featured every third Thursday evening during Delta Nights events.
Also near Clarksburg, Julietta Winery is delightfully isolated and very friendly, while Miner’s Leap, not far south of the picturesque Freeport Bridge, is beautifully landscaped and very dog-friendly; check calendar for regular music events. The biggest venue on this side of the river is the Old Sugar Mill, a repurposed sugar beet-processing factory that now houses 14 dog-friendly tasting rooms.
Across the river on Highway 160 (aka the River Road), Scribner Bend stands out not just for its wines and delightful dog-friendly patio seating, but for the food purveyed by Paesano’s, an onsite vendor with a wood-fired pizza oven and interesting salad menu. Live music is scheduled weekend afternoons through October on the dog-friendly patio.
A regional bonus for fall visitors: Sacramento Delta Grown farms and wineries invite visitors to enjoy fresh produce, wines and kid-centric activities at generational family farms on both sides of the river between Sacramento and Isleton. You’re sure to come home with great memories and a pumpkin or three!