Brulee at Navarro Vineyards. Photo Credit: @brulee_usa
OK, nobody can visit four dozen dog-friendly wineries on one trip! Nevertheless, that’s how many await along the Highway 128 and Highway 101 corridors. Pick a region and let serendipity be your guide as you spend a leisurely day wine-tasting with your pup.
Beginning in south Mendocino County, the Highway 128 Wine Trail stretches a very scenic 55 miles from Cloverdale to the coast, where it meets Highway 1. Dog-friendly wineries abound as you travel its length from Yorkville to Boonville to Philo to Navarro, passing through the Yorkville Highlands and Anderson Valley wine regions:
• Laid-back is the keyword at
Navarro Vineyards, just off Highway 128 near Philo. Here water bowl and treats await, and an enclosed exercise area is available for pups not quite ready to settle down.
• Nearby
Toulouse offers just as enthusiastic a welcome, along with a warehouse-like tasting room and shaded picnic tables with sweeping views of valley vineyards.
•
Husch Vineyards, also in Philo and the oldest winery in the Anderson Valley, dating to 1968, makes 22 varieties of vino and welcomes furry visitors in the converted 19th-century pony barn that serves as a tasting room.
Turning onto Highway 101:
• You’ll reach the beginning of the Inland Mendocino Wine Trail, aka the
Hopland Wine Road. The historic town of Hopland, on the west bank of the Russian River, is your starting point as you continue to Ukiah and the Redwood and Potter valleys, where you’ll encounter small, family-owned tasting rooms where pets are considered part of the family.
•
Albertina Wine Cellars and
Terra Savia Winery & Olive Mill in Hopland and
Barra Winery and
Silversmith Vineyards in Redwood Valley are good places to put on your wine-tasting map.
Photo Credit: @brulee_usa