Hamel Wine Tasting Experience

I love trying new wineries in Sonoma County, so we decided to book a tasting experience at Hamel Family Wines. We had actually heard about the winery through my parents who attended the Lighting of the Vines event at Hamel. They said we should check it out sometime, so we did!

Hamel does require reservations, so make sure to call ahead and get your experience booked. We decided to book the Estate Experience, which is their most basic tasting option.

When we pulled up, we were immediately greeted by our host outside. I was already impressed with the hospitality and service from the second we walked in! After a brief overview of the winery, we were taken a tour where we got to learn even more about Hamel. The property itself is gorgeous and has a stunning view of vineyards in Sonoma.

Hamel also has tons of patio space, so I can imagine it gets busy out there on a nice day! The tour covered a lot of ground, and I felt like we saw just about everything. There are several beautiful tasting rooms and libraries inside of the winery. They even host some of the experiences in these rooms depending on which tasting you book.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was when we got to see the caves and all of the oak barrels. I have been in a lot of wine caves, but this one was stunning. They even had a tasting room inside of the cave! I was impressed at how well organized everything was, even though there are thousands of barrels inside.

Our host did a great job of explaining everything on the tour, so I was really impressed with that part of the experience. Once we left the caves, we went back into the main building for our tasting. We were seated right in front of large windows overlooking the vineyards of Sonoma County. Not only are the views amazing outside, but our inside view was to die for! Hamel did such a good job constructing this space, and I love how they kept it so open.

Our tasting experience included four different wines. We started off with a Sauvignon Blanc and then moved into the reds. For the red wines, we tasted a Zinfandel, their signature red blend called the Isthmus, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. My favorite wine during the experience was the Isthmus and we actually took a bottle home with us!

Another amazing thing about the tasting experience at Hamel is that you get served fresh ricotta cheese and homemade sea salt crackers. On the day we visited, they were offering a truffle supplement for only a few dollars more. Of course, we added the shaved truffles on top because why wouldn’t you?! The ricotta so was delicious and it as a great addition to the wine pairing.

Our host did a great job of explaining each wine and letting us enjoy our time. I definitely did not feel rushed during the experience and it was super relaxing to just sit there and soak in the views. I probably could have sat there all day if they kept pouring the wine!

Overall, we had a great experience at Hamel, and I would definitely recommend checking this place out the next time you are in Sonoma. The hospitality was wonderful and our host was extremely knowledge about the wine and the winery itself. It was such a relaxing tasting experience and so much better than standing at a tasting counter. Also, the winery is very close to downtown Sonoma (near the Sonoma Square), so you could definitely hit up several other tasting rooms and make a day of it!

Have y’all ever been to Hamel Winery? If so, what was your favorite part of the experience? I’ve got to say, that ricotta cheese with the Isthmus Red Blend was pretty dang good!