Last week we received an email asking for suggestions for kid-friendly wineries in the Napa Valley. I recommended that they consult the Napa Vintners Association Website. There one can search through the database of all 400 Napa Valley wineries and select wineries by interest, including the criteria of “Family Friendly.”
I decided to take a look myself and see which wineries classify themselves as Family Friendly. Seventy five wineries showed up on my sorted list. I am not sure what makes them Family Friendly. Do they have a play area for kids, game room, or just what to keep kids busy while mom and dad taste wine? I read through the descriptions of a few of the 75 wineries and none mentioned what they have to offer for families.
We did plenty of wine tasting with our three boys as they were growing up and never do I recall finding any wineries that were truly happy to see kids. In fact, not too long ago when traveling with our son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters to a winery in Sonoma, my son was asked to make sure that “the children did not run around the picnic area making life unhappy for other guests.”
We would be interested in hearing from readers about which wineries in the Napa Valley or elsewhere are Family Friendly and why.