What to bring to a winery picnic

Bring the food, a blanket, plates and napkins, plenty of water and a bag for your trash, and leave the wine at home: the wineries that welcome picnics expect you to buy theirs. If the day ends in a park, pack unbreakable cups, because glass is banned at 33 of the 106 Napa and Sonoma parks we list. The easiest food plan is a boxed lunch from a deli on the way, ordered a day or two ahead.

The winery picnic packing list

What to leave at home

• Outside wine or beer. None of the 133 wineries with a picnic option in these listings says you can bring outside alcohol, and some, like Matanzas Creek, ban it anywhere on the property. Buy the wine where you picnic.
• Glass, if you're headed to a park. Glass is banned at 33 parks, including Lake Berryessa's Oak Shores and Smittle Creek day-use areas and Shaw Park in Kenwood. Decant into a carafe, or pick up cans or boxed wine.
• A speaker. Many parks ban amplified music or require a permit for it, and Santa Rosa's community parks count personal Bluetooth speakers. At a winery, use headphones or leave it off.
• Decorations and a styled setup, unless the venue agrees. At Paradise Ridge, for example, picnics are the styled, booked kind through its partner picnic company. Ask before you bring balloons, banners or a full tablescape.
• Umbrellas and canopies at Johnson's Beach. Johnson's Beach on the Russian River allows only its own rental shade, and it bans glass and outside alcohol too.
• The dog, sometimes. Sonoma Plaza doesn't allow dogs, even leashed, and Iron Horse allows no pets. Depot Park, about a quarter mile north of the Plaza, takes leashed dogs.

The parks' alcohol rules are all in one table in can you drink wine in Napa and Sonoma parks.

Six easy picnic menus, and where to buy them

Build the picnic around one good shop near your first stop. Prices and notice periods are as posted in September 2026.

1. Napa: a charcuterie spread from the Oxbow

Fatted Calf, inside Napa's Oxbow Public Market, cures its own salumi and makes pâtés, rillettes and a signature porchetta sandwich. Add cheese from its counter and bread from The Model Bakery's stall in the same market. Sandwiches are $16, and boxed lunches ($22.50–$28.50) need two days' notice. City of Napa parks don't allow alcohol without a permit, so take it to a winery that welcomes your food, such as Laird Family Estate, about 5 miles away (book a tasting).

2. Mid-valley: the Oakville Grocery boxed lunch

Oakville Grocery, a Napa Valley stop since 1881, sells sandwiches, wood-fired pizza and cheeses. Its boxed lunches ($30, or $35 vegan or gluten-free), including a fried-chicken Picnic Box Lunch, can be ordered ahead by email or phone. Napa Cellars, about a mile south on Highway 29, welcomes your food with an outdoor tasting.

3. Calistoga: barbecue for a state-park table

Buster's Original Southern BBQ has sold Louisiana-style barbecue in Calistoga for more than 25 years. Get tri-tip, ribs or brisket as sandwiches ($16.35–$19.35) or by the rack, with sides by the pint or quart. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, about 3 miles south, has picnic tables and allows wine unless a ban is posted.

4. Sonoma Valley: cheese on the Plaza

The Sonoma Cheese Factory, across the street from Sonoma Plaza, packs cheese and charcuterie to go ($18 for one serving, $36 for two, $72 for four) and sells BBQ sandwiches. Pick up a baguette at Basque Boulangerie Café and eat on the Plaza, where wine is allowed from 11:30 a.m. to sunset. For a boxed lunch instead, Sonoma Market sells them for $20–$22 if you order online 48 hours ahead.

5. Healdsburg and Dry Creek: the general-store box lunch

Dry Creek General Store is the classic sandwich stop for Dry Creek Valley. Its box lunch is $25 (a sandwich, chips or kale Caesar, and a cookie), and cheese and charcuterie platters run $95–$195 for 5 to 20 people, with 48 hours' notice for pre-orders. Dry Creek Vineyard is next door, and Seghesio in Healdsburg asks only that you buy a glass or a bottle.

6. Sonoma Coast: chowder and crab

Spud Point Crab Co. in Bodega Bay makes clam chowder daily ($9.95 a cup) and crab sandwiches ($17.95), with whole cooked crab from mid-November through June. Everything is take-out. Picnic at Doran Regional Park ($8 parking) or free Bodega Head, both under 2 miles away, and pack a warm layer.

More shops, town by town: Napa Valley picnic food and Sonoma County picnic food, plus our guides to where to buy picnic food in Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

What to wear to a winery picnic

Dress for two climates. The inland valleys, from Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley up to Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, warm up fast on summer afternoons, while the Sonoma Coast can stay cool, windy and foggy all day. A few practical rules:

• Flat shoes. Picnic areas are lawns, gravel paths and the occasional slope through the vines.
• Sun protection. A hat and sunglasses, plus sunscreen, since plenty of picnic tables sit in open sun.
• A layer. Evenings cool off quickly, and the coast is often chilly even in summer.
• Clothes you can sit on the ground in. Many of the best spots are blankets on a lawn, not chairs at a table.

Don't want to pack? Book a picnic

• Winery picnics with the food included. Chateau St. Jean's Estate Picnic is $70 a person with a four-wine flight, Black Stallion's Estate Picnic Lunch is $60 (bottles extra), Roche serves a vineyard picnic with full setup for $57 (wine extra), and HANNA's Picnic Under the Big Oak Tree is $75 with a five-wine flight. See every winery picnic you can book.
• A picnic brought to you. Fields Wine Country Picnic Co. delivers a picnic for two in Sonoma County from $95, and LaBella Charcuterie makes boards from $50 for two.
• A styled setup. Picnic Era in Napa sets up the décor from $250 for two (food not included), and Picnic Potential in Petaluma designs styled picnics by quote. Compare them all on picnic companies.
• A group. For a birthday, a team outing or a bachelorette, share your date and headcount and we'll suggest venues and companies.

Before you go, check that the winery allows outside food at all: see can you bring your own food to wineries, and winery picnic etiquette for the unwritten rules.