Peay Vineyards is a Sonoma Coast destination I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and falling in LOVE with. While admiring the incredible vineyard landscape and exquisite wines, I tasted their estate Pinot Noir Wines (which are beyond fabulous and any Pinot Noir lover must be familiar with). Speaking of their great wines, Peay Vineyards was at my inaugural Pinots & Plaid 2019 in San Francisco. It’s truly a brand I adore!

En route to Peay Vineyards with Ernie the Jet-Setting puppy along for the ride.

Peay is a dog-friendly vineyard, so I was super excited that I was able to bring Ernie along for the visit.

The subtle but welcoming entrance into Peay Vineyards…

Arriving at Peay Vineyards – You feel as if you’re in the middle of the woods arriving at camp or something. Wait until you see the vineyard views approaching.

About Peay Vineyards

Best described by Peay Vineyards, an excerpt from their website: “Vanessa Wong, Nick Peay, and Andy Peay are driven by the same passion. That is a good thing since we are in business together as well as in relation. We each discovered wine at different times in our lives, but it led to the same desire: To make wine that engages all of our senses and captures the unique character of a piece of land. To realize this vision – for our palates in our Country – we felt we needed to seek cooler climates with less sunshine and longer growing seasons to grow Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Syrah than was under vine in the early 90s. We needed to head west to farm next to the chilly Pacific Ocean. We needed truly coastal frontier land.”

The rest of their fascinating story is available on their website

The team at Peay Vineyards includes the Winemaker Vanessa Wong, her husband Nick Peay (winegrower), and his brother Andy Peay (businessman). Talk about a family business! Read my interview with Winemaker Vanessa Wong here.

The stunning views in the afternoon blew me away. I was having such a great time I ended up staying over 3 hours. Why would you ever want to leave this setting, especially when paired with the delicious Peay Wines?

Wine Tasting at Peay Vineyards

After taking in the gorgeous landscapes, we got down to the important business – wine tasting! I was tasting for one, so this was the intimate setup I was greeted with.

The tasting began with their lovely Estate Chardonnay which was lovely. It had great minerality and very light bright citrus flavors as well as white flowers, lilies, and lemon aromatics. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most elegant, lovely, drinkable Chardonnays I’ve had ever had.

The Chardonnay was followed by the 2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This is the Pinot Noir you’d find on a restaurant list. It’s extremely approachable, beautiful and the best part is it’s only $45 (which is quite a deal for such a beautiful, drinkable wine) made by the talented Vanessa Wong.

Having a charcuterie board allows you to consider the wine with a range of other flavors – from salt to spices to fresh fruits, this is a fantastic way to truly explore the range that a bottle of wine offers.

Ernie had a blast playing with this guy (a member of the Peay Vineyards teams). Something about a dog-friendly Winery adds such a relaxing element to any wine tasting experience. If you love to wine taste with your pup, check out The Best Dog-Friendly Wineries in Sonoma here and the Best Dog-Friendly Wineries in Napa here.

Overall, I found my visit to Peay Vineyards splendid, getting to know their meticulously crafted wines and explore the gorgeous landscape with Ernie. I ranked them as one of Sonoma Coast’s best wineries. You can read about the others on my piece: Best California Sonoma Coast Wineries!

Peay Vineyards is truly one of my favorites that I’ve fallen in love with over the years! I hope to visit again.