Wineries’ new edict: Leave kids at home
Some feel children interfere with high-end tasting experiences
For her first post-pandemic birthday celebration, Betsy Cooper booked a Napa wine tasting weeks in advance. When the winery called to confirm, Cooper mentioned her 4-month-old baby would be joining. Then the winery promptly canceled.
“They said, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t allow kids,’ ” she recounted.
Cooper was surprised:
She had completed a “thorough scouring” of the winery’s website for any language that might prohibit her newborn. Minutes after the phone call, Cooper said she refreshed the winery’s website. Suddenly, a 21-andup policy appeared on the page.
While Wine Country has never been overtly family-friendly, more wineries are starting to ban anyone under the legal drinking age. The trend is consistent with a move toward more high-end experiences, but it also conflicts with many modern parents’ desires to integrate their children into their lives versus leaving them at home.
The Chronicle reviewed 30 websites of Napa Valley’s most popular, widely visited wineries and found 21-and-up policies displayed on 18; in Sonoma County, 13 out of 30 websites for similarly trafficked wineries stated an adults-only policy.
Roughly a dozen Bay Area residents told The Chronicle they have had issues bringing their children to wineries. Some were turned away in recent months for bringing a baby or child even when they had checked the website for such a policy prior to arriving. Others said they canceled their wine club membership due to a no-kids policy or reported receiving dirty looks from other guests or staff members when their children were present. One person called an attempted outing “a disaster.”
There are still kid-friendly wineries in Napa and Sonoma, and many locals also told The Chronicle about positive experiences wine tasting with their children. Larson Family Winery, for instance, has hosted a Santa weekend for the past 15 years; Truett Hurst lets children feed their goats. But during the
pandemic, these all-ages wineries became even more rare. Since children weren’t eligible for vaccinations until late last year — and vaccines for those under 5 were not available until this summer — businesses considered them a liability.
Wineries “never wanted kids in the first place. They tolerated them,” said Ralph de Amicis, owner of a Wine Country tour company. The pandemic “gave them a perfect reason to say, ‘Sorry, we can’t let the kids in.’ They don’t want a child interfering with their sales pitch.”
While these 21-and-up policies may have begun as a pandemic safety measure, wineries are keeping them amid staffing shortages and the industrywide move to a by-appointment tasting model. Both limit the number of guests wineries can see each day; ideally, those guests are potential buyers.
John Stallcup, a driver for the Wine Country car service Designated Drivers, said he believes there’s also a correlation between the rise in no-kids policies and the increase in tasting fees and higher-end experiences. “It’s not a liability as much as an annoyance,” he said. “They want the high-net-worth people to feel no distractions.”
Many Wine Country visitors simply don’t want children around while they’re wine tasting. When Napa’s Cuvaison winery, located in the Carneros region, implemented its 21-andup policy a few months before the pandemic, estate director Brendan Finley said it was a direct response to guest complaints.
“Some people felt they were trying to have a wine experience, and with children, they said they ‘can’t enjoy the moment,’ ” said Finley. “They were there for the educational experience.”
Calistoga resident Jaime Dooley, who works in the beer industry, noted that the approach to families at wineries is the opposite of taprooms, which tend to have a more casual vibe. But he can also understand why.
“With wine, there’s a certain pride. They’ve put all of this work into the finished product and want people to experience it in a meticulous setup,” he said.
“Children are unpredictable and you’re really opening yourselves up to someone coming in and disturbing this experience that you’ve curated.”
Yet when Dooley’s friends and longtime wine tasting partners had a baby in 2020, they didn’t think much would have to change on their Wine Country excursions. Instead, he said, he’s noticed that wineries seem “more vocal” about prohibiting children lately.
“We were surprised at the number of wineries that said no,” he said. “That really threw a wrench in our plans. Before we’d just make a reservation, but now we have to do research.”
Not all parents relish the idea of wrangling a toddler at a winery. De Amicis said that he used to get about six tour inquiries that involved children each year but has received only one in 2022. None of the wineries that one client wanted to visit this year allow children. “You’re paying so much, you don’t want the kids interfering,” he said. “Instead of tasting, you’re chasing them.”
But factors like child care costs and breastfeeding come into play for others. “We would find it sad to have to choose between wine tasting or spending time with our child,” said Cooper, who tried to book a tasting with her newborn for her birthday. “The cost means that we could do far fewer wine tastings if we needed child care each time we went.”
Finley said he’s noticed a generational trend of parents traveling with their children and seeking to preserve their prekids lifestyle, calling it “the new norm.” Since the pandemic, Cuvaison has experienced a significant rise in requests for including children — and an increase in people showing up with kids in tow. So the winery found a compromise: monthly family days. On the first Sunday of each month, April through October, Cuvaison allows children and even supplies juices and snacks. “About 30% of business is families coming in,” Finley said of past family days.
He’s contemplating creating even more family flexibility in the future and could see other wineries revisiting the issue as well if parents continue to ask for options.
In the meantime, Dooley and his friends continue to seek out pockets of Wine Country like Sonoma Valley, Calistoga and Healdsburg, where he said they’ve found a higher proportion of kid-friendly wineries.
“It’s a good opportunity for those wineries who are familyfriendly to step in, embrace it and see how we can change the winery experience,” Dooley said. “I think it’s time to bring a more relaxed atmosphere, a little more like a taproom.”