It’s still a far cry from a normal Memorial Day Weekend, but some wineries in Sonoma County are reopening with restrictions.
Iconic winery Kendall Jackson reopened its doors Sunday to
50 people who had appointments. They got the green light from the county to
operate under new health and safety guidelines. The requirements include limiting
parties to six or fewer people and employees must maintain a six-foot distance
from other employees and customers.
“We mobilized late Friday night and we were fortunate enough
to be ready to go for this and we are happy everyone’s coming back,” said Kris
Miller, manager of Kendall Jackson.
The biggest requirement, however, is that wineries must
serve food in order to have guests. For Russian River Valley wineries like
Kendall Jackson and La Crema, who regularly serve food with their pairings,
this requirement is not a problem.
“We’re doing different tours, one at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.,” said Ben Fine, a wine educator at La Crema Winery. “That way, we give our staff enough time to sanitize before and after.”
But for boutique wineries like Papapietro Perry in Dry Creek Valley, the sit-down meal requirement presents an added challenge to reopening.
Since it began producing wine in a San Francisco garage in
the 1980s, Papapietro Perry has focused on wine, never food. They also do not
have a commercial kitchen license.
The county requirement has sent them quickly searching for
new vendor partners in order to reopen the tasting room.
“Most small wineries are not restaurants and don’t have commercial kitchens,” said Renae Perry, owner of Papapietro Perry. “We don’t have the kind of health permit that allows us to cook for people, so it’s really a problem for us to work this out. I know they said we can use outside vendors, but you can’t bring a food truck when we don’t know for how many people.”
Papapietro Perry is looking to put a plan in place and
reopen by next weekend. Kendall Jackson and La Crema are open for reservations
under limited hours this Memorial Day Weekend and beyond.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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