These Sonoma wineries are great places for picnics

<p>A picnic with food and wine in a lovely setting is the stuff people everywhere dream about — perhaps even more so when those lovely settings are in your own backyard.</p><p>More and more Sonoma wineries are making it easier than ever by providing the picnic — or at least the makings thereof — for you. So why not enjoy a meal outdoors?</p><p>Here are a few places where the food and the ambience are particularly elevated, starting with the very brand new Medlock Ames in Alexander Valley.</p><p>Medlock Ames</p><p><MC>After several years of planning and rebuilding, the new Medlock Ames tasting room in Alexander Valley is finally a reality, at the site of the former Alexander Valley Store and Bar. While the tasting space is sublimely open and inviting, and the bar completely redone and moved to the back of the building space, the highlight is the garden, an amazing spot for picnics. Supplies can be had in the tasting room and on-site Medlock Ames' farm stand.</p><p>Located in the heart of Alexander Valley, the big, open garden looks out on vineyards and is designed in a grid-like pattern, with galvanized raised beds growing seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs.</p><p>The beds are divided into a cocktail garden, where Kaffir limes, lemons, kumquats, mint, basil, lemon verbena, edible flowers, cucumbers, rosemary, pomegranate, pineapple guava and rhubarb will grow and be used in the bar; and the tasting room garden, with tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, sweet nardello peppers, melons, alpine strawberries, fig, basil, fava, thyme, oregano, dill, parsley, sage and currants will grow and be sold from the tasting room's farm stand.</p><p>Most invitingly, in the middle of the garden is a communal 10-foot farm-style table with a long trough through its middle (something Medlock Ames general manager Kenny Rochford had spied at a winery in New Zealand), which can be filled with ice and used to keep white wines — and did someone say oysters? — cold. </p><p>The table area is shaded by 30-year-old olive trees, which are strung up with lights and shade canopies, and it also has a fire pit area for when it gets cold. The perimeter of the garden is fenced using repurposed, rustic redwood.</p><p><BL@199,12,11,10>6487 Highway 128, Healdsburg, 431-8845, www.medlockames.com.</p><p>Chateau St. Jean</p><p><MC>Enviably situated below gorgeous Sugarloaf Ridge and Bald Mountain, Chateau St. Jean shouts “picnic stop” from Highway 12. Its long driveway through the vineyards leads up to an outdoor paradise, with gardens, shaded picnic areas and a bocce court. Inside the tasting room is a sizeable deli with panini, cheeses, salami, baguettes, pasta and bean salads, as well as fresh fruit and desserts. Also available are wines by the glass — start with the fume blanc if you can. The charcuterie and picnic areas are open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with complimentary half-hour tours of the gardens daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. For groups of 10 or more, Chateau St. Jean will put together picnic box lunches with wines, plus a private reserve tasting and tour of the gardens for $50 per person.</p><p><BL@199,12,11,10>8555 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, 833-4134, www.chateaustjean.com.</p><p>Lynmar Estate</p><p><MC>Lynmar's chef Sandra Simile will prepare a picnic pairing at the Russian River Valley winery, an honorable producer of chardonnay and pinot noir that has beautiful vegetable, fruit and herb gardens of its own. Sit outside on the patio overlooking the winery's Quail Hill Vineyard and begin the experience with a glass of chardonnay and white truffle popcorn. That's followed by a fresh garden-sourced green salad, glass of pinot noir and a choice of sandwiches (grilled garden vegetables, roasted meat or fowl of the day). The picnic pairing is available daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and costs $35 per person. Check out the website for seasonal menu changes and current offerings. Reservations are recommended.</p><p><BL@199,12,11,10>3909 Frei Road, Sebastopol, 829-3374, www.lynmar.com.</p><p>Seghesio Family Vineyards</p><p><MC>Seghesio maintains wonderful picnic grounds — known as The Grove — and bocce courts right outside its tasting room in Healdsburg, and it draws from its Italian heritage for food and wine pairings. Many of the recipes are drawn in fact from the family's own kitchens. Friday, Saturday and Sunday guests are invited to sit around one of the winery's Family Tables for seasonal bites and a selection of wines. The Arneis, a crisp white native to the Piedmonte region of Italy, is not to be missed. Seatings begin at 10 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 per person. It's a good idea to reserve in advance.</p><p><BL@199,12,11,10>14730 Grove St., Healdsburg, 433-7764 or (866) 734-4374, www.seghesio.com.</p><p>Kendall-Jackson Wine Center</p><p>The Wine Center, just off Highway 101 in Santa Rosa, is an oasis, with extensive gardens that include an area devoted to growing the things often detected and tasted in wine — like thyme, cassis and even tobacco. But more importantly, the gardens are the playground of winery executive chef Justin Wangler and his team, who source from it for the center's impressive food and wine pairings, which in good weather may be enjoyed outside. Sample bites include grilled fava pods with Meyer lemon and estate olive oil paired with sauvignon blanc; further down the pairing menu you'll find such things as a buckwheat crepe with smoked ham hocks and Bellwether Farms Carmody cheese, perfect with pinot noir. Menus change; check the website for what's current. The center also operates a farm stand, where lovely things grown from the garden may be bought, on the first Saturday of every month from May through October. The food and wine pairing is $25 per person and available from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pairings of wine with a menu of cheeses or menu of desserts are also an option.</p><p><BL@199,12,11,10>5007 Fulton Road, Fulton, 571-8100, www.kj.com.</p><p>Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com or visit wineabout.blogs.winetravel.com.</p>