Ticket price or per-person cost where known. prix = prix-fixe; the price is on the card. Cyrus Sunday Family Meal is $95 per person; tasting-menu prices exclude wine and service.
July 13 – August 12, 2026 · peak stone fruit, first tomatoes and corn, and the season's big farm fairs beginning.
The five to build a July or early-August weekend around.
Headline
Sebastopol
53rd Gravenstein Apple Fair
Aug 8–9 · Ragle Ranch Park, Sebastopol · Ticketed
Venue500 Ragle Rd, Sebastopol
DatesAug 8–9, 10am–6pm
TicketsRequired
The West County institution built around the Gravenstein — the fragile, tart-sweet heirloom apple this stretch of Sebastopol was famous for before vines took the hillsides. Cider, pie, farm animals, live music, and the fruit at the very start of its short season.
Why It Matters
The Gravenstein doesn't ship and barely keeps — you have to come to it. This is the weekend the apple opens the season, and the whole town turns out for it.
Don't Miss
Sonoma Valley
Gay Wine Weekend — 15th Anniversary
Jul 17–19 · Sonoma Valley · Ticketed
WhereSonoma Valley wineries
DatesJul 17–19
TicketsBy event
Fifteen years of Out in the Vineyard's flagship weekend — the Big Gay Wine Party, winery events, and dinners across the valley. One of the anchor summer gatherings on the Sonoma calendar.
Why It Matters
A milestone year for one of wine country's most established community weekends. Individual events sell separately and fill — book the pieces you want now.
Farm Evening
Santa Rosa
Shakespeare in the Labyrinth
Aug 1 · Bees N Blooms, Santa Rosa · $35–$45
VenueBees N Blooms, Santa Rosa
WhenAug 1, 5:30–10pm
Tickets$35–$45
An evening in the lavender fields — theater in the labyrinth on an eleven-acre flower-and-bee farm. The Lavender Bloom Fest closed July 12, so this is the reason to come back out to the property.
Why It Matters
A rare, low-key night on a working flower farm after the lavender rush ends — a quiet, grounded use of the land once the crowds have gone.
New This Year
Rohnert Park
Mich-Mosa Festival
Jul 18 · Rohnert Park · Ticketed
WhereRohnert Park
WhenJul 18, 11am–5pm
TicketsCheck site
A daytime festival built around micheladas and mimosas — the kind of casual, sun-forward summer event that fills the gap between the serious wine weekends.
Why It Matters
New on the 2026 calendar and squarely a summer-afternoon affair. Verify the ticket details on the event page before you commit.
Peak Season
Dry Creek
Dry Creek Peach — Peak Weeks
Now through Labor Day · Healdsburg · $
Stand2179 Yoakim Bridge Rd
DaysWed & Sun from noon
AlsoHealdsburg Sat · Sebastopol Sun
The last dedicated organic peach orchard in Dry Creek Valley, thirty-plus varieties, tree-ripened — Alice Waters' "last supper" peach. Volume peaks July into August, and it goes "until supplies last," so mornings are safest.
Why It Matters
This is the single most important stone-fruit stop in the county, and right now is the window. Call 707-433-8121 before driving — the stand runs on what's ripe, not a fixed schedule.
Winemaker dinners, farm-stand openings, and the seasonal restaurant tables worth booking this month.
Forestville
Farmhouse Inn Winemaker Dinners
Monthly · Forestville · Reserve
WhereFarmhouse Inn, Forestville
MondayRestaurant open
Reserve707-887-3300
Chef Julio Aguilera's monthly winemaker series, pairing a specific grower's bottles against a menu drawn from the on-site garden. Specific 2026 dates aren't posted publicly — the room books by phone and email.
Why This Window
Summer dinners land at the height of the garden's output. Email events@farmhouseinn.com or call for the July/August date before it fills — these are small and go quietly.
Geyserville
Best Value
Cyrus Sunday Family Meal
Sundays · Geyserville · $95 per person
Where29 North St, Geyserville
MondayClosed (Sun–Tue)
ReserveVia Tock
Douglas Keane's one-Michelin-star kitchen loosens up on Sundays — $95 for gochujang fried chicken, family-style, a completely different register from the multi-act tasting. Runs every Sunday through the window.
Why This Window
The most casual way into a starred kitchen in the county, and it runs all ninety days. Confirm the format is active on Tock before booking — Sunday-only.
Season Opens
Sebastopol
Walker Apples Opens
Aug 1 · Sebastopol · $
SeasonOpens Aug 1, daily 9–5
RunsThrough ~Dec 1
NotePre-picked, not u-pick
Seventy years of family apple farming, twenty-seven varieties, opening the door on August 1 with Gravensteins first out of the gate. Pre-picked only — you buy what they've pulled, you don't climb the trees.
Why This Window
Apple season officially opens here on the first — the Gravensteins that anchor the Apple Fair a week later come off these trees. Phone-verify (707-823-4310) the opening before the drive.
Santa Rosa
Summer Camp at Goatlandia
Jul 18 · Santa Rosa area · $175
WhereGoatlandia, Santa Rosa area
WhenJul 18, 9am–4pm
Tickets$175
A day on an animal-sanctuary farm — hands-on, small, and a different kind of food-country day than a tasting room. Worth knowing about if you've got someone who'd rather meet the goats than swirl a glass.
Why This Window
A single-date summer offering that won't repeat in this window. Niche, but the kind of grounded farm day the season is built for.
Sonoma
Open Monday
Valley Bar + Bottle
Sonoma · Natural wine, farm-driven · $$
HoursMon 9–3 + 5–9
MondayOpen
Walk-inOK
Small-production and organic bottles against a farm-driven kitchen, two-time Bib Gourmand, right on the plaza. In July the list runs bright and the plates run straight off the market.
Why This Window
Peak-produce plates and summer-weight wine line up best right now — and it's open Monday when the plaza goes dark. The reliable table between events.
Glen Ellen
Glen Ellen Star
Glen Ellen · Wood-fired, farm-driven · $$$
KitchenWood oven
MondayClosed
ReserveRecommended
Ari Weiswasser's original wood-fired room, produce pulled from the farm directly behind it — brick chicken and ember-roasted vegetables. A fresh Michelin Bib Gourmand from June.
Why This Window
Mid-summer is when the back-garden squash, peppers, and tomatoes go straight into the oven. Book ahead — the new Bib recognition has tightened the tables.
Bodega Bay
Open Monday
Terrapin Creek Cafe
Bodega Bay · Michelin-recognized coastal · $$$
StyleCoastal seafood
MondayOpen
ReserveRecommended
Pan-roasted scallops, charred octopus, a Mediterranean fish stew that outruns its roadside setting. Michelin-recognized, and open Mondays when the coast otherwise thins out.
Why This Window
Summer is the season for the coast drive and the seafood both. Pair it with an oyster stop on the way out — see the recurring-venues box below.
Running All 90 Days
These recur through the whole window and won't be repeated in the later sections:
Hog Island — The Boat Oyster Bar (Marshall): summer hours through Oct 31 — full-service café Fri–Mon by reservation (Resy, up to 90 days out), shuck-your-own walk-in on Thursdays. Cyrus Sunday Family Meal (Geyserville): $95, every Sunday. Farmhouse Inn Winemaker Dinners (Forestville): monthly; book by phone.
Farmers markets in full swing: Santa Rosa Downtown (Sun 11am–2:30pm, through Sep 20), Healdsburg (Sat 8:30–noon + Tue 9–1 through Sep 29), Sebastopol (Sun 9–1:30, year-round), Windsor (Sun 9–12:30 + Thursday Summer Nights on the Green through Aug 27), plus Petaluma, Sonoma Valley, Guerneville, Forestville, and Occidental. Note: petalumafarmersmarket.com is compromised — use ourfarmersmarkets.org instead. Tock standing availability: chef dinners and winery pairings across the county move fast — set an alert for new Sonoma County listings.
August 13 – September 11, 2026 · late summer tips toward harvest — zucchini at its most absurd, the first grapes coming in.
New this window — the late-summer farm festivals and the ceremonial start of the wine harvest.
Community Classic
Windsor
26th Annual Zucchini Festival
Aug 23 · Windsor Town Green · Check site
WhereWindsor Town Green
WhenAug 23
TicketsSee site
Twenty-six years of leaning into August's most unstoppable crop — zucchini car races, cooking demos, the whole town making a virtue of the vegetable every gardener has too much of by late summer.
Why It Matters
This is what a real farming community does with a glut — turns it into a party. Genuinely local, genuinely fun, and a fixture of the Windsor calendar.
Windsor
Windsor Farm Nights on the Green
Aug 20 & 27 · Windsor Town Green · Free entry
WhereWindsor Town Green
WhenThu Aug 20 & 27, 5–8pm
EntryFree
The final two Thursdays of Windsor's Summer Nights series turn into Farm Nights — the evening market with live music, before the concert run closes out on August 27.
Why It Matters
Your last two chances at Windsor's Thursday-evening market energy before it wraps for the season. Easy, free, and produce is at its late-summer best.
Dry Creek
Mazzocco Sonoma Harvest Lunch
Aug 29 · Mazzocco Sonoma, Dry Creek · Ticketed
WhereMazzocco Sonoma, Dry Creek Valley
WhenAug 29, 11am–2pm
TicketsVerify on site
A family-style barbecue lunch with the winemaker as harvest gets underway in Dry Creek — the kind of vineyard table that only makes sense once the fruit is actually coming in.
Why It Matters
Harvest-timed and in the middle of Dry Creek's Zinfandel country. The details came off a search snippet, not the page directly — confirm at mazzocco.com before you count on the date.
Harvest Begins
Sonoma Valley
Harvest Bell Ringing
August, date TBD · Sonoma Valley · Ceremonial
WhereSonoma Valley
WhenTypically August — verify
FreeCeremonial
The ceremonial ringing that marks the official start of the winegrape harvest — the moment the whole valley's year pivots from growing to picking. The exact 2026 date follows the fruit, not a fixed calendar.
Why It Matters
It's the hinge of the season made visible. Typically August — check sonomavalley.com for the confirmed 2026 date, which is set close to the moment the grapes are ready.
Season Note
Evening Markets Wind Down
Late August · West County · Free
GuernevilleThu, through late Aug
ForestvilleTue, through mid-Aug
Windsor ThuEnds Aug 27
The summer evening markets that give West County its warm-night rhythm — Guerneville on Thursdays, Forestville on Tuesdays, Windsor's Thursday series — all close out across late August as the light shortens.
Why It Matters
These are seasonal and don't run into fall. If the Thursday-night-under-the-oaks market is part of your summer, late August is your last call.
September 12 – October 11, 2026 · full harvest — crush parties, vintage festivals, and the big fairgrounds tastings. Book these now.
The harvest cluster — several sell out or cap attendance. This is the section to book from today.
Books Out
Wine Road
Harvest Wine & Food Trail
Sep 12 · Alexander / Dry Creek / RRV · $50
WhereNorthern Sonoma wineries
WhenSat Sep 12
Cap200 tickets · on sale ~early Aug
Wine Road's self-guided harvest trail across Alexander Valley, Dry Creek, and the Russian River Valley — wineries pairing current releases with food, right as the crush is running. Capped at 200.
Why It Matters
Two hundred tickets, on sale roughly four to six weeks out — so early August. Being on the vineyards during active harvest is the whole point; this one goes fast.
Healdsburg
Let's Crush It! A Harvest Celebration
Sep 12 · Wetzel Family Estate, Healdsburg · Ticketed
WhereWetzel Family Estate, Healdsburg
WhenSat Sep 12
TicketsVia Healdsburg Chamber
An estate harvest party in Healdsburg — the celebratory end of the growing year, food and current-vintage wine on the property as the fruit comes off the vines.
Why It Matters
A single-estate harvest celebration on the same Saturday as the Wine Road trail — pick your lane, or build a full harvest-weekend day around Healdsburg.
Kenwood
Paella Harvest Celebration
Sep 13 · Kenwood Vineyards, Kenwood · Ticketed
WhereKenwood Vineyards, Kenwood
WhenSun Sep 13
TicketsVia Sonoma County Tourism
Open-fire paella against Kenwood's estate wines, timed to harvest — the kind of communal, single-pan feast that suits a Sonoma Valley Sunday in September.
Why It Matters
A relaxed Sunday harvest table in the valley, one day after the northern-county trails. Good pairing weekend if you're staying over.
New Festival
Santa Rosa
The Fork'n Good Food Festival
Sep 19 · Sonoma County Fairgrounds · Ticketed
WhereSonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa
WhenSat Sep 19, 12–9pm
TicketsOn sale July
A full-day food festival at the fairgrounds — vendors, makers, and the wider county food scene under one roof, from midday well into the evening.
Why It Matters
A broad, accessible showcase of the county's food producers as harvest peaks. Tickets went on sale in July — grab them before the September rush.
129th Year
Sonoma
Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival
Sep 25–26 · Sonoma Plaza · Mostly free
WhereSonoma Plaza
WhenSep 25–26
EntryPlaza events free
The 129th edition of California's oldest wine festival, on the Sonoma Plaza — a genuine piece of the state's cultural history, not a manufactured event. Grape stomps, parade, food, and valley wine.
Why It Matters
Nearly thirteen decades deep — this is the harvest festival the modern ones descend from. If you go to one Sonoma Valley event in the window, weigh this heavily.
Sold Out — Waitlist
Countywide
Sonoma County Grape Camp
Oct 4–6 · Sonoma County · Waitlist
WhereSonoma County Winegrowers
WhenOct 4–6
StatusSold out — waitlist only
A multi-day immersion into working harvest with the Winegrowers — picking, crushing, vineyard meals. Already sold out; the waitlist is the only way in for 2026.
Why It Matters
The most hands-on harvest experience the county offers — and its selling out is the clearest signal in this calendar to book the rest of these October dates early.
Headline
Santa Rosa
Sonoma County Harvest Fair
Oct 10–11 · Sonoma County Fairgrounds · Ticketed
WhereFairgrounds, Santa Rosa
WhenOct 10–11
TicketsOn sale since Jul 1
The Grand Tasting and the World Championship Grape Stomp — 100-plus wineries pouring, plus the wine competition that anchors the county's fall. The big public capstone of harvest.
Why It Matters
The single largest tasting of the season and the closing note of the 90-day window. Tickets have been on sale since July 1 — the Grand Tasting sells through.
New Venue
Healdsburg
Healdsburg Crush
Oct 11 · Bacchus Landing, Healdsburg · Ticketed
WhereBacchus Landing (new venue)
WhenSun Oct 11, VIP 12–1 / GA 1–4
Ticketsbigtickets.com
Healdsburg's harvest tasting, moved this year from the Plaza to Bacchus Landing — a benefit event pouring across local producers as the season closes out.
Why It Matters
Note the venue change — it's Bacchus Landing now, not the Plaza. A fitting close to the harvest window on the last day of these 90 days.
Sonoma Chef's 90-Day Planner
Right now the land is at its most generous — peaches at their peak, the first real tomatoes and corn, chiles ramping. Eat that while it lasts: get to Dry Creek Peach on a Wednesday or Sunday morning, and to the Gravenstein Apple Fair on August 8–9 while the apple is still worth celebrating.
Then the year turns. By late August the harvest bell rings, the grapes come in, and the whole calendar reorganizes itself around crush. Book the September–October cluster now: the Wine Road Harvest Trail (Sep 12) caps at 200 and sells in early August; Grape Camp (Oct 4–6) is already gone to a waitlist; the Harvest Fair Grand Tasting (Oct 10–11) has been on sale since July 1 and moves. Valley of the Moon's Vintage Festival (Sep 25–26) is the historic heart of it all.
A few worth watching but not yet nailed down: the Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival is likely the first Saturday after Labor Day (around Sep 12) but the date is inferred — confirm on kj.com. A September wine-charity gala rumored for Sep 19–20 has conflicting signals and may be paused for 2026; it's left off this calendar until confirmed. Verify anything ceremonial or harvest-timed close to the date — the fruit sets the schedule, not the other way around.
How This List Was Chosen
Events were drawn from Sonoma Chef's maintained annual-events knowledge and current research notes covering the full July 13 – October 11 window, then placed in the earliest section each date falls within. Recurring venues (Hog Island, Cyrus Sundays, farmers markets, Farmhouse Inn dinners) are listed once, in Section 1.
Confidence flags: Confirmed dates carry ticket or venue links. A few are held loosely and labeled as such — the Mazzocco Harvest Lunch (Aug 29) came from a search snippet, not the page; the Harvest Bell Ringing is ceremonial and dated close to picking; the K-J Heirloom Tomato Festival date is inferred. A rumored Sep 19–20 wine-charity gala has conflicting sources and may be paused for 2026, so it was left off entirely rather than published as fact.
Not retrievable this pass: Individual Tock chef-dinner dates and the Sonoma County Vintners "Pour & Explore" series dates could not be confirmed — those sites block automated access. Check exploretock.com and sonomawine.com directly. Passport to Dry Creek Valley is an April event (past); the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience returns May 2027, outside this window.