MacPhail Tasting Lounge at the Barlow

6761 McKinley St, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Website: https://www.macphailwine.com/

MacPhail tasting lounge at the Barlow in Sebastopol is a hip hangout place.  The Barlow is an outdoor market of Sonoma artisans centered around wine, art, and food.  The buildings used to be an applesauce cannery. The area is known for Gravenstein apples.  The owners of MacPhail also own The Hess Collection in Napa Valley.

Wagon art at MacPhail Tasting Lounge

This tasting room meshes art and wine just like The Hess Collection, although at a much smaller scale.  The lounge is industrial-chic with a 40 foot tall sculpture of red wagons beside the tasting bar. The wagon theme throughout the winery symbolizes timeless design and exceptional quality.  MacPhail has a fun side to their wines and they are relative newbies. They produced their first vintage in 2002. In the back corner of the lounge is a full wall of different soil types. My husband and I had our tasting in that nook.  Nearly everything in the tasting room is recycled, reclaimed, or repurposed. The place has a laid-back vibe. There is some outdoor seating as well where guests can do some people watching.

Soil wall in the MacPhail Tasting Lounge

MacPhail is known for their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.  I recommend taking advantage of the wine and cheese pairing.  My favorite part of the tasting was getting to sample and compare Pinot Noirs from different vineyards or terroirs and trying to distinguish the unique characteristics of each location.  It was a fun, casual experience and the wines are definitely worth trying. They have earned a lot of accolades in wine magazines. One additional bonus to the tasting lounge is that it is open until 6 p.m. so you can wrap the day here and have dinner in one of the nearby restaurants afterwards.