Child-Friendly Wineries Around the World

Offerings at Les Source de Caudalie, 35 minutes outside Bordeaux, range from horse-drawn carriage rides to a Jardin des Abeilles farm featuring chicken, horses, and miniature goats. The suites and villas are spacious enough for families, and the heated outdoor pool, children’s game room, kitchen garden, and extensive grounds—as well as seasonal activities like Easter Egg hunts and a Christmas patisserie workshop—are perfect ways to occupy the kids while parents explore the adjoining Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte winery. sources-caudalie.com

St. Emilion winery Chateau Soutard is known for being particularly welcoming to children, offering a special program for kids called Small Mappers. Over the course of two hours, the little ones are led on a map quest around the vineyards and compound where they see how wine is made, learn about vine growing, visit the 16th century henhouse, and finish the day with a grape juice and berry tasting. There’s also croquet and archery on offer. chateau-soutard.com

A centuries-old chateau perched on a hill overlooking the quaint medieval town of St. Emilion, Chateau St. Georges offers wee guests donkey rides through the vineyards, as well as the opportunity to play in the herb garden and taste a berry or two. chateau-st-georges.com

At Chateau d’Agassac, which dates from the 13th century and is one of the oldest vineyards in Bordeaux’s famed Medoc region, children are led in a treasure hunt around the grounds. The objective: to rescue the princess “imprisoned” in the winery’s towers while learning about the estate’s history and its wines. Bien sûr, visits end with grape juice tastings. agassac.com

Located in Bordeaux’s prestigious Margaux appellation, Chateau Kirwan has the best of both worlds for families—stellar wine (it’s an 1855 third growth Grand Cru) as well as exceptionally kid-friendly offerings. Programs include a treasure hunt, sensory-heightening workshops, a goûter snack, jam tastings, and sticker designing for bottles. chateau-kirwan.com

Featuring a petite menagerie with rabbits and guinea pigs, the charming Château Bardins has woods that are perfect for kids to wander through. Each June, the Chateau hosts a medieval festival with face painting, archery contests, and a jousting tournament. chateaubardins.fr

Bordeaux’s new wine museum La Cité du Vin—dubbed the “Guggenheim of Wine”—offers a slew of tasting experiences for adults, as well as sensory appreciation workshops for children. Families can participate together in a juice tasting, or kids can sign up for solo workshops using all five senses (the fun includes juice, berries, wine corks, wine labels, and games) while parents tour the permanent collection or drink a glass of wine at the panoramic le belvedere wine bar overlooking Bordeaux.  laciteduvin.com

Located on twenty acres in the Willamette Valley, Brooks Winery’s child-friendly pursuits include Scrabble, board games, chalkboards, playing cards, cornhole, badminton, bean bags, and darts. While parents taste biodynamic wines, kids can enjoy lemonade, root beer, cheese, and strawberries while running around the picnic area on-site. They are also welcome to pick fruits from the gardens. brookswine.com

Both children and dogs are welcome at Rutherford’s acclaimed Frog’s Leap winery, featuring a large garden, a fish-stocked pond, and a winery dog named Abbie. As parents taste the famous cabernet, children sip on fruit juices or dry sodas and scribble in specially provided coloring books. After parents are done tasting, families can visit the koi pond, vineyards, and chicken coop together. frogsleap.com

Designed to look like a 13th century Tuscan castle, Castello di Amorosa delights kids with a drawbridge, faux torture chamber, and armory. There are also grape juice tastings for the children while they color in the Knight’s Hall tasting room as mom and dad try Italian-inspired wines. castellodiamorosa.com

Family owned and operated, Larson Family Winery encourages tasters to bring the kids with a seventy-seven acre Sonoma spread featuring farm animals including pygmy goats and sheep. Kids receive juice boxes, the family Labradors roam free, and there’s a picnic area where families can play bocce ball and throw horseshoes. larsonfamilywinery.com

Located 300 feet above the town of Calistoga, Sterling Vineyards offers kids everything from juices to coloring books, and there’s even a gondola aerial tram leading up to the winery with panoramic views of Napa Valley. (Visitors under 3 ride for free.) sterlingvineyards.com

Owned by filmmaker Francis-Ford Coppola since 1975, Inglenook (formerly known as Niebaum-Coppola) is not only one of Napa’s best-regarded wineries; it’s also one of its most child-friendly. With toy wooden sailboats in the courtyard fountains, large lawns and a museum of movie memorabilia, the 200+ acre estate goes out of its way to make children and families feel welcome. inglenook.com

On 125 acres in Paso Robles, Tablas Creek winery has a coloring table in the tasting room—complete with animal-themed pages. The management also allows kids to join adults for the hour-long vineyard tour, when lucky little guests might get up close and personal with sheep and llamas wandering around the biodynamic property. tablascreek.com

Home to the Wild Estate vineyard, as well as Waiheke Island Brewery, this multi-function venue is located on New Zealand’s Waiheke Island, a 35-minute ferry crossing from downtown Auckland. With seven acres of vineyards, there’s also a playground, giant trampoline, an archery range, petanque, a giant chess board, claybird shooting, and volleyball. The restaurant offers kids meals in fun takeaway boxes, so the little ones can enjoy their food by the playground. wildonwaiheke.co.nz

With a toy box in the tasting room, a border collie roaming around, a duck pond, and badminton and tennis courts all on the premises, Marlborough’s Forrest Wines has a relaxed, laid back feel—perfect for a fun family day out of picnicking and Sauvignon Blanc tasting. forrest.co.nz

Located in picturesque Southern Australia, Fox Creek Wines provides children with clues to go on a Treasure Hunt while their parents relax and enjoy local cheese, olives, and the winery’s award-winning Shiraz. foxcreekwines.com

The standout feature of South Australia’s Woodstock Wine happens to be fun for adults and kids alike: a three hectare Wildlife Sanctuary allowing visitors to see local animals including kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas. The restaurant on property, Coterie, features local produce and ethically sourced ingredients, including herbs and vegetables from the garden on-site. woodstockwine.com.au

While parents taste the Australian shiraz at family-owned Maxwell Wines, less than an hour south of Adelaide, older kids can burn off excess energy by running through the ninety acre estate’s conifer maze. www.maxwellwines.com.au

A family owned and operated winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Dornier features a jungle gym and sandbox for little kids, and its Bodega restaurant offers a special menu for the under-12s including favorites like mac and cheese, as well as slightly more adventurous (though kid-approved) fare like fish and chips and bacon pizza. dornier.co.za

Horseback riding, biking, and guided hikes through the hills and forest surrounding Matetic Vineyards in Santiago, Chile are all popular family-friendly activities at this biodynamic winery, which also offers van excursions for families who wish to explore the nearby Rosario Valley. matetic.com

Family owned and operated, Tuscany winery Montecalvi prides itself on being especially welcoming to children, with a personal touch. The owner will provide toys from her own house while she leads families around the winery, all the while telling stories about the vineyard’s winemaking process during a two hour tour. montecalvi.com