If you were to design a tasting room that borrowed the best parts of several culinary worlds, it might look something like Taste Petaluma.
The new collective brings together Barber Cellars, the Petaluma Cheese Shop, Barber Lee Spirits, and Nightcap Dessert Bar, offering locally made wines and spirits alongside craft cocktails, cheeses, desserts and handmade chocolates.
The story
Husband-and-wife team Lorraine and Mike Barber began making wine together more than 20 years ago, when they were living in San Francisco. Mike had worked in wine retail; Lorraine’s background was in construction. In 2007, they launched Barber Cellars, initially making wine at a custom-crush facility in Suisun City.
The Barbers eventually moved into their own Sonoma County winery and began farming 10 acres of vines near Petaluma. In 2015, they opened Petaluma’s first downtown tasting room, inside Hotel Petaluma.
Mike Barber soon became interested in craft distilling. In 2017, he co-founded Barber Lee Spirits with Aaron Lee, opening a distillery in a former brick warehouse next door to the hotel. The operation began with single-malt rye, moonshine and absinthe, later adding heirloom corn bourbon, apple brandy and rum…