Young & Yonder Spirits
4.8(27)google
4.8(68)yelp
Wine TastingWinery
Overview
Injecting pure craft distilling innovation into the heart of wine country, this state-of-the-art independent artisan distillery creates award-winning, small-batch grain-to-glass spirits. The sleek and modern tasting room provides guests with a direct view of their custom-built gleaming copper pot stills, where premium vodka, botanical gin, and complex single-malt whiskeys are made. Knowledgeable spirit specialists lead visitors through highly structured flights and interactive educational tours, demonstrating how precision proofing and local grains enrich structural complexity.
Practical Info
Suggested Duration1-1.5 hours
Best TimeBest experienced between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM on Friday or Saturday. As a craft artisan distillery founded by a dynamic local couple, it offers a refreshing alternative to traditional wine tastings. Sampling their small-batch award-winning gin, limestone-filtered vodka, and bourbon cocktails inside the sleek lounge is fantastic.
Getting ThereSituated at 449 Healdsburg Avenue on the northern edge of downtown, a straightforward 4-minute walk north of the central plaza. If arriving by car, plenty of free, time-limited parallel public street parking is available along Healdsburg Avenue and the immediate residential cross streets.
Travel Tips
- Operating as a rare craft distillery producing custom gin and vodka, tasting benches overlook a massive live copper still; high-pressure thermal processing outlaw touching pipelines without distiller escorts.
- Under California ABC codes, the maximum combined ounces of high-proof distilled spirits a single adult can consume or sample on-site daily is tightly capped; bartenders will legally cease pours upon hitting caps.
- The rear logistics alley handles volatile bulk neutral spirits loading; occupying transit hazard crosshatched lanes with personal vehicles triggers immediate tow dispatches by hazardous materials containment crews.
Reviews
Positive
- A highly modern industrial craft distillery in town; their house-distilled vodka, gin, and bourbon are stellar, and the creative cocktail tasting flight is incredibly refreshing.
- The husband-and-wife founders are deeply passionate, routinely explaining distillation and botanical sourcing at the bar in a casual, craft-centric atmosphere.
- The lounge is beautifully styled, featuring a massive glass window overlooking the copper stills—a perfect palate cleanser if you need a break from wine tasting.
- Pricing is highly reasonable compared to upscale wine lounges; cocktail tags are fair, and buying a bottle of spirits easily waives the flight fee.
Heads up
- Because they focus strictly on high-proof spirits and cocktails, there are virtually zero wine or draft beer options, which might disappoint dedicated wine lovers.
- The indoor footprint is somewhat compact, dominated by the bar and high-tops; it gets congested when weekend crowds roll in, slowing down the ordering pace.
- They serve zero hot kitchen entrees; the bar snacks are strictly limited to basic popcorn or nuts, so eating a proper meal beforehand is highly advised.
- Street-parallel curbside spaces are highly competitive on weekends; since they lack a private lot, drivers must circle nearby residential side streets.