Balletto Vineyards pairs wine tasting and Bay Area vintage baseball game

Batter up.

For those who crave baseball in the summer as much as a chilled ros é , Balletto Vineyards has just the ticket.

For $30 a pop, wine and baseball-lovers can see a Bay Area Vintage Baseball game Aug. 10 in the splendid playing field carved out among the vines at the winery west of Santa Rosa.

The San Francisco Pacifics will take on the Barbary Coast at noon, with an homage to vintage baseball that relies on rules and equipment that date back to 1886.

“We’ll have four or five pouring stations on the patio with a (partial) view of the field,” explained tasting manager Brandon Parkhurst, referring to the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. “We like to be approachable here for anyone who wants to visit us. We like it that people are able to come in and learn about our winery and wines in our west Sonoma County setting.”

The ticket price includes four small pours of Balletto’s single vineyard wines and a small bite -- a hot dog or Cracker Jacks -- for guests age 21 and over with valid identification.

Balletto Vineyards specializes in cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with other offerings that include Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Ros é of Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel.

A field for the occasion

The goal of Bay Area Vintage Baseball, founded in 2005, is to share the history of the game. It plays by the Spalding 1886 rulebook and the California nonprofit has registered itself as an educational entity.

The upcoming game will put the organization and the playing field in the spotlight.

Balletto’s regulation-sized baseball field – built in 2003 – has remained largely under the radar, even though the winery offers a tour of it and the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission has it in its self-guided Sonoma Vineyards Adventures tour map.

Winery owner John Balletto said employees came to him in 2001 asking if they could put a baseball field into an unplanted area on winery property off Occidental Road in Santa Rosa.

The vintner agreed to supply the equipment and materials if they would do the work. Within a year this field of dreams was a reality, reminiscent of writer W.P. Kinsella’s vision of a fantasy baseball team cracking balls in an Iowa cornfield.

A Giants fan, vineyard manager Manuel Vallejo took the lead in building the field.

The winery is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a self-guided tour that includes the baseball field is available to guests, even walk-ins.

The field covers three and a half acres and is surrounded by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes.

The public is welcome to see the field and watch games, but for insurance reasons, it’s mainly reserved for the use of employees. Outside of the upcoming match, guests have the best chance of seeing vineyard workers playing a game on a Sunday.

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.