Team Building Ideas for Tech Startups in San Francisco and New York (2026)

Startup team building works best short, structured and optional, with a real subject and room for remote staff. Domaine de la Rivière, a Russian River Valley family winery, pours team tastings on site at offices in San Francisco and New York, hosts hybrid and virtual sessions, and seats groups in Windsor, about 90 minutes north of San Francisco.

Below: how a startup team can book a tasting, ten team-building formats that suit teams of 5 to 50, why a seated tasting works for engineers and early teams, how an in-office or hybrid tasting runs across time zones, a Sonoma day offsite from San Francisco with a timeline, what New York teams can do, a step-by-step planning checklist, and how to keep the day inclusive for people who don't drink.

Where can a startup team book a wine tasting in San Francisco or New York?

Domaine de la Rivière comes to the office: the family arrives with the wines and pours for the team on site in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, and elsewhere by arrangement. It also hosts virtual tastings for remote teams and seated tastings at the estate in Windsor. The form below reaches Marla Bedrosian directly.

Plan a tasting for your team

Tell us the team size, the format and roughly when. It goes straight to Marla Bedrosian, who plans every event.

Where

At our officeVirtualAt the estate in SonomaNot sure yet

How many people

Up to 1010 to 2525 to 50More than 50

Your nameWork emailPhoneCompany optionalRoughly when optionalAnything else optional

Send to Marla

Marla reads every request and writes back herself. Privacy

The in-office tasting is the simplest option for most startups: a Thursday at 4PM in a SoMa or Flatiron office, nobody travels, and the family pours at the team's own table. If some of the team works remotely, they join that session by video with kits shipped ahead. A fully remote team takes the virtual format, a team that wants a day out drives up to Windsor, and a milestone such as a funding close fits a private event.

What team building activities actually work for startup teams?

Formats that work for startups share three traits: they last two to four hours rather than a weekend, they give people something specific to talk about, and nobody has to perform. Ten that fit teams of 5 to 50 follow, from a wine tasting poured at the office to a volunteer day and a half-day hike.

1. An in-office wine tasting: the family that made the wine arrives with it and pours for the team at the office, explaining the vineyard and the decisions behind each glass. No travel, and remote teammates can join by video with kits.
2. A seated wine tasting at the winery: one table in wine country, the same hosts, and a reason to leave the city for the day.
3. A cook-together, led by an instructor or a keen cook on the team, in person or remotely with an ingredient list sent ahead.
4. A half-day hike with a fixed turnaround time, then lunch. Choose a route the least active person can finish comfortably.
5. A volunteer day, such as a food bank shift or a park cleanup: a shared result that has nothing to do with the product.
6. A build day on something off the roadmap, such as an internal tool or a game. Engineers often prefer it to anything labeled team building.
7. A puzzle or escape-room session, best for teams of 6 to 12 that already work well together.
8. A team dinner with one prepared question, such as the best decision each person made this year, so the table doesn't default to work.
9. A skill swap: each person teaches a ten-minute lesson on anything outside their job. Inexpensive, and it works on video.
10. A day offsite out of the city: a morning drive to wine country or the coast, one hosted activity, lunch and an afternoon working session.

Why does a seated wine tasting work for engineers and early teams?

A seated tasting has a fixed structure, a real subject and no script for the guests. Each wine comes with specifics: the vineyard block, the clone, the fermentation, how much new oak. That gives technical people something concrete to ask about, and the conversation between pours happens on its own rather than through an icebreaker.

Engineers tend to dislike activities that ask them to act out enthusiasm, and a tasting asks for none. At Domaine de la Rivière the details are specific enough to argue about: Winemaker Kale Anderson ferments with native yeast and uses about 35% new French oak, and the estate's Pinot Noir is planted to four clones on 11 acres in the Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley. Comparing two single-block Pinot Noirs from the same estate is, in effect, a controlled experiment.

The story behind the wine is also one founders recognize. Marla and Geoff Bedrosian, a New York family, bought a neglected vineyard in 2011 while living 3,000 miles away, replanted it and released their first wine in 2017. It was self-funded, with six years between the purchase and the first product. Zak Bedrosian, the second generation, leads business development at the winery and is also building a startup of his own, a wine app called Oxto.

A flight usually moves from white to rosé to red. Four wines from Domaine de la Rivière's lineup that fit that order:

The opening whiteRitchie Vineyard Chardonnay2021: one of Robb Report's Top 50 California Chardonnays of the Century. Old Wente vines planted in 1972.2021 · $85

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The bridgeShoshana Rosé of Pinot NoirA dry, whole-cluster-pressed Rosé of Pinot Noir, named for the family's daughter. About 100 cases.2025 · $40

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The estate's signature redTwo Forces Pinot Noir2022: 98 points, The Tasting Panel; Double Gold, San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition.2022 · $95

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The single-block finishHeritage Block Pinot Noir2021: 95 points, Cristaldi Report, No. 66 of its Top 100 Wines of 2025; Gold, San Francisco Chronicle.2021 · $90

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How does an in-office or hybrid wine tasting work?

The family arrives at the office with the wines and pours for the team around a conference table or the kitchen, a Thursday at 4PM in SoMa or Flatiron with no travel. In the hybrid version, remote teammates get kits shipped ahead and join the same session by video while the family pours in the room.

Most San Francisco and New York startups have an office plus a few people in other states, and this format covers both groups in one session. The office provides the room; ask Marla Bedrosian when booking what the family brings and what the office should have ready, such as a table, water and some food. The in-office pour covers the Bay Area and New York, and other cities by arrangement.

For the hybrid version, put the room's camera and microphone where the whole table can be seen and heard on the big screen, and have the host call on remote teammates by name at least once per wine so the session doesn't drift into a room conversation. Timing sets who can join: 4PM Pacific is 7PM Eastern.

Remote kits set the lead time. Wine ships through Vinoshipper to most U.S. states but not all, an adult 21 or older signs on delivery, and kits can't go to P.O. boxes. Collect remote addresses two to three weeks out and decide early what happens for anyone the winery can't ship to: a non-alcoholic kit, a bottle bought locally, or joining for the conversation. A fully remote team uses the same kits in a virtual tasting, with the host live on video.

How do you plan a Sonoma day offsite from San Francisco?

Leave San Francisco around 9:30AM and take US-101 north across the Golden Gate Bridge, about 64 miles to Windsor, roughly 80 minutes without traffic. Taste at 11AM, lunch in Windsor or Healdsburg, hold an afternoon working session and be back in the city by about 5PM. Book group transport so nobody drives after tasting.

Group transport is the one non-negotiable: a van with a driver removes the question of who drives home and turns the ride into time to talk. For teams larger than one seating, Domaine de la Rivière arranges larger groups and private events by request, so ask when booking rather than splitting the team across days.

If the team flies in from elsewhere, Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (STS) sits between Windsor and Santa Rosa.

Where are the best places near San Francisco for a team offsite or tasting?

There are three broad options. San Francisco needs no drive but has fewer places to sit with the producer. Napa Valley and southern Sonoma are an hour or more away and include many of the best-known estates. The Russian River Valley in northern Sonoma, about 90 minutes away, is mostly smaller, appointment-based Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers.

The deciding factors are usually group size, how much of the day can go to driving, and whether the team wants a tour or a conversation. Domaine de la Rivière is the family-hosted option in the Russian River Valley: a seated tasting in Windsor, poured by the Bedrosians, about 90 minutes north of the city and ten minutes south of Healdsburg. A team that would rather not make the drive can have the family pour at its own office instead. Its guide to wineries in Windsor covers the other small producers nearby for a team that wants to visit more than one.

What can New York startup teams do for team building?

Domaine de la Rivière pours in New York offices: the family arrives with the wines and hosts the team on site, say a Thursday at 4PM in Flatiron. Teammates outside the city join by video with kits shipped ahead. A fully remote team can book a virtual tasting; a team visiting California can add a tasting in Windsor.

An in-office pour in New York works the same way as one in San Francisco: the office provides the room, and the family brings the wines and the story. For a New York office with West Coast teammates on video, 4PM Eastern is 1PM Pacific, so nobody joins late in their day. A team with a California offsite or board meeting already on the calendar can fold a Windsor tasting into the trip.

The family's own history makes the connection. The Bedrosians were a New York family when they bought the vineyard, and they started the project from 3,000 miles away. Marla Bedrosian spent three decades in global hospitality with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and Geoff Bedrosian three decades in investment banking and private equity. Everyone in the family has a role at the winery, and the family pours the tastings themselves, much as everyone on an early startup team does more than one job.

How do you plan a team tasting step by step?

Pick the date and format first, then the headcount. Set a per-head budget that includes wine, shipping, transport and food. Confirm everyone is 21 or older and treat drinking as optional. Collect shipping addresses two to three weeks ahead, plan for non-drinkers and dietary needs, then book with the winery and confirm a week out.

1. 01Set the goal and the date. Decide what the day is for: a celebration, a reset after a hard quarter, or a first meeting for new hires. Avoid release and board weeks. February and June are the peak months for team-building searches, so book early for those.
2. 02Choose the format from where people are. An office in the Bay Area or New York: an in-office tasting. Office plus remote teammates: the hybrid format. Everyone remote: a virtual tasting. A day out: the estate in Windsor. A milestone for the whole company: a private event.
3. 03Set a per-head budget. One number per person covering the tasting or kit, shipping, transport, lunch and any non-alcoholic alternative. Ask the winery to quote against it.
4. 04Confirm 21+ and opt-in. Everyone who tastes wine should be 21 or older, and it's worth checking your company's alcohol policy. The RSVP should ask whether each person will taste, wants a non-alcoholic option, or will join for the conversation, with every answer equally normal.
5. 05Collect remote addresses. For hybrid or virtual sessions, gather remote addresses two to three weeks ahead. No P.O. boxes, an adult signs on delivery, and the winery can't ship everywhere, so plan a substitute.
6. 06Plan food and dietary needs. Book a lunch that covers vegetarian, vegan and allergy needs; for a virtual session, send a simple snack list.
7. 07Book and confirm. Send the headcount, cities, dates and format through the form on this page, to marla@domaineriviere.com, or call 707-888-1598. Confirm final numbers, the run of show and the video link a week before.

How do you make a wine tasting inclusive for people who don't drink?

Make drinking optional and say so in the invitation. Offer a non-alcoholic option, keep pours small, and make spitting or skipping a wine normal. Schedule the session inside working hours rather than as a mandatory evening. Keep the focus on the story and the conversation, so someone who doesn't drink is a full participant rather than a spectator.

People don't drink for many reasons, among them health, religion, pregnancy, recovery or preference, and nobody should have to explain which. HR guidance on work events recommends planning around connection rather than alcohol and letting people decline without comment. A seated tasting makes this easier than a bar night: pours are small, spit cups are standard, and much of the session is about the vineyard and the people.

• Write "tasting is optional; non-alcoholic options available" in the invitation itself, not in a follow-up.
• Never call the session mandatory, and don't schedule it as the only team event that quarter.
• Pour the non-alcoholic option into the same glassware, so nobody stands out.
• Arrange transport for every in-person tasting, whoever plans to taste.