Outdoor pods pop up to help save wineries and restaurants in Northern California

Dining bubbles are a bit of a novelty, at least in California. Because the weather is relatively nice here, there hasn’t been a need to deal with the elements.

But winery owner Jim Czachorowski is from the Midwest. The winters are harsh. So he learned about these bubbles a few years ago, while visiting a brewery in northern Michigan.

“It was all snowy and they had fire pits, and you’d go in the brewery and get beer, and then you’d go to the pods ... it was really, really cool,” Czachorowski said.

They go by several names. Yurts, igloos, pods, bubbles. They’re transparent dome-shaped tents, designed for small parties. They’ve popped up around Northern California amid the coronavirus pandemic as a way for restaurants to add outdoor seating. Pods have sprung up at Bull Wings in Elk Grove as well as high-end restaurants in downtown Sacramento.

The pods often have tables, comfy chairs and space heaters. It’s like being outside without really being outside. Czachorowski was enamored. He filed the idea away in the back of his head.

In 2019, Czachorowski bought the Sierra Vista Vineyrads & Winery in Placerville. It’s a 69-acre property with 21 acres of vineyard blocks, each with it’s own special microclimate, leading to wine varietals like merlot, cabernet, syrah, chardonnay and roussanne. The vineyard was first planted in the 1970s, making it one of the oldest in the Foothills.

“It’s been such a hidden gem,” Czachorowski said. “Even in Placerville, some people didn’t even know we existed.”

After taking ownership, Czachorowski got to work updating his winery. Using wood milled from the property, Czachorowski converted a storage room into an events room, complete with barrel-themed chandeliers and a grand piano. In 2019, the room was used to host a murder mystery dinner and a sparkling wine event.

Then came 2020.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Czachorowski took advantage of the shutdowns to work on the place. He remodeled the tasting room and back kitchen and redid the landscaping. Then, as cold weather approached last fall, he decided it was time to finally add some of those outdoor pods.

Building a pod

The pods are individually heated, furnished with cushioned seats, and decked out in white string lights. Each pod has vents on top, and two zip-up doors, which can be left open to promote airflow.

They’re set up near the edge of the vineyard, with the Sierra Nevada’s Crystal Range in the backdrop.

The pods have names and themes. The Tiger’s Den is named for Sierra Vista’s reserve wine, Tiger Lily. Savanna’s Suite is named for Czachorowski daughter. Both pods can seat parties of up to six.

The Cabernet Chalet and Chardonnay Chateau seat parties of up to four. The pods can be reserved online with a $20 deposit. There is a spending minimum of $75 for the larger pods and $50 for the smaller ones. Reservations are limited to an hour and a half.

Some customers arrive early and do a wine tasting outdoors. They figure out which wine they like and then order a bottle to drink in the pod during their scheduled reservation. Prices range from $21 to $49 for a bottle.

Other customers do the wine tasting from inside the pod. As a safety precaution, staff do not enter the pods when guests are inside. Instead, guests place their empties on a table outside the pod to cue the next pour. Special markers are provided so guests can initial their glasses, preventing mixups.

Keeping it clean

The pods have come under fire in many places for being unsafe or a “terrible idea” during a pandemic. Space heaters can keep the virus aloft and some closed pods may not have fresh air when a new group enters. Also, the pods could encourage groups who are not living in the same household to get together.

At the winery, pods are cleaned after every reservation. Surfaces are wiped down and an ozone machine releases a gas to disinfect the entire space. It’s the same ozone machine the winery uses to sanitize its wine barrels and barrel rooms.

A meter reads the levels of ozone in the pod. It takes about two minutes for levels to get high enough, and two more minutes to return to normal once the machine is removed and pod is aired out.

“We took it up a couple of notches to make it not only comfortable but safe,” said Czachorowski.