Heading out andne curious if others had strong recommendations... wineries... tastings... airplane rides... whatever.

We have B&Bs in several cities so do not need those type suggestions.

Plan to be as south as San Francisco and as north as Healdsburg/Calistoga.

Thanks.

9/30/2009 4:18:33 PM

i'd just ask on wine.woot.com - you aren't going to get a better response here than you would there or some other wine forum

9/30/2009 4:56:15 PM

Bring lots and lots of money.

9/30/2009 5:01:28 PM

My grandfather and I hopped around to different wineries in Napa and it was an awesome time. They have a drunk shuttle you can take around so you don't DUI after you're done. I have no idea what it cost since my grandfather was paying for everything.

9/30/2009 5:03:57 PM

Make sure you go to Apple Hill, we went to a bunch of places there and they were all great. Crystal Basin Cellars was the best though. We did barrel tastings for free and sat in the back talking with the guy for like an hour while he continually filled our glasses.

9/30/2009 5:39:15 PM

I would skip Napa and Calistoga. Instead I would go to Healdsburg/Russian River area, Livermore, and perhaps Amador County if you want to drive further east and like Zin. Having been to most N. California wine regions I just don't see the attraction of Napa--it's expensive, crowded, and commercialized. Sure they make some good wines but nothing remarkably above any other wine region in the California.

9/30/2009 8:32:30 PM

I actually love the Livermore wineries if you don't want to deal with crowds. My sister got married at Wente and it was pretty good. If you golf, the course there is GREAT (it's a PGA Nationwide Tour and LPGA course). It's $70 to play and the winery/restaurant there are amazing. Downtown Livermore is great as well.

It's about a 30 minute rid south and east of SF (off of I-580).

----------

I like the wineries around Sonoma more than Napa and the wineries off of CA-17. I highly recommend eating one day in Sonoma Square. Awesome little downtown area. Great Irish pub and Indian place down an alley that you can't see from the street.

If you want any suggestions on any specific wineries feel free. Coppola was cool if you like the Godfather (they had a mini museum with Oscars, movie attire, etc, etc) but they moved and now charge a ton to see it. Beringer is decent, as is Mondavi as far as tastings go. There is one place where there is a GREAT view (right near the split of the road for the Napa/Sonoma roads) that I usually get a bottle of champagne on the patio to start the day. We've started at 7:30am there with a morning champagne as it opens at sunrise. It's a mansion type place with a great front and back deck where you can watch sunrise/sunset.

[Edited on September 30, 2009 at 8:43 PM. Reason : x]

9/30/2009 8:42:57 PM

Since I live in Livermore I should point out some wineries I like: Steven Kent/La Rochelle (for Cab and Pinot), Wente, Brent Creek, Retzlaff, Bodegas Aguirre (best Merlot I've had), el Sol (less for the wine more for the tour), LVC.

9/30/2009 8:54:45 PM

Awesome suggestions. Agree about Napa, but wife wants to check it out. Going to Calistoga to take a plane ride around the lakes. She may want a mud bath there too... weird.

Thanks again, if others have thoughts please let me know.

10/1/2009 11:17:35 AM

We're going to Napa on our honeymoon! And staying here: http://www.1801first.com/

That's as much as we have planned. Luckily, we have 9 months to figure it all out.

10/1/2009 10:46:46 PM

If you're going to Napa Valley... it's not a winery, but you should try to get a booking at The French Laundry. One of the best restaurants in the world.

10/1/2009 11:59:55 PM

#1 tip for exploring NorCal wine country: beware of cops on hwy 29 in Napa Valley, they hand out speeding tickets/DUIs like they are candy

10/2/2009 12:18:24 PM

considering moving to Sonoma. this thread is of interest.. vino wins...

10/2/2009 9:12:07 PM

Thought I would make some notes from my trip:

French Laundry is amazing, but Ad Hoc is better - another Keller restaurant.

Only saw cops 2x the entire trip... and we were hitting the roads hard.

in-n-out burgers are gold.

fly in late at night and tell them you have a costco membership (we saved $230 from Alamo for our 6 day rental). By flying in at night we took a mustang convertible, we paid for a mid-size sedan. $230 for 6 days, crazy good.

Wineries that were amazing:
Reverie, owner took us around when we showed up unannounced, gave us free gourmet food from a party they were hosting (those that actually made reservations), the grounds were some of the prettiest of the trip, red woods everywhere, LOTS of wine tastings, got to go in the cave, see the workers, handle the grapes/wine... added some yeast, everything and it was free. I'll be calling them for a large shipment soon.

gunlach bunshoe (spelling?), I cant say much but the wine here was wonderful. Our first stop so we did not buy, wish we had.

Regusci, great wines, great guys working there, real laid back but wines were of high quality.

Del Dotto, the one in napa/silverado. Brook there is amazing, her family is rooted and she told us all the places that people who aren't tourist would appreciate, and she did not fail us. Their reds were special and we bought a few bottles here. Nice caves and they have a cool patent on wood barrels.

Peju, very artistic... felt like I stepped in a Dali painting. Mr. Peju walked up to me and started a conversation.... amazing personality. Place has a museum upstairs. Their wine was good, we bought a bottle. Free tasting for us also.

Sterling, wine was okay but you get to take a lift pretty high.. very pretty for photos.

Mayo, we did a food pairing here. The owner was frat brothers with my wifes boss so we got the hookup here. I will say, not being biased, they had the absolute best pignot noir ($50) I had the entire trip. I bought 2 bottles and hope to get more. The Exec. Chef was real laid back and the pairings were amazing.

Ledson, really liked they had a port, bought 2 bottles. The person assisting us was very knowledgeable and liked to do tricks... very educational and lots of comparisons were made. The place is a mansion too so amazing photos from here as well... much better wine than Sterling.

We hit up lots of others but those were the ones that stood out. I guess I should say Ravens Wood also, I like bold reds and the old guys working there were a freaking riot to drink with.

October is peak season, everything is hopping and more pricey but it was worth it. Amazing weather the whole time and the place is buzzing because its harvest time.

[Edited on October 27, 2009 at 4:18 PM. Reason : erg]

10/27/2009 4:17:51 PM

PIG

NOT

NOIR

10/27/2009 4:21:18 PM

Thats the only thing you can find wrong in all that I just typed? I'm not even going to bother changing that.

10/27/2009 4:31:11 PM