re: Wine Trip

Kind of depends on what you're looking for. I will say that Napa is probably the best first time wine destination, but it's also the most expensive. It's easy to navigate; there's winery upon winery, and lots of restaurants. I would also recommend a Platypus tour for a first timer. Plus, you can roll over to Sonoma for a day if you're feeling froggy.

As far as superiority, Napa offers the best dining experiences, hands down. Not sure that can even be reasonably debated. Scenery can be a push in Napa vs Sonoma. Willamette is pretty but not really comparable to Napa or Sonoma IMO. As many times as I've been to Napa, the view at Kuleto Estates still knocks my socks off (although their wine is just OK).

As far as drinking, it comes down to preference. It's tough to beat a Napa cab and their Sauv Blancs are good, but their Chardonnays are downright bad. Sonoma has the famous RR valley pinots, but personally, if we're talking about California pinots, I like the ones from Carneros better.

The reality is you can get just as good (and often better) wines in Oregon and Washington that are half the price of what you will pay down in Napa. Napa and Sonoma are perceived as better only because they have better marketing.

Nobody mentioned it here, but my personal favorite is the Columbia Gorge AVA on the border of OR/WA. Stay in Hood River; it's an hour from Portland and you don't have to deal with the shitty SFO/OAK traffic. Fewer people too.