Traveling to San Fran and Napa

There are a few Napa threads on here with a ton of suggestions.

Sodero

How many days will you be in the Napa area and where are you staying?

How “into” wine are you guys? That will help us steer you in the right direction.

We aren’t huge wine people. Going there for a wedding. But would still like to do some tastings and take in the scenery.

We’ll be around Calistoga.

Here is a quick summary that I shared with a friend on their first visit to Napa recently. This is not intended to be the ultimate Napa visit but I feel it is a good place for first timers to start with.
1. Oakville/Rutherford - this is the heart of Napa Valley located about 15 minutes north of Napa off Highway 29. There are dozens if not hundreds of great wineries in this region. The wineries here may produce several varietals including Merlot, Cabernet, Sauvingnon Blanc, and Chardonnay. However, the grapes grown here are almost exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon and the wineries would likely grow the other varietals in other parts of the valley. As a general rule, the most expensive grapes in California are grown here. Most of the vineyards (farmland) here is well over $1,000,000 per acre to purchase so many of the most expensive California winers are grown here. Our favorites here are:

Cakebread Cellars - they do a great food pairing with their tasing. A bit of a larger producer but they make great wines. The flagship Cabernet and Chardonnay are available in restaurants nationally but you will find small production and single vineyards wines in this tasting.
Caymus - The Wagner family was an early pioneer in the Vallay starting in the early 70s and produce outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon. It used to be a small intimate tasting around a large oak table (10 people or less).
Plumpjack - Nearly perfect Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. You can’t go wrong here.
Frog’s Leap - Beautiful farmhouse with a really interesting tour that lasts about 45 minutes. Great wines.
If these wineries are booked up, I would consider Bealieau Vineyards, The Prisoner Wine Company, St. Supery or Silver Oak. There is a small grocery in Oakville called the “Oakville Grocery” and is a fantastic place to stop for a picnic style lunch.

Two great options for dinner in this area include Mustards Grill (we go here every time for the pork chop), Bouchon, and Ad Hoc. You can’t go wrong with any of these.

2. Silverado Trail - This is the “Right Bank” of Napa and has dozens of great wineries. It extends North of Napa for about 30 miles between Highway 121 on the South near town and Highway 29 on the North near St. Helena. Similar to Oakville/Rutherford, these wineries have a heavy focus on Cabernet Sauvignon and produce some of California’s greatest examples. Our favorites are:

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (do not confuse this with Stag’s Leap Winery as they are two different wineries) - Outstanding wines, great tour if available, and this winery is the winery that won the 1976 Wine Tasing of Paris (Judgement of Paris) where French wine critics chose American wines over French Wines in a blind tasting. This was really the event that put California on the wine map.
Robert Sinskey - Great wines and they do an outstanding lunch pairing here so you don’t need to find a restaurant if you can get in.
Chimney Rock - One of our favorites with outstanding big red wines.
Mumm Napa - This is a sparkling (Champagne style) winery so it may not be your favorite but we love to make it the last stop of the day as they have a large patio overlooking the Napa Valley with great sunset views.

Other great wineries in the area include ZD, Clos Du Val, and Odette if the first four are booked.

Coppola is cool, nice museum and buildings.
Chandon has a nice tasting room with view.
Mondovi does a good tour
Mumm is good.
Sterling up North has a gondola up to the top and nice view.

Vineyards: Duckhorn, Frank Family Vineyards, Sodero, Hall Wines, Cakebread

San Francisco: R&G Lounge in Chinatown