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Message
Best wineries to visit in Sonoma/Napa
Posted on 8/9/18 at 9:50 am
Posted on 8/9/18 at 9:50 am
Going out that direction in September.
I'm not a connoisseur or even an oenophile.
So I am really looking for the best experiences, not necessarily the best wine.
I'm going to post this on the travel board too. Different takes on things.
I'm not a connoisseur or even an oenophile.
So I am really looking for the best experiences, not necessarily the best wine.
I'm going to post this on the travel board too. Different takes on things.
16
Posted on 8/9/18 at 9:58 am to Tigertown in ATL
We just got back a couple of weeks ago. We stayed in Windsor, so were had access to Healdsburg, but we swung through Sonoma on the way out of SFO.
Domaine Carneros has a beautiful winery and an amazing view. Don't bother with the red flight tasting; it isn't worth drinking. Get the sparkling, it's what they are known for. Buy a bottle to take home. You can find their wines at home, but you cannot find the demi-sec or the Reve.
Domaine Chandon is not the best wine, but you can purchase a flight sampler or a bottle and sit under the oaks and have a really nice time. We found out one of the bartenders there has family form Opelousas and visits all the time.
Peju- You will learn a lot about wine (ask for Scott). The wine is fantastic, but the tasting is $75. Other are around $35.
Hog Island Oyster Company opened up a restaurant in Napa. It's not a cheap place to eat, but the food is amazing. My wife's uncle is the Owner/Oyster farmer.
If you go over to the Russian River Valley, I can give you more advice.
Domaine Carneros has a beautiful winery and an amazing view. Don't bother with the red flight tasting; it isn't worth drinking. Get the sparkling, it's what they are known for. Buy a bottle to take home. You can find their wines at home, but you cannot find the demi-sec or the Reve.
Domaine Chandon is not the best wine, but you can purchase a flight sampler or a bottle and sit under the oaks and have a really nice time. We found out one of the bartenders there has family form Opelousas and visits all the time.
Peju- You will learn a lot about wine (ask for Scott). The wine is fantastic, but the tasting is $75. Other are around $35.
Hog Island Oyster Company opened up a restaurant in Napa. It's not a cheap place to eat, but the food is amazing. My wife's uncle is the Owner/Oyster farmer.
If you go over to the Russian River Valley, I can give you more advice.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:04 am to Tigertown in ATL
I think questions like this probably go like asking someone the best breed of dog. We are all going to suggest the places we've been, but most of us have not been to nearly enough to know if they'r the best. 
That said, I loved Matanzas Creek if you're in the Santa Rosa area of Sonoma Valley. It is located on fields of lavender. I also went in September, so the lavender wasn't in bloom (that's in June) but it was still beautiful. We were the first people there for the day, so the grounds were completely silent. They had big chairs overlooking the hills to just take in the silence.
Did the wine and cheese tasting on their terrace overlooking the vineyard. Ending up falling in love with their Journey edition of Chardonnay, and we both hate chardonnay typically.
The other winery we went to was a group shuttle/walking tour deal, which I wasn't as into. The tasting at the end was indoors in a gift shop, and it just felt way too touristy.
That said, I loved Matanzas Creek if you're in the Santa Rosa area of Sonoma Valley. It is located on fields of lavender. I also went in September, so the lavender wasn't in bloom (that's in June) but it was still beautiful. We were the first people there for the day, so the grounds were completely silent. They had big chairs overlooking the hills to just take in the silence.
Did the wine and cheese tasting on their terrace overlooking the vineyard. Ending up falling in love with their Journey edition of Chardonnay, and we both hate chardonnay typically.
The other winery we went to was a group shuttle/walking tour deal, which I wasn't as into. The tasting at the end was indoors in a gift shop, and it just felt way too touristy.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:06 am to CoachChappy
Thanks!
We are staying in San Anselmo a little town between SF and Sonoma.
Just looking for a tour of the country and visiting a couple of places. So if going to the Russian River Valley is good, I'd be interested.
We only have 3 days total. We will probably only have one day for the wine country. My wife has never been to SF so we will spend 2 days there and in Muir Woods and Sausalito.
Sounds up our alley.
When someone asks my wife what kind of wine she likes I say "she only drinks red, white and sparkling."
So the experience is more important to us.
We are staying in San Anselmo a little town between SF and Sonoma.
Just looking for a tour of the country and visiting a couple of places. So if going to the Russian River Valley is good, I'd be interested.
We only have 3 days total. We will probably only have one day for the wine country. My wife has never been to SF so we will spend 2 days there and in Muir Woods and Sausalito.
quote:
I think questions like this probably go like asking someone the best breed of dog. We are all going to suggest the places we've been, but most of us have not been to nearly enough to know if they'r the best.
quote:
Matanzas Creek
Sounds up our alley.
When someone asks my wife what kind of wine she likes I say "she only drinks red, white and sparkling."
So the experience is more important to us.
This post was edited on 8/9/18 at 10:09 am
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:07 am to Tigertown in ATL
If you're only going for the experience go to Sterling. Average at best wine but it's a cablecar ride up to the plateau and the views are also.
Smith-Madrone has some great whites up on Spring Mountain. The views up there are incredible. You'll need an appointment.
These are both Napa vineyards.
Smith-Madrone has some great whites up on Spring Mountain. The views up there are incredible. You'll need an appointment.
These are both Napa vineyards.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:09 am to Tigertown in ATL
We enjoyed Domaine Carneros and Cakebread.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:10 am to Tigertown in ATL
For great views, go to William Hill, Sterling, or Stags Leap Winery (not stags leap wine cellars)
Also great view and really good wine is at Robert Mondavi. The tour is really cool as well. They don’t make the cheap shite there, it’s all good stuff and a lot of winery only stuff.
Charles Krug was my favorite tasting. Great wine and you chill inside and just relax. They bring wine to you, explain everything about it, then you taste. They come back every 15 or so minutes.
Castello di Amorosa is a beautiful castle with great wine. Silver Oak is great wine, but more of a wine bar feel. You just walk up, grab what you want, then wander around the gift shop and outdoor courtyard. Not much else to it
The best wine, although I’m biased, was at Orin Swift in downtown St Helena, but the tasting is super rushed. You’re just at the bar and they go through 8 or so wines in 20 minutes tops. I had a huge buzz after leaving there. Right across the street is cook tavern and pizzeria that was really good for beers and pizza. We sat there for a couple hours waiting for our next appointment.
Also great view and really good wine is at Robert Mondavi. The tour is really cool as well. They don’t make the cheap shite there, it’s all good stuff and a lot of winery only stuff.
Charles Krug was my favorite tasting. Great wine and you chill inside and just relax. They bring wine to you, explain everything about it, then you taste. They come back every 15 or so minutes.
Castello di Amorosa is a beautiful castle with great wine. Silver Oak is great wine, but more of a wine bar feel. You just walk up, grab what you want, then wander around the gift shop and outdoor courtyard. Not much else to it
The best wine, although I’m biased, was at Orin Swift in downtown St Helena, but the tasting is super rushed. You’re just at the bar and they go through 8 or so wines in 20 minutes tops. I had a huge buzz after leaving there. Right across the street is cook tavern and pizzeria that was really good for beers and pizza. We sat there for a couple hours waiting for our next appointment.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:12 am to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
I'm not a connoisseur or even an oenophile.
Nor am I, so take my endorsement with a grain of salt. We went to Quintessa when we were in the area. It was a great experience. My oenophile mother says the wine was very good. I enjoyed the wine, too, but my palate is geared more towards beer.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:12 am to LouisianaLady
quote:
The other winery we went to was a group shuttle/walking tour deal, which I wasn't as into. The tasting at the end was indoors in a gift shop, and it just felt way too touristy.
That’ll be most of them, especially the big ones.
Spring for the VIP whenever possible. You’ll taste better wines and get more involved/private tours. Most are affordable, under $100 a person.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:12 am to Tigertown in ATL
I went a while back...maybe 10 years ago.
Trefethen was small but nice. Beringer had caves which was cool. Sterling vineyards had the tram which provided some bad arse views. I've heard of a wine train tour that could be fun.
Trefethen was small but nice. Beringer had caves which was cool. Sterling vineyards had the tram which provided some bad arse views. I've heard of a wine train tour that could be fun.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:19 am to Tigertown in ATL
I'll give you a mix based on my experiences. We'll start with the experiences first.
Sterling is a good winery to visit. Nice gondola ride and good views. You walk from station to station trying the wines. Good place for first time visits to Napa area. No reservation needed.
Castello di Amorosa is another cool place to visit. It was built by the owner of V. Sattui using materials from Italy and built with the same techniques used in the past. Get a tour that includes some chocolate pairings. Not the greatest wine but a fun experience. No reservation really needed from what I remember.
V. Sattui is a good stop for lunch and wine if you're a big drinker. Get a tasting to split with your wife/SO/travel buddy. Find something you like and buy a bottle. Then go grab some food from their market and eat at a picnic table outside and drink wine. One of the only wineries that can sell hot food. Not great wine, but I enjoyed taking an hour or two to relax outside in nice weather eating and drinking.
I haven't been, but I've heard that Beringer has a great tour for people new to wine.
B Cellars was a great visit. We made a reservation for a tour that included lunch. It was expensive, but well worth it. I highly recommend this for a lunch visit.
Robert Sinskey was another cool experience. We got a tour that took us down into the caves where we had a pairing of wines and a charcuterie plate. Wine flowed freely and the food was good. Good enough to serve as a lunch stop if you want.
Del Dotto has two (maybe three now) locations. This was a great tour to end the day as they poor a lot of wine. You walk through the caves trying wines out of the barrel. You will try the same grape at different aging times and methods to see the differences in taste. Really cool. Then you end with snacks in the lobby (Pizza and other hand foods). I liked this a lot.
If you like port wine, there is only really one place that specializes in ports: Prager. A small place with good ports. Worth a stop if this is your thing.
As far as good wineries for product there are a ton of choices. Some that I liked:
Pride was cool. On the Sonoma and Napa border, so they have to keep all of the grapes/wine separate until they are taxed. Then they can be combined. Was told Joe Montana loves this place.
Alpha Omega had great wine.
Frank Family was a big hit.
Stag's Leap and Frog's Leap were nice.
Ladera was off the beaten path and nice.
There are the universal favorites like Cakebread, Caymus, Opus One, Silver Oak, ect.
A good start to the day is a place specializing in whites. Easier to drink at 10am. Domaine Carneros and Mumm Napa were good experiences. On the first day I would hit Domaine Carneros as the first stop. Start day 2 with Mumm Napa. Just a nice way to ease into drinking.
I would also encourage you to look into some drivers for the trip for at least a day. Nice not to have to worry about driving. And you can see some wineries that most people won't know about. A good driver will work you before to put together a good itinerary based on what you want.
Sterling is a good winery to visit. Nice gondola ride and good views. You walk from station to station trying the wines. Good place for first time visits to Napa area. No reservation needed.
Castello di Amorosa is another cool place to visit. It was built by the owner of V. Sattui using materials from Italy and built with the same techniques used in the past. Get a tour that includes some chocolate pairings. Not the greatest wine but a fun experience. No reservation really needed from what I remember.
V. Sattui is a good stop for lunch and wine if you're a big drinker. Get a tasting to split with your wife/SO/travel buddy. Find something you like and buy a bottle. Then go grab some food from their market and eat at a picnic table outside and drink wine. One of the only wineries that can sell hot food. Not great wine, but I enjoyed taking an hour or two to relax outside in nice weather eating and drinking.
I haven't been, but I've heard that Beringer has a great tour for people new to wine.
B Cellars was a great visit. We made a reservation for a tour that included lunch. It was expensive, but well worth it. I highly recommend this for a lunch visit.
Robert Sinskey was another cool experience. We got a tour that took us down into the caves where we had a pairing of wines and a charcuterie plate. Wine flowed freely and the food was good. Good enough to serve as a lunch stop if you want.
Del Dotto has two (maybe three now) locations. This was a great tour to end the day as they poor a lot of wine. You walk through the caves trying wines out of the barrel. You will try the same grape at different aging times and methods to see the differences in taste. Really cool. Then you end with snacks in the lobby (Pizza and other hand foods). I liked this a lot.
If you like port wine, there is only really one place that specializes in ports: Prager. A small place with good ports. Worth a stop if this is your thing.
As far as good wineries for product there are a ton of choices. Some that I liked:
Pride was cool. On the Sonoma and Napa border, so they have to keep all of the grapes/wine separate until they are taxed. Then they can be combined. Was told Joe Montana loves this place.
Alpha Omega had great wine.
Frank Family was a big hit.
Stag's Leap and Frog's Leap were nice.
Ladera was off the beaten path and nice.
There are the universal favorites like Cakebread, Caymus, Opus One, Silver Oak, ect.
A good start to the day is a place specializing in whites. Easier to drink at 10am. Domaine Carneros and Mumm Napa were good experiences. On the first day I would hit Domaine Carneros as the first stop. Start day 2 with Mumm Napa. Just a nice way to ease into drinking.
I would also encourage you to look into some drivers for the trip for at least a day. Nice not to have to worry about driving. And you can see some wineries that most people won't know about. A good driver will work you before to put together a good itinerary based on what you want.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:21 am to Tigertown in ATL
Also on the TB.
Wineries:
Best experience we had the whole time was at Stags' Leap (plural Stags not singular Stag's Leap... 2 different spots). Splurge for the 90 minute estate tasting. Fascinating history, get to try like 5 different wines, the wines are all excellent which is a nice bonus. Nicest grounds I visited and they loved our group so much they opened up a 1992 syrah for us to try. It was incredible.
If going to Sonoma, I loved Nicholson Ranch and Petroni Vineyards (California wine with Italian roots... in a cave on the mountainside).
Also in Sonoma: Buena Vista, which is now owned by some french guy. The bubbles room there is ridiculous. Amazing wines including a true champagne with grapes from Champagne, France. bizarre setup with lots of leopards and chandeliers. Sounds weird, but it was so cool because it was such a different experience
Skip Duckhorn, too overpopulated, but go to Paraduxx.
Wineries:
Best experience we had the whole time was at Stags' Leap (plural Stags not singular Stag's Leap... 2 different spots). Splurge for the 90 minute estate tasting. Fascinating history, get to try like 5 different wines, the wines are all excellent which is a nice bonus. Nicest grounds I visited and they loved our group so much they opened up a 1992 syrah for us to try. It was incredible.
If going to Sonoma, I loved Nicholson Ranch and Petroni Vineyards (California wine with Italian roots... in a cave on the mountainside).
Also in Sonoma: Buena Vista, which is now owned by some french guy. The bubbles room there is ridiculous. Amazing wines including a true champagne with grapes from Champagne, France. bizarre setup with lots of leopards and chandeliers. Sounds weird, but it was so cool because it was such a different experience
Skip Duckhorn, too overpopulated, but go to Paraduxx.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:23 am to Dave Worth
quote:
I would also encourage you to look into some drivers for the trip for at least a day. Nice not to have to worry about driving. And you can see some wineries that most people won't know about. A good driver will work you before to put together a good itinerary based on what you want.
Yea drivers are great to help find places to go, but if you don’t go that route, Uber was perfect when I went back in April. Never had any issues, always about 5 minutes away from wherever we were.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:26 am to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
Just looking for a tour of the country and visiting a couple of places. So if going to the Russian River Valley is good, I'd be interested
There are a ton of paces within 5 minutes of Healdsburg and some in Healdsburg itself. If you want the most bang for your buck in wine country, you can do a lot of wineries in 1 day. J, Jordan, Williamson in Healdsburg, Shelby in Healdsburg not the best but if you are in town its a quick little bar tasting, there is a brewery there as well. Seghesio, Alexander Valley Wineries is not far.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:26 am to AbitaFan08
quote:
they loved our group so much they opened up a 1992 syrah for us to try. It was incredible.
I think that’s part of the tasting, but they don’t say it. They opened a 1991 for us and we weren’t particularly fantastic as a group.
quote:
but go to Paraduxx.
Good Wine, but more of a brewery feel IMO. Cornhole set up and all.
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:28 am to TH03
quote:
I think that’s part of the tasting, but they don’t say it. They opened a 1991 for us and we weren’t particularly fantastic as a group.
Well then they liked us enough to lie to us and make us feel special. Either way, good place to go!
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:38 am to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
So I am really looking for the best experiences, not necessarily the best wine.
OK, then I will scale back
One of the best overall experiences I had was at Beringer, just a great tour.
LINK
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:48 am to Tigertown in ATL
Duckhorn
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:49 am to Dave Worth
quote:
Del Dotto
I've been a couple times now and nothing has topped their cave tour.
Just got back 3 weeks ago and De La Montanya is a new favorite. The best reds across the board I've had in some time. You can also customize your shipments if you join the wine club (free)
Del Dotto (cave tour)
Peju
Frank Family
Trentadue
Delectus
If you love Pinot Noir go to a tasting at WALT wines.
This post was edited on 8/9/18 at 11:08 am
Posted on 8/9/18 at 10:52 am to List Eater
quote:
cave tour.
Do you do Jarvis?
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