wine trip

I went in August a few years ago to Willamette. Absolutely amazing. At least one day, get a driver and ask them to take you to some off the beaten path stops. We stayed at the Allison. Highly recommend it.

ETA: I don’t know much about the seasonal times.

They both are great areas, but different. I’d say the fact oregon is better later in the year would influence my decision. If that doesn’t bother you, you can still have a great time.
We stayed at the Allison Inn in Willamette. Stayed a couple of nights in Pacific City on the coast too. It was the end of July when the the Pinot noir conference occurs and was a great time of year to visit oregon.
Sonoma/Napa has a larger variety of wines, places to eat, and things to do. Generally we stay in Yountville in Napa and try to switch up where we stay in Sonoma. Be sure to eat lunch it is a rookie mistake not to do so. We usually have the driver pick up Oakville Grocery.
For first trips I suggest variety of places: sparkling tour, cave tour, high end place, not so high end place, etc. Book places well in advance. We try to hit Auberge du Soleil for sunset dinner when in Napa and that would be a good birthday dinner spot.
Sonoma trip we always include a trip to El Molino Central and Repris.
When you decide where you want to go, do a search for vineyards here. This board has fairly solid recommendations for places: Vineyard 7&8 and Caldwell were great experiences we found on here.

Sonoma is cheaper to stay in than Napa. Save a ton of money that way. Use Sonoma as a base to visit Napa. Make sure to see Caymus vineyards. LINK

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Hearst Castle is close by.

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. I have been there before but when we were there in September Hearst Castle was closed not because of COVID but because of mudslides on the road going up to it.

Wife and I did a road trip this past year partially encompassing a week in Santa Rosa visiting Russian River/Sonoma Coast wineries early May and about three weeks in Newberg visiting Willamette through June. I think everyone is on par about the weather - March isn't the best time to visit either place, but Sonoma/Napa may be your best option in March. WV will probably still be pretty cold.

For Sonoma, Healdsburg was a cool town with nice dining options all around. Sebastopol was a cool town as well with a great outdoor market. I really enjoyed the relaxed vibe of wineries around Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast ingrained in the hills and forests. I believe RRV/SC are quite a bit different than Sonoma Valley, in particular Napa, style and vibe wise. We focused mainly on Pinot Noir which led into Chardonnay and Syrah, as well. We went to one vineyard, Porter Creek, where we literally tasted out converted shed. Let me know if you want more information on wineries in this area; I did a good bit of research visiting Freeman, Littorai, etc. Davis Family Vineyards was a great producer in Healdsburg.

For Willamette, I fell in love with this region and Oregon as a whole. It's absolutely beautiful from the coast, to the wineries/vineyards, and state parks and volcanoes that surround. I'm not sure on your familiarity of Willamette, but the main focus here is fantastic Pinot Noir, with surprisingly good Chardonnay, and other styles that expand beyond. I have a post some months back of wineries during our visit. Willamette Valley Recap. We stayed in Newberg at an Airbnb near downtown and George Fox University. The Allison would be your splurge, but there are tons of bed and breakfast's scattered throughout the valley and in the country. Another option is downtown McMinnville - McMenamins Hotel and 3rd Street Flats I remember being recommended. Last thing, in downtown Newberg there's a really great wine shop, Valley Wine Merchants, and the owner Andrew (super welcoming guy) has a vacation home for rent near there. It's available on the website under "Cottage". **I did not stay there and have no financial investment, other than wine, with the shop**

Also, Wineberserkers.com is a forum that was very helpful and generous in understanding the area. They're very pretentious on wine, but LOADS of quality info. Use them for research on all things wine country - restaurants, vineyards, hotels, etc. You can't go wrong with either choice, but I believe WV provides a larger variety of activities outside the wine region. However, I have bias.

Don't forget to consider Santa Barbara. If you enjoy cool climate Rhone-style wines, this is a great visit.

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Visit Pride.

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Yep. And if you're already going to be up on Spring Mountain, hit 7&8 and Lakoya. That's a solid arse day.