crich

Hi,
Looking for advice, warnings, etc based on the following mid-September itinerary for 2 couples:

4 nights Farmhouse Inn, Forestville
3 nights Packard House, Mendocino
3 nights 1801 First, Napa

Restaurant recommendations, "must see/ must do", and especially wineries (prefer smaller, lesser know). Thanks!!

kimamom

The Farmhouse Inn has an excellent restaurant, I would definitely dine here at least once during your stay at the inn. We had an amazing meal this past March at Cyrus in Healdsburg, a real "wow" factor place.

In the Napa area, we stayed in Yountville at the Villagio and enjoyed meals at Redd and Ad Hoc in Yountville. Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helenas was very nice for lunch.

Don't miss a visit to Copia in Napa, there is also Julia's Kitchen there that is supposed to be very good. Have fun! ***kim***

boom_boom

Farmhouse is indeed excellent, both lodging and food. A good choice! No experience with the others. North of Healdsburg try Ridge Lyton Springs Winery. Also, Richoli(sp?) on Westside Road out of Healdsburg and Alderbrook. Near Forrestville, check out Iron Horse, but I think you need appointments. En route to Mendocino, Narrow Vineyards and Roederer Estates, both right off Highway 128 the far side of Philo. Another excellent Healdsburg restaurant ius "Zin" and in Forrestville, if still there, Chez Marie.

BarbaraJ

Other restaurants close to the Farmhouse Inn are the Applewood Inn and River's End. The Applewood Inn has an excellent five course tasting menu. River's End is in Jenner, where the Russian River runs into the ocean. The sunsets over the ocean are spectacular.

If you'd like to take a break from the wineries, I would suggest a drive up the coast to Fort Ross. Also a visit to Armstrong Woods in Guernville. When we were there last month we drove up the coast after the wineries closed and then stopped at River's End for dinner. It was perfect, with the sun setting about the time we were having coffee and dessert.

For wineries in the Russian River Valley area, try the Hartford Family Winery for a great Zin and other nice wines. They are close to the Farmhouse Inn. Gary Farrell has okay wines, but the view from their tasting room is spectacular - well worth the visit. Up the road is Porter Creek. The winery is basically a garage, but they have some nice wines. We liked their Viogner, but they were almost sold out when we were there. Pedroncelli and Ferrari-Carano are north of Healdsburg and worth visiting. Pedroncelli has some nice wines at very reasonable prices. Ferrari-Carano is beautiful - definately walk through the gardens.

Consider picking up lunch at the Center Street Cafe in Healdsburg and heading for one of the wineries for a picnic lunch. Lambert Bridge Winery is a nice place for that.

Also, if you want to ship wine back home check out Fitch Mountain Packers in Healdsburg. We got a sampling from various wineries and took it there to be shipped home (handy considering we live in a state with restricted shipping).

Enjoy your trip!

BarbaraJ

crich - Also ask the people at the Farmhouse Inn for winery recommendations. We stayed at the Applewood Inn and they not only gave us great suggestions, they also told us who would waive tasting fees if we mentioned the Inn (or gave us cards to give the wineries). We made it a point to mention where we were staying and often the tasting fee was waived.