Review of Grayline's Wine Country Tour

Of the major day trips out of San Francisco, the one that I'd not done was a tour of Wine Country. So it was something I wanted to remedy for this trip. Since I'm not a comfortable driver, I decided not to rent a car. Instead I'd join a tour. I figured that I'd not care about the wineries I'd visit since I don't know anything about wines, but as it turned out, I didn't think that joining a Grayline coach tour was the best use of $68 (lunch extra and suggested minimum tip of $5 extra).

I opted for hotel pickup, so I was picked up from the hotel and driven to Fisherman's Wharf, where I paid and got on another coach. To my surprise, nearly every seat in the coach was taken. Where's the recession, I wondered?

We visited three wineries in Napa and Sonoma. If I remember right, the guide/driver said that Sonoma is about ten times the size that of Napa. Napa is the more glamorous: Robert Mondavi and the French Laundry are in Napa. Somewhere on the tour, I seemed to have picked up the factoid that an acre of land costs 500,000. Wine business is serious business.

The wineries we visited were Sutter Home, Madonna Estates and Viansa. And that's one problem I had with this tour. Since this was on a big coach tour, we couldn't go anywhere famous (though I kept hearing the names Mondavi, Grgrich, Sebastiani, Chandon, Taittinger, etc. -- it was cruel).

Sutter Home is in Napa. I think this was the winery that came up with the white zinfandel. Madonna Estates is an organic winery in Sonoma. I believe Viansa is connected to Sebastiani, but I'm not sure. Interestingly, this winery is currently ranked #7 in the Tripadvisor list of Sonoma attractions, though there are complaints there that this has gone downhill. The setting is quite stunning. The building is modeled after a Tuscan monastery, and there are picnic chairs and tables overlooking the vineyards. It was nice basking in the sun at the end of the day. While we were there, there was a wedding reception that'd take place later. Viansa wines are not distributed to stores but can be shipped.

At each winery we tasted a few wines, but sometimes to taste more unique wines we had to pay. I never paid for the extra tastings.

Late lunch (not included) was in downtown Sonoma. This area was actually worth visiting since there are an old misson and also old army barracks in a historical park area.

We took the Bay Bridge on the way out and the Golden Gate Bridge on the way in.

In retrospect I should have paid extra and gone with a smaller tour. I had picked up a brochure from a tour company in the Ferry Building that promised a tour that covered Domaine Chandon, Sattui, a picnic lunch, Rutherford Ranch, Andretti and a 50-minute cruise to San Francisco for 50 minutes. (The brochure differs from the website slightly.)

While at Sutter Home, I was browsing the Frommer's guidebook on wine country, and Sattui is recommended for its picnic grounds. Domaine Chandon is related to Moet et Chandon in France and its grounds are supposed to be wonderful. I felt crestfallen that I'd chosen the wrong tour, but well, there's always the next trip, and maybe I can even try to drive next time!

I haven't yet had the time to read up on the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" (no, this wasn't the apple of discord that launched one thousand ships, but it might have launched 1000 wine books). In the 1976 contest, according to our driver/guide, Californian wines were judged (gasp!) to be superior to French wines, and this put the Californian wines on the map. Mike Grgich is remembered as one of those whose wines emerged victorious in the 1976 judgment. Last I learned this somewhere on the tour, but I don't know if it's right either. Supposedly only 4% of the wines from California are from Napa and Sonoma. Central Valley actually dominates wine production.

Website for the wine country tour I should have taken (no, I do not make a commission from this link -- just fyi only):

http://www.winecountrytourshuttle.com/

easytraveler Drives 111op Through San Francisco

So I was fussing with trying to get free internet access in a shopping mall. I had left easytraveler my cellphone number, but I was still really surprised to get a call from her! She gave me a really great driving tour of the city.

We started off in SOMA at the Museum of the African Disapora and she drove on Embarcadero past the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf and the Marina. We got out at Fort Point and Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge. It turned out that I'd been to Crissy Field about two years ago. There are wonderful walking paths in this area.

San Francisco is full of abandoned military outposts. Battery Spencer north of the Bridge is one such area, and it affords amazingly close and postcard worthy views of the Bridge. This was new to me. Then afterwards we returned to San Francisco.

We went to the Cliff House that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. This area reminded me a little of Bondi in Sydney for some reason, but the waves in San Francisco were certainly more savage yet just as beautiful. The Cliff House was rebuilt and it also overlooks the ruins of Sutro Baths, a public bathhouse that was destroyed in a fire (in the 1960s?). We also stopped in Land's End, where there's a memorial to USS San Francisco with ravages of war in the scrap metal that were quite evident, and for the Legion of Honor. All these places were new to me.

In the Presidio, we stopped in the Letterman Arts Complex built by George Lucas, who participated in a renewal project by tearing down a hospital complex. Somewhere here you can spot Yoda from Star Wars.

Then there were the multimillion homes in San Francisco. I think Robin Williams may live somewhere on El Camino del Mar. And if you do a web search for "Obama" and "billionaire row" you'll discover that Obama visited a fundraiser somewhere on Broadway where both Getty and Ellison (from Oracle) have homes and where Obama's infamous quote that involved "bitter" and "clinging" was made. [I mention this not to start a political discussion, just that I found this interesting, so please keep politics off this thread. Thanks.]

We also passed Alamo Square with the couple of Victorians that get featured on postcards and in the TV series "Full House."

Finally we went to the observation tower of de Young Museum and lunch at the Cal Academy of Sciences. The de Young Museum is a newish building by Herzog and de Meuron (of Tate Modern fame). The copper skin was designed to rust and blend in better with the trees of the Park. The new Cal Academy is a building by Renzo Piano. It features an interior rain forest and a green roof. We had lunch in the cafeteria here and then afterwards we checked out the Aquarium and Foucault's Pendulum. Here a series of pins is knocked out by a swinging pendulum to demonstrate that the Earth rotates. Somehow this was new to me too (I'd heard of the Pendulum, but not how it worked).

Anyway, as I wrote before, easytraveler got me into both de Young and Cal Museum of the Sciences for free. Thanks again!

Ok, I'm about done now! I'll write about the two free walking tours and my walks through the city later. Please let me know if there are any questions I can answer.

Looking forward to the walking tours.

Wonderful report, so many ideas and experiences shared with all of us.
I am planning a trip next month, so will use all your inforamtion.
Just curious--did you do any special shopping? Or did you feel same stuff is sold everywhere?
Thanks again.

No, I didn't do any shopping. But to my surprise, I found a Richart in San Francisco. Richart is a chocolate shop from Paris. They used to have a shop in NYC near the St. Regis hotel, but that shop closed. Supposedly the only shops in the US now are in San Francisco and Boston.

I'm not a big fan of chocolates by Richart, but they are quite interesting and beautiful, so if you happen to walk past, do go inside and take a look. According to the web, the address is 393 Sutter (should be near Stockton).

Then there's the Ferry Building. I think that if you like food products, you'll find something to buy there.

Have a great trip!

Shopping

Many shopping areas prohibit chain stores - or at least they don't exist beyond maybe a Starbucks, BofA, Whole Foods, or Walgreens.
- Valencia Corridor - a recent squabble about American Apparel
- Hayes Valley
- Noe Valley
- Haight
- Fillmore in Pacific Heights
- North Beach

Some do allow chains
- Chestnut St
- Union St
- Union Sq/Westerfield Center
- Embarcadero Center

The only typical "shopping mall" is out in the Sunset at Stonestown on 19th ave.

Stu Dudley

If you like music and collect CDs, Amoeba may be a good place. It's quite well known. I tried to go to the one in the Haight, but unfortunately it hadn't opened for the day when I arrived and I had to move on to the Haight walking tour. I did visit the one in Berkeley.

I'm a classical music person, and it was interesting to browse. On the other hand, in terms of classical music, it's not necessarily better than Academy Records in NYC, for example.

I also found the SFMOMA gift shop a nice place. There were things there I don't think I saw anywhere else.

111op-Great report. I just now got back from 4 days in SF myself.
We (a party of 5) had a fantastic meal last night at Delfina. I think the experience was enhanced by an excellent, smart server, and the fact that we were able to order a large selection of food to share and taste.
One question- you listed Delfina among the Michelin starred restaurants at the top of your report. As far as I can tell, it does not have a star. Did I miss something?

Hi Kristina, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out. I'm not sure why I thought that.

I went to the lists I had from 2008 and 2009 (from Michelin's website) and Delfina doesn't have a star. Then I found a list from 2007 (not from Michelin) and it's not listed there either.

Range was on all three lists.

I stand corrected. Sorry about that.

Now I don't feel quite as decadent. And in my opinion, Delfina shouldn't have a star. Whether Range should have one is more debatable, I think. I think Michelin can have strange criteria with awarding stars.

In case anyone is waiting for the rest of the report, it's unlikely that I'll get back to it before the end of the week. I've some stuff I need to complete before the week is over.

For people interested in the Michelin ratings for SF, I've found this article from Michael Bauer written at the end of 2006:

http://tinyurl.com/cvkh2n

You can infer from the article that Delfina didn't have a star. The article mentions Zuni Cafe, which someone else mentioned also on this thread (and probably elsewhere).

I may be in the minority who think that Chez Panisse should get just one star. It was a nice experience, but personally I'd not give it 3 stars. Not that I am an expert, but I think that a 3* star restaurant is a different kind of restaurant from what Chez Panisse is.

111op-thanks, I thought I was going crazy. While our meal at Delfina was excellent on all counts, I agree, it's probably not "star" calliber. I work for a restaurant with a star and I know how hard they can be to get. Still, it was a consitantly good meal from start to finish. I'll be writing a report with all the details soon.

Great. I'll be sure to check your report and let my mouth water!

>>I may be in the minority who think that Chez Panisse should get just one star

Thanks for the SFMOMA update. I haven't been in quite a while--more than eight-nine months? It's a fun museum. I remember when LeWitt and his team were doing the murals in the musuem; I never got the impression they were to stay up even as long as they have.

Not a big fan of Fraenkel Gallery and will say no more about that. There's reportedly a good restaurant in the Cal. Academy of Sciences, the Moss Room. It's run by the same folks who do Coco500, which I have enjoyed a few times.

How lucky for you to have easytraveler as your guide. You hit all the scenic spots with little hassle.

So, when do we go to Musical Offering?

I'll give Chez Panisse four stars in the Michael Bauer system.

There's not much to say about Musical Offering, but it's always nice to come across a classical music store-cum-cafe with photography (albeit for sale) on the walls. I think it's on Bancroft Avenue. When I walked in there was early music, which I don't really like, but I'll forgive their tastes.

I don't know of a place like that in NYC.

I guess I've to wait until the weekend to finish up. To be honest I'd rather write a trip report than deal with this crap I need to deal with.

Walking in...

Berkeley

I arrived about an hour and a half before my dinner with my friend at Chez Panisse. I walked along Bancroft at the edge of campus and found a music store-cum-cafe called Musical Offering and walked inside and looked at their classical CDs. Some recommendations were interesting. I'd not been browsing record stores all that much in NYC lately as Tower Records had folded, and I don't make it to J&R near City Hall that often. There were a few Messiaen CDs issued in connection with the centennial of his birth, including a recent recital disc by Pierre Laurent-Aimard.

Next I went to Telegraph Avenue and went to Amoeba Records. I was browsing when my friend called to ask me to join him at Strada. There's outdoor seating at Strada, and I was telling him how nice I thought that SF weather had been. It's not always like this, he told me, but the worst of the rain seemed to be over. (I thought one hears of "April Showers"?) Anyway we sat for a while while enjoying the bohemian atmosphere and when it was time we drove to Chez Panisse.

Across the street from Chez Panisse is Cheeseboard Pizza. According to my friend, this pizzeria makes one kind of vegetarian pizza every day, and there are always people sitting on the traffic island/divider in the middle and eating their pizza.

Financial District

From Fodor's I had learned about a series of free walking tours given by volunteers. Based on my schedule I selected two. One was City Scapes and Public Spaces. This tour was interesting because it led visitors to hidden parks and rooftop gardens in a concrete jungle. I won't describe the tour in great detail (we visited about 15 of these places) but I'll mention a couple of things.

Link to Tour:
http://www.sfcityguides.org/desc.html?tour=11

First much of the Financial District was built on reclaimed land. Second many of these hidden places of respite were developed in connection with urban renewal. When taller skyscrapers were built, the city demanded that developers reserve open public spaces. However frequently there were no signs and people didn't know where to look or go. Still it was nice to see that these places exist.

I'd mentioned the Merchants Exchange Building in connection with Clyfford Still. What else made me remember this building was that I believe our guide said that Julia Morgan, who built Hearst Castle, had her offices in this building. So did Ansel Adams, if I remember right.

It's interesting looking up the history of this bulding. It's a sister of "Union Station in Washington, DC, the Reliance Building in Chicago, and the Flatiron Building in New York City." The Reliance Building (1890s) is remembered today as an important proto-skyscraper.

http://www.mxbuilding.com/history/index.php

Then I should mention two things not covered by the tour. One is the Palace Hotel, which actually survived the earthquake of 1906. I popped inside to take a look at the beautiful Garden Court. Speaking of hotels I should also mention the Hyatt Regency. The Wallpaper City guide for San Francisco includes this under the "Architour" section (the other locations, for the sake of completeness, are City Hall, de Young, California Masonic Memorial Temple and St. Mary's Cathedral). I liked the Charles Perry sculpture "Eclipse" and the futuristically bold building. I even had fun riding the elevators enclosed with glass with views of the interior a couple of times.

Garden Court of Place Hotel
http://www.sfpalace.com/Dining

Charles Perry's "Eclipse" sculpture
http://www.charlesperry.com/list/Eclipse.html

Finally as already mentioned, at the end of Market Street is the Ferry Building and there's also a stunning view of the waterfront and the Bay Bridge.

SoMA

There seems to be much active building in the area south of Market Street. Here one finds a few museums (SFMOMA, a new building for the Jewish Museum as designed by Daniel Libeskind, the Museum of African Diaspora (I didn't go there)) and the inviting Yerba Buena Gardens. This is also the site of the planned "Transbay Development" and future tallest building (1200 feet).

Transbay Development
http://tinyurl.com/dzas8c

Castro & Mission

The Castro and the Mission are close to each other. To get to the much praised bakery called Tartine on 18th and Guererro, I decided to visit Castro first. The recent movie on Harvey Milk has put Castro on the map again, but his camera shop (575 Castro) is now overtaken by a store selling home furnishings and decorations. When I went inside, I was surprised by how big it was. On the pavement outside of the store is a commemorative plaque.

I had lunch at Tartine. The sandwiches were quite expensive (over $10), so I settled on quiche, a (big!) cup of chai latte and a (big!!) slice of dark forest (?) chocolate cake that was just decadently rich. Tartine offered some communal tables, so in that sense it was a little like Le Pain Quotidien. But I guess I may be in the minority who can't figure out what the fuss is. But obviously it's a nice bakery.

Then I walked along Valencia Street. There's one particularly interesting stretch with Paxton Gate (this has a taxidermy theme), a pirates supply store purportedly started by Dave Eggers (of literary and McSweeney's fame), an arts cooperative (and as I found out later, the restaurant Range with one Michelin star) all next to one other on one side of the street. On the other side is a shop called Little Otsu that sells cute cards.

Unfortunately there was a sign on the pirates store that it was closed. The sign was actually quite amusing and ran on for a few sentences. I was reading and wondering if the inhabitants had really decamped somewhere to contemplate life (one of the indicated reasons for temporary closure) and thinking "sheesh!" (also noted on the sign). Then some guy just came out and said, "Oh, that's our way of saying that we're closed for inventory."

I also went to 24th Street, and then I went to Mission Dolores. While I hadn't planned on this initially, I had taken the Church Street streetcar, and it had passed Mission Dolores Park, so I jumped out and enjoyed the view. Then I figured that I'd just wander over to Mission Dolores.

It's been a while since I saw Hitchcock's "Vertigo," and I'd forgotten the grave scene, which was shot in Mission Dolores and also the oldest building in San Francisco. There's a $5 admission charge (which I paid) and this lets you inside to tour the basilica and the small cemetery (this may seem small, but supposedly there's a mass grave for 5000 here). Of course no one can forget the final haunting scene of "Vertigo," but alas, that was a different mission, as the woman who tended to the gift shop told me.

Finally, closer to Market is the Jack Hanley gallery (as mentioned).

Cable Cars and Lombard Street

Since the Muni passport gave me unlimited $5 cable car rides, I decided to take advantage of them. There are three cable car lines now. One runs east-west along California and two run north-south with both ending (or I guess starting, depending on your point of view) near Fisherman's Wharf. I took one line to the end and got off and walked to Lombard Street. Unfortunately I was climbing uphill to get to the crookedest street in the world. Then at the other end of Lombard, I waited for another cable car to take me south. The problem was that two cable cars passed me by before I could get on the third, so I got Delfina later than I wanted to. I think that that might have been the only time I actually felt annoyed during the entire trip.

Last installment coming up later... A final day of walking!

But I guess I may be in the minority who can't figure out what the fuss is. But obviously it's a nice bakery.

This trip report is incredible! Regarding Tartine, you didn't eat their bread or their brownies. That's obviously why you don't know what the fuss is about

Regarding the Hyatt Regency, the hotel opened just a few months after I moved here. It was a big big deal -- everyone going during lunch or after work to see what was then such a unique building! (Of course, I've worked next door for 10 years and before that directly across the street for 11 years, and I think I've been inside twice during that time!)

Thanks. Well I guess I'm not a big bread person, but I was thinking about the brownies. In any case, that slice of chocolate cake can feed 10 people!

I think the guide to the Haight Ashbury tour said that the Hyatt Regency (and the elevators) appeared in the movie "Towering Inferno." Supposedly they doubled up a 50+ storey SF building (sorry, I can't recall which one, but I'm sure someone here knows) to create that towering inferno.

I did a web search and Wiki claims the Hyatt Regency appears in the movie "High Anxiety" also (with Mel Brooks).

Too bad I don't use Netflix. Else I'd put all these movies + "Vertigo" on my Netflix queue. I'd seen all of them before, and I actually quite liked "High Anxiety." I guess it's the movie where the final scenes involve a Gilbert and Sullivan work.