We haven't been to California since 1975! We are going to a wedding in Palo Alto in the beginning of August, '04 and are planning to make our way down the coast to see family/friends in the LA area. We will have about 5 days to a week to drive down the coast. We want to go Highway 1 as we did "all those years ago", but are looking for suggestions on where to go, things to do...love wine & wineries, but I guess most of that is north of SF (?) Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you!

"...I guess most of [wineries] is north of SF (?)..."

Ummm, not really.

Moving north to south along Highway 1 (statistics are by county, year 2000 stats for COMMERCIAL wineries):

Mendocino 41
Napa 242
Sonoma 172

Marin 8
San Mateo 11
Santa Cruz 35
Monterey 23
San Luis Obispo 63
Santa Barbara 35
Ventura 7
Los Angeles 7
San Diego 11

The number is increasing every year. In addition, there are a lot of licensed producers who are not classified as "commercial" - hundreds and hundreds of those.

Five days is not very much time if you are planning to drink your way through all the 160 commercial wineries from Marin to San Diego County. Can't you schedule a bit more time? Like maybe a couple of months?

Hi KathyM

Easytraveler is right, there are a lot of great wine areas all the way down the state. I like the Central Valley wine country alot: Paso Robles area, Edna Valley/Arroyo Grande and Santa Ynez (Santa Barbara area). All these wine grower associations have websites and maps, I am sure. You could stay around San Luis Obispo or Pismo Beach, for example, and visit the great wineries in the Edna Valley. You could continue down 101 and hit the Santa Ynez area wineries and then end up in Santa Barbara. Lots of fun options and good wines.

It is not necessary to go to Napa or Sonoma to see great wineries in California. Near Palo Alto, in the San Jose/Silicon Valley area there are at least 50 different wineries. As other shave said, as you go down Highway 1 through Monterey and down to Santa Batbara, you'll find plenty of wineries to visit. On the way to Santa Barbara the Big Sur area is spectacular.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/me...bars-wine.html

http://www.santacruz.winecountry.com/index.html

http://www.scmwa.com/

Try these sites for more information regarding wineries in San Luis Obispo County:
www.slowine.com
www.pasowine.com

Thank you for your help! Now that I know there are so many options, I guess we need to choose -- I'm afraid we don't have a couple of months to drink our way down the coast! Any "favorite" wineries recommended? Any other "must sees" when we take a break from the wineries?

Hi Kathy! We just toured the Paso Robles area right before the earthquake. My favorites are:Eos, Peachy Canyon (wonderful red zin called Old Red), Martin & Weyrich and Meridian.

Lots of other great places, also. If you stay in Pismo, The Sea Venture Resort is very nice located directly on the ocean.

Morro Bay, The Inn at Morro Bay is a very nice luxury hotel. Have fun! ***kim***

You plan to take time away from the wineries???!!!

Do a search on this forum and you will find tons on recommendations.

Generally the suggestions are to stop off in Carmel/Pacific Grove/Monterey.

See the Big Sur coast: Point Lobos, stop off in Nepenthe (to eat or not to eat, either way is OK, just for the view), hike the easy trail to McVey Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, STAY ON THE ROAD.

Spend the night somewhere around Cambria for a visit to Hearst Castle.

See La Purisma Mission, probably the best restored of the California Missions. Near Lompoc.

Stop off in Santa Barbara (and admire the oil rigs offshore).

Get to LA before the traffic starts (3 am in the morning is a good time!)

Have fun! And search this forum!

There are a number of wineries in Carmel Valley, however not all have tasting rooms at the wineries. My favorite Talbott's is one such, it has tasting room in Carmel Valley Village not at the winery.

I agree w/Kim's suggestions for the Paso area wineries but would add to that list Eberle which has excellent wine and a beautiful setting. Nearer the city of San Luis Obispo in the Edna Valley are several good wineries as well including Edna Valley Winery, Domaine Alfred and Talley.