vclacherty

Hi Fodorites,
I am coming to CA next week for a 15 day vacation with my family. we are flying into LA, driving up to Santa Barbara for one night, spending two nights in Monterey, and then spending 3 nights in San Fran before heading up to Oregon for a few days. I am hoping to go wine tasting at some point on our way or when we are in San Fran. i came across this website for a "Sonoma Passport" (http://sonomapassport.com/) - is it worth getting something like this? how should we plan out our tour? we are likely going to take an afternoon when we are at SF and drive to Napa and/or Sonoma so any recommendations would be appreciated. and if anyone has gotten a pass such as this and suggests it, please let me know. thanks!

newtome

two things
- your link doesn't work as it has an extra /) after it. Correct link is
www.sonomapassport.com

- If you will be staying in Sonoma, most of the hotels and B and B's offer a reduced yet generous version of the passport for free and that's all you'd need.

Rastaguytoday

Here are a couple of very good links, complete with maps.

http://sonoma.com/

http://www.sonomawine.com/visit-our-wineries

Also, if you haven't booked a hotel yet, check out the Glen Ellen Inn. http://www.glenelleninn.com/

Their "secret" cottages are nicer than most hotel rooms.

vclacherty

we are staying in a house we rented in San Fran so our wine tasting trip will just be an afternoon thing. thanks for the website suggestions!

travelgourmet

If you have a Visa Signature, you might be able to get the same benefits without spending the extra money.

Otherwise, $59 doesn't seem like a bad deal if you find at least 5+ wineries on the list that you want to visit. It also depends a bit how much you typically buy while tasting - if you tend to buy at most of the places you visit, you might find that the fees would be waived anyway.

NewbE

<if you tend to buy at most of the places you visit, you might find that the fees would be waived anyway.>
Exactly.

Shar

that would be a lot of wine tasting to pay for itself. You almost feelyou HAVE to taste 5 wineeries to break even. I find 3-4 is plenty especially if you have a long drive back to the City. Most will wave the fee if you buy so I don't think it is a good deal. My DH and I generally visit and taste a couple of wineries and then end up sharing the 3rd or 4th winery and thereby payng for only 1 as we really only want a sip to taste at that point. too much to drink and then drive.....

travelgourmet

too much to drink and then drive.....

I spit when tasting so hitting 5 or so wineries in a day isn't a huge deal.

vclacherty

Great advice! thank you all.