California wine help
 

I'm heading to California for two weeks in about 10 days time. I'd like to see a Californian winery but don't like the idea of going to the mass tourist ones in the Napa valley. Has anyone got any advice?

There was a cool story on 60 minutes last night about the Italian family Antinori that has produced wine in Tuscany for about 500 years and 26 generations. They also produce wine in Napa now. Their California label is Antica. I'll bet that could be a good one to visit. They are newcomers to Napa, producing their first wines in 2007, so I'll bet they don't get swamped with visitors.

Look at this beautiful setting:
http://www.anticanapavalley.com/page.php?menu_pg_id=4

Are you looking to tour or taste ? My own personal preference would lead me to Sonoma, not Napa. There you will tend to find friendlier, more down to earth, approachable winemakers as well as more reasonably priced, great wines. I'm not big on tours but for some places that are not that well known & are special too me. Preston - the bread they make there is awesome. Ledson - the house/tasting room is out of this world. Quivera - very good wines, off the beaten path. Bonny Doon - the owner is a complete loon & very entertaining but makes some excellent wine. Armida - this character makes the wine 'Poizon'.

Where in California will you be? North, south, in between? Many areas to visit other than Napa which may be closer to your destinations.

MY

Yes - there are many wine producing regions of the state, so you don't have to limit yourself to Napa or Sonoma. Other areas are the Santa Cruz Mountains, Carmel Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Temecula, Sierra Foothills, Livermore Valley - I know I probably missed a couple, but you get the idea.

Another vote for wineries in Sonoma Valley. In Kenwood, I would recommend

- Chateau St. Jean (grand building, but not as touristy as Napa Wineries) www.chateaustjean.com

- Ledson (similar) http://www.ledson.com/

- Kaz (small, family-owned, personal) www.kazwinery.com/

There are many more: Deerfield Ranch, Family Wineries of Kenwood, Mayo, Blackstone, Kunde, Benziger...

A little farther north discover Dry Creek Road- wineries range from small, rustic to the palatial gardens and setting of Ferrari-Carano. Lots of good wineries (Alexander Valley, Russian River area) centered around Healdsburg, our favorite base.

http://www.russianrivertravel.com/wi...ycreekroad.htm

In addition to the recommendations already put forth, 10 days from now will not be a particularly crowded time as that would be only mid May. If you go to any area of the wine country on a non-weekend day - and may I include Fridays in the weeknd days to be safe - you should not have any issue with crowds. Avoid the area during the Memorial Day weekend which is the weekend of the 22nd through the 25th (see how I included Friday?) ;)

The Napa Valley Vintners' Association lists 344 wineries in Napa County. I'm sure you can find one or two that haven't been ruined by mass tourism. It would help if you described what wines you like and what you are looking for during your visit - i.e. Tour, Tasting, View, History, Bocce courts, etc.

Both Napa and Sonoma have a vast array of fine wineries that are among the best in the world. As Suzie says, avoid the weekends if possible but if you can't, just make sure you have reservations. You can still enjoy the Wine Country on weekends if you plan ahead and know how to dodge the traffic.

Definitely depends on what part of CA you're in, but from LA we do trips to Santa Barbara and Paso Robles a lot. Paso, I must say, is a lot of fun and probably wouldn't be as crowded as Napa or Sonoma.

What about Santa Cruz? GORGEOUS area, and TONS of wineries. These are not nearly as commercial as Napa/Sonoma, but still very good wineries. http://www.scmwa.com/wineries.htm

We were in Murphys recently and enjoyed the wineries very much.
No charge for tasting and no crowds!

An absolute wealth of excellent advice - thank you all so much for your help.

I prefer the Russian River Valley area. Here's a great website:

http://www.wineroad.com/

The Sierra Foothills are relatively undiscovered, Calavaras, Amador. El Dorado Counties, mostly small wineries off the beaten track, sometimes way off.