winegal

Any suggestions on free wine tastings? Taking my first trip to Napa/Sonoma area and love reds, especially merlot. Actually I would love any suggestions on food, wine, places to stay.

jtrandolph

Well, that is a little nonspecific. But here is my opinion.

BTW...I don't know about 'free' wine tastings...do they still do that?

Anyway, I sould suggest the Sonoma Valley. Napa has beocome a zoo. There are many good wineries in the Sonoma Valley...I think the website for the tourist agency is...sonomavalley.com. Not sure. Anyway they will send you a winery map and lodging information.

Personally, I like to stay on the Plaza in one of the historic adobe hotels...Sonoma Hotel, El Dorado, or Swiss Hotel. These have web sites. There are also good accommodations away from the Plaza...El Pueblo, Sonoma Valley Inn.

Upscale there is MacArthur Place and the Lodge at Sonoma.

There are many good restaurants here...The Girl and the Fig (maybe I don't have that quite right) The General's Daughter (because it is in the house that General Vallejo built for one of his daughters), and a new one, Sante, which I have not tried.

A couple of good wineries to try in the Sonoma Valley...the historic Buena Vista Winery where Count Agustin Haraszthy (sp)? planted the first Europeah grapes....Benzinger in Glen Ellen, and Kunde, on the way to Santa Rosa on Hwy 12.

Don't know who does merlot specifically, but if you can stand white, BV does a pretty good Green Hungarian.

Enjoy.

glowbug

We always stop at V. Sattui (http://www.vsattui.com/) when in Napa. Keep in mind that we are NOT wine connoisseurs. This place, which offers free tastings, is PACKED on the weekends. It also has a great deli.

Sonoma has more wineries with complimentary tastings than Napa does. As far as a quaint romantic little place to stay, we spent a night here for our anniversary a few years ago: http://www.glenelleninn.com/home.htm. We went in November and prices then are reasonable (comparatively speaking as Napa is VERY pricey on accomodations). The food at the restauarant was fantastic (I had the pumpkin soup and the Artichoke & Sonoma Jack Sourdough Melt for lunch ~ to die for!!!).

Cheers!

Budman

Here's a couple of links:

http://www.wineroad.com/
http://www.visitwineroad.com/

There are lots of great wineries in the Healdsburg area, Dry Creek/Russian River Valley. Most of the wineries do not charge for tasting.

LLindaC

I cannot stand V Sattui. It's packed even with KIDS! Cute concept, but loud, traffic, crowds, no thanks. Ya want food? Go to Viansa. You can make a whole meal just strolling around their gift shop tasting samples. There are many free tastings in Sonoma. In Napa, it was free, then started at 5 dollars, now many are 10 dollars. Skip Napa. Or do Opus One at 25 dollars. Their last batch got a 86 from Wine Spectator,LOL. There are many nice places to stay in Sonoma Valley or Mendocino County. I do NOT suggest you stay at Sonoma Hotel. The walls are paper thin, the traffic can be heard from every room as well as the noise from below at the Girl and Fig. The rooms are spartan and if it's cold or hot, good luck with the elements. Many nice B&B places- take a peek at luxurylink.com for some great off season deals.

yale

We really liked Cakebread's free tour. And loved Martini House for dinner.

LadyOLeisure

We loved the Sonoma (particularly Russian River area) wineries, and stayed in Healdsburg a couple of years ago. A friend of mine (who lived in Sacramento) says that the greatest concentration of fabulous food and wine in the US is in that area.

It was a shock to find out that "complimentary" wine tastings (or even $3-5 tastings) where the glass is even thrown in as a souvenir are NOT the custom in Willamette Valley, OR. I don't know why, but we are far more likely to buy a couple of bottles somewhere that you are given complimentary (or even low fee -- which are usually deducted if you buy a bottle as a result) tastings. We've bought cases that way at a couple of Virginia's premier wineries (Barboursville and Jefferson are our favorites).

We would have loved to have bought more than the two bottles we did in Oregon, but there the tastings were $10 and UP and you only got to taste three or four wines.

We didn't put together a whole case when we visited Sonoma (we did carry home half a case, and drank a couple bottles that we purchased during our vacation), but the wineries we visited certainly didn't waste their "tastings" on us.

If you are in the area, call ahead of time to Michel Schlumberger to schedule a tour. It is a gorgeous place, makes wonderful wines, and you will learn a lot from their tour about the various microclimates of the Russian River Valley.

capecodshanty

When you check into your Inn, hotel, etal, the desk clerk will have many cards for complimentary wine tasting in Sonoma. Benzinger was one of our favorites, and we also took a tour of the winery with one other couple, which was a highlight. Viansa is another that was fun- we found we could do three or four a day- more than that, we would not have been able to participate in at the Inn at Sonoma's wine and hordouvre's late afternoon gathering! Met some interesting people from all over the States, as well as Canada and Europe, and found new ideas of what to do the following day. Inn at Sonoma is a Four Sisters Inn, and we were very pleased with it's location (Within walking distance, about two blocks from the Square in the town of Sonoma) . They gave us excellent advice on restaurants. had a wonderful buffet breakfast in the morning, had complementary bicycles for ones use, large rooms with a gas fireplace in each, a hot tub on the roof, and fluffy terry robes in each room. Great stay!!

kimamom

We love the Sonoma Mission Inn and they have complimentary wine tasting in their gorgeous lobby in the late afternoon. It's just an amazing experience to stay here and you are sooo pampered. Our last stay in March we had one of the newly remodeled rooms with a wall of windows that overlooked the mineral pool and fountain.

Great places to dine in Sonoma are: the girl and the fig, the Swiss Hotel (out on the back patio) the Harmony Club @ the Ledson Hotel (very elegant and delicious) and our new find was the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville for a very fine dining experience.

In Kenwood, we enjoyed Dolce Lunas for the friendly service and the wok-seared calamari salad. Enjoy your trip and Cheers! ***kim***

crefloors

There are so many wineries in the Sonoma, Russian River area. I did the wine tour last January and there were 85 wineries on that tour..of course we hit all of them..yea, right!! but anyway, that didn't even scratch the surface. There a many small wineries that do not charge for tasting but remember, it's called TASTING. I have been in places where people have actually gotten a bit billigerant because they were poured a couple two or three finger worth of wine to "taste" and they didn't think it was enough. They just want to get loaded for free. If I am going to be going to quite a few wineries You need to just stop in at some of the places...they are everywhere, and you can get some really wonderful wines. The thing about going ONLY with recommendations is, the great 2003 Merlot that someone bought one year and just loved, may be sold out, and the 2002 or 2004 is not nearly as good. Different year, different weather, different harvest. Also, many of the smaller wineries do not sell in the stores, they just don't make enough wine. My brother was at the Harvest Festival a couple of weeks ago, and several of the wineries were presenting there and he found a Zin that he just fell in love with. The next day he went to the winery to get a case of it and they were totally sold out of it. So, have a little serendipity on your journey and you just might be pleasantly surprised. As suggested, get a map and sometimes there will be some information about the wineries..like do they specialize in reds etc. so you can kind of figure where you want to go.

LLindaC

I am planning our 4th trip right now....returning in April. Hoping kim, razzle and kal will hook up with us ;-) Forgot to mention the Harmony Club restaurant at Ledson Hotel- wonderful and great entertainment when we went. Also, same concept, small plates/tapas at Willi's Seafood in Healdsburg. A fun thing to do is to visit Wine Spectator online and do a little research on certain wines and regions. We've found some real bargains that way and discovered some cool wineries. We love Healdsburg as well- do NOT miss Rosenblum's tasting room. It will make you a zin lover for sure. If you get north as far as Geyserville, visit Cynthia at the old bank building which houses Meeker's tasting room. meeker has some incredible reds and the "tasting" itself will leave you, um, happy. Go there early and have a big lunch first.

beachbum

Linda, If you manage to get kim, Kal, and R5 into the same room together, I want to be a fly on the wall.

akrysh

Agree that Napa is too crowded and comercialized. Do not know any complimentary wine tastings there except V.Sattui. Sonoma is more "free tasting"-friendly (as it was mentioned in the previous posts). I personally prefer less known to the wide public Livermore area (approx. 40 miles east of San Fran). Traffic is not as intense as in Napa on weekends, wines are great and majority of the 20+ wineries there offer free tastings. My favourite winery is Fenestra where you will have an opportunity to taste some 10 great reds. Price for their wines is not too high and I always get out with a case. Stony Ridge offers great Merlot. Wente is also consistently good and if you want to have a nice dinner in a nice setting - go to their restaurant. I think these 3 wineries can keep you busy for the day. But if you want some more, I would also suggest Concannon for Petite Sirah, White Crane for Merlot and Cabs and Cedar Mountain for Ports.

Have fun!

bill_boy

Livermore wineries?

I have nothing against them, although, imho, they're not in the same league as Sonoma nor Napa wines. But let's be practical and realistic here - this area shouldn't even merit a consideration when one is planning to take a FIRST trip to the wine country.

Fodorite018

Beachbum--Who are you kidding? You would be like the rest of us and want a front row seat!

LoveItaly

Oh mms, LOL! I was thinking the same thing that beachbum wrote but then I read your post and thought "OH right, I want to RSVP for a front row seat also!"
Well, guess we will catch it from Kal and R5 now

crefloors

Re: Livermore wineries. Was there last week end. Concannon does some really good wine even though they were bought out by Wente. I like some of Fenestras also, did NOT like what I tasted at Wente. There are many new wineries opening but I haven't visited them yet.

ssm

Here is another vote against V.Sattui. Yes it is free to taste but it is not worth the $5 or so that you are saving. I have gone once and vowed never to return. The parking lot is packed with busses and the place itself has obnoxious tourists and kids (yes kids) running around. The deli food is just so-so (go to Oakville Grocery Store for good deli food).

I will agree with some of the other posters about seeing if your hotel/lodge has some complimentary tasting coupons. But in all honestly, I have found that the better wineries (at least in Napa) will charge you as you are drinking some of the better wines.

Duckhorn and Joseph Phelps come to mind when speaking of reds. I believe the tastings run $10 or $20 each. You will need reservations so vist their website and call ahead. If you go to the Andretti Winery, the tastings are free if you join their wine club. I have done it and have found it to be a good value (plus I got to meet Mario!).

Also, since this is your first trip to Napa, you should probably do Mondavi and Coppola. Both big tourist spots but nice places to see for the first time. I would recommend doing those before going to the other wineries mentioned above. You will see/feel a distinct difference in atmosphere.

razzledazzle

Any person on their first trip here
would do well to ask questions ad infinitum of his/her winery hosts about wine. That's where the best "free" info is. Listen and Learn.
It will make future experiences less about cost, or lack thereof.

Also, go ahead and like whatever you like as you taste. I'm sure Robert Parket is a fine fellow, and I know Dan Berger is,but
these fellows and their points know nothing about your likes and dislikes.
If you want to use some of their "Picks" as a place to start, that's fine. Just don't beleive their palate over your own. Taste is in the tongue of the beholder.

Finally, for goodness sakes, have fun
while you are touring and tasting.
And please,don't hesitate to call a cab if you have the slightest inkling you shouldn't be driving.

R5