I am stopping over the westcost on my way back to New York from Asia late July. I've been to San Francisco many times but never the wine country so I would love to use this opportunity to explore!

I will be arriving at the airport at about 8pm. I am thinking I'd drive out to the wine country, stay over night, spend Saturday exploring and leave Saturday night (Would there be any restaurant still open when I get to the Wine Country?)

I would really appreciate some help with deciding where to go and where to stay given my limited time. There are so many options that I am a bit overwhelmed.

My budget is pretty flexibe. Willing to spend up to $300 for the night for a nice place -- although I wonder since I won't get much time to enjoy the hotel/inn, maybe I should get a cheap place instead? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!!

I would book a room asap--it's summer and everything tends to fill up. Your 8pm arrival--is that landing, clearing customs, or IN the rental car? Best case scenario is that you are in the car at 8pm, it's going to be at least 2 hours to get to "wine country" and, no, nothing would be open that late. Why not stay at an airport hotel and get a fresh start in the morning?

Dear amy:

Good advice above, plus most places require a 2 night minimum on weekends. Driving would also be easier the next morning after a good nights sleep.

MY

Thanks for the response!

I would expect to be in a rental car by 8:30pm. Not a huge fan of airport hotels though. Would it make sense to stay in San Francisco and get some late night food?

For Saturday, what would be a good route to take to see the wine country?

Staying in the city is a good option--in fact, take BART from the airport to your hotel and pick the car up (arrange for downtown pickup with rental company) the next morning--no parking fees!

Thanks!

Fodor's recommends visiting the following wineries:

- Historic Buena Vista Winery at Sonoma
- Beringer Vineyards at St. Helena
- Clos Pegase Winery at Calistoga

Any thoughts?

It is summer and Napa will be really busy (Beringer and Clos Pegase)--I would recommend Sonoma--it's closer, less crowded. Buena Vista is near downtown Sonoma--lots of great restaurants--could head up Hwy 12 for more wineries.

You will miss Friday night traffic out of SF since you are coming in so late. I think in Healdsburg the restaurant Barn Diva is open until 11 pm or midnight. I'm sure either hotel Healdsburg, Mars Hotel or Madrona Mannor in Healdsburg can accommodate your late arrival. However, if you've had a long flight from Asia, are you sure you want to spend 2 more hours getting to Healdsburg..or any where in the wine country? I'd stay near the airport and head up early Sat. Morn. If you have trouble booking for one night only try www.sonomacountyvacations.com It probably will
be less than $300. but they should be able to find you a one night rental.

2 great wineries to visit in Sonoma:

Benziger
http://www.benziger.com/
An amazing tour and they were just on the cover of Wine Spectator

Imagery
http://www.imageryestatewinery.com/
Part of Benziger; smaller, great artist series

As for food, “the girl & the fig” in the ground floor of the vintage Sonoma Hotel is always good!

With your limited time, it would be to your advantage to limit your visit to the Sonoma Valley. That give you over 44 wineries to choose from in its 18 mile length. Note that Calistoga is in the Napa Valley, and Healdsburg is not in the Sonoma Valley but in Sonoma County, north of Santa Rosa.

I think you would find historic Buena Vista interesting. This is where the man whose name I can never spell...Haraszthy ?...brough the first wine grape cuttings to California from Europe. The winery itself is a charming small stone one. Benziger, as mentioned before, is in the charming community of Glen Ellen. Imagery, as mentioned by someone else, also has good revoews. In Kenwood, the Kunde Estate Winery has tunnels in the limestone mountain for storing its barrels which was dug using the same technology as the Chunnel between England and France.

Since there is almost always a 2-night minimum stay you should probably drive to Sonoma that night, getting womething to eat on the way.

In the town of Sonoma you might be interested in the El Dorado Hotel, an historic adobe on the Plaza. If you can get one of the two front rooms, they have balconies overlooking the Plaza. Otherwise, the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn is walking distance from the Plaza and has a courtyard with pool and spa. A mile or so north on the Highway is El Pueblo Inn, whose two buildings have a nice garden between them, also a pool here.

There seems to be a strong Sonoma bent on this board so I will offer the contrarian view.

If you only have one day and have never been to the wine country, you should see the Napa Valley. I would recommend staying in San Francisco and getting your car the next morning. The best way to get to Napa is by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and driving north on 101 to Hwy 37 and following the signs for Sonoma and Napa. If you try to do that the night you arrive and are not familiar with the route, it can be very frustrating negotiating the city streets to get to the bridge.

When you arrive in Napa, head north on Hwy 29 to Yountville and Oakville. Stop and tour a winery. I'd recommend Domaine Chandon in Yountville or Robert Mondavi in Oakville since it's your first time and a tour will give you some background about the Valley.

After that head north through Rutherford and St. Helena. There are dozens of famous wineries and historic buildings to see right on the highway.
Work your way up to Calistoga and stop for lunch. Maybe eat outside on the patio at the Calistoga Inn.

After walking a little around Calistoga, drive through town to the Silverado Trail and begin heading south. The Silverado Trail has lots of scenic vineyard views and there are a number of impressive wineries along here as well. Once you are back in Napa, just head south on Hwy 29 to Vallejo and then get on I-80 which will take you back to SF and then continue on Hwy 101 to the airport.

Of course if you have any favorite wines, make sure to stop at those wineries but stopping at three or four is probably all you can do. You only have a day, so you want to see as much of the Valley as you can.

Sonoma and Healdsburg are great but they are not the Napa Valley.

Hi Amy,

I also prefer Napa to Sonoma. This being your first visit to the area, you could do a tour of a winery to learn more about how wine is made and visit the caves where the barrels are stored. I found a good map online of Napa wineries which will come in handy as you plan your trip so that you're not driving up and down the region looking for specific tasting rooms: http://napavalley.com/visitorsinfo/N...Winery_Map.pdf

Some of our favorites are: Silver Oak, Flora Springs (next door to Dean & Deluca so you can grab some food and enjoy it w/ your wine outside), and Duckhorn (reservations in advance).

Since you will be visiting late July, you have time to make dinner reservations. Ad Hoc and Mustard's Grill are both excellent.

Enjoy your trip!

If I were you I would spend a little less on a hotel/motel and used the money you have saved on the room to buy some nice wine. (Unfortunately, you are going in peak season, when lodging is especially pricy.) When you get to the wineries ask if you can purchase some styrofoam packaging for wine bottles (usually they sell these for single bottles or for six bottles). You can fit one or two of these into your checked suitcase or you can just check the six bottle pack in a cardboard box by itself (wineries will usually sell you the styrofoam six bottle shipper with a cardboard box). Because it would be a shame to taste some extraordinary wine and then not be able to take it back to the East Coast. Plus, many wines are difficult to find in the stores, or are only sold at the winery or in restaurants. I am not familiar with New York's wine laws but, alternately, the wineries might be able to ship wines to you. However, don't buy any wine to carry with you unless you know you will be able to pack it safely into your checked baggage or as an extra bag in and out itself (for instance, will you be able to check an extra bag without paying more?)
Do you have a favorite type of wine or favorite wineries? This might help you decide whether to go to Napa or Sonoma.
Will you be able to sleep on the flight from Asia to SF? Because if you are tired it would be unwise to drive all the way to the wine country, though after 8 p.m. the traffic eases considerably--still, you are not familiar with our northern California roads. The roads to Sonoma town can be particularly dicey at night, if you don't know what to expect (though recent improvements have made the roads considerably safer.)
Napa has great wine, but so does Sonoma. I think the area around St. Helena (in Napa County) is beautiful, but I also think Sonoma town (in Sonoma County) is charming. Frankly, you won't have a lot of time, so I think it would be better to head to St. Helena or Sonoma, as many wineries are concentrated around these two towns--you won't have to do that much driving once you get there.
On a return trip, though, make sure you have time to visit Sonoma more thoroughly--Healdsburg town, the wineries of Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Road, Westside Road, Highway 12, Geyserville and Cloverdale. Gorgeous roads and wineries, terrific wines, as well. Plus, most of these wineries still offer free tastings (though not the fanciest, busiest wineries, which usually charge--understandable).
Next time, also visit Carneros, which is between Napa and Sonoma--very nice wines here, too.
In terms of researching a hotel/motel, I always check out the reports on http://tripadvisor.com

I want to post a NEW question. How do I do so? Thanks.

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A lot has already been said, but I'd suggest you stay over on Saturday night in the wine country if at all possible because driving back after a day of wine tasting is not the best idea.

Having done Napa, Sonoma, and Russian River areas in the past, I tend to stick with the Russian River area just because it seems to be less crowded. Mid-afternoon in some of the wineries is a zoo on the weekends.

You can also easily take a drive to the Coast from some of the RR wineries on your return trip or even stop off at Armstrong Woods State Park near Guernville to see the Redwoods (again, less crowded than Muir Woods).

We stayed in the town of St. Helena and found it to be really charming. We enjoyed the Beringer tour; there's some neat architecture on the property, and they let you tour the underground tunnels where the wine aging takes place. We also enjoyed Niebaum-Coppola - owned by Francis Ford Coppola and Mondavi. NC showcases a lot of his movie memorabilia, and Mondavi let us pick grapes off the vine to see how the different varieties taste. Seems like each one has something unique to offer.