Lake Tahoe to Napa Valley
 

we are going to be driving from North LAke Tahoe to San Francisco. How far out of our way would we be going if we wanted to stop in Napa Valley? i was thinking for a late lunch - wine tasting. especially interesting would be at a vineyard that explains how wine is made. thanks much

Go on a great tour of the Mondavi Winery near Yountville on Hwy 29. It's about 30-40 min. from Interstate 80.

And drink to your heart's content and then get back on the freeway to San Francisco - great idea!! (sorry, but a friend of mine was killed in a car accident this past Sunday - I'm a little sensitive to this right now)

wow...a bit harsh don't ya think. Sorry about your friend but you shouldn't take it out on somebody asking for advice on a travel forum. Again my deepest sympathies.

SF is about 3.5 hours from Lake Tahoe (without traffic). The Napa Valley is roughly 15 - 45 minutes from I-80 (depending on where exactly you want to go). Almost any vineyard will talk to you about how wine is made. If you want to go on a tour then that is different.

Actually, I may not have said it so harshly under different circumstances, but honestly, I do not believe wine tasting and driving go together very well. Sorry if you disagree.

I agree...and that is why I always have a designated driver. You know nothing about mwood's situation and it just seemed overly in your face in my opinion. Again I'm sorry about your loss.

i am sorry about your loss sf7307. i am not sure what kind of wine tasting you thought i had in mind but a taste to me is a couple of sips. we were certainly not thinking of spending the day drinking and getting into a car to drive. thanks for the advice everyone. mondavi sounds like a great idea. i do want to do a tour. do you think that's the best? we are making a quick detour so about one vineyard is all i was thinking of. i would love to have a couple of days because there are quite a few i would like to visit.

mwoodrowe, I think the only way to see the "innards" of a winery (as opposed to just tasting the wine, which you pay for) is to do the tour. Mondavi is in a very good/easy location. After touring Mondavi, you might cross the Oakville Crossroad (which meets Rte. 29 perpendicularly right at the entrance to Mondavi), and make your way to San Francisco via the Silverado Trail (always less traffic than Rte. 29).

Sorry for being on my "high horse". Please just be careful.

I prefer Sonoma Valley over Napa Valley. It is much more scenic and less crowded. Furthermore, the wine tastings and guided tours are much smaller and more intimate. At Mondavi (or other large Napa wineries), expect to share the tasting with half a dozen tour buses.

I know some wineries in Kenwood, Sonoma Valley:

Kunde has a good tour and a sit-down premium tasting with cheese and chocolates: www.kunde.com

Kaz is family-owned, small, intimate, down-to-earth: www.kazwinery.com

Chateau St. Jean is a gorgeous building with regular and premium tasting: www.chateaustjean.com

Mayo offers a seven-course menu with wine pairings: www.mayofamilywinery.com

There are many more. Here is a list:

http://www.bestinsonoma.com/wineries_list.html

thanks everyone. in terms of the shortest detour on the way in to SF from lake tahoe isn't napa closer than sonoma?

Yes, Napa is much closer than Sonoma on your route, and the Mondavi winery is one of the first you reach as you enter the valley from I-80. Way back when we lived in the Bay Area, we used to take visitors on two tours...Mondavi for a more contemporary approach to winemaking, then up Hwy 29 just a little bit to Beaulieu for a look at a longtime, more historic winery.

Napa is closer than Sonoma. I also prefer Sonoma. Mondavi barely makes any wine that is even remotely drinkable. Many places offer tastings & tours, it just depends on how much time you have, & how far you plan to venture from SF. As far as the snide remarks proffered by sf. Aside from having a DD, you can also spit. I hope you don't plan on similar diatribes on every wine tasting post from here on out.

>>>Napa is much closer than Sonoma on your route<<<

Just 10 miles.

I had to laugh . . . . "<i><blue>SF is about 3.5 hours from Lake Tahoe (<u>without traffic</blue></u>). </i>" . . . . - Um -- when exactly would there be no traffic??

If you are driving down in the early AM (presumably) on a weekday you'll hit massive traffic from Auburn to Sacramento and again most of the way on I-80 to your turn off to Napa. I'd count on at least 3 hours just to the hwy 12 cut off to hwy 29. And maybe more.

Plan your drive to hit Auburn/Sacramento after 9 AM - there will be traffic but not horrendous traffic.

Also - the day of the week makes a difference. Weekends are better except - Sunday can have REALLY bad traffic all the way from Tahoe to just above Auburn. But it is worst in the afternoon. So a Saturday would be the easiest, and a Sunday morning wouldn't be bad.

Not sure what is so funny...I've done that drive dozens of times. Sometimes it takes 3 hours & sometimes it takes 5 hours.

The OP said they wanted to arrive for a late lunch which I assume means 1 - 2 pm which we put him/her into Sacramento around 11:30 - 12. Well past commute times in most cases. 3.5 hours is a fair estimate of time to SF (without detour).

I think Janis thought it was funny because there is always traffic, somewhere, along the I-80 corridor. If Roseville is good, maybe Fairfield is bad etc.

Just be aware.

MY

1) I didn't think my remarks were snide, I thought and continue to think they are correct. I think most tasters don't "spit". 2) With no traffic, 3.5 hours from Tahoe to SF is accurate, problem is there is at least some traffic most of the time, and tons of traffic some of the time.

What has happened to this forum?

Some people have gotten pretty feisty. (It's worse on the European forum - they are currently insulting each other about how to prepare a steak - a fundamental issue, I admit.)

i would suspect knowing my group that we would probably leave north lake tahoe around 10-11 on a sat am. i tried to check the map to see how we would drive and i thought being north we'd bypass sacramento. maybe i was wrong? the tasting is not the main reason for us to go..i'd like to see the vineyards and get some info on how the wine is made. if i had some time to spend & driving was not an issue, i'd pick out some of the wineries i heard of and do some serious tasing. and i would also go to sonoma too. i am not all that familair with california wines. the point was to get a little exposure to the area as we've never been.

<i>i tried to check the map to see how we would drive and i thought being north we'd bypass sacramento.</i>

Unfortunately, you won't be north, you'll be mostly east. There is really only one way to get from N. Lake Tahoe to San Francisco, and that's via Rte. 80, which goes right through Sacramento, etc. Heading west Saturday around noon will be better than rush hour, of course, and better than heading east, but there will still be traffic. For the route, in mapquest, type in from Truckee, CA to Oakville, CA.