..worth a visit? Any highly recommended, either because of the wine--of course--or the setting? We have a full day to devote, if recommended. Thanks~

I'll comment on the wines, since I haven't visited most of the vineyards - yet

If you check out winejudging.com you will find that a number of Monterey vineyards won "Best of Class" for 2006. These include:

Wente
Bonny Doon
Bargetto
Hahn Estates

Other Monterey vineyards that produce good/great wines are:

Jekel
J Lohr
Chateau Julien
Estacia
Delicato
Thomas Fogarty
Hess

Enjoy your visit!

J. Lohr is my favorite wine from that region. The Chateau Julian tasting room is beautiful and they present their wines very well. I was at a wedding there a few years back and remember that their wines were very tasty. Try to get a map of those areas if you can. I don't remember that there are too many wineries in near proximity... you may end up doing an awful lot of driving. To my knowledge, they do not have a wine trail (like Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa MAria and Santa Ynez.)

Drive out Carmel Valley Road from the Carmel area. You will find St Julien and then farther out you will find the tasting rooms for Bernadus and Heller Estates.

I really liked Chateau Julien.

moneygirl, just wanted to point out that j. Lohr is actually a San Jose winery that has a tasting room out that way. Just because San Jose gets such a bad rap and we need to get credit for every bit of good we can! :0)

I'm from San Jose too Monica. We do get a bad rap here. People should figure out that San Jose is a great place to base a vacation out of. We have a relatively easy airport to fly into and out of. And we are close enough to do a lot of fun day trips.

Thanks for the suggestions and directions regardingMonterey area wineries...we'll report back!

I just thought i would chime in as well. The winerys out in Carmel Valley and wonderful. The Carmel valley Village is so charming with some fabulous restaurants. Definalty a place to spend the day!

Talbot has wonderful chardonnays and pinot noir (as well as great neckties, of course) and their Carmel Valley tasting room is charming. It is in a cute little shopping district just a few miles beyond Chateau Julien (which is also worth a stop). Several local wineries also share a single large tastiing room in the center of Cannery Row.

Bernardus has a tasting room in Carmel Valley. We love to stop at Wickets at the Bernardus Lodge for lunch on our way over there. The property here is amazing. They make a really nice shrimp/mango/avocado salad with a citrus dressing that is wonderful as is their creme brulee. ***kim***