Just back from Napa Valley, and I already miss CA! Luckily, most of our snow (MA) has melted and it is warming up here, but CA can't be beat.

We had the best time - I can't remember what order we did what, but highlights of our trip were:

Where we stayed - we rented a gorgeous house in Yountville that was modeled after a Tuscan Villa. It was truly superb, set on a vineyard estate of 60 acres. Every morning we awoke to birds singing, hot air balloons flying overhead, rabbits running through the vineyard, wild turkeys walking down the driveway. The house had wall to wall french doors overlooking the vineyard, and an outdoor patio modeled after the one at Tra Vigne that also overlooked the vineyard. The serene beauty of the land, the multitude of colors, the peacefullness of that setting was amazing. If anyone ever wants to rent a great house in either valley, Beautiful Places is a great agency. This is the 2nd house we have rented from them, and they did not disappoint.

It rained our first few days there, but who cares. It was WARM (to us)! A local shopkeeper apologized for the "cold" weather and we thought "Cold - where?"

We absolutely loved Yountville - very quaint. We ate at Gordon's Cafe first day and it was great. We also became regulars (nightly!)at Bouchon Bakery which was devine. Thanks to whoever mentioned Ranch Market to us - we picked up the necessities our first day there and would stop in for milk or a paper during the week - very handy.

Other places we ate:
Market in St. Helena - we ate here twice we liked it so much. Their mac and cheese is awesome. They were very accommodating. I had ordered this, and waitress told me to order instead a half portion and a salad as it was very rich. She substituted goat cheese on the salad for me rather than blue cheese also - that was also very good.

Hydro Bar - Calistoga - this was good also. Again I had the mac and cheese (all that rain, I needed comfort food!)

Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen - St. Helena - Thanks R5 for this recommendation. Had an asparagus soup that was out of this world, and a very good pasta dish. It was sunny, so we ate on the back patio. Very nice ambience.

Martini House - St. Helena - This was the only place we ate dinner at, as most nights we were too stuffed from lunch and just stopped at the bakery. I loved the house and the atmosphere. My husband almost choked at the wine list prices, but I thought the food was fairly reasonable. Had the scallops, which were very tender. Also had a great rum/pineapple tapioca which was great (can you tell I have a sweet tooth?)

Bistro Don Giovanni - Napa - We loved this place. It was a rainy weekday and still packed! I had a pork chop which was so tender you could cut it with a fork. Loved their dipping bread, as well as their Tiramasu. Was a little pricey for lunch, but food was excellent.

Auberge Du Soleil - Rutherford - Beautiful and peaceful. I loved the message about no cell phones allowed. We ate breakfast here with friends. The only time available was 8:30am, so we were the first to arrive. Everything was very good - nice menu - and I was pleasantly surprised at the prices - I had expected much higher. How I would love to be able to afford staying here! Beautiful view - we ate on the patio.

Other:
Dean and Deluca - St. Helena - Loved this place. Had not been to the one we have on the East Coast. I could have spent hours here. I'm hooked on their Chai Tea which is a problem since I'm nowhere near one now at home!

Shopping:
Really did little shopping - just poking around here and there. Picked up some books at Calistoga Bookstore - our favorite in the valley. Found some great buys at Lolo's Consignment in St. Helena, and gifts at Olivier. I had not known that they sell to Williams and Sonoma. Had our pictures developed at Alan's in St. Helena, and they were very nice. Also loved Steve's Hardware. Thanks also for the Safeway/St. Helena recommendation. This is where we shopped for the week.

Wineries:
Schramsberg - Calistoga - did a tour here. This was the highlight of our winery visits. Very good tour, very interesting to see the caves, and great sparkling wine. Learned alot here that I did not know. The story about the original casks was quite amusing.

Opus One - Oakville - This was a very different experience - architecture very modern but interesting. Tour was interesting, although our guide was a little scattered. Did the tasting, and really liked the wine. Maybe for a special occaision.

Hess - Napa - Spur of the moment visit. Beautiful building, lots of modern art if you like that kind of thing. Their video was broken which was a disappointment. Flaming typewriter was fun.

Domaine Chandon - Yountville - We arrived too early for the tour, and had to be elsewhere when it started, so just walked the grounds. Very beautiful. Did not taste.

Chateau Montelena - Calistoga - Very pretty place, beautiful grounds. It was late, so we did not taste, and had not made reservations for a tour.

We had intended to see Domaine Carneros, Sterling (for the tram ride), Beringer, but ran out of time.

Area:
We had been to Napa Valley for one day while staying in Sonoma back in October. We had not seen Yountville nor Napa, so wanted to see those towns as we are considering moving out to CA for retirement. As I said, we loved Yountville, not so much Napa - just too big for our taste - and St. Helena. We looked at real estate one day in Sonoma and found some reasonably priced homes in their 55+ communities. Of course now hubby has decided he likes Napa Valley better to live. Maybe when we win the lottery.... however, there were some "reasonable" nice townhouses in St. Helena - our favorite town. We drove up and down the Silverado trail which we had not seen before - stunning country. So beautiful with the mustard and flowers out.

As always, not enough time - wish we had 2 weeks there, but then I'd be wishing it were 3,4,5,... Guess that's good in a way - always something to go back to. R5, sorry we couldn't hook up - that case of wine is still waiting for you... As with our trip to Sonoma Valley, we found the food, people, weather, countryside, outstanding. Can you tell I left my heart in Napa Valley????

Thanks to all who helped put together such a great trip!

Wow Wanderer! It's up to a case,now?!

So happy to hear you had fun and enjoyed
Yountville and St.Helena....Oh, the
Calistoga bookstore-we always stop by
and find something we must have.
I miss their cat....

Market is wonderful, I agree (rain +
comfort food=cozy) and you can leave your wallet at Martini House,
$-)
yet it's oh soooo good-did you sit
by the fire?

As I am over and up in the NV weekely,
I too am surprised at how crowded it is
during the week, and off season.
Healdsburg is the same way these days.

Since you enjoyed Yountville so much
perhaps you might consider a Thanksgiving visit and getting to know
a few of the "locals" at our famous
GTG!

Shall I send you the Chai Tea ?

R5

R5 - That would be lovely. This year may be out as we are headed to Venice in May and then to Nantucket in August, plus I am doing a long girls weekend in NYC in June, so budget may be blown. Next year? What does GTG stand for? Of course a case - for all the info. you have provided - just not Opus One! Kal deserves something as well.

I'm hoping I may find Chai Tea ingredients on Dean and Deluca web site (??)

Yes, we ate by the fire at Martini House - very romantic and cozy - loved it!

You can find a brand of Chai Tea I like-Tazo Teas-at cooking.com, Whole Foods, and even drugstore.com

Sounds as though you have some wonderful trips to look forward to!

R5

GTG = get-together.

Wanderer -
Thanks for the great trip report. I am headed to Napa & Sonoma for a week in September. Can you compare/contrast the two valleys on wineries, shopping and restaurants for me, please, since you've been to both ( I got the differences in housing, but we're only visiting ?
I was also interested to read that both valleys seem to be a bit crowded, even in off season. We'd expect that in Napa, but was hoping that Sonoma (ie. Healdsburg) would be a bit less crowded with tourists....
Also, have you (or any one) tried a spa or spas in Calistoga? We'd like to do one day there for a friend's 40th birthday.
Thanks!

In regards to your chai tea, tazo is good but my preference is tealuxe.com (Actually my wifes, I am a more traditional tea drinker. I believe Starbucks carries Tazo as well.

Wanderer:

Great trip report (I also appreciated your trip report from October).

My husband and I are headed to Sonoma, Memorial Day weekend (3 nights) and then again with a large group, the week of the 4th of July weekend (I know, it will be very crowded). For the 4th, we rented a house with Beautiful Places in Sonoma (I am so glad that you have been happy with them).

What was the name of your house in Yountville? We are looking for a small 1 or 2 bedroom house to rent for our earlier stay --- was it Tamber Bey?

Thanks!

Hi beachysis-
Allow this local to give you
a few differences between Sonoma
and Napa.

Sonoma County is twice as large
as Napa,1600 sq. miles-about the
size of Maryland-so one could say
that the wineries are able to
spread out more.
Sonoma has about 200 wineries.
(Sonoma also has a gorgeous Coast!)

You will note concentrations of
Sonoma wineries around the town of Sonoma and Glen Ellen, as well as
north(Healdsburg,Geyserville) and
west(Russian River area)
of Santa Rosa.

Napa is about 800 sq.miles and has
to sort of squeeze the wineries into
it because of geography and only
2 main roads,Hwy 29 and the
Silverado Trail.

Napa has about 290 wineries, so
this may account for the "crowded" feeling.

Sonoma County has a large agricultural
base(among other industries-telecommunications for one)-dairy,sheep,vegetables and vineyards.
Sonoma is not so dependent on
wine as a money maker.

Napa is quite dependent on wine and tourism-(they tried wheat,cattle and prunes before they were successful
with wine!)Napa County probably
spends more $$$ on marketing than Sonoma because of this.

I would say, Sonoma is more relaxed about wine drinking, much less
owned by mega-corporations and more small operations. So, it seems,
Sonoma County is viewed as more
homey and friendly.
Napa used to feel this way.

To my dismay, Healdsburg is a a bit more crowded than it used to be, yet
nothing like Napa County (yet!)Healdsburg is being heavily marketed
these days and,frankly, it shows.

We are spa people and make 3-4 treks
to Calistoga each year. If you want
to do a true mudbath-I would suggest Indian Springs for first timer's:
indianspringscalistoga.com

Both counties have zillion-trillion star rated restaurants, lodging and wineries.
They both have homeless folks, neighborhoods you'd
best not be in at night, and big box stores of every variety.
They both have Hummer's, limo's and 10 year old
dented honda's, and stinky buses.

What else can I tell you ?
R5

Yes, it was Tamber Bey that we rented -exquisite!

Sonoma Valley vs. Napa Valley -
We actually (surprisingly to us) liked Napa Valley better. One of the reasons is that it is more compact. We also like towns with a real downtown like Calistoga and St. Helena, and Yountville to some extent, and liked that towns near each other had a downtown.

Sonoma was more spread out - Sonoma has a nice downtown as does Healdsburg, but they are far apart. Glen Ellen has no downtown to speak of nor does Kenwood. Lots more driving required in Sonoma.

Napa Valley seemed a bit busier traffic-wise to me. We spent one day in Sonoma and there did not seem to be the traffic, but the day I remember traffic was good Friday in Napa and alot of people might have had it off.

One thing we did not like was that some of the outlying areas around Sonoma were not so great - we stayed in Aqua Caliente at a very nice house, but the town itself and Boyes Hot Springs are not great.

We found the people in Sonoma Valley perhaps a tad friendlier - perhaps because not so busy and more laid back, but not at all noticeably so.

We think that Route 12 (the main throughfare in Sonoma Valley) is prettier than Napa Valley only because it is less developed than 29, but found the countryside of Napa Valley prettier. Personal preferance. Since we come from NE, we like the open space, and rolling hills, and dotted trees of the Napa Valley landscape.

Shopping -
Sonoma and Healdsburg for Sonoma Valley and St. Helena and Calistoga for Napa Valley - St. Helena being the clear winner here. Again, we could go to St. Helena and on to Calistoga to check out their shops. Napa might have some good shops - didn't spend alot of time here.

Wineries - Both have great wineries - I don't think one valley is better than another for this, but I did find Napa Valley more expensive for tasting. As to the comments that Sonoma is more "real, laid-back and country" true, but you can find this on the Silverado trail in Napa Valley. I would definitely try to book a tour with Jordan in Sonoma Valley and Schramsberg in Napa Valley. Both provide outstanding tours and have interesting history. Both require appointments.

Restaurants - I can honestly say that I never had a bad meal anywhere. Everything we had in both valleys was delicious - very fresh ingredients.

Have not been to a spa there, so can't comment.

September is an awesome time to go - you will love it!

dswl - what house did you rent in Sonoma?

As to the tea, I am afraid mine won't be the same as I don't have the machine they use - I've tried DD chai tea, but it is too sweet. Dean and Deluca was perfect - time for a trip back!

R5 and Wanderer -
Thanks so much for the insider info! We will definitely try to see both for a day or two & see which we like better. Can't wait to get out there! Just about to book our flights in & out of SFO for 9/10 - 9/17, and then we'll work on the hotel & spa (& perhaps now a tour!) reservations.
Oh - R5, one more thing. Do you know of any local festivals or events in the area for that second week in September, off the top of your head (didn't see anything on the web, but just did a cursory look while reviewing all the lodging info).

If you haven't already booked your flights, may want to consider flying in and out of Sacramento rather than SFO, unless you are spending time there.

The city is very busy and alot of traffic. I think time is the same from Sacramento, but an easier more scenic drive.

It would seem like it would be closer, but SMF really isn't. The I-80 corridor from Sacramento to Hwy 37 Vallejo(the turn-off to Napa) is a mess, and certainly not scenic IME.

Not certain where you are considering staying-Napa Valley, Sonoma town or
up by Healdsburg. If Healdsburg, the 101 North leg of your journey won't make any difference-you will have to go that way from SMF,SFO & OAK as well.

Healdsburg/Santa Rosa area
From SMF (Sacramento) is 2 hrs.
From SFO and OAK is 1.5 hrs.
(add 1/2 for commute times)

If Napa Valley or Sonoma town is where you want to stay, then SMF(Sacramento),
SFO and OAK are all about and hour, unless it's a weekday between 6AM-9AM or after 3PM-then it's commute
snafus-or not-on any given day.

I think I might just go with the best airfare-and arrive early or late in the day.

As to festivals-you are just missing
a couple of good ones, but you will be here during the "crush" or harvest,
so I think I would make those hotel
reservations ASAP.

R5