Napa Winery
 

Will be driving from SF to South Lake Tahoe in two weeks and would like to take the time to stop at one winery in Napa (prehaps add lunch). Any suggestions?

If you go to Conn Creek you can blend a bottle of your own wine. Interesting thing to do. Very cool.

We like V. Sattui-little south of St. Helena ..lots of places along area to have lunch--they even have picnic area.
Or you could have lunch in Yountville and then go north 2-3 miles to Mondavi
However, all the areas are very crowded on weekends--try for weekday.

Although V. Sattui has a nice set-up for selling picnic foods and a pleasant enough picnic area, their wines are quite disappointing to most. (It is convenient in that it is right on Highway 29 on the outskirts of St. Helena).

Rutherford Hill Winery has a fabulous picnic area with a great view of the Valley and the wines are decent. You would have to stop along the way to pick up your picnic supplies, though. This winery is on the Silverado Trail.

There are so many wineries and restaurants to chose from, so we would need a little more information from you before making helpful recommendations.

one?
if you like red, chateau montelana.
if you like white, chalk hill.
enjoy.

Yes we only have time for one winery and we like red wines. We are flying into SF Friday morning and need to get to South Lake Tahoe by nighttime. If anyone can recommend a winery near the highway as we travel along.

you realize that Napa is not really on the way from SFO to Tahoe? there are some wineries in the central valley and sierra foothills that may be more convenient for your route.

Allow an hour to get to Napa from SF via Hwy 80 to 37 to 29. Then Yountville is about 10 min. north of Napa on Hwy 29. You could visit Domaine Chandon here. To return to your route toward Lake Tahoe, go back south on 29 past the Napa exits to Jamison Canyon Rd. (Hwy 12) which will take you to Hwy 80 for your journey to Lake Tahoe. Should take about 3 hrs.

Are you just looking to stop at a winery or do you want to take a peek at the Napa Valley?

If you want to see the valley, we could recommend a short tour for your detour.

But if it's just a winery you want to visit, you could take the Napa exit off of I-80 and drive about ten or fifteen minutes north to Hwy 12 and take it east a few miles to Valley Gate Vineyards.

http://www.valleygatevineyards.com/visit.html

After tasting you would take Hwy 12 east back to I-80 (about 10 minutes) and be on your way to Tahoe again. If you wanted lunch in this area, you could go to La Strada right on Hwy 29 or go into the airport business park right at the Hwy 12 interchange and have lunch at Mammarella:

http://www.mammarellafoods.com/

There's also all the usual fast food joints in American Canyon as you pass through if you want something quick.

Or, you could just drive up I-80 from the airport to Sacramento and then take US 50 towards South Lake Tahoe and stop at one of several wineries near the highway in the Sierra Foothills just east of the town of Placerville.

http://www.sierrawines.com/easteldor..._map_page.aspx

This is not the Napa Valley but these wineries do produce some very nice wines at a fraction of the cost.

I agree with Elnap. Rutherford Hill has beautiful views and the drive there on Silverado Trail is very pretty. I would get there early, as it gets crowded on weekends. Another more personal wine tasting right next to Rutherford Hill is Terraces. Nate, the assistant winemaker will take you out into the vineyard on a 4wd mule and give you an educational tour. The property is gorgeous, and it has a really unique tasting room as well. This one is a more personal experience.

Never even heard of Terraces, and I live here! Thanks for the tip, NapaJulie.

Go there Elnap29! You'll enjoy the tour. They also are making balsamic vinegars in the old world style. You can taste them as well! There's a historic stone winery on the property. The owners and Nate are a lot of fun.