My husband and I will be taking a short trip to San Fran over 4th of July weekend (Wednesday night, leaving on Monday morning). We are planning on spending most of the weekend at a friend's place in San Fran, and will be taking a one night trip out to wine country. From what I have read, it sounds like a lot of people prefer Sonoma to Napa (fewer tourists and less congestion, which sounds right up our alley). It also sounds like a lot of people love Healdsburg. We both enjoy wine tasting (both reds and whites, slight preference towards whites). Can anyone suggest an itinerary for such a short trip? Two or three must-see wineries in that area, best place for dinner (preferably a romantic place), hotel recommendation, etc? Thanks!

i don't know much about sonoma, but if you do decide on sonoma, don't miss the Chalk Hill Chardonnay if you are white wine drinkers.

its great.

other great whites to taste would be Grgich Hills, Chateau Montelena and Rombauer. I also don't mind frog's leap or miner.

those are all in the napa valley.

again, no advice on sonoma, but we really enjoyed our room (cottage) at the napa valley cottages... very romantic. outdoor fireplaces, deck's with porch swings, inside fireplaces, bouchon bakery pastries delivered with the paper for breakfast etc... great spot.

useless for sonoma, but in case you get whooed to napa.

have a great trip

I believe you might have a problem with a one night stay in many places.

I understand that it might be tough, but it is all the time we have. It will be a Thursday night (not over the weekend), so we are hoping some places will accommodate that. Any suggestions on hotels, wineries, etc. would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Not luxury, but reasonable and centrally located is the Best Western in Healdsburg. It's about a mile from the square. For romantic dinner, either Dry Creek Kitchen or Cyrus....the latter getting rave reviews.
Since you have limited time, it would be easier time wise to focus your trip around one area.....say the town of Sonoma. There are some lovely wineries and restaurants there....however, I am pressed to think of a place that doesn't require a 2 night minimum. El Dorado is a great place, but requires 2 nights. You could always spend the day touring the area, then have dinner and stay in Petaluma or Windsor, etc.

We've stayed in Healdsburg three times. What I love about it is that we can visit a few wineries during the early day, then park the car, walk to lunch and then spend the rest of our time walking to tasting rooms and shopping. I suppose you could try contacting a B&B about one night, but i imagine that will be a pretty busy time (holiday)

We just returned from the wine country, we stayed at the Sonoma Mission Inn which is wonderful. Go to the Generals' Daughter for dinner here.

In Healdsburg, the Hotel Healdsburg is wonderful, we just had our second dinner at Cyrus when we were there, it was again wonderful!

In Yountville, I loved our stay at the Villagio, it was just for one night, on thur. you should be able to find good rates at all of these places, you can walk to REDD and Ad Hoc from the Villagio. ***kim***

The Four Sister Inns have a lot of good choices in the area, and might be willing to do one night. We have stayed at many of these inns and always have had good experiences.
http://www.foursisters.com/

Thanks so much to all for your suggestions! Any thoughts on "must visit" wineries in that area? We will be arriving in the morning on Thursday, so will hopefully be able to get to three that day, and possibly one Friday before we head back to San Fran. Thanks again!

DH and I are planning a trip to 'Wine Country' now. DH is really into wine so the following is a list of where we hope to go (what I can remember anyway):

Napa:
Hess, Viader (reservations), Burgess (reservations), Far Niente (reservations), Coppola, Mondavi, Domaine Carneros.

Sonoma:
Chateau St. Jean, St. Francis, La Crema.

Have been to:
Flora Springs, Artesa, Joseph Phelps, Quintessa, Gloria Ferrara - all in Napa

Gloria ferre is actually in Sonoma....and quite beautiful! I would drop Coppolla from that list Lori....you've already listed lots of commercial ones. You pay $25 to park and then get cheap wine. Why not head over to Silverado Trail and try a small winery such as William Harrison? Original Napa settlers, lots of history, no crowds.

Thanks for the tip Linda, never heard of William Harrison, but will add to list. Not Coppoloa eh? we thought it would be nice to see the Chateau, but $25 for that, maybe we will drop it. any suggestions for Sonoma? I can't remember the rest of the ones we circled.