h2babe

Currently we don't have any thought on the lunch spot, we wanted to just see how the day goes and maybe do the picnic as everyone recommends. I have the impression though that you can't just picnic anywhere, so if you have recommendations of places we can actually picnic in Yountville or Healdsburg, let me know.

elnap29

You will easily find picnic spots, but there is a public park in Yountville at the north end of town (it's a small town). Many wineries won't mind if you picnic - just ask - but the etiquette is to buy a bottle of their wine. Peju Winery in Rutherford has lovely grounds; Rutherford Hill Winery (on the hill above Auberge) has a designated picnic area, there's Lyman Park in St Helena (as well as other parks), picnic area behind the factory outlets north of St Helena, and public areas in Calistoga. For a rustic winery picnic area that is wonderful and friendly, I recommend Casa Nuestra Winery on Silverado Trail - very casual, relaxed and the antithesis of touristy wineries.
In Healdsburg you have the town square.

palmies

Yes, I tend to prefer the sprawling, less-crowded landscape of Sonoma, particularly the Russian River area. However, I would highly recommend Casa Nuestra as well...quite quaint and rustic, but a very relaxed winery. Two other Napa wineries with great scenic views are Artesa (west of Napa) and Chateau Potelle (near Yountville).

On the Sonoma side, here are my recommendations with notes:

*Imagery - 10 minutes north of Sonoma, picnic area and art gallery in tasting room
*Sebastiani - in town of Sonoma, good wines, one of the "mainstays" or classic Sonoma wineries, nice self-guided tour
*Ledson - just south of Santa Rosa, may just want to stop to see the winery as opposed to taste, nice picture spot
*Hanna - Alexander Valley location, beautiful tasting room and landscaping, may have picnic area
*Gary Farrell - beautiful tasting room with astonishing views, Russian River area, great Pinot Noir
*Arista - known for Pinot Noirs, Asian-inspired gardens surrounding the tasting room, check on tasting hours before visiting, Russian River area
*Lambert Bridge, Quivira and Belvedere - all decent wines and all (double check, of course) have picnic areas in the Russian River area
*White Oak - beautiful grounds and very good wines in the Alexander Valley area
*Ferrari Carano - do not miss this winery off the beaten path in the dry creek area, okay wines, incredible landscaping, gardens and tasting room
*Meeker - at the northern edge of Sonoma county in Geyserville, winery is "in town" (as small as the downtown is) in an old bank bldg., wines are fantastic, customer service is excellent, and they have the famous "handprint" bottle!

Let me know if you need any other recommendations or if you have any specific questions about wineries you are considering. There's probably not a person in the world who's done them all, but I've made three good stabs at it so far!

palmies

Oh and by the way: Nearly all of the wineries in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley have "Healdsburg" addresses/zips.

beckytx

I am also considering Ad Hoc vs Redd for dinner in July. From the Redd website, I think a couple could get out of there for much less than $400, even ordering the most expensive starter and entree. (I usually skip dessert since nice restaurants will usually bring a bite of chocolate or something anyways.) For example:

Fois Gras tasting $17
Steak & shortribs $32
Bottle of Olivier Hillaire Cote-du-Rhone 2006 $36...so what if I seem cheap

((17+32)*2)+36 = 136 + 20% tip = $161
(calc disregards sales tax)

winesaavy7

Just as a note (I live in healdsburg, work at a winery and frequent napa and sonoma county restuarants) if you are trying to steer away from $400 dinner tabs-Cyrus is not the best choice. It is of course amazing but it's a once in a GREAT while thing and definitely will run you that amount or more with wine. There are many small wineries in the Sonoma County areas which have diverse scenery and tasting options-normally in the Dry Creek Valley-you stay away from the Dry Creek Rd on weekends which is the most trafficked. Willie's Wine Bar is my top fav in HBG too!

winesaavy7

Oh! forgot to mention if you would like a vineyard tour (on foot not in a bus) and a unique small winery experience try us out! Michel-Schlumberger Winery. We've got artisan cheese pairing at noon on thurs, fri, sat or sun, Reserve Cab verticals by appt on these same days, or 10:30am Green Tours (hike through and to the top of vineyards on 100 acres with tasting at top of hill). Make an appt for any of these as they're limited # of people.
Brooke

h2babe

Palmies-thanks for the list, we'll print this thread for our trip.

Becky-yes, my FI and I were trying to figure out if we could spend less than $400 for one night as well, we'd like to go, but we're nto the type of ppl who can spend that much for one night, eventhough this is our honeymoon. We dont usually get appetizers or desserts, so we were thinking 2 meals and a bottle of wine.

h2babe

Hi Brooke-thanks for the post, I will pass this on to my FI and see if he's interested. Are we going to have the tour fees reimbursed if we purchase the wines? Thanks.

corkdork

August is a nice time to come visit.

There is fabulous Dim Sum at the Imperial Palace (818 Washington St) in SF. I go with my girlfriends when we go shopping the the city as often as possible. They really do a fantastic job (it's reasonable too, about $20 per person when it's all said and done)

The SF must do's vary by what you are into - for instance I'm a huge fan of architecture but not museums.. so

I would do the Sutro Bath Ruins (near the Cliff House in the Sunset) there is beautiful views and beach there - it's down the street from the SF Zoo (if kids are with you)

If you are into art - SF MOMA has the Frieda exhibit running from June 14th to Sept 28th.

Shopping - Union Square (next to Chinatown) is wonderful. There is a parking garage on Grant near Bush that is reasonable.

At night the Starlite Lounge at the Top of the Sir Francis Drake is amazing for a cocktail.

As for you trip up valley - I grew up in Napa Valley and recently "converted" to the "other wine country". My general rule of thumb is much like France certain regions climates lend to better conditions for certain varieties. (for instance, I'm a big Napa Bordeaux fan, and a Sonoma Rhone fan -as I find Sonoma's Bordeauxs way to veggie for my palate)

Taylor's is awesome. The Ahi Tuna burger is to die for.

I work for the company who own's Mondavi (as well as many other wineries in both valleys)and have been on many of the tours/tastings

The tour is nice. Its much more historical focused on Robert Mondavi than technical. (Beringer is much the same manner)

Rubicon is.. meh - over rated. Unless you are a huge Francis Ford Coppola fan (the movies not the wine)

Franciscan does some really nice wine education tastings (reservations can be made through their website) if you are looking for something a little more indepth.

Hidden along the Silverado Trail at the base of Chiles Valley Road is Villa Mt. Eden / Conn Creek winery. Conn Creek has some of the most incredible cabs and Bordeaux blends around.

A small family (as in 2 brothers, their wives and 1 son in law) winery right on Hwy 29 is Milat Vineyards. They are AMAZING, and really really fun - the wines are incredible for being such small production (they also have B&B cottages for rent in the back) If you stop in, tell them that "cookie's neice" sent you.

I currently work at Simi in Healdsburg, and would invite you to come visit me here (but I'll be in Vegas laying by the pool that week) Simi also does a historical tour/Tasting through some of the oldest cellars in Sonoma County - I don't recall what the $ is for tasting, but it is refunded upon purchase.

Trentadue has excellent ports, and is very pretty and has a fun atmosphere... and I'm not just saying that cause I'm friends with the winemaker.

Sausal has incredible Sangiovese and Zin in the AV and is located on 128 on your way from Calistoga to Healdsburg as well. They are warm and friendly folks as well.

There are also picnic tables in beautiful redwood groves on site for lunching. (the Jimtown store on 128 when going over the hill to Healdsburg has yummy sammies as well)

Cyrus is, to be honest - eh. If I was going to blow my wad on a really nice dinner I would opt for Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford rather than Cyrus. I was going to comment on Redd too - it's spendy (as someone else stated) I enjoyed it (as I did Cyrus) but it wasn't like, "oh my gosh this is the best meal of my life" or anything.

Madrona Manor has an incredible menu, I love the tasting menu and Chef Jesse is really one heck of a chap as well. Given the choice, I'd pick it 10 times over Cyrus.

Bistro Ralph has great Chicken Paillard -- I think I've eatten my weight in it during lunches!

Willies Seafood is a nice place to stop for cocktials, they have several other locations (Willie's wine bar, Monti's Grill and now a steak house in Santa Rosa -- Stark's) their food is so-so, and unless you are friends with someone who works there, the service is typically less than satisfactory.

If I can be of any help, please let me know -- but I must warn you... I'm a little jaded -- I find much of the business to be pretentious and over rated. I know what goes into making a good bottle of wine, or a fine meal and to me the rest is all hype and snobbery which leaves me less than satisfied.

So many of my suggestions tend to be more laid back, friendly warm people without the pretentiousness.

corkdork

one last thing!

I think it was elnap29 that recommended Casa Nuestra (?)

YES! It's a total must - on the trail, and amazing, fun, friendly - great wines, better stories.

h2babe

Cork, thank you so much for the extensive recommendation -you are awesome! We took notes on all of the winery, and we need to just put dots on our map of wineries that we're interested in. I'm starting to wonder if I should cancel Redd and Cyrus, while some ppl have said they are good, I haven't heard a consistent review from everyone.Thanks again.

corkdork

You are welcome.

For what it's worth (and like I said I'm a local) I'm sitting on a $300 gift certificate to Cyrus right now, cause even with it I figure 2 tasting menus ($130 ish per person) plus the wine and that's not even the 'rare' one ($185/pp) is $90ish per person comes to $440

another $90 for the tip... we are looking at $530.

Yes, there are slightly less expensive options, but at that point - which is best? the whole enchilada or ???

h2babe

Hi Cork,
We're still back and forth on this $400-$500 dinner idea. I think one night splurge is ok, but right now we have reservations for Redd, Bistro Jeanty, and Cyrus. I am looking at $1000 bill for all three if I am lucky.

And since we are staying at Madrona Manor, we got their special package, which includes dinner and message, but if not, we would have to spend more.

I am still working on the winery map, but I will repost the "final itinerary" and ask for more feedback.

corkdork

YAY! looking forward to seeing it!

I think for us who live here, sometimes we take for granted the beauty we see every day.

This morning I was coming in to work (mid morning) it was warm, clear and it took everything in my power to not just drive right past work, and head for the lake!

GrannyJoan

We stayed at Madrona Manor last October and had dinner there as well. Very nice accomodations and meals.

Enjoy! Lots of great wineries in the area. I believe they gave us 3 or four wine passes for free that we stopped to see and had a great time.

-Granny Joan

winesaavy7

h2babe-
sorry for not answering your question- the tour fees are not refunded at Michel-Schlumberger-they are 45 min-1.5 hours long and therefore are for the actual tour and not really as much for the wine tasting (which is included in the tour.) they also donate 1/2 of every tasting/estate tour fee to the local Education Fund in Healdsburg. an added note-everyone I know up here LOVES Willie's wine and seafood bar-it being our favorite place of all in Hldsbg (other posters are right about there being so many options). the only poeple I've heard not give it 5 starts are those who aren't much into seafood or the tapas style plates they serve there. they are always packed-so you may wait for a table-but if you're tired out from a few fancy or heavy meals-this place will break up the monotony I'm sure you'll have a great time- oh! bistro jeanty in yountville is definitely wonderful-not really comparable to Cyrus or Redd in price range or complete formality (which is why I like it....)