Hi, I'm trying to take advantage of a late-developing opportunity. On Friday July 14 my husband will conclude a business meeting in Folsom. I'm thinking of flying to meet him and then spending 2-3 days for a mini-tour of wine country. I'm not sure if I can put a trip together at this late date. I don't think that we want to base ourselves out of Folsom, so what town would you recommend moving to? And, what hotel/inn/B&B in that town? I know that reservations can be hard to come by this late, but I can only try. Also, we will be flying home from Sacramento, if that influences your recommendations. Thanks in advance for your help!

Folsom to Napa/Sonoma is quite a long drive.

However you have a terrific opportunity. You will be less than 40 minutes from the wonderful Amador county wineries. It is like Napa was 30 years ago - lots of wineries, free tasting for the most part, no tasting reservations required, and wonderful scenery.

There are more than 35 wineries centered around the village of Plymouth. From Folsom you would go east on Hwy 50 to El Dorado Hills, exit the freeway on Latrobe road and follow through about 15 miles through pretty farm country to Old Sacramento road. Turn left and in about 5 miles you are in Plymouth. (wonderful market on the main street w/ some of the best picnic food anywhere). From there you are on the edge of the Shenandoah Valley wine region.

You could stay in a B&B anywhere along hwy 49 (plymouth, Sutter Creek, Amador City, etc). This is the heart of CA gold rush country so lots of history, villages, antiques, etc. Or you could just drive back to Folsom.

Summer in Napa/Sonoma is just too crowded, and expensive.

Dear Sadiegirl:

I agree with janis: head to the wineries in the foothill, Amador county, Shenandoah Valley. It will be an easier trip and not crowded like Napa. There is more to the California wine country than just Napa and Sonoma. You may also want to fit in Lake Tahoe since it is only an hour or so up the road from Folsom.

Have a nice trip,

MY

Thanks to both of you for the information. I had no knowledge of Amador county, etc.! Guess I was a victim of the Napa/Sonoma PR machine.

Well, there is a difference in the wines. I love the foothills and some of the wines can be quite nice. The Napa Valley is beautiful and there are many fantastic wines! Admitting bias, we do live in Napa. The drive from Folsom to Napa is about 1 hour 15 minutes; to the wineries add another 10 to 15 minutes. And to drive to Sacramento Airport from Napa it is 80 minutes, if you know the shortcut.
There are several websites that can help with finding lodging in Napa Valley. No, it is not cheap, but there are some less expensive options. We just dealt with this issue in planning a family event. If you want some ideas, add to the post and I will give more info.

sadiegirl, congratulations first on your escape from Folsom. The title made me laugh. Did you meet up with some friends coming down from Walla Walla too and stopping at Alcatraz to hoist one in honor of the old boys club?
Have a good one. Brian

elnap29: "The drive from Folsom to Napa is about 1 hour 15 minutes"

In your dreams!! It takes more than 35-40 minutes just to get from Folsom to Sacramento in the a.m. And if they are going on a Friday afternoon - all bets are off.

You admit it is 80 minutes to SMF from Napa - and Folsom is another 30 - 45 minutes farther depending on the time of day -- on a good day.

You may know Napa - but Sacto/Folsom/the foothills - not so much.

On a Saturday AM, it works just fine. And I work with folks that commute from Folsom during weekdays, so the time is not that off. I agree it CAN be snarly traffic at times, but you have to know which roads to take to avoid the mess.
Also, I have driven these routes numerous times myself.

Last year, prior to a trip to Lake Tahoe, I stayed at Fox's B&B in Sutter Creek. It was great. A nice location to tour some of the Amador County wineries. There's a winery that makes italian varietals, I think it was called Montevina, that was such a lovely setting and good wines.

In Placerville (El Dorado County), be sure to check out Lava Cap. So good.

You can get maps of Amador County and El Dorado County wineries online.

elnap: Even IF I agreed, I am still confused. Taking your numbers - 80 mins to SMF - how could Folsom possibly take less time. If can you do Napa to SMF in 80 mins, how do you go 25 miles farther to Folsom in 75 mins? Time travel perhaps??

An honest question - why would you want to send someone half way across the state to vist an area that is already so crowded on summer weekends, when they are staying practically on the doorstep (30 - 40 minutes) from an equally scenic wine region. If someone was staying in Fairfield I'd definitely send them towards Napa/Sonoma. Amador Country wouldn't make sense since Napa is just over the hill. Same thing here - the wonderful Amador/El Dorado district is just over the hill from Folsom.

Sure, Napa/Sonoma is great - but so are 4 or 5 other winery districts that don't have the crowds, traffic, high room rates, and expensive tastings.

With 2-3 days you would have plenty of time regardless of the drive time.

If you are truly interested in spending time in Napa Valley, I do not think the drive is onerous at all.

I grew up in Sonoma County and am an avid snowboarder, so I spend plenty of time in the Sacto Foothills and the Murphy, Angels Camp area... but the hill winery experience is just different, so pays to decide what you prefer. They have good wines and quaint towns in the foothills.

Napa/St. Helena, Calistoga has a density that makes it easy to visit alot of wineries in a short time, but pays to plan which and route it, as it is popular and traffic can be bad at times. St. Helena is nice if you like to browse little boutiques...

I personally usually stay at the Napa end to avoid crowds, but since your first visit you may just want to plunge in and enjoy.

I usually eat in Yountville, some great places there, and visit Artesa (stunning modern winery) and Hess which has nice art collection. A lot of my guests have liked Niebaum-Coppola because of the size and the Coppola exhibits.

Good Luck in your decision making.

Thank you all for your opinions and advice. The travel time discussion is quite helpful for our planning. We will arrive late Thursday afternoon and drive from SMF to Napa. However, Friday morning my husband will have to drive back to Folsom for meetings and then drive back to Napa later that afternoon. As with most metro areas, it sounds like that Friday pm commute might be the most time-consuming?

It sounds as if your plans are set but...

Why are you going to Napa on Thursday? It is a long drive and I would think you could fill up your Friday visiting historic Sacramento until your husband is done with his work. Then you could both do the drive together Friday pm.

It just seems like a lot of extra driving (3-4 hrs) for your husband.

Not to scare you off - but on a Friday the trip can easily stretch to 2 hours or more EACH way. Driving SMF > Napa > Folsom > Napa in 1.5 days is just this side of certifiable . . . . .

myst~
Niebaum-Coppola is no longer in Napa.
They purchased the Chateau Souvereign property and moved to Sonoma-in the Dry Creek area.
N-C is now called Rubicon Estate. They charge $25 pp for 5 tastes.
Ridiculous.

R5

The OP's orignal inquiry was whether a weekend wine country tour was possible. The answer is that it is possible, although reservations at some of the nicer places to stay could be difficult to come by.

A central location with several nice places to stay would be Yountville. Check out the Villagio and Vintage Inn. There are also several great restaurants located there. The wineries will be pretty crowded on the weekend. However, just take your time, pick out the ones you want to see, and enjoy yourself.

If you choose to go to the wine country, contrary to some of the other posters, I don't see the drive as being that bad. Certainly, if you get caught in rush hour, it could take you 2 hours to get there, but so what. Quite frequently we leave Sacramento on a Friday for a weekend in the wine country or San Francisco. Its crowded, but not the end of the world.

Finally, while Amador County wineries have come a long way in the last 20 years, and are certainly worth a visit, its still not the same (winery wise) as being in the Napa Valley. But each to his own.

Hi folks. We're staying in Napa because, drum roll, I found a place to stay there! (The Napa River Inn.) I must have checked every mid to top-rated B&B, inn, hotel and the like from Napa to Calistoga. Exhausting. At any rate, when the NRI had availability at an acceptable rate, I grabbed it. After all, how can we disparage Napa if we haven't been there? (wink) I agree that the driving time is unfortunate, but we'll make the best of it. We live in Seattle, whose traffic is not for the faint of heart either! I've got some dinner reservations at places that I'm excited to try, and we're going to follow some of the itinerary/winery advice of the Wall Street Journal wine columnists published in Sept 2005.