Wine Country Help
 

I will be going next week to the wine country for a day. It's my first time and I know that a day it's not enough. I will rent a car.
My question is:
If you have to pick 3 or 4 wineries to visit, which will you choose?

Napa or Sonoma? Prefer red or white?

If I was going to the Napa Valley I'd pick for a combination of wine and scenery the following...
1. Rombaurer Winery
2. Hoenig Winery
3. Domain Chandon
4. Artesa Winery
If I was going to the Healdsburg area of Sonoma County I'd pick...
1. Ferrari-Carano
2. Ridge Lytton Springs
3. "J"
4. Clos du Bois

I don't have a preference between red or wine. I like both very much in their own special way.
So, I'm open to try new wines. I kind of searched online and found some places that I think can be good choices (but I'm not familiar with the area so feel kind of lost); this is the order in which I was planning to visit them:
+Robert Mondavi-Napa- I read that they have a tour and tasting for $25 and u can tour the winery. It takes like 75 minutes.
+Beringer- St Helena- $20 p/p and u can tour the whole place. I read the place it's more than a 100 yrs old. I also takes like 75 mins.
+Kendall Jackson- Healdsburg- Tasting is $5.
+Benzinger- Sonoma- $10 p/p. U can tour the whole place. The tour takes like 25 mins.
+Buena Vista Carneros- Sonoma- $5 p/p tasting.

So, does this look okay? Does it look to much for a day? If so, which ones will you pick or takeout of the list? Or, do have any new suggestions? Have u been to any of these? If so, can u provide some feedback.

Frankly once you've taken one tour you've taken all you need. Don't waste your time on that. You are not going to be able to do all that driving in one day. Pick Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley and concentrate on that. You can call Ferrari Carano in Hbg. and ask for a tour. It must be booked in advance. 707-433 6700 (?)..They have a beautiful winery and garden. That's the Dry Creek area and there are a lot of wineries to visit. You can also tour various tasting rooms in Hbg. itself.

I have to agree with kleroux. Attempting to do both Napa and Sonoma in a single day is too much. The drive between Healdsburg and Napa is over an hour. Since this is your first time to wine country, I would suggest sticking with Napa. The Mondavi tour is very good so that is a good place to start. The Silverado Trail has numerous wineries so you can easily spend a day visiting those.

I would not miss Domaine Carneros in Napa, a very pretty winery with excellent Pinot Noir. We did the tasting in the main room, not the one downstairs which is a little more pricey but worth it. :)

Domaine Chandon in Yountville is also one of our favorites for the ambiance, friendly staff and excellent wines. Cheers! ***kim*** ((l))

I've been to Benziger and Buena Vista. Benziger is very friendly; the tour is short and sweet. Only did a tasting at Buena Vista. Snobby, but the wines were good enough to make up for it :)

It's best to visit the wineries that you are familiar with and drink their wines at home if this is your first visit.

You choice of Mondavi and Beringer are good ones. Mondavi has a very comprehensive tour and Beringer has the old Rhine House and the historic wine caves.

I also agree with several other posters to visit Domaine Chandon for a tour of a sparkling wine house. Chandon also has lovely grounds and an excellent restaurant.

A few years ago, these wineries did not charge for their tours. Now that they are owned by huge corporations, they find it necessary to charge hefty fees. It was the free tours that built their reputations and now they seem to take their patrons for granted.

If you take three tours and have a nice lunch, your day will be filled with maybe a little time for shopping in St. Helena or Yountville.

Other options would be to go to Sonoma or up to Healdsburg. But, if it's your first trip, I would go to the Napa Valley. Maybe you will like it enough to return and explore the other areas.

To my knowledge, tours are free in the Sonoma area...we get more serious wine lovers here rather than the "Bachelor Party limo groups"...which have ruined it for everyone.

I agree with Kleroux - if you only can visit 4, stick to the Dry Creek Road (or West Dry Creek Road) area. You can probably visit twice that many on Dry Creek Road. The 4 you mentioned are SO spread apart.

The other place I might reccommend is River ROad, off 101 just a few exits north of Santa Rosa. There are dozens of wineries in that area.

We have been to several areas, including Napa, and will never go to Napa again. It is not our style. We prefer the smaller family run wineries where the staff are more personable and the tasting rooms smaller and less crowded. (Not to mention better traffic)

"Bachelor Party limo groups"

I worked in hospitality for a major Napa Valley winery for many years and never encountered one of these.

Your derisive comments about Napa have become very tiresome. Maybe you should look for a more balanced approach to your postings.

There are great things to be said about your Healdsburg and the other Sonoma wine regions but there is a reason why the Napa Valley maintains its reputation. It's because of the quality of the wines.

No offense, Otis, but I agree about the bachelor party limos and tour buses. Especially at the BIG wineries. But there are some in Sonoma as well...such as Viansa. There are some wonderful, smaller wineries in Napa where you won't feel like a number and won't have to share elbow-to-elbow tastings with the throngs. I kind of agree with the Dry Creek Valley. Gorgeous scenery, not as many traffic woes as Napa Valley. Ferrari-Carano is beautiful. Rosenblum in Healdsburg Square is a great tasting room. Dutcher Crossing, Papapietro-Perry for great pinots, Wilson for amazing Cabs.