Sylvia

When is a good time to visit the wineries in Napa & Sonoma? Is Harvest a good time (or bad? When is harvest, by the way?) We are hoping to go around the second week of Oct. Also, any suggestions for cool hotels, resturants, etc? Thanks!

xxx

Anytime is good, except for last Saturday!

wino

I was in the wine country last fall and stayed at Le Residence. It was WONDERFUL! One big fancy meal was at Domain Chandon and would be hard to beat. Bon Apetite lists The French Laundry in this months issue as one of the best resturants on the country for a "special occasion". What ever you do, don't skip a tour of the
S. Anderson winery. It was the best!

Melissa

I was there last October and it was a great trip! 70-75 degrees and sunny we had amazing weather.

Viansa winery was very cool. The wines were ok, but it has a great outdoor picnic area that overlooks the countryside, very pretty. They also serve burgers, salads, sandwiches which is a plus.

Many of the vineyards do not serve food so it wouldn't be crazy to buy a cheap little cooler there and bring along cheese & crackers to nibble on.

The meals were all great, heavy, but great. You'll have a tough time finding low cal fare but you're on vaca so enjoy.

The girl & the fig (Sonoma) was great and there is a restaraunt right next door which was also good.

Benzinger gives a great tour, they take you up on a tram through the vinyard. Don't do more than one or two tours, it's all basically the same info.

Have a great time!

Laura

Best time of year to come is the first week of November. All the tourists come up to the valley for wine crush and October is very crowded. Harvest is right now - we are picking grapes right outside as we speak - mostly the white varietals are coming off the vines - cabernet is last. The grapes immediately go through Crush and it has already started - a bit early this year. Aug - October is Crush. November the weather starts to just cool off and the entire Valley smells of Wine and you have the opportunity to see more wineries - because you are not stuck on traffic on hwy 29 the entire visit. Do not plan anything in the month of January - because most of the wineries close that month.
Book your hotel now. Not enough rooms in the Valley for all the visitors.
Cool Hotels -
Auberge de Soleil
Meadowood
Inn at Southbridge - okay on the main drag but clean rooms
Harvest Inn - must book a suite to guarantee a nice room - but the best grounds in the valley.
Glass Mountain Inn - B&B - nice rooms - remodeling - but great people.
Restaurants -
Dinner
The French Laundry - 3 month wait list
Brix
Terra
Brava Terrace
Travigne - complete tourist trap - but good ambiance. Italia
Picnic -
V Sattui
Dean and Deluca
Do not forget to book a massage at Lavendar Hill in Calistoga. Mud baths are most popular at Indian Springs in Calistoga.

250 wineries to see. Beringer has the best beginner and historical tour.
Mondavi has a decent tour as well - but is tourist. Niebaum Coppola has the best retail and is an interesting place because it is a very important historical building in this Valley.

good luck.

Roxy

Oct is a nice time to visit. The vines are changing into fall colors, the sights are beautiful.
It is a very popular area, so hopefully you already have made your reservations.

If you like champagne, Chandon is a nice winery to visit. The grounds are very pretty and the champagne is excellent.

My husband and I like Trivigne in St. Helena. We discovered a wonderful Chardonnay there. Again, it is very popular, so you must make reservations a few weeks in advance. One suggestion,
it is always a bit crowded so ask for a table next to the wall if you want intimacy.

Gretchen

We went to the wine country in early November two years ago and had a great time. There was a new French bistro in the Napa area that was terrific, but I forget the name. Also, if we found that if you live in a state which will not let you ship wine from California, it is challenging to take wine home. A friend who lives in the area suggested that we stop by the Sattui wineries, and we really liked their wine. Also, my husband enjoyed making a collection of wine glasses from the wineries we visited. And my youngest son collects wine corks. One of his favorite corks is from Frog's Leap (it has "ribbit" on it), but we weren't able to visit this winery. Enjoy!

Anne

This thread is wonderful.Our 25th anniversary is mid November,now I am thinking of wine country. Any great hotels etc. price is not important. Any ideas would be appreciated from this east coaster.

SF Ghost

Laura, Bravo.

Roxy

Hi Anne,
Check out these sites:

www.harvestinn.com - my friends have stayed there and loved it!

www.cottagegrove.com - beautiful cottages located in Calistoga. They book up fast. Need to reserve weeks in advance.

www.mountviewhotel.com - my husband and I stayed here for our 25th anniversary. Behind the hotel is 3 cottages with their own private patios. Each cottage has its own hot tub. Very romantic!!
We used our hot tub late at night under the stars and drank champagne. It was very quiet and peaceful.

Anne

Thanks Roxy I will check out those web sites tonight,as I sip some great California wine!

Dick

Anne,

We almost stayed at the HArvest Inn but several reviews described it as being somewhat commercial and catering to business groups. We drove by it and weree glad we didn't stay there.

We stayed at the Yountville Inn, a few weeks ago, and were very happy with our choice. http://www.yountvilleinn.com

If money is really not an issue...check out Auberge du Soleil (It the finest place in the areaa but VERY Pricy)
http://www.aubergedusoleil.com

Anne

Thanks they all look interesting. Any rcommedations for San Francisco-Have stayed at Fairmont,and Four Seasons. We would love to include S.F. again. Thanks all!
Anne

Diane

Don't forget Sonoma -- the Russian River Valley, Healdsburg, Dry Creek Valley, visit www.sonoma.com for some good links. My husband and I "did" that area in Spring '99 and just loved it. Call Michel-Schlumberger vinyards for a very delightful "private" tour. Low key, they don't sell caps or hats, etc. You do have to call (even if it is just from a cellphone) as they aren't "open-house" as many others are. They also have a website: www.michelschlumberger.com We enjoyed the extravagent gardens at Ferrai-Carano
and fell in love with the town of Healdsburg. Davis-Bynum Old Vines Zinfandel was a treasured and delicious souvenir we wish we'd been able to bring home in greater quantity! Geyser Peak was also very nice. Find out before you go if you live in a state that will let you ship yourself wines. We don't (Maryland) so we were limited to what we wanted to carry on the plane.

Sylvia

thanks for all the wonderful advice! Let us know if you need info on New Orleans.

Sal

Just returned this afternoon from 5 days in the wine country. We stayed at the Vintage Inn in Yountville and thought it was great. They had a wonderful champagne breakfast, great spa at the Villagio and each room has a terrace or balcony. However, if money is no object, definitely stay at Auberge. Every restaurant was wonderful-- OUr favorites were Tra Vigne, Napa Grill and Terra. We found the most wonderful deli at Sattui winery. The tour at St. Supery was superb. Very, very small groups and extremely knowledgable guides. Also liked the Schramsburg tour. We couldn't get a tour at Joseph Phelps, but it looked great. Oh yes, the picnic area at La Famiglia had a breathtaking view of the valley. I must add that this was our first visit to the wine country, and we planned most of our itinerary based on the information we found on this forum! As you can tell, we got great advice!

David

Sonoma -- Chateau St. Jean, Kunde, Benziger (fun tram ride through the vineyards), Rabbit Ridge (nice small winery), Simi (good tour of larger winery), Korbel (good insight into champagne-making).

Napa: Chateau Montelena, Clos Pegase (nice building), Beringer (cave tours), Hess (groovy art collection).

Hope this helps

Joe

This will be my first visit and it will have to be in December. If you were to stay at either Auberge du Soleil OR Meadowood, which one would it be? Any other recommendation for a holiday stay the last week of December?

Melanie

We are staying in SF for 5 days (for a convention) and are wondering where we could go for a day trip in the wine country? Is that feasible?

Anne

Don't forget another "wine country" up north a bit - Now's a great time to visit the Yakima Valley down to Columbia Basin in Washington State - beautiful country, great wines, and this weekend it's time for the "Crush."