Wine Country with kids
 

We will be in SF 8/2/02 for 6 days and want to visit wine country. Our children,16 and 11<BR>will be with us. Can they visit the wineries if we want to taste?

Yes, they can visit the wineries but keep in mind that there will be nothing for them to do there so you don't want to spend an entire day going from winery to winery or you will have two very sullen children!

Make sure you visit a winery that has a more informative tour in addition to the tasting..Mondavi used to have a good one. Otherwise I agree with Monica..After 1 or 2 they will be pretty bored. To keep them happy, treat them to a wonderful outdoor lunch at Taylor's Refresher for great food and milkshakes. on highway 29 near the town of St. Helena

Yes, they will be bored. We were in SF and made a quick run through (2nd or 3rd visit to wine country) to the valley. Since we had the kids, we took them to Korbel, beautiful grounds and great tour.

Think they will be terribly bored! Could you manage a hot air balloon ride above the valley? Nothing much at all for that age group in the wine country so you'll have to do some of "their" things in the city. That's easy. SF is a good city for kids.

As an adult who isn't really into wine, I would be bored touring wineries, so I can only imagine how boring it would be for a couple of kids.

Not only will your kids be wildly bored, but what kind of example are you setting for them by doing this. Basically you are saying to the children, that they cannot drink but its okay for you to as much as you want. I enjoy a good glass of wine, but would never have more than 1 glass in front of my child much less have the whole goal of a trip/tour be to drink wine. Just my two cents, I'm sure others will disagree.

Maybe the 16 year old can be your designated driver! haha! ;)

If you go up to Calistoga there are some nice wineries and our California version of "old faithful" a geyser that might be of some interest. Stirling Winery, which I don't care much for, does have a tram that takes you up to the top of the hill to the winery. They might like that. But, in general, I don't think they're going to like the wine country.

Did it ever occur to you to do something that your kids would enjoy?

There are some organized bike tours, kayaking down the Russian River, boating/picnics/hiking at Lake Sonoma. These would please your children. But spare them the wineries. The children I saw there were bored to tears.My husband compared it to abuse.

One other thought.....could you book at a nice resort---say Meadowood, and leave your 16 y.o. in charge of the 11 year old while you visit some wineries. It's a very safe, secure resort complex with a great pool and pool side service and then they could go back inside and watch TV. Much better than being dragged around to wineries. Another suggestion might be to change valleys and go to Sonoma where there is a bit of history (the first capital of the Bear Republic), a mission, Sonoma Cheese Co. and some really nicely restored "gold rush age" hotels. Either way you cut it, it will have to be a compromise. We take our dogs to the wine country, but I wouldn't do it to a 11 and 16 y.o.

Do something that the kids enjoyed?! Do you have kids? Probably not 'cause if you did you'd know that most of the time is spent (especially vacations) keeping them happy and going places they want to go (like Disneyland). As long as they're not fall-down drunk there nothing wrong with trying a glass of wine at a couple of wineries.

Sandi,<BR><BR>Have you had 16 yr olds or just young kids?<BR><BR>I've had two 16 yr olds and Disney would not have been high on their list. They would have been bored.<BR><BR>ARe you saying that it's ok for the kids to drink or the parents?<BR><BR>We aren't talking about the morals of drinking wine...I thought we were talking about whether the kids would like wine tastings.<BR><BR>We didn't take out kids on vacations "going where they wanted to go". We took them to places that they may not of thought of visiting. These were places we thought they would like or we thought they woould benefit from going there.

I think Kam has a great idea. We have friends near wine country who keep asking us to come out for a visit - with the kids, but I didn't want to take them with us when we did tastings. I think we'll check into a resort and let the kids enjoy the pool. Of course we'll probably wait another year or two until they are both teens, but that seems to be the best alternative.<BR><BR>Don't forget, cathi will be in SF for 6 days, and just wants to spend a day in wine country. I would hardly call it child abuse if she put her and her husbands desires before her kids for one day. The kids will survive. Too many people indulge their kids a little too much.

I certainly wasn't insinuating that the kids could drink.. definite no-no. My point was that, especially the 16 year old, may surprise you in what they can find interesting. A little more adult vacation, in an incredibly beautiful setting won't kill them.

Include a visit to the geysers and a very short stop at the petrified forest. My kids enjoyed both stops which are short. Stop in at Sutters store. They have a all kinds of spreads, dips and pretzels. And then do only 2 wineries. There is nothing wrong with the kids learning how wine is made. Some of the wineries have juice for the kids while you taste wine and have a cheese lunch.But I do agree that to try to do more than 2 will make everyone miserable. If you include a mix of activiites then everyone will be happy.

You might want to consider the Hess winery in Sonoma. You can taste your wine and visit the Hess collection gallery. It's some wild modern art that the kids might appreciate. At the very least - it would give them something to do.

Bill, great idea! Hess would be a great place to visit. They have some really cool art (like the burning typewriter & the moving speakers on the wall.) <BR><BR>As an extra bonus the winding road you take to get there is an adventure of itself. <BR><BR>S

I like reading the backwards Midwestern American views that it's best that their kids drink nothing until age 21. You just create a generation of bad drunks.