I know this may sound silly but what is the recommened attire for wine tours/tasting? I am assuming nice casual but wanted to check. Also what is acceptable dinner attire? Do men need jackets/ties?
Thanks.

Napa?

You'd be surprised how casual & not so nice the attire is for tasting. So if you do nice casual you'll be fine.

Jacket & Tie in CA? Hmmmm trying to remember the last time I saw that anywhere here.

Key question: WHERE?

No matter what for wine-tasting, you can get away with casual wear - shorts and a t-shirt. Especially in summer, youll be thankful for this (Napa can get really hot).

For dinner: it depends. French Laundry youll want a suit. Just about anywhere else, a short-sleeved polo shirt (no tie) will probably do.

If you are in the NY state Finger Lakes region jeans will suffice.

Thanks Suzie - my husband REALLY thanks you. We're in Atlanta so it varies but for most nice places he ends up in a tie and jacket (jacket minimum). I think we are passing on the French Laundry. We're staying at Madrona Manor in Healdsburg and other than their restaurant we have not made other dinning plans. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks all!

Your husband would NOT need to wear a suit at the French Laundry. Nothing in the Napa Valley is that formal. A sportcoat, without a tie, would be fine, as would a summer shirt and pair of chinos. Type "French Laundry" in the search bar in Yahoo and click on "images search" -- you'll see what I mean.

Oh, and as for wine tasting, shorts and a tank top are absolutely acceptable. This is HOT tourist country.

You might consider dinner at Cyrus in Healdsburg. It's a bit pricy, but well worth the $$ for the experience. The barman, Scotty, makes fabulous cocktails.

When dining at nicer places in Sonoma County, I wear a sports jacket with shirt, no tie.

We were shocked at how underdressed people were in Napa, or I guess we were overdressed. My husband wore a suit to dinner at one of the nice restaurants there, and he stuck out like a sore thumb. There was actually a man there in shorts. I didn't see anyone else in a tie. For wine tasting, anything casual and comfortable was fine.

We were shocked at how underdressed people were in Napa

I was shocked 35 years ago in San Francisco when we dined at a very fine restaurant (our first time doing so, a gift) and there were people is relatively casual attire, meaning men without jackets or ties. Haven't been shocked since LOL!

All of a sudden it made my brother-in-law make sense to me. For my parents' huge wedding anniversary party, all the men wore dark suits with ties, and my BIL, who came from California, wore a Hawaiian shirt with white pants. After we visited the area, we got it that it's just a more casual vibe out there.

it's just a more casual vibe out there

Indeed it is.

I like to have a hat and a light sweater - the hat for tours of vineyards and for sitting on the patio outside and the sweater for the cellar rooms which can be a bit chilly.
I thought French Laundry required a jacket - I remember my DH running out to get one after we were pulled off the waitlist the day before we dined. Fortunately, there was an outlet in Napa and he bought one he still wears to work.

This isn't exactly attire advice, but whatever you do please do NOT wear perfume or cologne - both to wine tasting and dinner. (well, for dinner, if you really must, very faint)

It's very distracting and takes away from the whole wine tasting experience.

Everything else is pretty acceptable. It's all a matter of your comfort and style.

Wear comfy shoes - at least no stillettos. Some wineries have dirt or grassy pathways

We had dinner at Madrona Manor and had a wonderful time. The grounds are quite beautiful.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks all. We are leaving on Wednesday and really looking forward to it. I especially like the advice on perfume. I have noticed people at restaurants that you can smell from across the room.

Question: how about French wine tours? My boyfriend wants to visit Paris in November to take numerous wine tours. He wants to wear tuxedo shirts and black pants. I think he would look out of place with a tuxedo shirt for a daytime wine tour. Does anyone know the answer to this? Thanks for any help!

vlcarter47

Hi vlcarter47-
I see you are new here, so welcome !
You should really ask this question over in the
Europe forum. Do you know how to change forums ?

R5

are you asking vlcarter47 if s/he can read? haha

I second the recommendation to dine at Cyrus in Healdsburg - we had a wonderful experience there. We wore nice, casual clothes to tour the wineries and dressed a little nicer for dinner. You will love Healdsburg - it is such a quaint little town. We also liked the Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant (a Charlie Palmer restaurant) in our hotel for dinner. We stocked up on munchies (bread, cheese, etc. . .) at the little grocery on the square before heading out for the day so we could snack a little between wineries.

Some of our favorite wineries were Jordan (absolutely beautiful grounds and great wine), Bella (really neat cave tasting area), Peju (like the wine) and the Francis Ford Coppola Rubicon estate (gorgeous!).

Have a great time!

Thank you to Razzledazzle for the polite guidance to the correct forum. And, yes JayZee, I can read. Just new to all of this and appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks to all of you. I'll switch over to the Europe forum.

vlcarter