wineries
 

With so many to choose from in the Napa and Sonoma area, how does one choose which wineries to visit? Any recomendations for two days of touring? Thanks!!

I would almost reccomend choosing just one area and doing some research on that particular area. I have been to Sonoma and easily could have spent 2 full days there. There are lovely B&B's with varied price ranges for over night stays.
I spent quite a bit of time in some of the Private tasting rooms at Chateau St. Jean and a few others that escapr my memory. You pay a small fee ($10-20) with this you recieve personal attention and information about their wines. It is worth the time and cost.

I would buy a good book on both areas and see what appeals to you. I love the Frommers books. I actually picked up terrrific info from the Hotel Manager of the smalll boutique hotel I was staying in in SF.
Each wine area has a tourist info center with great maps and descriptions of each winery if you wnat to "wing" it.
Have fun!!

It depends on what you want. I actually find the Sonoma wineries a bit easier to navigate. I actually find Sonoma easier to be in over Napa. Napa will be very crowded and, for the most part, larger wineries will be what you'll get. Others have suggested to you on another thread the possibility of staying in Sonoma unless you have your heart set on Calistoga. I happen to be a big fan of Calistoga and remember it when it was a very small place. It can be crowded in the summer months especially on weekends. But, if you have picked yourself a nice spa at which to stay(my favorite is Indian SPrings) you can wine taste, eat like a gourmand and lounge about the pool. I suppose a good rule of thumb in Napa is to try and select wineries on the Silverado Trail. Traffic on HWY 29 can be horrible.You can also consider a drive over to the Dry Creek area which includes Healdsburg. This is the land of Russian River Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels. From there you can easily access HWY 128 out through the Anderson Valley and up to Mendocino. Check out www.wineroad.com

That would depend on what type of wine you like. If you have never done a winery tour/tasting my recommendation would be to go to a place that offers a decent tour so you can see what goes into making a bottle of wine. Some places specialize in red and others in white, and some do both. If you like champagne (aka sparkling wine in california) we really enjoyed the tour/tasting at Schramsburg in Calistoga. You must make an appt. ahead of time and I believe there is a tasting fee of between $10-25 depending on what you taste. But the history surrouding the winery, the hand dug caves and the education regarding "champagne" was really interesting and we really enjoyed the tasting too. Very tasty stuff! This tour and tasting was nice as opposed to Domaine Chandon because it was intimate and small. DC is a huge operation and we preferred the intimacy of smaller tours and tastings. Opus One (Mondavi's ultra high end red wine, with its own location) was also incredibly amazing. Again, appt. needed and about a $25 fee involved, but worth it. For a free tour of a interesting winery that does both a decent red and white wine you could try Clos Pegase. No appt. needed just show up for the tours at the designated times. You will end up in the tasting room at the end of the tour and pay for what you want to taste. For more info on wineries try napavalley.com. Lots of info there that will help. Cheers!

Another suggestion is a winery called Del Dotto. I have never been there, but many people who have just rave about the place and the tour. Its supposed to be one of the best tours going in Napa. Just another suggestion for you....

Since it sounds like you haven't been to wine country, you might be interested in some of the ones we went to. We were "newbies" to the winery scene and found some good tours and experiences at these:

In Napa Valley:
Domaine Chandon in Yountville--mentioned in another post. We enjoyed the sparkling wine and learning about how it's made (and how they get the bubbles in there). Beautiful grounds
Neibaum Coppola--Very beautiful building and grounds. Nice "museum" inside with wine making and movie (thanks to Coppola) artifacts. Fun to see Oscars and movie props. Very BIG tasting room and shop--almost a little overwhelming, but worth a short stop
Sterling--This is the place with the "aerial tram"--which is fun, but not anything breathtaking. However, they have a great self-paced tour that taught us a lot about the wine making process. The tasting there was nice, too.
Keenan Winery: This place is SMALL and you have to drive up a winding road to get there, but the people are friendly, wine is good, and it's fun to see a smaller facility. The vista from the picnic tables out front is great, too! (Call ahead for an appointment)

I would say to pick 3-4 wineries a day, depending on how much time you would like to spend at each. This seemed to be a good pace for us. We also tried to find a mix of large, commercial wineries with fun tours and some smaller ones with a more intimate experience. We had a great time--you will too!