We had been to Napa a few times, liked V. Sattui but on our last trip we stayed in Sonoma at the Grape Leaf Inn a wonderful B&B. We now prefer Sonoma to Napa, not as crowded. Came upon Christopher Creek Winery and did join their wine club. "J" is great for the sparkly stuff and they do charge $10 but you get samples of food to pair with and that was really nice. Raymond Burrs winery was good. If you see that the wineries say closed in any printed info you might get, don't necessarily go by that. We were told that some are open but cannot advertise that they are. That is how we ended at Raymond Burr's, they had a little stand up sign in their drive that said "Open Today". Good Luck and Enjoy!

If you like sweet white wine, you'll love the Moscato at St. Supery in Rutherford.

We were in Napa last fall for the first time and used a great guide from Globe Pequot Press, "Napa Valley: Land of Golden Vines" by Kathleen and Gerald Hill to plan our wine tour. (They also have a Sonoma version, "Sonoma Valley: The Secret Wine Country") We wanted to try some smaller wineries in Napa since we only had 2 days and wanted to try wines we could not find easily at home.

1. Rutherford--St. Susprey Vineyards and Winery Discovery Center was the first place which was a great intro to wines and wine tasting.
2. Rutherford--Cakebread gorgeous setting and personalized tastings.
3. Yountville--Robert Sinskey the staff were very friendly and if you like food his wife, Maria Helm Sinskey also has authored "The Vineyard Kitchen".
4. Oakville--Oakville Grocery, great selection of local wines including many 1/2 bottles and incredible deli perfect for picking up a picnic lunch.

We stayed in Yountville at Lavender, a Four Sisters Inn, close to everything in Napa with many distinguised restaurants from the Frech Laundry to Bistro Jeanty. In November, the weekend traffic was very congested, try to get an early start.