575 Best Sights in USA

In addition to producing increasingly acclaimed wine—with particularly impressive Pinot Gris, dry Riesling, Zinfandel (which is seldom bottled in these parts), Pinot Noir, Barbera, and Tempranillo—this winery adjacent to the long-running Fruit Company (fruit and gift baskets) has a beautiful, contemporary tasting room with gorgeous Mt. Hood views from inside and the expansive patio.

When Champagne Mumm of France set about establishing a California sparkling-wine outpost, its winemaker chose the Napa Valley, where today the winery sources grapes from more than 50 local producers. Made in the méthode traditionnelle style from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and occasionally Pinot Gris, the wines are all fermented in the bottle. Most guests enjoy them alfresco, by the glass or flight, on two patios with vineyard views. Small-batch cuvées are served with artisanal cheeses under the sprawling branches of a nearly-two-centuries-old blue oak.

At a contemporary tasting barn with an outdoor patio and cabana seating, father-daughter wine-growing team William "Bill" Hill and Elana Hill showcase the Bordeaux-style reds of their Prime Solum label and the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of the Expression brand. Unlike many tastings where the wines are a few years old at most, sessions here focus on older vintages, not just of the Bordeaux reds but also the Pinots and even some of the Chardonnays. The Pinots come from as near as Sonoma County and as far as Sta. Rita Hills and Oregon.

A visit to this family-run winery that opened in 1974 is a classic Anderson Valley experience, with tastings in fine weather on several perches overlooking sustainably farmed vineyards. Best known for Alsatian varietals such as Gewürztraminer and Riesling, Navarro also makes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and other wines.

The area's oldest operating winery, established in 1980, pours its wines, many from Sierra Foothills grapes, in a tasting room whose back patio perches over the wine-making facility. Chardonnay is a best seller, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Rhône and Italian reds among the other specialties.

History converges in fascinating ways at this winery and vineyard, whose tale involves pioneer-rancher Peter Lassen (Mt. Lassen is named for him), railroad baron Leland Stanford, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, the Napa Valley's five-generation Nichelini wine-making family, and current owners the Trappist-Cistercian monks. In the 1890s, the rambling redbrick tasting room, erected by Stanford, stored 2 million gallons of wine. These days the hosts pour Albariño, Viognier, Tempranillo, Barbera, Syrah, and other small-lot bottlings from grapes mostly grown nearby. The on-site chapel (the Hearst connection) has a convoluted story all its own. A second tasting room in downtown Redding was scheduled to open before the end of 2023.

A scenic drive east of the Silverado Trail twists past Lake Hennessey to Nichelini, a throwback to Napa’s past, which bills itself as the county's oldest continuously family-owned and operated winery. Structures Anton Nichelini, an Italian-Swiss immigrant, built in the late 1800s still cling to a steep embankment where the road skirts a cliff. Anton's great-great-granddaughter Aimée Sunseri makes whites that include a sparkling wine, a barrel-fermented 100% Semillon named Caterina, after Anton's wife, and Muscadelle (aka Sauvignon Vert) from vines planted in 1946. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Bordeaux-style blends are the primary reds.

Seven miles west of Marietta, this family-owned winery grows 14 varieties of French-hybrid and American grapes and produces 30 different wines, from dry to very sweet, plus some fruit wines. There are tours, tastings, and a shop with bottles for sale. You can picnic on the grounds, and in the summer there's a popular open-air concert series on the lawn.

This winery offers Syrah, Merlot, Chardonnay, and dessert wines. You can also pick up fixings for a picnic here—salami, cheeses, and crackers.

A mid-block alley off 1st Street leads to this Japanese-influenced indoor-outdoor garden tasting room, whose charcoal-gray exterior draws inspiration from the volcanic glass–bestrewn estate Obsidian Vineyard. Cabernet Sauvignon and other red grapes from that vineyard, north of Napa and Sonoma in the Red Hills Lake County AVA, grow at elevation 2,340–2,640 feet. Unusual for California Cabs, Obsidian's are aged in Hungarian—rather than French—oak, contributing to their potent flavors. The label's Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, also aged in Hungarian barrels, come from the Poseidon Vineyard in Los Carneros. Alternative wines like the Pezsgö "pét-nat" Pinot Noir and Petite Sirah sparklers are among this adventurous winery's other preoccupations.

A former beet-sugar refinery a 15-minute drive south of downtown in Clarksburg now houses the tasting rooms of 14 Northern California wineries. The Clarksburg AVA (American Viticultural Area), which straddles Sacramento, Yolo, and Solano counties, is known for Chenin Blanc and Petite Sirah, though all the wineries also purchase grapes elsewhere. Clarksburg Wine Company, which owns the on-site wine-making facility, is a worthy first stop. Draconis Wines and Three Wine Company also merit investigation, with Bump City, co-owned by the Oakland-based Tower of Power's keyboard player, Roger Smith, another popular stop.

The Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi and France's Baron Philippe de Rothschild joined forces in the late 1970s to produce Opus One, a Bordeaux blend often credited as Napa's first ultrapremium wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon–dominant wine is made and presented at a low-slung limestone structure, much of it concealed by a crescent-shape berm of native grasses and plants. The Courtyard Experience provides a suitable introduction to winery and wine, but consider booking the Opus One Experience. Involving small gourmet bites and including a visit to the semicircular subterranean barrel room, it takes place in a sumptuous salon with views north to Mt. St. Helena.

This lovely boutique winery in a pastoral setting features a modern farmhouse-chic gathering space with picnic-table outdoor seating and a garden. The only winery on Orcas, it's perfect for a sunny afternoon spent sipping wine and listening to concerts.

Visitors here can taste award-winning Syrah, Sangiovese, and Viognier produced from grapes harvested from the 10,000-acre vineyard. The Rose Arbor has a picnic area, and there's a gift shop with wine-related merchandise. There's also a tasting room on Cleveland Street in Oceanside.

A Bank of Italy branch once occupied the stone-walled downtown tasting room of industry maverick Dave Phinney. The snazzily appointed locale befits a guy crafting bold, unabashedly fruit-forward wines. Phinney scored big early in his career with the multivarietal The Prisoner red blend, subsequently selling the brand for a hefty sum. The Orin Swift flagship, Mercury Head, is a Cabernet Sauvignon, and Papillon is a straight-up Bordeaux red, but the most widely distributed wine, Abstract, contains Grenache, Syrah, and Petite Sirah. In addition to making the wines, Phinney creates their labels and provides compelling backstories well told by high-spirited hosts.

Sunny weekends at this farmhouse-style tasting venue less than a mile from Healdsburg Plaza have a lawn-party vibe. Guests seated in cabanas or at teak tables shaded by candy-apple-red umbrellas sip wines from Italian varietals, occasionally pausing to play cornhole or ogle the 70 acres of vineyards surrounding the property. Orsi, whose motto is "Italian roots in Sonoma County soil," makes whites like Biancolella and Fiano, but the reds—Aglianico, Barbera, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Negroamaro, Primitivo, Sangiovese, and Schioppettino among them—are the highlight.

The progressive outlook of this Black-owned winery encompasses its embrace of earth-friendly farming techniques, low-intervention wine making, and an everybody's-welcome vibe in the tasting room, which evokes 1970s soul chic. It's okay to dance (classic soul and R&B are in heavy rotation) should the mood strike you while sipping affordable wines—Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Zinfandels, and a Cabernet Sauvignon among them—from noteworthy vineyards. In good weather, the party expands to the pond-side patio out front.  A second Overshine label, Idlewild, which specializes in wines from northern Italian grapes, has a separate tasting room just off Healdsburg Plaza.

When the sun's out and you're sipping wine while viewing whales or other sea creatures swimming offshore, this bluff-top winery's outdoor tasting spaces feel mystical and magical, but the site's equally beguiling on brooding stormy days. The engaging owner-winemaker, Sally Ottoson, makes whites that include Viognier and Semillon. Charbono, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, and a Zinfandel, Barbera, Charbono, and Petite Sirah blend count among the reds. Walk-ins are welcome.

The high-ceilinged tasting room of this winery named for the optimistic doctor from Voltaire's satire Candide occupies a restored 1902 stone building across from Sonoma Plaza. Originally a general store, it's a striking setting to sip white and red blends and single-varietal Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Syrah wines. You can enjoy them by the flight or glass, with or without small bites. Walk-ins are usually possible on weekdays.

The mood is almost always upbeat on the vineyard-view patio at Papapietro Perry as regulars and first-timers sip Pinot Noirs, most from Russian River Valley grapes. A Chardonnay, a Zinfandel, and a rosé of Pinot Noir also grace the lineup. The house style is to pick early and shoot for elegance rather than the "overexpression" that can result from using riper fruit. The consistency of approach allows guests to discern the differences between wines from multiple fruit sources, a single vineyard, or a particular Pinot Noir clone.

Wine critics routinely bestow scores in the high-90s on the Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Cabernet Sauvignons produced at this appointment-only winery set amid gently rolling vineyards in northwestern Sebastopol. Owner-winemaker Paul Hobbs's university thesis investigated the flavors that result from various oak-barrel toasting levels. He continued his education at Robert Mondavi Winery, Opus One, and other storied establishments before striking out on his own in 1991. Guests on a Signature Tasting visit the winery and sip four wines with dips, bread, and vegetables; the Vineyard Designate Experience includes the tour plus seasonal plates paired with limited-edition single-vineyard wines.

Winemaker Mat Gustafson and his wife, Barbara, specialize in low-alcohol, food-friendly Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs; other reds include a Cabernet Franc, a Dolcetto, and a Grenache. On a hot summer day, their Muscat Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier whites make for delightful sipping in the picnic area behind the tasting room, which occupies a century-old Edwardian storefront.

A sixth-generation family-run boutique winery, Pedernales Cellars offers sustainably grown, 100 percent Texas grapes and specializes in Spanish- and Rhone-style wines. The winery sits on 145 acres with bucolic views of the Pedernales River Valley, and tastings and cellar tours are offered.

Lynn Penner-Ash brought a wealth of experience working in Napa and as Rex Hill's winemaker to this winery that she and her husband Ron started in 1998. Although focused primarily on silky Pinot Noir, Penner-Ash also produces very good Syrah, Viognier, and Riesling. From its hilltop perch in the middle of the Dussin vineyard, this state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery and tasting room offers commanding views of the valley below.

A family-run business founded in 2001, this winery produces award-winning wines from Pennsylvania-grown grapes that range from sweet and floral Moscato to bold Bordeaux-style wines. It's one of the state's more than 400 wineries, and part of a cluster around the Brandywine Valley. The 30-acre property is a great place to bring a picnic, a dog, and the family, but dogs and those under 21 cannot enter the tasting room and pavilion, and outside food is not permitted in those areas. About 100 outdoor tables on the pretty grounds overlook the vineyard, and you can also bring your own chairs and blanket. An outdoor wine bar is open on weekends April through October. A short menu of cheeses, crackers, and charcuterie is offered.  Check the website, as there's live music and other events many weekends.

The descendants of Albino Pestoni, a Swiss-Italian immigrant who entered the wine business in 1892, run this winery whose family story encompasses Prohibition hijinks and pioneering composting efforts. A Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot, and a Petit Verdot—the winery’s best offerings—come from fruit grown high up Howell Mountain. In 2024, the Pestonis hired well-regarded Aaron Pott as consulting winemaker to add polish to these wines and ones from Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, and other grapes grown on three Rutherford parcels.  Rare in the Napa Valley, guests can bring their own provisions and picnic in the winery's tree-shaded pavilion after a tasting.

The Piña family, whose Napa Valley heritage dates from the 1850s, is known locally as much for its vineyard-management company as its modest winery specializing in single-vineyard, 100% Cabernet Sauvignons. Winemaker Anna Monticelli crafts these robust Cabs from mostly hillside fruit, all estate grown. Though she doesn't blend in other varietals, commonly done to soften Cabernet, the winery doesn't release its wines until age has mellowed them. Tastings here are a throwback to the no-frills 1970s (i.e., strictly about the wine).

Lush gardens and more than 300 acres of vineyards provide a rustic, elegant setting at Ponte, whose small-lot bottlings range from sparkling wines and light whites to very fine Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec reds. Another favorite in the light-filled tasting room is the flagship Super T wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon–Sangiovese blend. To find out how the wines are made, take the Premium Tour ($85) by electric bus of the vineyards and production facility. The tour (reservation required) concludes with a wine and cheese tasting. The shaded outdoor Restaurant at Ponte serves salads, wood-fired pizzas, and seafood daily for lunch, and on Friday and Saturday for dinner.

Vintner Jane Portalupi's grandmother, Marina, was her Italian village’s winemaker, and later in Prohibition-era San Jose, California, sold wine in milk bottles at her grocery store to help keep her family afloat. Portalupi and her husband, Tim Borges, also the winemaker, celebrate Jane's heritage with whites from Italian grapes like Arneis and Vermentino, along with reds that include Barbera (a strong suit) and Nebbiolo. Heavier wines include Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, and there's a Pinot Noir. The ultrafriendly staffers serve these vibrant wines in a storefront space with sofas and chairs that, except for the tall ceiling, has a living-room feel. On good-weather weekends, the sidewalk parklet often fills up.