575 Best Sights in USA

Naturally, the top seller at this winery, located on what was once Rose Ranch and is now Ulupalakua Ranch, is the pineapple wine Maui Blanc. Reservations are encouraged for the regular tastings that take place Tuesday through Sunday in the King's Cottage, which was built in the late 1800s for frequent appearances by King Kalakaua. Reservations are required for the more intimate Under the Camphor Tree experience, which is held at select times on Thursday and Friday and which pairs wine with insight on area history—from visits by monarchs to sugar plantations to cattle ranching.

Winemaker Clay Mauritson's Swedish ancestors planted grapes in what is now the Rockpile appellation in the 1880s. Much of the original homestead lies submerged under human-made Lake Sonoma, but the remaining acres produce the distinctive Zinfandels for which Mauritson is best known. Cabernet Sauvignon, other red Bordeaux grapes, Syrah, and Petite Sirah grow here as well, but the Zinfandels in particular illustrate how Rockpile's varied climate and hillside soils produce vastly different wines, some soft and almost Pinotlike, others more tannic. The Mauritsons also grow grapes in Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, and Dry Creek Valley, where the winery and tasting room are located.

Cabernets from Mayacamas Vineyards, founded atop Mt. Veeder in 1889, often place on lists of the world's best wines. The equally distinguished Chardonnay, a Napa Valley marvel, is aged in mostly neutral (previously used) French oak barrels to accentuate mountain minerality. The Cabernet Sauvignon ages up to three years, spending part of the time in oak barrels more than a century old. Erin Martin, a Napa Valley resident with a hip international reputation, designed the light-filled downtown Napa storefront tasting space. Experiencing these magnificent wines downtown—the lineup includes an age-worthy Merlot—may entice you to visit the estate.

Set on 497 acres, this sprawling winery specializes in biodynamic farming and wine production, a sustainable alternative to commercial agriculture based on the works of Rudolf Steiner (best known as the force behind Waldorf education). Instead of commercial fertilizers and chemical pesticides, the focus here is on a holistic approach to farming—turkeys roam the fields, fending off insects, and manure and compost are used to enrich the soil. The result is some fantastic Pinots and other wines without any worry of chemical residues. Owner Moe Momtazi's belief in sustainability carries into the tasting room, a cavernous space built of stone from the farm and upcycled wood; even the bar stools are made from old wine barrels.

A participant in a worldwide movement promoting earth-friendly regenerative farming techniques, this winery established in 1998 produces small-lot wines from organic grapes grown at 338-acre Bell Mountain Ranch. The estate Cabernet Sauvignons garner the most acclaim, but the other wines—among them a brut-style sparkler, a Chardonnay, two Sauvignon Blancs, and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Syrah reds—are also well made. In addition to a standard tasting, you can book an evocative self-guided audio tour or experience the ranch on an excursion led by a wine educator. Ames Morison, the winery's eloquent co-founder and winemaker for the first two decades, leads vineyard walks on Fridays. Visits require an appointment. Closer to Healdsburg, Medlock Ames operates a tasting room in a converted century-old country store.

On a ranch farmed by the same family for five generations, this resolutely old-school winery produces restrained low-alcohol Zinfandels. Aged in French oak and elegant in ways Zinfandel often is not, they score well in competitions and with critics. Two other notable bottlings are a Russian River Pinot Noir from Swan clone grapes and the estate Dry Creek Valley Cabernet. These crackerjack wines would be worth a trip on their own, but getting to know the family behind them—Doug and Lee Nalle, who founded this small operation, and their son Andrew, the current winemaker, and daughter-in-law April, a viticulturist—makes a visit all the more fulfilling, as does seeing the aboveground, rosemary-covered "living roof" wine-aging "cellar." 

Single-vineyard Sierra Foothills Zinfandels are the passion of Newsome Harlow's owner-winemaker Scott Klann. The ebullient Klann also makes Petite Sirah, Syrah, Carignane, and the Meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals; whites include a Sauvignon Blanc on several local restaurants' wine lists. The in-town tasting room benefits from its upbeat staff, playful atmosphere, and indoor and outdoor tasting spaces.

A corral out front, antique barns, and a farm-style windmill add horse-country flair to this winery renowned for its smooth, almost sensual, single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. Some of the best derive from the home-base Oakville AVA, including the John C. Sullenger Vineyard, which surrounds the property's 1884 Queen Anne residence. Cabernets from other Napa Valley appellations supply the contrast. For the splurge Terroir Tasting, hosts introduce six Cabernets, paired with charcuterie and artisanal cheeses, describing how each vineyard's distinctive soils and microclimates influence the finished product. Other tastings explore similar issues less comprehensively. Cabernet lovers won't want to miss this sister winery to elegant Far Niente Winery.

A family-owned winery in the Willow Creek district, Niner is known equally for its range of estate wines (especially powerful reds) and its farm-fresh lunches designed to complement tasting flights. For a special treat, sign up for a private tour of the solar-powered, gravity-fed winery, followed by a tasting flight of current releases. The option to order lunch is available with tasting reservations, which are required.

The estate's name means "our view," and you'll likely deem the perspective magnificent wherever you taste. The Russian River Valley sprawls below the Block 23 Terrace tasting area; egrets and otters cavort in the Lakeshore Pavilion, where other experiences unfold; and Mt. St. Helena looms eastward at The Summit, the 710-acre property's highest point. Chardonnays and Rhône-style reds are two strengths, and there's a vibrant Pinot Noir. The best of the Rhônes, the GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre), comes from the slice of Notre Vue in the Chalk Hill AVA (the rest is Russian River Valley).

Barb and Bart O'Brien live on and operate this 40-acre Oak Knoll District estate, where in good weather guests sip wines at an outdoor tasting area adjoining the vineyard producing the fruit for them. It's a singular setting to enjoy Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux-style red blends, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay wines that indeed merit the mid-90s (sometimes higher) scores they garner from critics. Club members snap up most of the bottlings, with the rest sold at intimate tastings (reservations are required; book well ahead). All visits include vineyard and winery tours and an account of Barb and Bart's inspiring path to winery ownership. The superb wines and genial hosts make a stop here the highlight of many a Wine Country vacation.

This long-esteemed winemaker with operations in both Oregon's Willamette Valley and the Yakima Valley earns kudos from leading critics for estate-grown Rieslings, Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons, and several heady aging-worthy red blends, plus less-expensive bottles from its approachable Sharecropper's label. Tastings are in a contemporary wine-making shed with big windows and a patio overlooking the vineyards in Wapato.

The award-winning wines at Page Springs Cellars focus on grapes popular in the Rhône wine region of France. Sit outside on the deck overlooking Oak Creek and enjoy the wines, as well as antipasti plates and pizzas. There's live music Tuesday–Thursday evenings, and you can take a tour Monday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday ($44 includes wine tasting).

It took six years to excavate a hillside Coombsville property and four more to complete aging caves and a five-level gravity-flow winery, the equivalent of an 18-story building. The collector-quality Cabernet Sauvignons made at this engineering triumph, from grapes grown at three distinct elevations, benefit from these efforts and the later introduction of a space-age wine-monitoring system that invariably astonishes guests. It's a tribute to the viticultural and production teams that the wines, including a Riesling, a Chardonnay, and a Muscat Canelli dessert offering, linger equally strong in memory. Private appointment-only tastings begin with a sip overlooking the largest vineyard and the southern Napa Valley beyond it, followed by a tour and a tasting in an intimate salon. The peerless hospitality adds further joy to a visit here.

Sophisticated single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are the trademarks of this respected winery that hosts guests at a fashionable single-story former residence 3 miles southeast of Sonoma Plaza. A Wine Country adage holds that great wines are made in the vineyard—the all-star fields represented here include Hyde, Durell, and Gap's Crown—but the wine-making team routinely surpasses peers with access to the same fruit. You can sample wines on the vineyard-view back patio in good weather. One tasting focuses on current releases, and the other incorporates older vintages. Appointments are required; call for same-day.

At this ranch with a contemporary-barn tasting room and vineyard-view patio, you can sample Sauvignon Blanc, velvety Pinot Noirs, and other wines paired with award-winning artisanal cheeses made on the premises from goat and sheep milk. Engaging farmstead tours pass through the barn and by the creamery; the adorable animals win most guests' hearts. Reservations are required for the tour and suggested for tastings, though walk-ins for the latter are accepted when possible.

One of the founding families of Willamette Valley wine, Dick and Nancy Ponzi planted their original estate vineyard in 1970. While you can still visit the historic estate that looks out over these old vines, your best bet is to drop in at their new visitors facility at the winery just 12 miles south of Hillsboro. Here you'll find red and white flights of the current releases, as well as the occasional older vintage from the library. Enjoy table-side wine service indoors around the fireplace, or out on the covered terrace. Antipasti plates are a nice accompaniment to the wine. Pictures on the walls and displays provide a wonderful visual history of this winery that is still family owned and operated. The Ponzi family also launched the BridgePort Brewing Company in 1984, and runs a wine bar and restaurant in Dundee.

This winery 2,200 feet up Spring Mountain straddles Napa and Sonoma counties, confusing enough for visitors but even more complicated for the wine-making staff: government regulations require separate wineries and paperwork for each side of the property. It's one of several Pride Mountain quirks, but the winery's "big red wines," including a Cabernet Sauvignon that earned 100-point scores from a prominent wine critic two years in a row, are serious business. On a visit, by appointment only, you can learn about the farming and cellar strategies behind Pride's acclaimed Cabs. The winery also produces Syrah, a Cablike Merlot, Claret, Cabernet Franc, and noteworthy Chardonnay and Viognier whites. The views here are knock-your-socks-off gorgeous.

The enduring beauty of this 280-acre estate reveals itself most vividly atop an oak-laced vineyard's-edge ridge with views across the Rutherford appellation. Fortunately for guests, many tastings occur here, some at open-air seating areas, others in steel, glass, and stone pavilions. This land was a cattle ranch until Agustin and Valeria Huneeus purchased the property in 1989, convinced it could produce collector-worthy wines. Time has proven them correct, as the single Bordeaux-style red blend made each vintage, aged in caves dug deep into the hillside, annually garners mid- to high-90s scores from critics. Tastings, which require an appointment, start with the Sauvignon Blanc–dominant Illumination blend and include at least one library (older) Cabernet for comparison.

Extravagance infuses this boutique Stags Leap District operation, most notably in its architecture but also in the Petite Sirahs and Cabernets. Founder Carl Doumani spent years wooing the Austria-born architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, whose sensibility has been compared to Antoni Gaudí's, to design the winery and production facility. Per Hundertwasser's insistence on replicating natural forms, the sod-roofed structure, clad in red brick and colorful ceramic tiles and topped with a gold onion dome, has no straight lines. Consultant Philippe Melka’s rich velvety style complements the ebullient setting. Visits are by appointment only. The wine-and-food pairings here are exceptional (book at least three days ahead).

Connoisseurs of coastal cool-climate wines gravitate to this small operation whose estate wines come from a 42-acre, biodynamically farmed hilltop vineyard in Occidental. Owner-winemaker Eric Sussman sources fruit from similar marine-influenced sites for the rest of his lineup. Visiting his warehouselike Sebastopol production facility isn't about glam or fabulous vineyard views. But if you want to experience "true Sonoma Coast" wines grown with precision and sculpted with minimal intervention by a master craftsman, try to score one of the few weekday appointments (very much required).  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah wines are Radio-Coteau's stars, though the estate Lemorel Zinfandel, from 1946 vines, shines nearly as bright.

Stunning views, ultrachic architecture, and wines made from grapes by acclaimed growers make visiting this Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producer an event. The welcoming interior spaces—think Restoration Hardware with a dash of high-style whimsy—open up to outdoor tasting areas and views of the entire western Carneros. Cooling breezes waft through the site as guests sip wines that might also include Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. Among the superlative wine-food offerings are one with caviar, another involving small bites, and a five-course lunch. Hosts welcome walk-ins for wine-only tastings when possible.

Anointed by Wine Spectator a "legend of California Chardonnay," David Ramey has been making acclaimed age-worthy wines for four-plus decades. Collectors and wine lovers appear daily at his spick-and-span industrial space, where hosts convey the passion, artistry, and deep knowledge of wine-making chemistry underlying his output. Seated appointment-only sessions begin with a few Chardonnays, followed by equally accomplished reds. Cabernet Sauvignon receives the most accolades of the latter, but Ramey also does well by Pinot Noir and has a soft spot for Syrah. His children own and run the winery now—Ramey chuckles that he's become their employee—and a longtime associate handles the day-to-day wine making, but the vision remains emphatically his.

Kelly and Noah Dorrance present their expressive cool-climate wines at a secluded enclave up a forested hill off Dry Creek Road. With views of vineyards fanning magic carpet–like to the south, the outdoor tables here often spark daydreams accelerated by the Chardonnay or rosé of Pinot Noir commencing many sessions. (If the day's brisk, the indoor space's country-chic sensibility—high wood-beamed ceilings, black walls, dried and fresh flowers, and handcrafted furniture, all courtesy of Kelly—also inspires reveries.) You're here for winemaker Noah Dorrance's Pinot Noirs, though, all terrific and in ways that illuminate the differences among clone types and variations in vineyards' soils, elevations, and weather. Tastings are by appointment; call ahead for same-day visits.

One of the most iconic names in American wine, Ridge’s 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon participated in the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting between French and Californian wines. See that celebrated Monte Bello Vineyard here, a stunning hillside of wine royalty with a mesmerizing view over the South Bay. Longtime winemaker Paul Draper was a visionary for prioritizing single-vineyard expressions and a minimal-intervention approach to crafting wines, and the winery continues that tradition in its various Zinfandels, Chardonnays, and many other varietals. Visitors can usually purchase a taste of Ridge’s signature Monte Bello wine (a red Bordeaux-style blend), but fair warning, it’s one of the country’s most expensive wines.

Ridge stands tall among local wineries, and not merely because its 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon rated second-highest among California reds competing with French ones at the Judgment of Paris blind tasting of 1976. The winery built its reputation on Cabernets and Zinfandels of unusual depth and complexity, but you'll also find Rhône-grape blends. Single-vineyard estate wines, such as the Lytton Springs Zinfandel from fruit grown steps away, are the focus of tastings. You can sit outside in good weather, taking in views of rolling vineyard hills while you sip. The educational Century Tour & Library Tasting begins with a spin around the property in an electric cart.

It's worth the 1-mile trip south of downtown to the warehouse tasting room where two families separately crafting reasonably priced wines pour them together. Three of the partners have wine-related day jobs; the fourth works as an animator. Alli and Bertus van Zyl of Belong Wine Co. produce high-elevation Sierra Foothills wines, most notably Mourvѐdre. Laura and Kyle Gabriel of Paper Planes Wine Co. specialize in Pinot Noir (regular and rosé), along with Valdiguié and a few others. As the space debuted in 2024, a San Francisco Chronicle article detailed the hard expenses and sweat equity this labor of love required. A similar passion underlies the wines, sipped inside or at tables with close-up Napa River views. Kids and leashed pets are welcome.

Here's a surprise: a highly respected Napa Valley winery that doesn't sell a lick of Cabernet. Zinfandels from heritage vineyards 100 years old and more hold the spotlight, with Petite Sirahs in a supporting role. Nearly every pour comes with a fascinating backstory, starting with the flagship Black Chicken Zinfandel. In the 1940s, the Biale family sold eggs, walnuts, and other farm staples, with bootleg Zinfandel a lucrative sideline. Because neighbors could eavesdrop on party-line phone conversations, "black chicken" became code for a jug of Zin. These days the wines are produced on the up-and-up, steps from the 10-acre property's tasting area. A stone's throw from Zinfandel vines, with views of two mountain ranges, the open-air space has a back-porch feel. Visits are by appointment; call ahead for same-day.

Based way up Howell Mountain but with meticulously farmed hillside sources on both sides of the valley, Robert Craig has established a loyal following for its textured full-flavored Cabernet Sauvignons. Hosts pour the wines inside a refurbished 1890s downtown Napa Folk Victorian and on its front porch and redbrick patio. Tastings, by appointment but usually possible on short notice, often begin with a Sonoma County Chardonnay or, while it lasts, La Fleur Craig Grenache Rosé from Howell Mountain. One trait all the wines share is how well they age. The Zinfandel from Howell Mountain's Black Sears Vineyard does its varietal proud.

Panoramic Alexander Valley views unfold at Scion House, the knoll-top tasting space of this longtime Geyserville grower. The first Youngs began farming this land in the mid-1800s, raising cattle and growing wheat, prunes, and other crops. In the 1960s, the third generation's Robert Young began cultivating grapes, including one later designated as the Robert Young Chardonnay 17 clone, and the valley’s first Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery's fame rests on its reds—small-lot Cabernet Sauvignons plus individual Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot wines.  Cab fanatics should consider the Ultimate Cabernet Lovers Experience of top-tier estate wines.