575 Best Sights in USA

Rune's picturesque setting, on a grassy hillside with views of the Mustang Mountains, adds beauty and serenity to the wine-tasting experience. The solar-powered winery uses only well water (and grapes, of course) to make their award-winning wines "off the grid." Tastings are offered daily, and sandwiches and charcuterie are also served under the artfully placed sail shades.

Ryan and Megan Glaab, the husband and wife owner-winemakers behind Ryme, make a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Franc, and a Cabernet Sauvignon, but the real story here is their quest to craft food-friendly wines from unsung white (Fiano, Greco, Ribolla Gialla) and red (Aglianico, Frappato) Italian grapes. The Glaabs also make "His" and "Hers" Vermentinos in wildly different styles. That they source fruit from respected vineyards and keep prices low is a credit to their talent and ingenuity. A weathered board-and-batten structure attached to their cinder block winery serves as a tasting room, though good weather finds most guests sipping in the shade of the front patio’s arbor.

Since this winery founded in 1961 changed hands a few years back, its valley-floor tasting room has morphed from a humble site to sip collector-worthy wines like the legendary Martha's Vineyard Oakville Cabernet into the tony white-tablecloth Salon at Heitz Cellar. Two sessions unfold inside the salon or on the stone structure's terrace, which juts into a Cabernet vineyard. One surveys current releases, the other single-vineyard wines. Crafted from certified organic grapes, the wines are magnificent, and the reasonably priced optional food pairing reveals additional complexity. A third experience involves touring a Rutherford vineyard followed by a tasting at the salon. It's wise to make a reservation here.

Several dozen wineries produce Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from grapes grown by the Sangiacomo family, whose Italian ancestors started farming in Sonoma in 1927. The family didn't establish its own label until 2016, but its cool-climate wines and a Napa Valley Cabernet quickly earned critical plaudits. Chardonnay vines and the Carneros District's western hills form the backdrop for tastings, usually outdoors, at the 110-acre Home Ranch, the first of a dozen-plus vineyards the Sangiacomos have acquired or leased. At appointment-only visits, you're apt to encounter one or more third-generation members, who enjoy meeting guests and sharing the family's legacy.

Guests at this boutique winery's contemporary, stone-and-glass hospitality center enjoy views of landscaped outdoor picnic and tasting areas and the olive grove and vineyards beyond. The excellent Lolonis Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc's organic grapes come from California's oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines, planted in 1942. Standout reds include Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and the Soul of Mendocino blend. Hosts conduct combination cave and vineyard tours on Friday and weekends. 

Celebrated Woodinville winemaker Michael Savage operates this intimate tasting room at the vineyard on which he grows the grapes in several of his most acclaimed bottles, including a vibrant Riesling, a lean and elegant Pinot Noir, and a complex Gewürztraminer orange wine. Enjoy the sweeping Gorge and Mt. Hood views while you sip.

Robert and Laura Schermeister, the husband and wife behind this winery known for aromatic, densely flavored single-vineyard wines, conduct tastings in a small space within a historic Glen Ellen building or on a nearby patio facing Sonoma Creek. Robert makes vegan-friendly unfiltered wines that include a Viognier white, an intriguing Bordeaux-blend rosé, and Grenache, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon reds, intervening as little as possible once fermentation (with native, not commercial, yeasts) begins. Either Robert or Laura, perhaps both, will conduct your tasting. Their romance began after he charmed her over a bottle of his Pinot Noir.   It's best to make an appointment because this highly regarded winery with a small annual output temporarily closes when the wines run out.

On a Diamond Mountain site the German-born Jacob Schram planted to grapes in the early 1860s, Schramsberg pours its esteemed méthode traditionnelle sparkling wines. Author Robert Louis Stevenson was among Schram's early visitors. After the vintner's death in 1905, the winery closed and fell into disrepair, but in 1965 Jack and Jamie Davies purchased the 200-acre Schramsberg property and began restoring its buildings and caves. Chinese laborers dug some of the latter in the 1870s. In the 1990s, the family set about replanting the vineyard to Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals for the Davies Vineyards label's still red wines. Tastings at Schramsberg can include pours of only sparkling wines, only still wines, or a combination of the two. All visits are by appointment.

Trying to sell his wife, Sally, on his late-1970s notion of planting a vineyard on their woodsy Spring Mountain property, contractor Fred Schweiger assured her, "It'll just be a hobby." Over time that hobby evolved into the lifestyle the family now shares with guests to its indoor and outdoor tasting spaces, whose 2,000-foot-elevation views extend across the Napa Valley to Howell Mountain. A mentor advised Fred to plant the "king and queen of grapes," Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The family sold the fruit for a decade before son Andy began making Schweiger wines, eventually adding Sauvignon Blanc, more Bordeaux reds, Pinot Noir, and Port-style dessert offerings. For an exhilarating ATV ride through sometimes steeply terraced vines, book (mid-May–mid-August) the VIP Vineyard Experience.

Flashy Napa recedes at this family-owned winery on land once farmed by the 19th-century Franco-Swiss Winery. Founded by William and Mary Seavey in 1979 and now run by their children, the operation prides itself on sustainable and fish-friendly farming practices and tastings incorporating Cabernet Sauvignons from the extensive library of older vintages. French-born Philippe Melka, who established the lush yet powerful house style, still consults with current winemaker Jim Duane. Visits begin with a short walk to see the goats, cows, and other animals in residence, after which guests proceed into a stone former dairy barn William Seavey converted into a production facility. Sessions often start with a Chardonnay and a Merlot before moving on to the Cabernets.  A stop here feels at once elevated and country-casual.

Sequoias shade the outdoor areas and century-old barn of this winery acclaimed for single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. The winemaker supplements fruit grown on this and another Rutherford property with grapes from other valley-floor and mountain vineyards. A current-release tasting—Sequoia Grove also makes Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and a few other wines—usually includes the flagship Rutherford Bench Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. For a greater sense of how variations in terrain and microclimate influence Cabernet, consider booking one of the elevated experiences.  For the insightful A Taste of Cabernet, the executive chef prepares small bites to illustrate Cabernet Sauvignon’s versatility in pairings.

You'll always meet a family member at this approximately 200-acre Sonoma Valley ranch established in 1924. The land's history stretches back further, to at least the 1850s, when General Joseph Hooker, later of Civil War fame, planted vines. The Serres family has grown and sold wine grapes for decades; the fifth generation—a sister and her two brothers—began producing wine in 2017. A Merlot, a Bordeaux-style red blend, and a Cabernet Sauvignon have all received good notices, as has a more recent Malbec. When the weather's fine, tastings, accompanied by a charcuterie and cheese pairing, include a UTV ranch tour with a stop at a grove of thick-branched valley oaks. Book at least two days ahead here.

Its Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon long one of the Napa Valley's most sought-after bottlings, Shafer conducts appointment-only tastings at a hospitality space with views of the rugged Stags Leap District incline where the prized wine's grapes grow. A Terrace View Tasting usually starts with the Red Shoulder Ranch Carneros Chardonnay, followed by TD-9 (a Cabernet Sauvignon–based Bordeaux blend), the One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon, and Relentless (a Syrah–Petite Sirah blend), concluding with the 100% Cabernet Hillside Select. The Private Collectors Experience includes an older Hillside Select vintage. Expertly farmed and masterfully balanced, Shafer's collector-quality wines deserve the high praise they receive.  The deluxe experience here consists of a Champagne and caviar greeting, a UTV spin through the vineyard, and tastes of current and older Hillside Select wines.

The views and architecture are as impressive as the wines at the 113-acre Sonoma County outpost of the same-named Napa Valley winery. As in Napa, the Healdsburg facility—an ultramodern, environmentally sensitive winery with a glass-walled tasting pavilion—produces just one wine each year: a well-balanced Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon aged in American rather than French oak barrels. Reservations aren’t needed for at-the-bar sips of the current Alexander Valley and Napa Valley Cabernets, but make one for other tastings, including pours of older vintages.

For a glimpse of the Napa Valley before things got precious, head up Spring Mountain to the vineyard Stu Smith purchased in 1970 and still farms. His low-tech winery is a family affair: brother Charlie has made Smith-Madrone's critically acclaimed wines for more than four decades, and son Sam is Charlie's assistant. Blissfully informal outdoor tours and tastings of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Riesling wines take place by appointment three days a week, starting at the weather-worn no-frills redwood barn where Charlie makes the wines. He mostly lets the grapes do the talking, but profound wisdom underlies his restraint: these food-friendly wines are marvels of acidity, minerality, and flavor.  The view across the valley to Howell Mountain is often fantastic.

One of Yamhill County's oldest wineries (it was established in 1971) makes consistently excellent wines sold at reasonable prices. Set on a gently sloping south-facing hillside and surrounded by vineyards, lush lawns, and shade trees, it's a splendid place to learn about wine with tableside tastings held across a number of indoor and outdoor spaces. Winery tours and summer Sunday vineyard hikes can be booked in advance.

Reagan Meador began making wine in Long Island but decided to return to his native Texas to put down roots (literally). At Southold Farm + Cellar, he crafts unique, limited-release wines using very little intervention with the Texas grapes he currently sources as he waits for his estate-grown grapes to be ready for production. Visits to the tasting room are by reservation only, and guests can choose from several different options: an “Introduction” tasting of four wines, a “Prologue” featuring four wines plus a spread of dishes made with local ingredients, or an eight-course “Sunset Supper” set in the gorgeous, western-facing restaurant overlooking the vineyard. No matter which tasting you choose, be sure to get in some time on their cozy wooden porch swings that look out across the rolling hills.

A historic winery with a forward-looking agricultural perspective, Spottswoode makes a flagship estate Cabernet Sauvignon that critics and collectors champion for its structure, grace, and purity of fruit. Tastings also include another Cabernet and a delectably suave Sauvignon Blanc. The estate vineyard, certified organic and biodynamic, sits at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains on a site where wine grapes have been cultivated since the 1880s. Three structures remain from that era, but the winery's current cachet dates to 1972, when the Novak family purchased adjoining parcels totaling 46 acres. Appointment-only Spottswoode allows only a few dozen visitors a week (book well ahead in summer).

Cabernet Sauvignon was first planted on this estate in 1873, kick-starting an illustrious century and a half whose notable moments include the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting (a white placed in the top half), a cameo in the sudsy 1980s TV drama Falcon Crest, and a heroic vineyard manager's efforts to save vines and structures during the 2020 Glass Fire. With so many tales for hosts to relate—not to mention the craftsmanship of the 1885 Miravalle mansion where tastings unfold—the Bordeaux-style reds, bold and robust, reflecting their mountain origins, might get lost in the conversation were they not so stunningly well put together. Tastings showcase vintages slightly older than at most Napa Valley venues, allowing guests to sense how the newer wines, though drinkable now, will age.

Its many microclimates inspired owner-winemaker Tom Sinton to purchase a 67-acre hillside property he transformed into a showcase for wines from mostly Rhône and Italian varietals. With a nature trail, a 300-foot-long rose arbor, an events amphitheater, a lakeside pavilion, and an upper patio with views of trees near and far, the wines could have taken a back seat, but Sinton crafts them with such grace and precision that they more than match the setting and hospitality.

A country road occasionally narrowing to a single lane winds up Moon Mountain to Silver Cloud, this Cabernet Sauvignon producer's 160-acre estate vineyard. From the deck of the tasting room, a restored century-old farmhouse, the views extend almost to the Pacific. A Sauvignon Blanc from estate grapes begins most tastings, followed by Cabernets. Made to age gracefully in the manner of European wines, the latter are at once dense yet smoothly powerful, almost intellectual. The Continental perspective extends to the courtly, unhurried hospitality. Reservations are essential for all visits.  Two other places to sample these collector-quality wines are in downtown Sonoma at the winery's office ($50) and nearby restaurant, Enclos.  

Tucked into a rock face in the Mayacamas range, this family-run winery established in 1976 occupies a picture-perfect site with rows of vines rising steeply in dramatic tiers. Zinfandel is king—there's even a dry Zin Gris rosé—but Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Bordeaux blend are also in the mix. Visits, all by appointment, usually begin with a short walk up the hillside and a visit to the atmospheric aging caves, parts of which have the same rough-hewn look as they did when Chinese laborers dug them by hand in the late 1880s. Jerry Seps, who started Storybook with his wife, Sigrid, continues to make the wines, these days with their daughter, Colleen, whose husband, Rick, handles marketing and sometimes leads tours.

In 1972, James O'Neil Sullivan, a Hollywood graphic designer, moved his family to Rutherford to make Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of his wines came from grapes planted on his 26-acre estate, to which Mexico City–born Juan Pablo Torres Padilla, managing partner of a group that purchased the winery in 2018, added vineyards in Napa and St. Helena. Grapevines, a small lake bordered by a landscaped garden, and the 1978 Arts and Crafts–style home architect John Marsh Davis cantilevered over the vineyard supply a pastoral backdrop for leisurely appointment-only tastings, the most expensive of which involves Merlot, another Sullivan focus.

The focus at this intimate winery with lovely seating set among beautiful gardens is predominantly on elegant, full-bodied Rhône-style wines. The friendly, knowledgeable tasting room has garnered plenty of awards for its aromatic Cuvée Elena Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend, as well as a first-rate stand-alone Syrah, and several racy, dry whites—Picpoul, Grenache Blanc—that seem tailor-made for the Gorge's warm summer nights. Note that several other outstanding small wineries—Domaine Pouillon and Tetrahedron among them—are in this same rural town.

Scott and Marta Rich invite guests to embark on “a Pinot tasting adventure" at their storefront tasting room inside Glen Ellen's oldest commercial building. The two have well more than half a century of wine-industry experience between them, he in the vineyard and cellar, she on the business end, and their deep knowledge informs their lovingly crafted, predominantly single-vineyard wines. With grapes hailing from several Sonoma County appellations and a few farther afield, the wines are made in small lots, usually a few hundred cases. Scott intervenes as little as possible during wine making to evoke a sense of place in the glass, but his oak aging and other sage choices elevate the finished product.

This winery achieves success with two separate labels. Terre Rouge, which focuses on Rhône-style wines, makes some of California's most highly praised Syrahs. The Easton label specializes in high-scoring Zinfandels from old and new vines and does well with Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. You can picnic on the lawn here.

The sought-after consultant Thomas Rivers Brown oversees the collector-quality Cabernets of this winery on Diamond Mountain's northern slope. The Voir Dire Cabernet Sauvignon (one owner practices law), the luxury brand's layered and silky flagship, comes from the property's oldest vines. Younger plantings produce fruit for the friskier Hawk's Prey Cab and mellifluous Merlot, with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah wines coming from a high-elevation estate in Sonoma County's Moon Mountain District. Tastings, some involving food, are held in a red replica barn with Mt. St. Helena views; Brown and on-site winemaker Andy Jones ply their craft inside a contemporary high-tech facility nearby. Two restored structures, one a schoolhouse, date to the 19th century. Appointments, always required, are best booked a week or more ahead.

The grapes for the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of Three Sticks come from six estate vineyards, including Durell and Gap's Crown, of winery founder Bill Price. Winemaker Ryan Prichard also crafts Rhône-style wines that bear the Casteñeda label in honor of the restored 1842 Vallejo-Casteñeda Adobe, where the entire lineup is poured. A noted designer transformed the structure, Sonoma's longest-occupied residence, into a lavish refined showcase. Seated private tastings might unfold at a long elm table inside the adobe or a cast-stone one under a willow-covered arbor. The winery's food pairings, which rank among Sonoma County's best, demonstrate the wines' versatility. Two Chardonnay-only sessions, one involving caviar, the other oysters, are offered seasonally; a superb year-round pairing includes Pinot Noir.

Run by charming winemakers Gabino and Adolfo, this cheerful tasting room with a covered patio and a light-filled tasting room overlooking the Columbia and the Dalles Dam has vineyards and a winery just across the river in Dallesport, Washington. Take in the friendly vibe—kids and pets are welcome—while sipping Tierra de Lobos' crisp Sauvignon Blanc and bold Bordeaux-style red blend. Light appetizers are available, and Latin American specialties, such as quesabirrias and pupusas, are served sometimes on weekends.