Napa Valley

[Kimber7man]

1. Two wine tastings in one day is enough, three is plenty, and any more will ruin your taste buds for a week.
2. Take a day off between wine tasting days.
3. Healdsburg, Calistoga, and north have plenty of beautiful country and great wineries.
4. Take a day and do some craft beer tastings. Bear Republic and Lagunitas are some of my favorites.
5. Stop at Gott’s roadside diner in St. Helena and grab a burger. Tasty.
6. If in Napa, stop at the Wine Thief and schedule a tasting with Andy (the proprietor). You’ll laugh your ass off and enjoy some great small label stuff that you will enjoy.

 

[boom]

whoa. four days?! maybe skip driving into SF. that is a time suck.

 

[Beendare]

The Healdsburg suggestion is a good one...one of my favorite places. Lots of good wineries...and bring your bow you can hunt Lake Sonoma right now for hogs.

Sonoma is fantastic also......and if you like champagne/whites a drive toward the coast puts you into a bunch of vineyards. Too many good spots for a just a couple day visit.

The north cost is always fantastic....from Bodega bay up to the Oregon border. South of SF is cool too, more beaches- Santa Cruz and such...and more people.

SF is pretty much only bad down off of market street in the heart of the city. The rest of the city is fine.

Stroll or bike along the Embarcadero where the city meets the bay near the ball park.......its a micro climate there. Its especially good on summer days when you would get blown off the Golden Gate bridge. Spring and fall is best in SF. You can bike from the ballpark to Fishermans wharf along the big wide sidewalk, have some chowder and seafood at Scomas- yum....and then cruise back.

I can see why my daughter likes living in SF...too much concrete for me....

_______

 

[eLightfoot]

lived in Sonoma county all my life. Im not much on wine or the whole tasting tours deal. I do like good beer and we have plenty of that too. I can't suggest anything particular in Napa, other than Sonoma better lol. If you want have a nice dinner away from the swaths of snobs and tourists, head up to geyserville and have dinner at Catelli's or Diavola. Both places are in the same tiny strip that is geyserville. Beautiful area there, lake sonoma is near, and better yet drive out to the coast via Skaggs Springs road. Long but great drive through coastal mountains.

 

[Milestone522]

lived in Sonoma county all my life. Im not much on wine or the whole tasting tours deal. I do like good beer and we have plenty of that too. I can't suggest anything particular in Napa, other than Sonoma better lol. If you want have a nice dinner away from the swaths of snobs and tourists, head up to geyserville and have dinner at Catelli's or Diavola. Both places are in the same tiny strip that is geyserville. Beautiful area there, lake sonoma is near, and better yet drive out to the coast via Skaggs Springs road. Long but great drive through coastal mountains.

Wife and I just ate at Diavola last week. Really good pizza .

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I live about an hour from there. Decent restaurants and some good wineries/distilleries/breweries if you’re into that thing.

Are you limiting your stay to Napa or will you venture around to other areas?

What I’d honestly recommend is going to Point Reyes and right now happens to be the prime whale watching season. Bring some good binoculars! You can also check out the Elk herds from the Tomales Point Trail.

 

[Quin]

San Francisco is a nice vacation city despite the poo. If I only had one day, I'd probably do some of the more touristy things like Fisherman's warf, the cable cars, Lombard St., Golden Gate bridge, etc. Maybe hit a museum.

I also prefer Sonoma to Napa. Not that Napa has bad wine, far from it, its just more touristy (and yes, I just recommended the touristy things in SF). Napa does have some truly world class restaurants scattered around. Generally I enjoy tasting at smaller wineries. I'd probably try to focus on a few wineries that specialize in what you like.

I'd definitely take some time and go see the Redwoods. With limited time, Armstrong State Park and Muir Woods are probably going to be better than heading up to Humboldt State Park (I think the trees are more impressive there, but it may be too far for a day trip depending on where you stay). Armstrong is near the Russian River Valley so you could do that in the morning and then go tasting in the afternoon/evening. Or head down to Point Reyes. Or up along the coast.

 

[bitbckt]

Gotta say, every so often one of these threads shows up in a hunting forum and the real locals who know what they’re talking about show up.

There’s some good stuff in here.

(Diavola is owned by family friends; I’ll pass along the love)

 

[dirtclod Az.]

From Napa head over to Pt.Reyes and the National Seashore,then thru the Muir Woods
down Hwy 1 to S.F. and tour the Pier and the side walk vendors for thier seafood delights.
(Was stationed at Pt. Reyes Sta. for a while.)While touring the Nat.Seashore keep your eyes
open for the large herds of Axis Deer.You will see thier white bodies all over the sandy hillsides. 〽

 

[CHWine]

I'm a 40 year veteran of the wine industry. For first timers Napa is pretty over-the-top, super fancy and lots going on. If you want something cool go to Castle De Amorosa near Calistoga. The tour is a bit speedy but the place is awesome. I'll also say that Healsburg and Dry Creek are worth the one hour drive from Napa. I live and work in Mendocino county which is too far away for a trip so short.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Lots of great ideas here and can't speak highly enough about Muir & Armstrong Woods and the Marin/Sonoma Coast.

I live here in Napa actually, so feel free to PM me if you'd like some more specifics.

For Napa or Sonoma, it really boils down to your own preferences of budget, level of wine enjoyment (like a good drink... all the way to... total wine geek), preference on style of experiences (famous spots, lavish impressive architecture and experiences, down to earth family run spots)?

Luckily for visitors to either Napa or Sonoma it's pretty hard not to have a good time.

A few options out of a world of choices are:
Small Family spots with Old Napa Style wines
Smith Madrone - super old school style run by two brothers, Stu and Charlie. Stu is a good friend who also
hunts and has been very kind letting me use their private 500 yd shooting range set amidst the vineyards.
Charlie often hosts the tastings and both are super fun to talk to if you're lucky enough to meet them.
White Rock Vineyards - old Napa style wines tasted in a cave that's closer to the town of Napa
Matthiasson - famous in the Somm world and very down to earth guy (Steve Matthiasson), also close to town

Historic
Charles Krug - oldest winery in Napa and just finished a very nice remodel. Owned by one side of the
Mondavi Family, which includes Marc Mondavi who loves hunting.
Inglenook - classic architecture and grounds, owned by Francis Ford Coppola if that interests you
Stags Leap Wine Cellars - legendary winner of "Tasting of Paris" for Cabs with newly built tasting room

Decadent
Del Dotto or Piazza Del Dotto - they go all out in their Italian inspired design
Del Dotto Caves - is lesser known but they do a cool job of side by side tastings of same wine in different
types of barrels which can be fun to learn from, not to mention you drink a lot of vino
Castello di Amoroso - pretty darn impressive actual castle
Raymond or JCB Salon in Yountville

Art
Hess - considered a world class collection
Acumen - in town of Napa so it's easy after hours, but confirm they're open
Hall

You'll have a great time wherever you go. Enjoy!

Steve

 

[ZMT588]

Skip SF. Go buy yourself some bamboo poles from a hardware store, or a cheap 4-5 ft fishing pole. Get yourself some 30 lb test and a size 2 octopus hook with some fresh squid, and head over to Doran Beach in Bodega bay. Do some poke polin' on the jetty. No license needed and tons of fun. My wife and I Actually did that for our honeymoon. Ate Monkey face eel Tacos for dinner!

 

[bsanders8181]

If you do want to go to the coast and SF in the same day, you can check out Ocean Beach in SF. It's not really typical of N. CA beaches as it's big open and sandy. Living in Sonoma County our beaches smaller sections of sand and rock hopping. From here we usually head to Bodega or Fort Bragg, but they are both a jaunt from Napa. I was born in Healdsburg, and it'll be busy on the weekends same as Napa or anywhere else. I do second driving out to Lake Sonoma if you are in Healdsburg. You can hit some wineries on the way out there, and then head back to Napa on 128 through Alexander/Knights valleys. There are wineries along the way.

 

[Moserkr]

Chateau Montelana has great wine and a beautiful garden/architecture to walk around.

Another spot is Castello di Amorosa. Huge authentic castle. Good wine, views, architecture, scenery.

Both are located North of St. Helena.

 

[ZRob97]

Not much of a wine guy but I grew up in the area and Calistoga is a really nice little town to visit just north of Napa, plenty of good food and wine tucked away in a small town. Worth a visit if you're in the area IMO and Alcatraz is a great experience also.

 

[warrbuk]

Lots of good stuff in the posts above.
SF is many years past it’s prime, personally I would skip it

I have lived in Napa for my 57 years. DM me if you still have questions on which places to visit


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[tt_johnsclist]

Wife and I did the same thing ten years ago, flew into San Fran and drove north. If we did Napa Valley again I would drive north right through most of the lower valley just enjoying the scenery and view of the wineries. Towards the north end was our favorite restaurant, Auberge du Soleil, and a really cool winery in the hills nearby, Kuleto Estate Winery. After that keep heading north and see the redwoods and I would aim to stay in Arcata or Eureka. The Eureka Inn is a cool historic building if you are into that, but my wife thought it reminded her of “The Shining”. Arcata has a little more going on than Eureka.




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[journeyman713]

Thanks again for all the replies!!!

Heeding your advice, my wife and I have re-planned our time there.
S.F. is now out, instead, a full day of sightseeing along the Somoma coast, another day for the Woods and outskirts of Sonoma valley wine country. Our time in Napa will be mostly limited to the private tour we already booked. Some of the eateries above will be on the hit list!

 

[CHWine]

I'll add to my earlier comments. A drive down to the Golden Gate bridge is a spectacular sight. You can park on the north end and walk across it. If you've never seen it, you might want to at the very least drive over it and back. Don't go during morning and afternoon rush hour!

 

[journeyman713]

I'll add to my earlier comments. A drive down to the Golden Gate bridge is a spectacular sight. You can park on the north end and walk across it. If you've never seen it, you might want to at the very least drive over it and back. Don't go during morning and afternoon rush hour!

Years ago, I did make it to the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. Definitely a must-do-at-least-once thing.
I'm intrigued with the north coast and valley suggestions enough to make that the focus this visit.