Napa/Sonoma trip advice
3Hi fellow Casemateys! Hoping to tap into the hive mind on this one. This is our first trip to the area, and our first wine tasting “trip” so we’re newbies. WB has tons of general info, but is somewhat overwhelming.
If you had to choose between Napa and Sonoma for 3 days of tastings, which would you choose? I’m assuming we don’t have time to do both. Any suggestions on the following are appreciated.
-Can’t miss wineries. Site beauty, unique experience and good juice are all factors for us.
- Hotel location. Is there a good home base for either location that doesn’t totally break the bank?
- Restaurant recs and other sage pearls of wisdom
I should add, we have about 6 days total for Marin, Sonoma, and Napa but would like some time just to explore this incredible area. But we could add a day if it really made sense to do so.
TIA!
- 16 comments, 14 replies
- Comment
Just go to Sonoma, visit @winedavid49 and plunder the WCC warehouse.
GunBun has a great view worth checking out, if you like their wines.
Scott Harvey has a guest house and could likely point you to some wine on 49 tasting rooms. Scott Harvey and Noceto are neighbors you can nearly walk between. Ahh, but neither is in Napa/Sonoma.
Sonoma is cheaper and more friendly overall. Napa is more expensive. Just pick whichever you enjoy the wine from more!
Depending on where you stay, though, it’s easy to do a day trip from one to part of the other.
Search the older posts. Maybe even go back to the Wine.Woot forums, if they still exist somewhere. The community has done significant tours/tasting in Sonoma/Napa in the past. Search the subject for RPM tours.
Staying downtown Sonoma is great at the Sonoma Valley Inn. Can walk to the square, and there are a ton of great tasting rooms and restaurants that can occupy a day.
Getting out from there - RRV - Go to Iron Horse. Great Pinot/Chard/Bubbles and the view from the tasting area is amazing. Be adventurous and take side lanes and stop in one of those little wineries that look like they’re in someone’s house - you can find some very friendly locals who can point you to places you wouldn’t normally find. And you might even find one of those hidden gems that blow your mind.
@WkdPanda IH is a must. But I’m not sure if we’ll be able to pop into the mom and pop places with covid. To me that would be a big part of the fun. But everything I’m reading is that advanced reservations are a must to ensure social distancing, etc.
This.
Iron Horse, Pedroncelli, Ty Caton, Muscardini, Harvest Moon, Sojourn, Kunde, Foppiano and Dry Creek Vineyard are all worth seeking out IMO. Kunde has an outdoor, 1400’ mountaintop tasting that is pretty spectacular.
@chipgreen Amazing! RRV will definitely feature prominently in our plans.
It’s been two decades since I was in either, but Sonoma used to be less trafficked than Napa was, and hence slightly more relaxing to visit. Enjoy your trip, and be safe!
We went to Napa a few years ago and stayed in Calistoga at the “Wine Way Inn”, a fantastic bed and breakfast. It was awesome.
And right across from casemates-friend Tank Garage Winery!
Calistoga’s location made jumping over to Healdsburg and Alexander Valley pretty smooth.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
Sonoma hands down. Make sure you make it to the coast. Beautiful scenery. Go to Bodega Bay for the best crab cakes anywhere at Spud Point. Then Bodega Bay Oyster company.
Rivers End in Jenner is a must for dinner. Top notch food and best view. It’s where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean. I promise you’ll love it especially at sunset.
There are three wineries with beautiful grounds and amazing wines in Green Valley AVA next to IH: Lynmar, Marimar, and Dutton Estate if you’re into cool climate PN and chards.
Dry Creek Valley us our favorite AVA for zins: Dry Creek vineyards, Wilson, Woodenhead, Dutcher Crossing come to mind
@losthighwayz Thanks for all the great info. What are your thoughts on Dutton Goldfield? We just had one of their chards at dinner last night and really enjoyed it. Just not sure we can make it to both Dutton’s.
@hscottk we tasted in their garden last time. Very friendly staff and nice grounds. We both enjoyed their tasting line up: SB, chard, and PN. I enjoyed their PNs the most but all around a pleasant experience.
Pax tasting room is in the Barlow in Sebastapol. Pretty cool industrial area. He makes interesting wines if you feel adventurous!
Armstrong redwoods is a nice hike as well
I’ve only been to Sonoma (RRV) for a day tasting. Everything was lovely, but our group’s favorite seemed to be Battaglini. This is a tiny family winery that had all the charm of an old friend who makes wine. I have never heard of them, you will probably never see them anywhere outside of their wine club or stopping by. Have some vines from late 1800s. They were so warm and inviting. Have to schedule an appointment, which your driver would likely do.
Actually a couple of thoughts if you want to try something new? If I were going I might try to get an appointment with Will Segui of Rivers Marie who also does William and Mary cabs that I really love. I hear the tasting room is beautiful and it’s a good visit? Also I would try to get a tasting with Erin and or Massimo from Di Costanzo they make great cabs too. I don’t think they have a tasting room but I hear they do really great tastings. These wines are a bit expensive but really nice and I have no clue how much a tasting with them would cost.
If you go to Sonoma, take some time on Olivet Lane and visit Randy at Harvest Moon. Head next door to Hook & Ladder. If you’re a fan, Sunce is a few doors down the road, too, right by DeLoach.
@klezman
Wasn’t impressed with Sunće when I visited them. So many better ones, especially those you and others mentioned.
@MarkDaSpark Yeah, I wasn’t either, but I know some people really like their wines.
@klezman @MarkDaSpark Yeah, we’d like to make it to Harvest Moon. We’re trying for a mix of wineries we know and enjoy with some new ones.
Fly into Portland Oregon rent a car, oops wrong thread
no help here been a long time since I went.
Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the great suggestions. Was already planning on IH. Anyone been to Buena Vista? I’ve read it can be a fun tasting and tour over there. The Frogs Leap tour also looked interesting. I’m also considering Bedrock, Limerick Lane, and about 1000 others. Dicostanzo sounds great, as I have a few DiCOs stashed away. The only tasting I’ve actually booked is Ridge in the SC mountains. We’ll be starting in SC and the pictures looked amazing.
Strongly considering canceling my hotel in Napa and looking at other options in Sonoma or the surrounds. Some of these properties have prices that rival a ride on SpaceX, but I guess that’s to be expected.
I need to get serious and start booking stuff soon!
@hscottk
Club member, but likely dropping soon as their style greatly diverged from what it was when I joined, and the prices have escalated, beyond reasonable, at least imo.
It’s a well maintained facility that we visited on RPM tours, but the service has become, or at least it was pre this nonsense, much less personal and much more “Napa” like. JCB seems to be trying to maximize $$$; ok, I understand, a profit must be made to remain in business.
Honestly, I’m not grumpy this evening…
Whisper me if you want to be my guest for a visit.
Sterling vineyards in north Napa is a great property w a gondola ride. Del
Dotto has great tours and wine caves.
@buffaloroam I believe Sterling is closed for renovations.
Forgot to mention Hawley! We visited summer 2020. Great people and wines. They are by appointment in Bradford Mountain I believe. Highly recommend. Pick up sandwiches at the General Store and have a picnic. Beautiful grounds . they even gave us a barrel tasting
@losthighwayz Haven’t been to a tasting room outside of Healdsburg for them, but I second Hawley. And Meeker, while we’re thinking about it.
So I think our RRV day is starting to come into focus. We’re staying in Sebastopol. We will definitely hit Iron Horse, and have a list of others: Dutton Estate and/or Goldfield, Harvest Moon (and I guess Hook and Ladder if we have time), Lynmar, Hartford Family, Merry Edwards, etc. Joseph Swan only does weekends, which was a bit of a bummer. Need to really whittle this down.
Another question: if you had to choose between a day in Sonoma or Healdsburg, what would you pick? We’re booked (can be canceled) in Sonoma at the Sonoma Valley Inn (thanks @wkdpanda) which looks perfect for exploring the little town and hitting a few tasting rooms (Bedrock/Sojourn in town, Gunbun/Buena Vista not far). But that may mean missing Healdsburg. We really want to reserve time to just explore the area, hike, etc, so tough choices need to be made. Maybe half days of tastings? Anyone done that?
How many tastings for a full day would you plan for? Looks like they did 5/day on the last RPM tour. But I also remember reading there was a bit of tasting fatigue as well. Curious what y’all think is the sweet spot.
Thanks everyone!
@hscottk depends on your preferences and in the tasting rooms and how they do things. It’s usually difficult to get more interactive with covid protocols.
I like to do 5-8 per day, but that usually includes going non stop and not really stopping for lunch. If you want to be leisurely about it, then 3 or 4 works nicely.
If you’re in Sonoma proper you’re also close to Ty Caton if that’s your jam. No pun intended.
So I’ve finally figured out our RRV day. Here goes nothing:
10:00 - 11:00 Iron Horse
12:00 - 1:00 Red Car (tentative)
1:00 - 2:00 (2:30?) Dutton Goldfield
2:00 - 3:00 Dutton Estate
3:30 - 5:00 Harvest Moon
We had to drop Hartford Family, Merry Edwards, Lynmar Estate and several others. I honestly had no idea how difficult it would be to plan out a day of tastings. Aligning available times, location, lunch/dinner, etc, is a true skill. If only there was an RPM tour this year! Also booked River’s End Inn for dinner on another night (thanks @losthighwayz).
@klezman not sure how you manage to fit in 7 tastings in a day. Very impressive!
@hscottk I don’t usually end up with schedules and sometimes they’re super quick. If you go to one of the barrel tasting weekends or something often you only have 30 minutes at each place.
There are also places open until 6 and 7pm for those so inclined…
Good call on Red Car. Make sure to taste their version of Mohrhardt Ridge Cabernet and report back! I know it’s 2.5x the price of when Peter made it.
@hscottk I would try to do Iron Horse in the late afternoon - beautiful setting. Try contacting Joy Sterling ahead of time and tell her rpm sent you.