The trip was amazing. I’ll try and give a rundown as best as I can, definitely a wine drinker’s paradise. For my full collection of pictures please visit Flickr.


Sonoma


We flew into Oakland, CA and rented a car (aprox $220 for the week for a Nissan Ultima, unlimited KM’s from Budget. You can book online). We drove from Oakland to American Canyon (just north of Vallejo). First night was in the Best Western Inn and Suites at Discovery Kingdom near Six Flags in Vallejo. Scary walk around the trying to find beer. The gentlemen who owned the gas station was nice enough to tell us that it was probably best to get in our car and drive up the road to Safeway and find something there.

We moved on the next day and stayed at a hotel on the highway called Gaia (http://www.gaianapavalleyhotel.com/ ), literally 10 minutes up the road from where we had stayed the night before. The hotel was ok with a nice restaurant but I would suggest staying closer to Sonoma Valley if you plan on doing some wine tours. It’s about a 20-25 minute drive in the morning.

Sonoma has a Best Western in town (http://www.bestwesterncalifornia.com/hotels/best-western-sonoma-valley-inn-and-krug-event-center ) and everyone around there is EXTREMELY helpful with directions and information, a lot closer than staying outside of town. Most of the Wineries in the area are open for tastings from 10am-5pm and range in price from Free-$30. Excellent book on prices and info about the wineries (Fromers Wine Guide). Great app for your phone is “iVisit Wine Country”, also worth checking out. Would have come in handy when we were there had I known about it.

I would suggest sticking to a schedule of 4-5 wineries a day. Gives you time to enjoy each one, do a tasting, take some pictures without feeling too rushed. Full list is below, mixed in with some of the lunch stops that are worth mentioning.

List of Wineries we visited (get ready)


Cline Cellars (http://www.clinecellars.com/) – Very Friendly, take the tour it’s free and they have a great history. The grounds are beautiful so make this your first stop in the morning and walk around before the tasting room opens. Tour highlights, The Red Truck, the solar powered warehouse, the train car, the bird cages, the sign that warns of alligators in the pond… so much more. We were also introduced to a new term the Wooly Weeders (sheep), it stuck with us for the rest of the trip. These Wooly Weeder get moved from vineyard to vineyard and eat the weeds, poop, which in turn feed the wines and grapes. Eco-Awesomeness. You must taste everything!!! Must have selections are the Sonoma Zin, the Cashmere and the Los Carneros Syrah.



Jacuzzi Family Vineyards (http://www.jacuzziwines.com/) - Literally across the road from Cline. Amazing Spanish style building with a beautiful tasting room, grounds and patio. Two things. make sure you try all of the olive oils they have there from http://www.theolivepress.com/ and take the stairs to the top of the tower for a view of the vineyard and valley.

Before you go to Gloria Ferrer, look on a map and find “Bonneau’s Towing & Mechanical”. There is a small convenience store on the corner of Bonneau Rd and Arnold Dr (Hwy 116) called “Food to go” or something. They make killer sandwiches for lunch; anything on the menu will be amazing!!

Gloria Ferrer (http://www.gloriaferrer.com/) - Perched on a hill side in Sonoma valley. Take a lunch and eat on their patio that overlooks it all. Pay for the tour, it’s worth it for the history of the champagne, wine making and wine caves.

Schug Carneros Estate Winery (http://www.schugwinery.com/) – Small cozy tasting room and amazing wine. Very friendly staff, we showed up just as they were closing and they allowed us to do a quick tasting.

St Francis Winery (http://www.stfranciswine.com/) – Some of the best Zinfandels in the valley. Huge selection, and beautiful tasting room and patio. I hear the food is awesome but I didn’t sample the food myself when we were there.

Ledson (http://www.ledsonwinery.com/) – Most impressive thing was this was used to be some guys house! He moved up the road and turned it into a tasting house because people would often stop and ask if there were tastings. Guess he got tired of it. Definitely worth a stop to check out the inside and take some pictures.

Chateau St Jean (http://www.chateaustjean.com/) – Good wine with a beautiful garden and grounds. It was POURING raining when we arrived and had continued most of the time we were there so staying outside and getting photos was very limiting. Very nice gardens though and I wish we could have spent that time wandering the grounds.

Kenwood (http://www.kenwoodvineyards.com/) – Another location where it was Pouring rain. We had to run from the car to the buildings barn style sliding door. Once inside you pay for your wooden tasting tokens. A brief history and information on the winery was spouted by the lady pouring the wine. Behind her is a wall of bottles featuring the art used as their labels for their select series wine.

White Oak (http://www.whiteoakwinery.com/)– Very relaxed tasting room. A little nook beside it contains bottles of unseen vintage. Spent time outside relaxing and photographing the lizards warming themselves in the sun.

Korbel – (http://www.korbel.com/Default.aspx) Champagne tasting on our way up to the Russian River Valley. Staff (Two Gentlemen) were “busy” with three members and could barely tear themselves away to let us do a tasting. Very nice building and surrounding area for a rest stop but didn’t find the staff as helpful or informative as the other places we stopped.

The Red Grape (http://www.theredgrape.com/) - Stopped for a giant Caesar Salad and a pepperoni mushroom pizza for lunch. MmmmMmmm.

The Bear Republic (http://www.bearrepublic.com/home.php) – Lunch stop for the day. Good beers and a pretty good selection of pub food. I suggest the #5 burger.

Ravenswood (http://www.ravenswoodwinery.com/#) – Set back away from town, make sure you find this on a map first as it was a little confusing for me to get to. First thing I remember is the flowers and the old wood building as we were driving up to it. Almost like it is tucked into the corner of the valley surrounded by Grape Vines and a knarley looking tree on the edge of the parking lot. Inside were two small tasting bars that served up some killer Zins. I sat outside and took pictures of the flowers and an old lamp hanging by the door. A man approached and told me to feel free to wander into the storage area where their huge vats of wine were stored. Wandering around the corner I found the door open enough to let a sliver of sun in. I passed through and stood staring at these huge containers rather than take a photo all I could think about was how lucky I was to be there.




Santa Rosa / Red River Valley

DeLoach Vineyards (http://www.deloachvineyards.com/deloach/index.jsp) – The staff really showed us what it was like to go during the off season. We had stopped for our usual, a tour and tasting, when we asked about the tour, our gracious host mentioned that unfortunately the manager was currently doing a private tour for one of the wine members. We decided to start with the tasting and hoped that by the time we finished we might be able to jump into a tour. Pour after pour we tasted, the lady was so kind I am sure we tasted everything behind the bar, though only having paid for a regular tasting. Some time had passed by this point and it did not appear as though we would be getting that tour, our hostess must have read our minds and she said she would take us on a brief tour herself and showed us the private tasting room and the barrel room. After we finished and ended back at the bar, she reached under the counter and said “We just started bottling this this week. It’s our OFS Tawny” Trust me when I say this, You will never find a better Tawny than this!!

Alexander Valley Vineyards (http://www.alexandervalleycellars.com/) – Pulling into to park and seeing the giant doors to the wine cave open and staff hurriedly sending barrel after barrel into its depths. Amazing wine, great staff, definitely try and get a tour of their wine cavesl!!


Napa Valley

Domain Carneros (http://www.domainecarneros.com/) – Beautiful Champagne mansion you will see on your way from Vallejo to Sonoma. Excellent champagne (especially at 10am, right after breakfast hehe!) fresh, clean and gets you ready for your days of tastings.

Mondavi (http://www.robertmondavi.com/rmw/) – No tasting done here but the grounds are worth a look. They grow a fresh garden full of Artichokes and other vegetables. Orange Trees and a ton of rose bushes surround the entrance. Check out their website to see if you can get there when there is a concert going on.

Opus One (http://www.opusonewinery.com/) – Amazing looking building, you can’t miss it. Worth stopping and touring around. If you are with a group of 2-4 people, I suggest you all chip in and get one taster ($20 per glass), go up to the rooftop viewing area and share the wine while admiring the beautiful landscape.

Cakebread (http://www.cakebread.com/) – Our tour of the facilities was very interesting. So much information into their whole process, tasting the INCREDABLE wine, at the end of the tour we found out the gentleman that gave the tour used to be the wine maker. He took us aside and spent another 30 minutes talking about the wine, the winery and thanking US for coming. I feel terrible that I can’t remember his name but I really appreaciated the time he spent with us. When he found out I liked taking photos, he took me over to the private patio reserved for members. I was allowed to take more photos while he gave me more history into the grounds and the Cakebread house. After all this we finally walked up to the till to pay for the wines we were taking with us and he let us keep our etched tasting glasses. It may not seem like a big deal but it really just showed us that he went over and above a usual tour experience and touched us with his kindness.



Duckhorn (http://www.duckhorn.com/) – Massive wrap around patio on this beautiful country style home. We had a small tasting while sitting in the gardens around the back. I noticed on the way out we had parked next to an actual Cork tree. I really like the short driveway up to the building, you have to drive through the rows of vines to get to the parking area.

James Cole (http://www.jamescolewinery.com/) – Biggest Wine Glasses EVER ! Intimate tasting room, perfect for a tiny wedding.

Shafer (http://www.shafervineyards.com/) – Long ride up a sloped hill up to their hillside estate you take a side road from the main road, no signage or anything. We only stopped for a picture, you have to make reservations in advance for a tasting. The left quickly and I raced my sister down the hill like we were little kids again.

Stag’s Leap (http://stagsleap.com/) – Right off the main road with lots of trees to lock the bikes to. Great old buildings and the staff really made us feel welcome even though most of us felt sweaty and gross.

Regusci (http://www.regusciwinery.com/) – I skipped the tasting here. All the ladies on the tasting patio were mesmerized by the burley tour operator rocking a Kilt. There were cool mini orange trees, olive trees and the dog that no one was supposed to feed

Beringer (http://www.beringer.com/) –Take your time here, the grounds are a lot to take in. The mansion house has several tasting rooms as well as the winery behind it. The garden and patio around the house are amazing for photos too. I also think we found the doorway to the secret garden.

Heitz (http://www.heitzcellar.com/) – Don’t miss this small stone building on the side of the road. You enter, there is a warm cozy fire going in the fireplace with a dog curled up next to it, two giant reading chairs right in front, a row of smiling customers and winemakers. Within seconds of walking in, it feels like home. Amazing wine, free tasting and we took a bottle home of the Zin that was on special for ridiculously cheap!

Darioush Winery (http://www.darioush.com/)– Didn’t do a tasty here but the Roman inspired architecture is awesome. Tadpoles in the Lilly pad front water feature. Snotty looking crowd of 50+ (aged) men and their obvious girlfriends or trophy wives.

Clos Du Val (http://www.closduval.com/closduval.php)– Didn’t do a tasting but the building is beautiful. Walls full of Ivy vines, gorgeous patio, with huge wood doors that beckon you into the tasting room .

Side note… riding back on a bike, down the Solano Road that runs parallel to the St Helena Hwy is a very gentle upward slope as you head back toward Yountville. Riding this in +20 degrees, no wind, no cloud, after 3.5 hours of drinking and bike riding is extremely tiring. Pick up a couple bottles of water from the Soda Canyon store, they will help a lot!

Domaine Chandon (http://www.chandon.com/)– Last stop on our wine tour by bike. They have a small bike rack next to the parking lot that was quite full, we didn’t have an issue locking them all to a post close by. Stone toad stools lead you along the path toward the entrance. Once inside the bottle wall will lead you up the stairs to the bar. Order from their Bubbly tasting menu, you are sure to enjoy anything on it. It may take a few minutes to get your drinks depending on what you order and the number of people, the staff didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. Thankfully we weren’t either and the wait was worth it, the drinks looked amazing


Soda Canyon Store (http://www.sodacanyonstore.com/) - Lunch stop for our bike tour day. Soda Canyon Store serves fresh made sandwiches in a small convenience store so you can grab drinks and snack at the same time. Picnic tables are usually free over by the creek. It is just a very nice place to just sit and watch people, bikes and cars.

Grace’s Table (http://www.gracestable.net/) – Such good food and found that the portions were done properly here. Make sure to save room for desert.

By far the BEST meal we had the whole time was lunch at Tra Vinge . AMAZING Italian food!!! They are north of Napa Valley right off the highway. Quite pricy but you won’t get better food anywhere. Our lunch started with the Mozzarella “Al Minuto”, hand made fresh mozzarella with bruschetta. Wine flowed then followed by Rabbit, Butternut squash Ravioli, Duck and Bison. mmmMMmmMM!!!! Most restaurants have a small corkage fee so any wine you buy from the vineyards can be brought with you for lunch or dinner.

We did a bike tour, just north of Napa there is a little town called Yountville. There are a ton of wineries around there most are accessible by bike. Check out http://www.napavalleybiketours.com/ if you are travelling by yourself the guided tour is a great way to meet tons of people and has a guide that will take you to some of the best wineries in the area.

That was the end of our Sonoma and Napa tour. We then flew down to Anaheim to spend a few days in Disneyland… but that’s another story.