Napa Sonoma Recommendations?

I like Yountville Inn in Yountville plus they can get you into private tastings that many places don't. Just remember summer in Napa is crazy with people so you have to book now. McCarthy Inn in Sonoma is also cool but expensive.

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Hi SD I'm an Aussie wine geek but I think I can help a little. I took my kids (12 & 13) to Disneyland last September and I planned my "Disneyland" trip as part of it, I spent the weekend of 25, 26 September

2004 in the Napa Valley with dinner at the French Laundry in Yountville on Saturday 25 September as the highlight. I worked 16 winerys in 2 days, 4 before lunch & 4 after each day and there are many highlights for me. The bubbles at Schramsberg were equisite and Vincent Arroyo was spectacular (a Petit Verdot & a Cab Sav that were absolute killers) I had a pinotage at Stelzner that made me re think an entire variety. I also loved the Franciscan Oakville Estate. 16 Napa winerys from halfway around the world and I remember these 4 as outstanding for their wine. If you are just tourists (and not wine geeks) there are plenty of wine tourism places to go. Domaine Chandon, Neibaum Coppola, Robert Mondavi were those kind of places (ordinary wine though). Another highlight of our trip, I have to say, is when I told the waitress at the French Laundry that I would only drink Napa wines, I mean I'd spent 14 and a 1/2 hours on a plane from Melbourne to LA (then to Vegas then to SF, then I had to drive a car on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD over 100 miles) why would I drink French wines? I'll drink them when I'm in France. As for accomodation we stayed the night at the Marriot in Napa and it was OK. For lunch we picked up bread at the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville and got provisions from the Oakville Grocery and had a picnic each day. We also got some cool things for the picnics at the St Helena Olive Company. Enjoy your trip. Cheers Andrew

Few tips:

#1-If you can avoid the weekends you will avoid crowds and save money. Most lodging is cheaper Sunday to Thursday.

#2. I really enjoy lodging at Yountville, St. Helena or Calistoga in that order.

has great site for B & B/Lodging.

#3. Dinners I really enjoy Bistro Pierre Jeanty in Yountville, the Pinot Blanc in St. Helena and La toche in Oakville.

#4. Lodging my favorites are as follows:

Bordeaux House in Yountville Maison Fleury in Yountville Simple/humble is the "El Bonita" in St. Helena

Wineries tours I really enjoy:

My favorites are Schramsberg for Sparkling, Franks Family Wines for Reds...don't miss their back room tastings.

Enjoy trip.

Sorry for being a little slow in responding to this but here's a little info.

We go to Napa every year, and will once again the end of May this year.

I can't help much on where to stay, we stay in a Timeshare in th ecity of Napa.

Best Wineries to visit. I normally prefer the smaller wineries most people have not heard of, or larger wineries that have winery only wines to taste.

Napa - Elyse Winery between Napa and Yountville. Big red wines, mainly Zins, Petite Sirahs, and Cabs. Their Zins and Pets are some of the best. Second label JAcob Franklin consists of mainly massive reds. Limited Elyse distribution, no Jacob Franklin distribution.

Graeser Winery - In Calistoga. Bordeaux varietals, their Cabernet Franc is top notch. Last year we tasted a 1992 that was fantastic with many years of life ahead. No distribution outside of the winery.

Clos Pegase - Calistoga. Very good Cabernet and Merlot, but I like their winery only red wines even better. They have an outstanding Claret and a Loire style Cabernet Franc. Very impressive art work in winery, tasting room, and vineyards.

Vincent Arroyo - Calistoga. More big red wines. Specialty is Petite Sirahs, but also make Zin and Cabernet Sauvignon along with others. They will give barrel tasting of a few wines if you show interest in the wines being tasted. Most of these wines sell out before the grapes are even picked, due to the wineries "repeat order" program. No distribution outside of the winery.

Zahtila - Silverado Trail in Calistoga. Visited there last year and they had a couple of very nice Zins for good prices. They also make the usual suspects, Cab, Merlot, etc.

Prager Winery and Port Works - St. Helena. Specialty is sweet, port styled wines. Some of the best I have ever tasted. He makes about a half dozen sweet wines and a few dry wines. No distribution outside of the winery.

Some of my Sonoma favorites are larger wineries that I have liked for a long time.

Rosenblum - They make loads of wines. Their tasting list was as big as a few wine lists I've seen in good restaurants. Some of their smaller production wines are only available at the winery. Actually, this is just a tasting room, the winery is in Alemeda.

Ridge Lytton Springs - Besides their normal, distributed every where wines, they have their ATP (Advanced Tasting Program) wines. These are small lot wines that are usually sourced from a single vineyard and are usually outstanding and sold at a good price, usually between $24 to $28 a bottle. They usually also have some older (1994 to 1996) wines available for tasting or purchase.

You didn't ask about places to eat, but nice, affordable places are Taylor's Refresher in St. Helena for Lunch. Another good lunch option is picking up a picnic lunch from the Oakville Grocery and having a picnic lunch at a winery. After a day of wine tasting, a nice place for dinner is Cole's Chop House in Napa for big hunks of beef. Also in Napa Zuzu is a nice, fun atmosphere Tapas Bar and Restaurant, that is great for a group sharing bottles of wine and small plates. If you buy a bottle of wine and want to enjoy it with your dinner, the Rutherford Grill had good, hearty food and does not charge for corkage.

If you want more upscale dining, search google in this group for the French Laundry, though it may already be too late to get a reservation for this summer.

Have a great trip and do a little research on the net. Some of these wineries require a reservation.

Cliff

Great choices of places to visit. Vincent Arroyo makes great wine with no pretense at all ...

Dana

I tasted some of his wines last year and concur. He knows what he's doing.

Tom S