Where to go in California - Mendocino or Napa or Sonoma?

We are coming down the coast in June, having our anniversary, thought we'd check one of these for a few days.

We've been to Napa - great - but would like to try something else. I imagine the Sonoma Valley would be similar in wine and atmosphere. Mendocino County, on the other hand, is appealing based on the photos and rates I've seen.

Any comments?

Is there any good wine in Mendocino County, or is it the Temecula of the Northern Coast?

Recommend restaurants, lodging, resorts for a few night stay in either Mendocino or Sonoma areas?

Thanks in advance,

Phil in Orange County

Reply to
Combest
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Not sure what you mean by that. Temecula is a quickly growing wine region and now produces some excellent wines. I do remember going there about 10 years ago and nothing was of interest. Today there are many excellent wines from this region.

My favorite wine regions are between Solvang and Paso Robles as well as Amador county.

Reply to
miles

Can't comment much on Mendocino, although it does have some lovely scenery and the coast itself, although often foggy, is breathtaking. However, Sonoma County seems to have several distinct wine regions, both in the northern area and then near the charming town of Sonoma, which has some nice restaurants. So I don't think you can miss with Sonoma.

Reply to
dmopbuff

The Anderson Valley is worth a day. Don't expect Napa/Sononma blockbusters; the Anderson Valley is a very cool growing region. Pinot Noir/Grigio/Gris/Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and sparklers are the forte of the Valley. Many of the wineries there do make Cab/Zin/Merlot, often from warmer inland or higher-elevation vineyards. Most of the tasting rooms are north of Boonville; there's not so many you can't visit them all in a day if you pace yourself. Esterlina is a little bit off the beaten path but well worth visiting the times I've been there.

Yorkville Highlands isn't part of Anderson Valley proper but there's some good Pinot Noir coming from there, and it's on the 128.

If you stay in Mendocino, it's easy to make a day trip down to Yorkville Highlands and work your way back north to Mendocino for dinner, or just work your way north on the 128 as you go to Mendo.

It's not like it is an either-or proposition; you can visit Sonoma and then go on to Mendo.

Reply to
Dana H. Myers

With a comment like that I suspect that Mendocino County will not meet your standards either. I suggest that you buy an all expenses included

4 week tour of a couple of french wine regions.

Reply to
John S.

I'll second Dana's excellent comments. The Anderson Valley makes some outstanding cool-weather wines and is beautiful to boot. My choices for visits there are Roederer Estate, Pacific Echo/Scharffenberger for the sparklers; Navarro and Lazy Creek for their still wines (Pinot, Gewurztraminer and several others). Greenwood Ridge has done some nice Zins and Pinots. Husch and Skewis are also worth a visit.

HTH Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Thanks for those that replied to my post. And apologies to those from Temecula Valley or those with a love of TV's wine. My comment was tacky.

I think we'll spend a few days in "Mendo" to avoid the crowds and commericalism.

Phil

Reply to
Combest

My favorite area is still Amador county just west of Plymouth, California. Not touristy, very pretty area and some great wines, especially Zins and Syrahs.

Reply to
miles

Reply to
Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg

Just being picky but the wine in Amador is *east* of Plymouth, not west

- there's little or no wine west of town. By the way, for those visiting that area, there's a quality restaurant (finally!) opening in Plymouth that goes by the name of "Taste". They're just in "soft" opening stage right now but I attended winemaker's event there a couple of weeks ago and the early signs are good. Dining options in that sparsely populated area have been very limited, so this should be a good addition. Better yet, I heard a rumor they plan to be open on Monday nights, when up until now there have been basically no fine dining options available in the area. I have no connection with the place other than as a customer at the proprietors' previous establishment, the St. George Hotel some miles away in the town of Volcano.

Mark W.

Reply to
markw

lol, thats true but I was facing the other way when saying that! :-)

There is another wine region not far to the north from Amador. Closer to I-80. I have never been to any wineries in that area but have been told there are few that produce any worthy wines. What is this region called and are there and top notch wineries?

Reply to
miles

You're almost certainly talking about El Dorado County. As you continue up the highway to the north and east through the heart of the Shenandoah Valley and most of the Amador wineries, you cross the county line and find first the Fairplay appellation, a fairly recent addition to the AVA list. The counties in the Sierra Nevada foothills run mostly east west, so in order starting from the south, you have Calaveras, Amador and El Dorado. There are wineries in the counties further north and south but most activity is focused in those three.

In El Dorado County, the wineries are actually mostly clustered around U.S. Highway 50, the next trans-Sierra route to the south of I-80. There has been an explosion of winery activity in the area, which seems to show particular promise in growing the Rhone varieties. And yes, there are some very good wineries. Probably the best known and one of the "oldest" (the oldest establishments date only from the 70's, most are much newer than that) is Sierra Vista, which specializes in Rhone varietals (but does other things, too). In addition to the Rhones, they make a nice, crisp, unoaked reasonably priced Chardonnay. Two other labels you may have heard of are Lava Cap and Boeger. The latter seems to specialize mostly in Italian varietals in addition to the inevitable Zinfandel; their Barbera is usually good. Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John, whose winery is in the Bay Area, has made a name for himself in Rhone varietals and buys much of his fruit in El Dorado County.

That's not to say that everything from El Dorado County is wonderful, of course. As in any region, there are reliable producers and not-so-reliable ones, excellent wines and awful ones. I left the area a couple of years ago and with all the changes, I'm not the best source for which are which. Best just to go taste for yourself, I guess :) You can read more at the local winery association's PR site at

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I hope that helps!

Reply to
markw

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