Hi. Planning a trip in the end of September for our wedding anniversary. We usually stay local and go to Paso or Santa Barbara. This will be our first time in Napa and Sonoma. Will be staying in a B&B. Flying in Sunday morning and Flying out Friday evening. Do you think there is enough time to see both Sonoma and Napa? As it is our first time in the area , what would be “must visit” wineries? We woul probably be doing 2 to 3 wineries a day. We would like to visit some grand impressive properties and intermix that with some smaller wineries. Any other non wine related things to do or see in the area? Places to eat?
Thank you in advance 
I think it’s enough time to get feel for both would argue that Napa requires more time if you want to explore the different areas a bit. I’d lean 3:2 on the splits, you could easily spend 5 nights in Napa.
Food wise — Press, Charter Oak, Angele (which is in downtown) were all great - but there are a quite a few other terrific options
One off the beaten path vineyard that I found worth a spin was Green & Red; it’s over in Chiles valley and if you need a cab break it offers Zinfandel and Petit Syrahs with unreal views given the elevation.
Current winemaker I believe was most recently at Mayacamas prior.
Have fun
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I would suggest the same, perhaps 2 days in Sonoma and 3 in Napa. What are your preferences for wine? That would help with recommendations. I know Napa much better so will put my recommendations below for you to research. Note that you should start making reservations very soon as the smaller places fill up. Also think about location from where you are staying. Napa traffic can get rough in the morning people are driving northwest and in the afternoon people are driving southeast somewhat generally speaking.
Chase - Zinfandel primarily - very private tastings
Aonair - Cabernet and Grenache
Paradigm - Nice mix of varietals
Brian Arden - nice mix of varietals, has a lunch tasting menu option.
Robert Sinskey - high End Lunch tasting menu option
I’m planning on visiting the following in November but have read good things about all.
Rivers Marie
Favia
Corison
Spire
Mathiasson
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Agree on the 3:2 split proposed, you will do some driving if you stay in the same spot for the entire trip, but it’s doable if you are safe. Recommendations:
- Plan your day wisely, start farthest out from where you are staying, and work your way home. Try to avoid criss crossing, you’ll waste too much time driving.
- spend a day on Spring Mountain, hit Pride and Smith Madrone, maybe one or two others in same vicinity. Or Schramsberg (change of pace with sparkling) or Rivers Marie on your way back down.
- Chateau Montelena is a classic for us. Love all their wines
- I might get roasted for this one, but we loved Mondavi. Go to the To Kalon room for the premium tasting, had I block, To Kalon Cab, and their special To Kalon bottling which is 95% Macdonald fruit (supposedly)
- Go up Pritchard Hill, hit Chappellet plus maybe a couple others in the area. Beautiful views and great wines
- Last visit, we went to Mathiason, Dakota Shy, Alpha Omega, Domaine Carneros and loved them all
- There is an entire thread on Sonoma provided by Brian Tuite, read through it. Well worth it. I believe it’s locked at the top of Wine Talk
- Sonoma recs, Bedrock, Ridge, Arista, and Calluna
- For lunch, stop at V. Sattui, great deli selection. There are other similar type deli’s, but this is always a must for us.
- Most important, plan ahead and have fun! You will get all sorts of recommendations, quickly do your research and make reservations.
Wish I was going…
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You didn’t specify wines or wine types so assuming that you want more of a varied experience than a focus on specific wines.
Consider a visit to Calluna in Chalk Hill, assuming David is hosting them currently. Tasting at his house which is a beautiful location up in the hills. Wines are more restrained than some of the Napa versions of cab and merlot but still obviously California in origin.
I like to contrast Calluna with Hobo. Hobo is in a warehouse in Santa Rosa and the total opposite experience wrt scenery. But the passion in the product is just as evident. Hobo makes a lot of different wines and keeps price points lower (except for Ghostwriter, which still isn’t high) as the approach is wine for the table. Hobo is 20 minutes from Calluna so possible to do back to back if scheduling allows.
As for non wine related activities https://www.sonomacanopytours.com/. Not sure if this is your thing or not but our group had a blast and the views are amazing.
I have no recommendations for Napa. I’ve been and honestly, I don’t need to go back. Napa to me just has a different feel from Sonoma and I prefer the Sonoma attitude. Don’t get me wrong, the wines are good and I have enjoyed my trips to Napa, just enjoy Sonoma more.
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Some of our favorites to consider:
Napa - Cade, Chappellet, Alpha Omega
Sonoma - Paul Hobbs, Gary Farrell, Bedrock
Food-wise, Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch is a nice spot, and if you like French onion soup, Bouchon is a must…best on the planet
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Agree on the 3 and 2 day concept. There are quite a few threads here that have popular spots to go to in both counties, depending on what wines you like. Here is a F&W article that just came online that has some recommendations for you, mainly in Healdsburg. Enjoy!
Ed
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If you’ve never been to Napa at all, I’d start with some of the OGs: Montelena, Mondavi, BV, Chappellet, Schramsberg etc just to get a sense for the history of the region and then add in some smaller producers that are board favorites around here (there’s a bunch). You could do Montelena and Schramsberg one day then maybe add a smaller producer like Rivers Marie also in Calistoga. Should be able to do BV, Mondavi and Chappellet in another day in a valley floor + short drive to Pritchard Hill. If you do decide to only do 3 days in Napa, it’s hard to recommend a trek up to the mountains IMO, but if you decide on a 5 day trip it’s a no brainer and it’ll really give you a different perspective (literally and wine wise) on the region.
To give you an idea, we’re doing 3 days in Napa in a couple weeks and doing Kinsman, Di Costanzo, Abreu day 1 (St Helena area), Perliss, Rivers Marie and Eisele day 2 (Calistoga) and Vine Hill Ranch, Momento Mori and Round Pond day 3 (Oakville/Rutherford). I like to do 1 AM tasting, grab lunch en route to an early afternoon tasting, then a mid afternoon tasting. I mostly spit so I’m standing for dinner. IMO you HAVE to do an AM tasting if you wanna do 3 [good] tastings in a day.
Editing to add… With the smaller producers: if you like their wine, buy it! A lot of smaller producers rely on local restaurants to move product, and obviously the last 18 months or so restaurants have not been buying as much as they did in years past.
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Questions to help narrow down winery and restaurant suggestions:
- Where is your B&B lodging located?
- How much do you normally like to spend on a bottle of wine?
- How much are you willing to spend on a tasting?
- Do you like Cab? Pinot? Do you drink both whites and reds?
- Do you prefer upscale dining or casual?
Cheers - Karen
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One general recommendation, a very important one in my experience:
Anywhere you plan to go, make a reservation. This has become far more important now, since some places are limiting the number of visitors, but in general you will have a much better experience this way. Otherwise, you are part of the cattle call at the tasting bar.
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This 1000 times. Everyone has given good advice but without some basic knowledge of your likes, preferences etc, it’s all meaningless.
Also do you want some down time to see the beautiful Sonoma Coast, Redwood forests, hiking etc etc.
With your input it will be much easier to make recommendations that meet your preferences.
Tom
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You’ll get lots of recs here. This one you may not. Go to Brasswood for lunch. Get the mozzarella cheese appetizer. Whatever you do the rest of the visit that is one thing you’ll remember and talk about for a while. Guaranteed
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My last visit in late March, I don’t think a single place allowed walk in’s. Might have changed in last couple of months, but totally agree on the need to make reservations
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The square in Sonoma is very pretty, and has shops and restaurants. We’ve eaten lunch and dinner (on different trips) at Girl and the Fig. Reasonably priced menu + wine list. https://www.thegirlandthefig.com/
You should taste at Sojourn. They’re just a block off the square. They’re known mostly for Pinot Noir and cabs.
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Wow. Thank you very much for all the recommendations. You guys are great.
We will be staying at Cinnanom Bear Inn on 19455 Sonoma Hwy.
We drink both reds and white. Our taste ranges widely depending on the mood , from a light Oregon Pinot to a big Napa Cab. We have visited the redwoods before, but would love to see the downtown and the coast.
On the map Napa looks very close to Sonoma, but after reading some posts it seems there could be heavy traffic. Will it be better to stay in Sonoma for all 5 days and leave Napa for a separate trip?
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100% yes, we went here after Rivers-Marie a few weeks ago. Get two.
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Traffic is the last thing you should worry about. N/B Hwy 29 entering St Helena backs up from 10am-1pm, S/B 29 out of St Helena will slow from Rutherford to Yountville in the afternoon. On the Sonoma side the only thing that will slow you down are traffic signals and commute traffic on US 101 in Santa Rosa.
Based on where you are staying you will have a bit of a drive to do Calistoga. Expect 1hr from your B&B if you cut across to Napa and drive North. 45 minutes if you take Hwy 12 West out of Sonoma to Calistoga Rd.(preferred route). You’re also 45 minutes from Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Forestville.
Close to Sonoma do Repris (15 minutes) PM Berserker Paul Luckin, he runs the tastings. You could do Repris early, stop at El Molino Central for early lunch then hit Bedrock and Sojourn in the same afternoon. All require reservations of course. One day heading to Napa via Hwy 121 you can start off at Domaine Carneros and check out the Chateau while you taste bubbles.
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A thought: it doesn’t have to be only about tasting wine. Both counties have so many beautiful areas, drives, towns. Consider exploring those as well. Drive Westside Road west from Healdsburg, after walking around the healdsburg square. Same with the town of Sonoma, and driving highway 12 north to Santa Rosa). Have a leisurely lunch on the deck at Auberge du Soleil, overlooking Napa Valley. You can power through a bunch of wine tastings every day, if that’s what most interests you, but hopefully you’ll get back again. Enjoy the environment, it’s all part of the experience.
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Have you researched tasting fees? They have gotten crazy expensive over the last few years. We started sharing a tasting last trip to minimize the stocker shock. This also made it possible to visit more wineries. Another thing we did was after a scheduled appointment we asked for recommendations on where to go next. A couple of time we got into places without an appointment.
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I waas considering booking a trip for late March - how was it, weather-wise?