Napa Valley

[jeanine]

DH and I are planning a last minute trip to San Francisco / Sonoma for next week. We are okay with things to do and where to stay in San Francisco because we are visiting a friend, but we are clueless about Sonoma. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay, eat, and what wineries are not to be missed in that area? I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

[Elizabeth]

If $ is no object, there is a fabulous Fairmont in Sonoma, or the Sonoma Mission Inn.

I stayed at the Lodge at Sonoma (http://www.thelodgeatsonoma.com/) and it was very nice. Fireplaces and a huge bathtub/spa in the room. We got a great rate through Priceline. You might want to give Priceline a try.

Wineries - Go to Sebastiani, they have beautiful carved casks. The best thing to do (besides researching online) is to drive around and see what strikes your fancy. The drive around that area is gorgeous anyway, and there's little wineries all over the place. You can't throw a rock and not hit a winery. The little family-owned ones are sometimes even more fun. Try Cline Cellars too. They have great wines there. And the Viansa Italian Marketplace is a fun place to go shopping.

[QT Pie]

One of my favorite restaurants is Cafe La Haye in Sonoma. http://www.sterba.com/sonoma/lahaye/

Sonoma is bit smaller and quieter than Napa, but I love it. I stayed at the Sonoma Mission Inn last December and thought it was charming. Have a great time!

[Jennifer]

If you head a little further up the Sonoma Valley (nearer Healdsburgh) you get to some of my favorite places!

We love to stay at great B&B www.farmhouseinn.com. They have one of the only 4 star restaurants in the area onsite as well. While we're up there we also like to dine at Ravenous and the Healdsburgh Bar and Grill (lunches or more casual dinners).

Favorite wineries include J (they do fun food tastings with the wines), Russian Hill , Trentadu , and lower down in Sonoma Gundloch Bundchu (sp?)

Have fun!

[graciebella]

We honeymooned in Sonoma. I loved the place we stayed...it was a cabin in the mountains near Santa Rosa.

Clair de Lune (http://www.sonic.net/~joyluck/index.html)

Check Fodors message boards...there's usually a current thread about restaurants in the area. We had a wonderful meal at Cafe Lolo.

[justHB]

Sonoma is actually a fairly large region, made up of smaller sub-regions. Do you know which part you are most interested in visiting? My favorites are the Dry Creek, Alexander, and Russian River Valleys, which are basically all in one area.

http://wineroad.com/images/region-map.jpg

My favorite lodging in the area is the Inn at Occidental (http://www.innatoccidental.com/). They have such beautiful, comfortable rooms, and the breakfasts are so delicious. I've also been interested in staying at the Grape Leaf Inn (http://www.grapeleafinn.com/) in Healdsburg, or the Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant (http://www.farmhouseinn.com/) in the Russian River Valley.

Some of my favorite wineries in these three regions are:

Robert Young Estate Winery (http://www.ryew.com/) (the only Chardonnay I truly love)
Trentadue Winery (http://www.trentadue.com/index.html)
Stryker Sonoma (http://www.strykersonoma.com/)
Hanna Winery (http://www.hannawinery.com/index.html)
Bella Vineyards (http://www.bellawinery.com/all_beginning.asp)
Lambert Bridge Winery (http://www.lambertbridge.com/index.asp)
Limerick Lane (http://www.limericklanewines.com/)
Roshambo Winery (http://www.roshambowinery.com/)
Hop Kiln Winery (http://www.hopkilnwinery.com/)
Iron Horse Vineyards (http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/index1.html)
Sunce Winery (http://www.suncewinery.com/)
Toad Hollow Healdsburg (http://www.toadhollow.com/)
Arista Winery (http://www.aristawinery.com/)

Good luck, and have a blast!

[jeanine]

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. We just got back, and had a great time. We wound up staying at the Inn at Occidental - (thanks justHB ). It was such a gorgeous place to visit and the wine was fantastic. The only bad part was having to lug all of the wine we bought home on the plane. Thanks again!

[justHB]

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. We just got back, and had a great time. We wound up staying at the Inn at Occidental - (thanks justHB ). It was such a gorgeous place to visit and the wine was fantastic. The only bad part was having to lug all of the wine we bought home on the plane. Thanks again!I'm so glad my recommendation worked out for you guys.

Which wineries did you end of visiting?

[HeatherFL]

Aaah I see you just got back. I am glad you had a nice time! For anyone going in the future, here are a couple of recommendations.

I love the Sonoma Mission Inn and Resort (http://www.fairmont.com/sonoma/). It's a Fairmont property, but small and not "resortish".

I also really enjoy the St. Francis Winery (http://www.stfranciswine.com/). I usually rent a car and drive from San Francisco (another great town!) and then drive a few minutes into the "downtown" Sonoma area and shop.

H.

[Parrothead]

I have a couple of future winery recommendations, too!

Roshambo
Passalaqua
Hop Kiln
Toad Hollow

Enjoy!

[jeanine]

We hit

Viansa
Cline Cellars
BR Cohn
Gundluch Bundshu
Sebastiani
Ferrari-cannon
Dry Creek
Lambert Bridge
Limerick Lane
Trentadue
Clos du Bois
Iron Horse
Toad Hollow
Hop Kiln
Rodney Strong
J
Roshambo


We also tried the spa, Osmosis, with the saw dust enzyme bath, which was definitely different.

[boilermaker]

Bump

[jetter]

Boilermaker, thanks for bumping! There are so many great recommendations for Sonoma wineries, too bad we'll only be there for a day!

[2 Crazy Pugs]

Anyone been? Looking into this as our honeymoon destination, because we are into wine & vineyards...

[jeanine]

There are a few threads about this already. I'll try to find them and bump them up for you.

[jeanine]

Bump

[RyeRye]

I stayed at the Fairmont Mission Inn in Sonoma and it was AWESOME! We splurged for suite. The other best thing about our trip was eating at the Culinary Cener in Napa.

[Meredith]

http://www.winezone.com/hotairballoons.html

[kd 9.21.02]

We got engaged and spent our wedding weekend at Sonoma Mission Inn, now owned by Fairmont. www.fairmont.com

I love that place!

[Vishenka69]

We went to Napa for a week last year. I wrote up a long review of the restaurants on WC back then. Let me know if I should dig it up and copy here.

We absolutely LOVED Napa and can't wait to go back to the CA Wine Country.

[Meredith]

I would love to read it, if you don't mind. :D

[2 Crazy Pugs]

I would too, it looks like it will be our honeymoon destination!

[Vishenka69]

Ok, this is the thread (http://wedding.weddingchannel.com/frame/framed.asp?frameURL=http://boards.weddingchannel.com/), and here's my review.

Pinot Blanc - A+
We had lunch there on our first day and absolutely loved the food, service and atmosphere.
Martini House - A
It was too hot to sit outside, so we opted for airconditioned dinning room. Cocktails were a bit disappointing and for the rest of our trip we stuck to local wines. DH's duck was mouthwatering, while my Ahi Tuna was a bit bland.
Tra Vigne - B
I guess this trully is a hit or miss spot. It was a bitter cooler that night, so we decided to try out the patio, which was very nice. But as soon as our appetizers arrived, so did the flies. We spent the rest of the meal trying to fight them off. The staff did nothing about this. We did complain and were told that they usually spray the patio between lunch and dinner but didn't get a chance to do it that day. WTF?!? The food was good but we couldn't enjoy it with all the swatting. For the record we didn't not see a single fly or any other insect while eating at Taylor's or Celadon.
Taylor's - A
This place was great, I wish we had one in NY. The ahi tuna burger was yummy.
Bouchon - B+
I guess I was expecting something a bit above average from Thomas Keller, but Bouchon is a regular French bistro with typical bistro selections. The food was good but nothing we can't get at any bistro in NY. I also thought the mussels were on the small side.
Terra - A+
Their Black Cod is an absolute must. It was my favorite meal of the week. I think I can still taste it. I can't even remember what I had for appetizer or dessert, but I remember every detail about the cod. DH tought it was simply orgazmic (the highest compliment he ever pays to food) and is still talking about it.
Celadon - A
Another favorite. Their patio is so much prettier than the main dinning room, really glad it finally cooled down to sit outside. DH's Kobe beef was much better than my duck, but overall it was a great place for our final dinner.

Wineries
We did pay a tasting fee at several of the wineries, but it was only $5 and we thought it was reasonable for the amoung of alcohol provided. Many will also waive it if you buy something. I would suggest visiting wineries off the main road (such as Silverado Trail or CA-29). We got very personal attention and it was great. Our favorites were Artesa and Mumm.

[wine_o_girlie]

We loved Napa also and cannot wait to go back.

Our dining favorite was definitely The Martini House. It was phenomenal. The setting is gorgeous, the food is fab, and the service is wonderful. Our favorite for lunch was Taylor's Refresher. Great burgers, fries, and shakes. The large lunch was definitely needed after all of the wine tasting. :) We liked Bouchon a lot but it was a bit loud and not very intimate. Mustards Grill was also great for lunch.

Our favorite wineries were Domain Chandon (gorgeous), Mumm (very fun), Cosentino (very small and intimate and next door to Mustards - put your name on the waiting list at Mustards and go taste at Cosentino), and Cakebread (very big and corporate but good wine). The Sterling wine gondola ride was fairly cool and the view is good but the wine is crap and I didn't think it was worth it.

Have fun!

[justHB]

Viansa
Cline Cellars
BR Cohn
Gundluch Bundshu
Sebastiani
Ferrari-cannon
Dry Creek
Lambert Bridge
Limerick Lane
Trentadue
Clos du Bois
Iron Horse
Toad Hollow
Hop Kiln
Rodney Strong
J
Roshambo

I love the wines at Limerick Lane, and Trentadue was the very first wine club we joined (well, actually, their port club). I'm also a big fan of the Toad Hollow sparkling wine (Risque), and Hop Kiln is so gorgeous; it's one of my favorite wineries to photograph.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4da31b3127cce9ce528516c3200000026108KcuWjdo0w

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4da31b3127cce9ce5285eed0d00000026108KcuWjdo0w

[Shapsgrl]

bumping...

we're trying to decide between Napa and Sonoma for a trip next month. Any advice?

[justHB]

we're trying to decide between Napa and Sonoma for a trip next month. Any advice?What part of the month? I ask because the Russian River Valley has its annual barrel tasting festival the first weekend in March. It's a blast - we go every year.

[Shapsgrl]

JustHB
We're going March 24-28 for my inlimborelationshipSO/FI's 31st birthday.

too bad - love the RRV. You seem to know a lot about the region. Which would you recommend?

If we go to Napa, we're considering staying at the Carneros Inn (a bit pricey) or the Candlelight Inn. I made reservations on Opentable for Auberge du Soleil for his big birthday dinner but beyond that we haven't done anything other than book our flight.

If we go to Sonoma, friends recommended the Gaige house.

We could use some recommendations so if you have any please send them our way :)

[justHB]

Oooh, dinner at Auberge! Awesome. Since you're having dinner there, I would say you should definitely stay in Napa. The drive from Napa to Sonoma's RRV is quite long.

In Napa we've only stayed at the Daughter's Inn (nice, but not out of this world extraordinary), but I've heard great things about the following places:

http://www.millikencreekinn.com/
http://www.oakknollinn.com/index.htm
http://www.harvestinn.com/index.htm
http://www.adagioinn.com/
http://www.villagio.com/villagio/home.html

We only go to Napa a couple of times a year, so I'm not nearly as well versed in their wineries as I am in the RRV ones, but a couple that we have consistently liked each time we go are Peju and St. Clement. Both have - *gasp* - wonderful merlots.

Good luck!

[Shapsgrl]

Thanks :)

[elissa]

subscribing!

[elissa]

We are planning our first anniversary trip and think we are quite decided on Napa. We will be there around the first of October and there for a few days. I have heard that we need to start planning now, especially for some of the restaurants. So I am looking for help. Any recommendations on the following would be great!

Hotel/B&B
Wineries that are a must see
Restaurants

Thanks!

[Kates]

elissa, DH and I are going Napa in June, so I don't have any personal experience, but I have found these sites to be really helpful:

Restaurants:
Open Table (http://www.opentable.com)
Chow Hound (http://www.chowhound.com/main.html)

Restaurants & Hotels/B&B's
Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g32766-Napa_Napa_Valley_California-Vacations.html)
I love Napa (http://www.ilovenapa.com/visitors_home.shtml)
http://winecountry.citysearch.com/
http://www.napavalley.com/
Fodor's Message Board (http://www.fodors.com)
and a thread from CC (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=10953&highlight=Napa)

I'm interested to see if anyone has any new suggestions for restaurants. We have tentatively booked at Celadon (http://www.celadonnapa.com), for one night of our trip.

[Shapsgrl]

We're going to Napa next month.

We're still deciding between booking The Candlelight Inn (http://www.candlelightinn.com) and The Blackbird Inn (http://www.blackbirdinnnapa.com/) but really, there are SO many great choices. We have used Tripadvisor a TON to help with making our choices for Inns/Wineries/Restaurants. So far, we have booked Auberge du Soleil and Julia's Kitchen at COPIA through Opentable.

I wish I had more info for you - but in about a month's time I will return with a full report :)

[CindyLouWho]

Planning now is smart. I THINK October is the most popular because they are harvesting.
You will love it. It's such a beautiful place!
The Mondavi winery has a really good tour that we enjoyed.

[ktsb]

Do take the Sterling walk/tour if nothing else for the awesome view of the whole valley. I also love to partake in the sparkling wineries of Domaine Chandon and Mumm.

October is definitely beautiful but definitely very popular since it's the grape harvest.

[TazLuv]

LOVE, LOVE Napa and Sonoma, one of my DH and I's favorite places. Ok, let's see...

Wineries
Viansa (http://www.viansa.com/) - they only sell their wine at their winery and through their club, my DH and I's favorite!
Frog's Leap (http://www.frogsleap.com/flash/intro.html) - small but great chardonnay's
Goosecross Cellars (http://www.goosecross.com/) - Their classes are great.
Whitehall Lane (http://www.whitehalllane.com/) - another small winery with great reds

Restaurants
Bistro Don Giovanni (http://www.bistrodongiovanni.com/) - great food and atmosphere
Mustard's Grill (http://www.mustardsgrill.com/) - small place but great food
The General's Daughter (http://www.thegeneralsdaughter.com/restaurant.htm) - actually in a victorian style house, very good

Places to Stay
We lived in the bay area so we rarely stayed overnight but my DH's family loved the Silverado Resort (http://www.silveradoresort.com/).

There are tons more restaurants and wineries that we've been to that I can't think of right now, if you have a specific question on one we might have been there.

[thelittlebabu]

Do take the Sterling walk/tour if nothing else for the awesome view of the whole valley. I also love to partake in the sparkling wineries of Domaine Chandon and Mumm.

October is definitely beautiful but definitely very popular since it's the grape harvest.
I second the Sterling Vinyeards tour. The cable car ride to the winery is unique.

CindyLouWho mentioned Mondavi and yes, the tour there is nice.

Sutter Home has the best spread of munchies...important if you're doing a lot of tasting.

Edit to give credit for the Mondavi recommendation.

[Marie]

Cakebread does a great "wine sensory" experience which combines a tour with an instructional wine tasting - teaches you to pick out the different notes in the wine as well as a nice demonstration on the reason for drinking out of the proper glass.

Pine Ridge does a fabulous tour which includes their caves. Fantastic tour.

Plumpjack is a great little winery - no tours but my fave chardonnay ever.

Fave dining experiences:

The French Laundry
Greystone at CIA
The Bounty Hunter is a fun local place with pretty decent food and a great wine selection - lots of wine flights to pick from.

I'd skip Martini House - good food but service was just ok.

We were just there in September during the crush and it was gorgeous. Have fun!

[TazLuv]

Second both of these from marie:
The French Laundry
Greystone at CIA

The French Laundry is nearly impossible to get into so make sure to visit their website and find out what their latest reservation policy is.

[GoCougs]

DH and I attended a wedding in Napa back in 1999 and we stayed at Churchill Manor (http://www.churchillmanor.com) and absolutely loved it!!! If you can stay there, I would highly recommend it. As far as wineries go, I have to concur with everybody else who recommended Robert Mondavi; that was one of our favorites. We tried to go to Francis Ford Coppola's winery, but it was closed that day because his daughter Sophia (director of Lost in Translation) was getting married.

[chortles]

I guess I differ a bit from the previous posters :D I'd stay far far away from Mondavi, Coppola, etc. Any place that can fit a tour bus is no place I want to go. Plus, their wines are 'eh'. I also (sorry girls!) think the wine (IMNSHO) at Viansa and Sterling is fairly mediocre. At sterling, the view is gawgeous, but that's what you're paying for - not the wine.

Cakebread is excellent, so is Grgich. You'll pay a =lot= at Opus, but the building is beautiful. If you can make a reservation at Joseph Phelps, do it- just beautiful. I love Freemark Abbey as well. Silver Oak is good, but spendy. In general if you go Napa, I'd lean towards going up the Silverado Trail (not 129) and finding small wineries on the side roads or in small towns (Yountville, etc.)

I personally thought the French Laundry, while exquisite, was overpriced. I can get excellent food in the area and not pay $400pp. When I went there and asked for a wine-pairing with the meal, they had no idea what I was talking about. Very, very strange.

Also - don't forget - there are some great wineries in the Sonoma area. If you don't want to pay for tastings, you're much less likely to get charged there than you are in Napa. You can start off your day with Artesa or Gundlauch Bundschau (GunBun for short) which are close.

As far as restaurants, TraVigne in St. Helena is delicious. I liked Market and Martini house (also in St. Helena) and of course Taylor's Refresher just plain rocks. Don Giovanni (in Napa) is a classic. In Sonoma, 'The Girl and the Fig' is an excellent restaurant.

October is crush, so it will be very busy :) Make reservations soon! there are a ton of B&B's in Napa/Calistoga area. Or look on www.vrbo.com and rent a house.

[justHB]

When I go to Napa with out of towners, I take them to Sterling and Coppola, but more for the experience than the wine. Like chortles said, both are fairly mediocre.

I absolutely LOVED Martini House and recommend it wholeheartedly. Model Bakery on the main street is fabulous, as is the wonderful chocolate shop there.

As for wineries, I really like Peju Province. Also - don't forget - there are some great wineries in the Sonoma area. If you don't want to pay for tastings, you're much less likely to get charged there than you are in Napa. You can start off your day with Artesa or Gundlauch Bundschau (GunBun for short) which are close. Personally, I prefer Sonoma to Napa because the wineries are a bit smaller with a more personable feel to them.

[elissa]

Thanks so much everyone for all of your recommendations! I've added them to my favorites and will start sifting through to see what we'll end up doing! Hubby is a fan of TripAdvisor for EVERYTHING, so I'm sure he'll be doing a lot of reading.

Is there one website that has most of the events listed for the area? We are looking at going September 30-October 5 or so, and would like to see what is planned already.

Thanks again!

[wine_o_girlie]

Food: We loved Mustards, Taylor's Refresher, Bouchon, and The Martini House. All very different but great. The Martini House was very romantic and the food was fabulous - we had great service as well. Bouchon had great food but it was quite busy and the noise level was a bit loud. We liked it a lot though. Mustards and Taylor's Refresher were great for burgers/sandwiches for lunch after some wine tasting.

Wine: Cline has great wine and is beautiful. Cakebread wine is great but I found the tasting to be a bit too "corporate" for my taste. Sterling wine is ick but the gondola ride is pretty cool. Kunde was pretty but I was eh on the wine. Cosentino isn't necessarily pretty but the wine was very good and it is located next door to Mustards. So, it was great to just put our name on the waiting list at Mustards and pop next door to do some wine tasting at Cosentino.

We had a lot of fun at Mumm plus I am a sparkling wine whore, so I was in heaven. We had a great time walking the grounds at Domaine Chandon but it is pretty crowded.

[Jenean]

Thanks, ladies, for all your great advice! DH and I spent a day in Napa last week during our trip to San Francisco and loved it. Here's a little review from us:

Cakebread = neat tour, okay wines. The tasting was heavy on the reds, which we don't like. We learned a lot (we're total novices), so that was neat. But we didn't taste anything we liked enough to buy.

Sterling = gorgeous view, eh tour. Self-guided doesn't do much for people with little knowledge of the whole wine-making process. We did like the wines, though. DH is a wuss, so the Pinot Gris was just perfect for him - very very light. We also tasted a dessert type wine that he liked, so we bought that, too.

St. Clement = okay. We just wandered around a bit on our own and didn't taste.

Charles Krug = okay. We tasted one that was just okay and wandered the shop for a bit.

Beringer's = we took the historical tour, which was centered mostly on the old houses there and the "caves" where they age the wine. Walking into that was pretty neat. It looks like a big building from the front, but when you walk inside, you're in the mountain. I kind of wanted to learn more about wine-making, though, so I was a little disappointed (should have taken the intro tour we had initially planned on, but oh well). We enjoyed the tastings. We like Beringer's generally, so we knew we'd buy a bit there.

Taylor's Refresher = yum! Easy, quick meal.

don Giovanni's = yumyum! So glad we decided to stop there. It was packed, even at 5:30 on a Sunday night, so I was glad I called ahead for reservations. I definitely would recommend it.


We really liked our first experience in wine country and can't wait to go back. I would go back to Napa, but also want to check out the Sonoma area, too. Hopefully soon!

[amew]

We went to Napa/Sonoma for our first anniversary. :)

Wineries

Like others have said, Sterling is great for the view and the gondola ride is fun, but otherwise it is kind of a tourist trap with mediocre wines.

Coppola is also touristy, though I really liked it because it was fun to look at all the FFC movie memorabilia housed there. It's worth it if your into film since that makes it a little different than other wineries.

I would skip Mondavi if I had it to do over. Same with Beringer's. The tours weren't great, and you can get the wine everywhere.

Viansa is pretty and the market/gift shop has neat stuff, but we were totally unimpressed with their wines. If you go, go around lunch time, buy some picnic foods from the market, and picnic outside overlooking the vineyard. For me, the picnic potential was the best thing about viansa.

Domaine Chandon was fun since you get to see how they make sparking wine. We love sparkling, so we wouldn't have missed it.

Cline is nice, and the wine is pretty good. There is nothing particularly special about it, IMO.

If you like art, Imagery is fun (they commission art for all the labels and you can see all the artwork displayed at the winery gallery style). I don't remember the wine being great, though.

We didn't go to Cakebread, Caymus, or Pine Ridge, but would if we returned to the area.

Restaurants

I second (third? fourth?) Martini House and Bouchon, especially Martini House. We liked the Girl and the Fig, too, though not as much. Taylor's Refresher rocks for lunch. We didn't go to French Laundry, but of our friends who have gone, one couple loved it, one couple thought it was good but ultimately not worth the price, and the third couple hated it and said they have had better meals for 1/5 the cost.

[laura]

I've heard the 'reserve/library' wines at Sterling are better than the regular tasting, but we did the regular ones and I concur with others - meh. We do take people there for the scenery, though we've been going to Sonoma more lately and skipping Napa all together.

I really like Cakebread's wines, but they are pricey. They have a good merlot (IMO), but if I'm going to spend $50 on a bottle of something, it might not necessarily be that. Generally when we go to Napa, though, Cakebread is a big one people want to hit, so we've gone there a lot, and I wouldn't not recommend it. Our tours there have been hit or miss, we've found it largely depends on your guide.

Coppola is like Sterling for us, we go b/c people visiting want to see it, but the wine is eh for us. I've heard their library/reserve wines are better, but I don't care enough for them to pay the extra $$.

We usually picnic for lunch at V. Sattui. Their wine is swill for the most part (IMO), but the tasting is free so sometimes we do it (w/ guests). They have a very sweet, summery rose that isn't bad, if that's your thing. We also bought either port or some other dessert wine there once b/c the guy pouring for us was so chatty and nice. It was okay.

I agree on Peju Province and Freemark Abbey. I liked Kunde (good merlot (02 or 03, I think), IMO, but I didn't taste much else b/c it was our last stop and I was tasted-out) and another one right near there that I forget the name of in Sonoma. We haven't been to Imagery, but I've heard the art is beautiful and wines are just okay; we'll probably stop sometime anyway just to check it out for ourselves. We always pass on Mondavi, Beringer, and Sutter Home, so I can only speculate.

I think we're going up to wine country for the weekend for our anniversary, and I think we're going to make dinner reservations at Martini House and Girl and the Fig. Either that or Bouchon or Auberge du Soleil, but I just can't decide. We'll probably stay (ie. accommodations) on the Sonoma side, though, since that's where we find ourselves more and more lately. Though I guess everything's a toss up until I actually book something! :p

[wine_o_girlie]

I think we're going up to wine country for the weekend for our anniversary, and I think we're going to make dinner reservations at Martini House and Girl and the Fig. Either that or Bouchon or Auberge du Soleil, but I just can't decide. We'll probably stay (ie. accommodations) on the Sonoma side, though, since that's where we find ourselves more and more lately. Though I guess everything's a toss up until I actually book something! :p

Bouchon's food was very good but it's LOUD. I wouldn't call it romantic - not sure if that is what you are looking for for your anniversary. Martini House was much better for the romance. :)

[longislandlolita]

As for wineries, I really like Peju Province. Personally, I prefer Sonoma to Napa because the wineries are a bit smaller with a more personable feel to them.

I love Peju!! Have been there twice now and loved the wines both times. I also recommend Sonoma over Napa. We stayed at the Honor Mansion in Healdsburg and it was heaven! Oh, and go to Willi's, also in Healdsburg, for dinner. Best seafood I've had in a while.

[Shapsgrl]

We just returned from Napa and I figured I would post my trip report here :)

(this is copied from my LJ and includes some info about tasting fees & our purchases - mostly just for my info but I am too lazy to edit everything. )

Viansa (tasting fee $10) Very crowded. Gorgeous, over-the top winery. Wines were not that impressive. Great dips, bought some vinegar & mustard
Sebastiani(no tasting fee with $20 purchase) Great wines, very informative staff. Joined the wine club here & got the 03 Cherrybock Cab as part of our first shipment
Benziger ($10 tasting fee) Intended to do a tour here, but the weather sucked. Tasting was good in the reserve room. Purchased a 95 Cab
Kaz ($2 tasting fee) Cool winemaker, tiny fun tasting room "Smallest Winery in Sonoma", wines were not very good. Purchased 6 mustards & a bottle of port

Alehouse in Santa Rosa- great microbrew beers, good food

Willy's Wine Bar Santa RosaMac & Cheese was TO-DIE-For. Truffled french fries were okay. Third course never came out. Tried a bottle of Champagne here. Service was really mediocre.

Hotel De Rose Santa Rosa- very cute & quaint. nice little restaurant & bar, very helpful staff. Cool room on the 4th floor with skylights. Good location. Breakfast was nice.

3.26

Schramsberg (Cave tour & tasting $25) Drive to winery was incredible. Grounds are beautiful and very impressive. Cave tour was fun - guide was very helpful & informative. Tasting is 4 full glasses of champagne. Need reservation for tour. Purchased a bottle of ltd edition rose.
Vincent Arroyo ($10 tasting fee) private barrel tasting (just the two of us). Tried as many or as few wines as we liked. Excellent wines, many are sold out months prior to bottling. Purchased a dessert wine & dipping sauce. Preordered another 6 bottles (ship in November)
V. Sattui Stopped in at this winery for a quick picnic lunch. Did not taste wines, but food was delish. Winery was Packed!!
Frog's Leap ($10 tasting fee) On Silverado trail. Wines were okay.
Domaine Carneros ($10 tasting - was free because we joined the wine club) Very beautiful location. Recommend sitting outside and doing 3 flights with cheese plate rather than going to the wine bar. Joined the club here, and purchased a bottle of the "Late Disorged" sparkling wine.

The Candlelight Inn
Our room was incredible. It is a small cottage set apart from the main house. Had a stocked mini-fridge with snacks & wine for us. They left a birthday catd & 2 splits of champagne for C. Chenille bathrobes, awesome bed, tons of dvds in the room, gorgeous view, balcony overlooked a creek, etc etc. Three course breakfasts were amazing and were served to us in our room by Wendy, Innkeeper. Monday morning breakfast was mixed fruit with yogurt, rasin french toast with vanilla sauce & strawberries, and egg puff with spinach and mushrooms and canadian bacon. Tuesday's breakfast was strawberries with whipped cream and vanilla sauce, croissant french toast with spiced apples, and egg puff with ortega chilies & cheese & pesto potatoes. YUM! excellent service location... I could go on and on!

3.27
Hess ($10 tasting fee) Set about 5 miles outside of town on a hill. Large art gallery with contemporary art. Very nice wines. purchased a Sauvignon Blanc & a Zinfandel
Cakebread ($10 tasting fee & tour. Need reservation) Tour guide was okay (it was her first week). Tour was nice, lasted about 30 minutes and included 5 wines. Purchased a reserve Chardonnay, and an Alexander Valley Chardonnay. Want to join the wine club, but $800 annually is a bit much, even if you do get shipments every 6 weeks.
Heitz (free!) wines were okay.
Prager (Ports only - tasting fee is $10) We weren't sure about tasting here as we don't like ports but this place is totally worth stopping off at. The tasting room is tiny and is covered in $1 bills or similar that are signed from all over the world. Totally family owned. We met two of the brothers while there. The white ports were incredible. We bought a bottle of the first white port (can't remember the name, of course) and Chris joined the wine club (ships 2x a year only)
Del Dotto (Cave tour/barrel tasting $40 each) Chris loved this place. I thought it was kind of expensive, but super informative. Tasted around 10 wines, many out of the barrels. It was fun! Purchased a pinot from the wine shop but couldn't afford to buy anything from the barrel (bottles were $85 ea with a minimum purchase of 3)

Oakville Grocer great food perfect to stop for your picnic lunch (even if it's raining so you have to eat in your car like we did)
Zare Sundays & Mondays they have a Prix Fixed Menu for $26 = total steal! We also had some Foie Gras to start. Good, and very inexpensive.

[Red'sGirl]

I celebrated my first anniversary in Napa - mainly because we got married there. :D

We got married at V. Sattui. The wine is average, but the winery is beautiful and it's great for a picnic lunch! Near Sutter is a great, small port place called Prager Portworks. It's my favorite little known spot - the port is award winning and the chocolate is heavenly.

Everyone's pretty much hit the highlights. But it's VERY busy during that time (our wedding was the 2nd weekend of October) so book now.

[mmisabel]

If your in Napa you should try to pop into the Frank Family Winery. It is closer to Calistoga and down some dirt road. It is a very casual, fun winery. Free tastings and the Chardonnay is excellent!! The owner is some big hollywood guy and Terri Hatcher had her b-day party there.

[laura]

The Candlelight Inn
Our room was incredible. It is a small cottage set apart from the main house. Had a stocked mini-fridge with snacks & wine for us. They left a birthday catd & 2 splits of champagne for C. Chenille bathrobes, awesome bed, tons of dvds in the room, gorgeous view, balcony overlooked a creek, etc etc. Three course breakfasts were amazing and were served to us in our room by Wendy, Innkeeper. Monday morning breakfast was mixed fruit with yogurt, rasin french toast with vanilla sauce & strawberries, and egg puff with spinach and mushrooms and canadian bacon. Tuesday's breakfast was strawberries with whipped cream and vanilla sauce, croissant french toast with spiced apples, and egg puff with ortega chilies & cheese & pesto potatoes. YUM! excellent service location... I could go on and on!


Could you tell me more about the Inn? And do you mind sharing which room you had? We've only stayed at a B&B once and the experience wasn't that fabulous, but I like the idea of a separate cottage, and the breakfasts sound fabulous. Thanks!

[Shapsgrl]

Hi Laura -

The Candlelight was our first B&B experience as well, and it truly could not have been better. The inn is set in a residential neighborhood in Napa city very close to the highway. The inn is quite charming, but we really enjoyed the privacy of having our own cottage.

The room is called the Creekside Cottage and is not featured on their website. I do have some info that was mailed to me


Creekside Cottage

This special, private cottage is the ultimate wine-country haven for a romantic getaway or an extended stay. The spacious bedroom features a luxurious king bed , sitting area with leather chairs and TV, a gas fireplace , and a Jacuzzi tub with a view of the woods. A separate kitchenette offers a wet bar, dining table, and back door to a small, private patio . The private bath includes a shower and plush robes.

I have photos & pricing info as well from the email. If you PM me your email address, I'll send it your way :)

[nic]

I second Frank Family Winery. The Chardonnay and Blush Champagne are great. Darioush (I think that's how you spell it) is great as well.

My BF and I went for our 30th birthdays and we hired a gentleman that did tours which I don't recommend. It was a big waste of money.

[TazLuv]

My husband and I stayed at the Cedar Gables Inn (http://www.cedargablesinn.com)about two years ago and loved it. It was relaxing and the hosts were so nice.

[Kates]

nic, can I ask who you hired to do the tour? Was it through a company or just a one-man operation? Why was it a waste of money?

DH and I were looking into a Napa winery shuttle service for our trip in June, maybe it's not such a good idea?

[justHB]

St. Clement = okay. We just wandered around a bit on our own and didn't taste.Oh, it's too bad you didn't taste. The wines are fabulous! It's one of the only merlots I'll get excited about. The house used to be a bordello back in the day and the people you'll meet will tell you a lot of great stories about the history of the area.

[nic]

Kates, I'll get back to you with the name of the person we used for our tour. The company was just a one man operation. He has van (I think 6 person) and depending on the day he'll have from 2-6 people. The day we went there were 4 of us. He had us take the ferry to Vallejo and he picked us up there.

Before our trip out to San Francisco I had mentioned several wineries that I'd like to visit (mostly recommendationd from people on WC at the time) and he basically told me how commercialized and mediocre everything I mentioned was. He assured me that the wineries that he was bringing were much highly quality, etc... We ended up going to 5 winieries total and we only enjoyed two them. I was a little disappointed in this because he assured me they'd all be wonderful.

It was nice to just hop on the ferry and have someone waiting to pick us up. If you decide to go the private tour route I'd suggest hiring someone with more flexibility in where they are willing to take you.

[elissa]

Keep the ideas coming as I've added a favorites folder as we plan our trip based on all of you ladies ideas!

[Kates]

Before our trip out to San Francisco I had mentioned several wineries that I'd like to visit (mostly recommendationd from people on WC at the time) and he basically told me how commercialized and mediocre everything I mentioned was. He assured me that the wineries that he was bringing were much highly quality, etc... We ended up going to 5 winieries total and we only enjoyed two them. I was a little disappointed in this because he assured me they'd all be wonderful.

nic, that's too bad! It sounds like this guy had his own agenda. I sort of wonder if it's like a concierge in a hotel, do they get $$ for bringing people to their winery? Hopefully this is not the same guy we booked!
Kates, I'll get back to you with the name of the person we used for our tour.
Thanks!

[laura]

Well the cottage at the Candlelight Inn is booked for our dates (boo!), so I have tentative reservations at the Kenwood Inn & Spa (www.kenwoodinn.com) - any feedback?

I know this is the "Sonoma" area, but I was hoping I could get some good feedback here anyway. TIA!

[teacher_jessica]

I'm new to this site... but I'm heading to Napa during the week next week and I'll come back with a full review of some restaurants, places to stay, and wineries. :o) I'm so excited!

[justHB]

Nic - that's too bad about your wine guide. It sounds to me like he had something worked out with the wineries. It's actually fairly common.

We're heading up to Sonoma again next weekend to help the winery where we're wine club members bottle the wine. We're staying at the Hyatt which has pretty good reviews. I was able to get a room for one night though Priceline.com for $65 + associated fees.

[Nikker]

When I was 12-15 years old my older brother lived in CA and we would go and visit him. Every year we went to Napa Valley and I remember looking forward to going to V.Sattui every year. Even being that young I still loved it there because they had a really neat little store and their food was AWESOME! So if you are going to Napa most definately stop a V.Sattui and grab a bite to eat!

[justHB]

Back from our weekend in Sonoma. We spent Friday touring Sonoma Valley and Saturday at "our" winery in Santa Rosa helping with the bottling process.

I really liked the (look of the) rooms at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek but was a bit disappointed with their cleanliness. When we checked in, the pillow sham had wine and what looked like toothpaste on it. We called down for a new one and housekeeping never showed up. When we got back from dinner, we still didn't have a new one. The receptionist ended up bringing it to us. I'd say the girls that were working at the front desk were great, but the guy had an attitude that I just didn't respond well to. I think he though he worked at the Ritz or St. Regis. He just seemed uppity and self-important.

We started off by stopping in to Viansa for a quick bite to eat at their marketplace. I was so sad to see the delta had jumped the banks and was overflowing into the vineyards. It sounds like the wineries aren't too worried about losing grapes, but their curious to see how the 2006 vintage turns out. Some growers we talked to said their biggest concern was if it turned suddenly warm they'd be battling mold and that wasn't good. The wine at Viana was just okay. They had one bottle that was extremely good, but a bit overpriced.

Next we stopped in to Gloria Ferrer. Eh. I could do without. I much preferred both Chandon and Domaine Carneros.

Afterwards we hit up Arrowood. I really disliked the way they treated us (or rather, didn't treat us). There was a guy from Cline there with his friends, and another guy who was buying a $100 bottle of cab. The people there didn't so much as acknowledge that we might be interested in knowing about the wine we were drinking. Ugh, I was really put off. Even if I had liked the wine, I wouldn't have bought any simply because of they way they behaved.

Next we went to Kaz, Sonoma County's smallest public winery (only 40 barrels). I wasn't a fan of their regular wines, but I really liked a couple of their ports.

We ended the day at Mantanzas Creek which is this very out of the way winery that in the summer is just abloom with lavendar. We spent a good hour or more there talking with the staff, learning about the winery and its history, somewhat meeting the winemaker, and just generally having a fabulous time. We ended up signing up for their wine club. All in all, I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who's taking a trip to Sonoma County.

Finally, if you're on your way to the Russian River, Dry Creek, or Alexander Valleys, you should definitely stop in to Harvest Moon Winery and say that Becky sent you. It's a small boutique winery where you're more than likely to meet the winemaker Randy. He's really young and is just generally happy to explain his wines to you and doesn't want anyone to feel put off. We spent a good couple of hours with him and another couple on Saturday bottling the wine, assembly line style. My job was to put the foil on the bottles. My husband got to take the bottles from the filling/corking station to the labeling station. It's so much fun to be right there in the process and see what it's like from start to finish.

Okay, I think I rambled long enough. Hopefully a couple of these recommendations come in handy for people heading up that way.

[teacher_jessica]

First let me say that we had an amazing time even though the valley was experience record rainfall! What a fabulous place!

Tuesday:

We arrived on Tuesday evening and checked in at Eurospa (http://www.mustardsgrill.com) (in Calistoga) where we were upgraded to a larger room since there were still vacancies. We found the staff at Eurospa to be fabulous and accommodating in every way. There was a gas stove in our room and the room was quite large but didn’t have a lot of frills. We didn’t mind this one bit though! It was a cute room, large bathroom, refrigerator, etc.

Next we went and ate at Mustard’s Grill (http://www.mustardsgrill.com). YUM! We had a great bottle of wine and enjoyed our meal but I must say the best part of it was the dessert so save room! I had this chocolate tart thing that had Jack Daniels in it? It was like a lava cake, only better. Brad had a special which was a macademia, coconut, chocolate pie creation that was amazing! After dinner we headed back to Calistoga and retired for the night.

[teacher_jessica]

Wednesday:

First stop, Schramsberg (http://www.schramsberg.com/) which was only about 3 minutes from our hotel. What an outstanding tour! It’s a champagne house and neither Brad nor I are big fans of champagne’s but we loved theirs! The tour was the best we experienced and you get taken through their champagne caves, many of which were dug by Chinese laborers long, long ago. I HIGHLY recommend going on this tour. Tip, schedule your tour first thing in the morning. Our tour was at 10 and there were only 6 of us. Our tour guide said the rest of the tours for the day had more than 20 scheduled. You do need reservations for this one.

Next, Frank Family (http://www.frankfamilyvineyards.com/index.jsp) Vineyards. This place had great wines, no tasting fee and we walked away with several yummy bottles of wine. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and loved their cat, Zephyr, that was dozing away on a stack of wine cases!

After Frank Family we headed off to Cuvaison (http://www.clospegase.com/) which was another tasty stop. We bought a few bottles of wine here and then headed off to Clos Pegase (http://www.clospegase.com/). We didn’t care for any of their wines and, while their sculpture garden was neat, this was probably our least favorite stop of the trip.

Plumpjack (http://www.plumpjack.com/) was next. We didn’t care for the wines we tasted but since there was no one there when we went the pourer offered us some reserve wines which were quite tasty. I would suggest putting this winery towards the bottom of your list of places to visit because it’s located off the beaten path and didn’t offer anything spectacular in comparison to other wineries. We purchased nothing here.

Joseph Phelps (http://www.jpvwines.com/) was our last winery for the day and we had reservations for 3:30. We loved their location, you cannot beat the beauty of this winery. It is nestled off the beaten path and so all views from this winery make you feel as if you are hidden away and you can see nothing but gorgeous vineyards and lush greenery all around. The wines were fabulous and we especially loved their Insignia.

After Joseph Phelps we headed to Dean & Deluca (http://www.deananddeluca.com/) where we stocked up on cheeses, a few wines, meats, crackers and some tasty pasta sauces and whatnot to lug back home. We also went to the Oakville Grocery (http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/) but far preferred Dean & Deluca because it offered a larger selection of everything.

For dinner that night we ate at Terra (http://www.terrarestaurant.com) in St. Helena. This was an amazing meal and the restaurant itself was positively romantic! I cannot recommend this restaurant enough~we loved it!

[teacher_jessica]

Thursday:

We started out at Franciscan (http://www.franciscan.com/home.html) and we loved their wines! Their staff is super friendly and cheerful as can be. I don’t think we tried a bad wine there. Brad liked their wine so much we joined their wine club. We also asked for some recommendations of other wineries to visit and were handed several cards for free tastings at different wineries.

We first headed off to WhiteHall (http://www.whitehallvineyards.com/), loved their wines, particularly their reserves. They have changed some of the corks over to “glass corks” that we found quite interesting (it takes small things to fascinate us sometimes). We spent a good deal of time chatting with the sales manager, Mark, and took his card for future visits.

Next up was August Briggs (http://www.augustbriggswines.com/augustbriggs/index.jsp). We enjoyed their wines and bought a few bottles. I would say go there if you are already at a winery nearby. Next we stopped at Robert Mondavi (http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/) and had some of their reserve wines. We liked the wines but I wouldn’t recommend going there because it was packed with children… not what I want to see when I’m hitting the wineries. ;)

Cakebread (http://www.cakebread.com/) was our next stop and while their wines were good, I would say this would be on my list of ones you could skip. Sawyer Cellars (http://www.sawyercellars.com/) was our next stop and we really liked a few of their wines. The pourer was extremely bubbly and we had a great time chatting with her during our quick visit. We walked away with some tasty wines!

Our last stop of the day was by far our best experience in Napa, hands down. Swanson Vineyards (http://www.swansonvineyards.com/) is a-mazing! It was our most expensive tasting and we made reservations long in advance (they book quickly) but it was well worth it. I was nervous at first since it had no sign and was gated. We were told they would let us in 5 minutes before the tasting so I feared we were about to enter “snootyville” but I was luckily wrong! Five minutes until our reservation (which was at 4) we approached the gate and were buzzed in. We parked and were immediately greeted by Shaun (if you make reservations see if you can request him as your sommelier), and a glass of rosato. He walked us in to the beautiful “salon.” This place is positively stunning. The walls are a raspberry color and you're surrounded by artwork and all things beautiful. Once everyone had arrived we were seated at a table set with glassware and plates of gourmet cheeses, crackers and chocolates. He decanted the wines and told us about each one as he poured them in the proper glassware and told us which cheeses and chocolates paired best with it. He was very funny and we had a great time. We were also lucky because one of the people in our group was a wine distributor so Swanson pulled out all the stops. The cheeses and chocolate were to die for! Yum! The tasting lasted 2 hours. We happily joined this wine club and purchased several bottles. I cannot recommend this place enough and if you are going to Napa call make your reservations ASAP! Another important aspect of this tasting is you will never be in a group larger than 8.

That night we checked in at Maison Fleurie (http://www.maisonfleurienapa.com/). We thought this B&B was pretty cute and enjoyed sitting downstairs chatting with other guests but we were shocked at how darn hot our upstairs room was since there was only a bit of afternoon sun. So, if you stay here in the summer, beware of the upstairs rooms because I’m sure they get quite toasty. :o

For dinner we ate at Bistro Jeanty (http://www.bistrojeanty.com) and loved the tomato soup in puff pastry and my dessert but we both found our main dishes to just be OK.

[teacher_jessica]

Friday:

Friday morning we got up and headed off to visit our last three wineries: Domaine Chandon (www.chandon.com) (lovely grounds), Hess Collection (http://www.hesscollection.com) (way out of the way but it was on our way out) where the contemporary art collection was amazing and the wines were pretty good too, and Artesa (http://www.swansonvineyards.com/). Artesa had amazing views and lots of great modern artwork and architecture. We didn’t care for the wines we tried in the “classic tasting” but their reserves and sparkling wines were pretty darn good! :)

From there we headed back up to Seattle. We had intended to drive the coast but only did 101 until we hit Crescent City, CA due to the horrific rain. From Crescent City we headed towards I-5 and drove straight through to Seattle without camping and taking our time back home as we had intended.

TIPS:


Make reservations now for any wineries that require it and be sure to make all dinner and lunch reservations (things fill up, particularly in the busy season)
Share tastings at wineries so you don’t get shnockered. We were surprised at the number of people that were blitzed by early afternoon. It definitely made some tastings quite funny! :p
If you arrive at a winery and find you aren’t interested in what you see, don’t feel required to stay… we were only at several of the wineries for 15-20 minutes (which is why were able to hit so many)
Avoid the bigger “commercialized” wineries because you can get most of their wines at your average grocery store and you'll find these bigger wineries to be overcrowded and full of families
If you love a winery, get recommendations from them for others to visit. Wineries will often give you free tasting cards for other wineries and if they know what wine your prefer they do a pretty good job of referring you to others that will be likely to suit your tastes
When you plan out your day, get out the map and put the wineries in order by geographical location so you don’t spend your time zipping up and down major roads. Also, look at the hours of the wineries. If a winery is open past 4 you might want to hit that it since many wineries close at 4.
Stay in a hotel near the wineries you’ll be tasting at. We stayed in Calistoga while we were concentrating on wineries in that area and at Maison Fleurie when concentrating on wineries in that area.


Ah, I'm ready to go back again already! :rolleyes:

[DianeCourt]

I'm so glad to have found this thread. DH & I are staying in Sonoma this coming September for our 4th anniversary. (It will also be our first vacation since having the baby!) First of all, I was amazed to find that almost everything was booked for a Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday night stay 6 months ahead of time! I ended up finding The Trojan Horse Inn (www.trojanhorseinn.com), which is about a mile away from Sonoma Square. Does anybody know anything about this B&B? Reviews on tripadvisor are encouraging, but I'm wondering why NONE of the inn's 6 rooms were booked when every other place was full. I guess I'm a little nervous about that, but excited by what I see on the website.

Also, has anybody taken an excursion on the Napa Valley Wine Train (www.winetrain.com)? Their monthly "Vista Dome Appellation Dinner" is on our anniversary, so I'm wondering if this would be a good surprise for DH for our anniversary dinner. It's $150 per person, so I want to find somebody who has actually done it before I fork the dough over.

[laura]

I don't know anything about The Trojan Horse Inn, but it looks nice to me. Have you tried TripAdvisor? Maybe it's just new? Frette sheets - yum!

Anyway, I've made reservations for dinner at Girl and the Fig and Martini House for our anniversary weekend get-away, but I'm wondering if I should switch the Martini House one since we're staying at the Kenwood Inn & Spa way out on the other side of Sonoma? Is Martini House THAT good? Or any GOOD suggestions closer? TIA!

[TazLuv]

laura, if you're looking for somewhere near Sonoma, the Mustard's Grill which teacher_jessica mentioned is very good. My DH and I ate there a few years ago.

[DianeCourt]

Yikes......I found some pretty horrid reviews of the Napa Valley Wine Train on tripadvisor (http://tinyurl.com/ojwxn), so I think I'm going to pass. :rolleyes:

Has anybody tried dinner at Sonoma-Meritage (http://www.sonomameritage.com/)? It's highly recommended by the innkeepers at The Trojan Horse Inn. Still looking for the perfect place for our anniversary dinner!

[laura]

You might check out Girl & the Fig in downtown Sonoma. I've heard good things about it, and I'm happy to review it more fully once we return in May. :)

Thanks for the rec, TazLuv. We've actually been to Mustard's (which is good!), so I am looking for something new and a little more fancy, since it's for our anniversary.

[TazLuv]

laura, Terra, which teacher_jessica recommended is also very good. Its in St. Helena and is definitely a little fancier.

[jki]

Anyway, I've made reservations for dinner at Girl and the Fig and Martini House for our anniversary weekend get-away, but I'm wondering if I should switch the Martini House one since we're staying at the Kenwood Inn & Spa way out on the other side of Sonoma? Is Martini House THAT good? Or any GOOD suggestions closer? TIA!

I think you should keep your reservation at Martini House. It's very good - better than Girl and the Fig, IMO.

DianeCourt: Hmmm - the only possible issue I see with Trojan Horse Inn is their location - IIRC, it's on a very busy street.

[laura]

I figured I would bump up this thread and post a little feedback on our trip to wine country this past weekend.

We stayed at the Kenwood Inn & Spa (http://www.kenwoodinn.com/), and it was really nice. Our room was beautiful and had a lot of nice 'extra' touches, like candles, bottled water, bath salts, etc. The bed was heaven, also. They include a free bottle of wine w/ the booking, but they also had a bottle of champagne chilling for us when we arrived along w/ a nice card for our anniversary. Also the outdoor pool and hot tubs were 24 hours, which I thought was a nice touch, and each room has a working fireplace. The gourmet breakfast was included each morning, and it was delicious each day. It may not be good for someone who is a picky eater, however, since you don't choose what it is. The concierge was helpful w/ maps and directions, as needed, but the staff was generally pretty hands-off, which I prefer. Here is a sample room pic:

http://www.kenwoodinn.com/rooms/pic/kwi04101404(BK19).jpg

And the exterior - our room was on the 2nd floor of this building:

http://www.kenwoodinn.com/04/kwi04102072d_750x555.jpg

On Friday night, we went to dinner at the girl and the fig (http://thegirlandthefig.com/html-sonoma/index.html) in downtown Sonoma. The food was good, and my husband LOVED all the cheeses available. I would say a pretty good value for the money, quality and portion-wise.

On Saturday night we went to dinner at Auberge du Soleil (http://www.aubergedusoleil.com/html/dining.shtml) in Rutherford. The food was very good, but for some reason I think I was expecting more. There was nothing bad about it, it was in fact quite good, but I think was expecting the.best.meal.ever and it wasn't for me. We also didn't like how you couldn't do the tasting menu unless the entire table did it; that seems bizarre to me. Great service, though, and beautiful view. A little farther than I would prefer to drive for dinner from where we were staying, though, but oh well. Still yum!

Wineries:

Domaine Carneros (http://www.domaine.com/) - Beautiful grounds/location/view, okay sparkling wines and pinot noirs. Great verandah to relax with a glass of wine, plate of cheese, and enjoy the view. Tasting fee kind of expensive and not credited with purchase of less than 6 bottles, IIRC.

Artesa Winery (http://www.artesawinery.com/) - Fabulous views, funky winery, great photo ops. For us, wine was swill. We did the reserve tasting and we didn't like a single one. Plus the servers were not that pleasant and they were hugely pushing the wine club - pass. I would go back for the views, however.

Ledson Winery (http://ledson.com/) - We're wine club members here, so we're biased. Beautiful location, great for a picnic. We really like their wines, we even shipped a case to my ILs for their upcoming anniversary. Since we're members, our tasting was free and they will pour us pretty much anything, but the tasting menus looked pretty good, too. We had a nice picnic outside with some cheese, etc from their little market afterwards.

St. Francis Winery (http://www.stfranciswine.com/) - Our first time here and our second favorite of the trip, and another place we're considering joining the wine club for. We did the reserve tasting, and all of the wines were good. Reserve wines are only available at the winery, but they sell some of their non-reserves locally for us, so we skipped that tasting this time. The wine pourers all seemed nice, and ours was particularly nice but not pushy. He poured us 'his fave' pinot after our tasting and that's what we ended up getting - yum!

Chateau St. Jean Winery (http://www.chateaustjean.com/stjean/home.jsp) - Pretty grounds, would be nice for a function, picnic area, etc. We did the regular tasting, and the wines were all okay. Not my favorite place, but not bad either. I would go back and try to the reserves, I think.

Kunde Winery (http://www.kunde.com/) - I was having a pretty good time by the time we got here. ;) We did the regular tasting, and the wines were all okay here as well. Nothing bad, nothing outstanding. We've had their Merlot when we've been out to dinner before, but they didn't have it on the tasting menu so I don't know what that was about. They poured us a Gwertztraminer and a Port in addition to our 5 tastings, so yum! :cool: They also had cheese plates out, plus strawberries and chocolate sauce, but I don't know if that's 'normal' or if it was for Mother's Day.

All in all, a fabulously relaxing [and gluttonous] weekend!

[BerBer]

We went up there for your honeymoon and it was so wonderful.

I love the Girl and the Fig! We stayed at the Sonoma Hotel which is attached to the restaurant and it was a lovely place. One thing about Sonoma is that it doesn't have much of a night scene so .... that's my 2 cents!

Have a great time... I am so jealous!;)

[DianeCourt]

laura: Thanks for your review! I'm getting REALLY excited for our visit to Sonoma in late summer. I'm a bit of a rookie when it comes to wineries, so a couple questions for you or anybody else that can answer:

Explain reserve vs. non-reserve?

I believe that legislation was just passed here in Michigan to allow shipment of wines from out of state. How do wine clubs work? I'm intrigued.

[TazLuv]

DianeCourt, usually wine clubs are a set price/month or quarter and they send you 2-4 bottles/month or quarter. My DH and I have belonged to several and when you find a winery you really like I personally think they are worth it because you're not guaranteed to find their good wine in the stores.

As far as reserve versus regular it also depends on the winery. At one winery where my DH and I are members with reservations you can have a reserve tasting which are the more expensive wines that they don't normally taste in their tasting rooms. Usually they made less cases of them which is why they don't taste them in their regular rooms.

[laura]

Another plus of wine clubs is that you usually get a % off purchases of wine, as well. And for wineries that don't distribute their wine (ie. it's available at the winery only), it's the only way you can get their wine if you live out of the area. Some (but not all) wine clubs distribute 'priority' stuff to their wine club members, and there are wine club member only events at the wineries, etc. It really varies widely, but almost everywhere will have a pamphlet w/ info at the tasting bar.

ITA 'reserve' wines vary from winery to winery. At a couple of wineries we went to, they considered their 'reserves' to be wines that weren't blended (a mix of different grapes), some 'reserves' are from vineyards that are watered less so the flavor is more concentrated, etc. Largely (but not always), reserves are more expensive, both for the tasting fees and for the bottles themselves. Also, largely (but not always) I prefer reserve wines to the regular wine; if we do a tasting of reserve wines and I don't like it, I probably wouldn't bother w/ the 'classic' tasting at that particular winery (like Artesa), but if I like the classics, I would probably do the reserves. As the PP said, frequently 'reserves' are wines you can only get at the winery or aren't largely distributed, which is usually due to the fact that a smaller quantity is produced. Don't feel bad about asking at wineries what makes them consider some wines reserves, that's how you learn.

I wanted to say that I saw the Trojan Horse Inn while we were there, and I agree the location is a little weird. It isn't BAD at all, it's just strange - right on Hwy 12, right on the corner of a fairly busy intersection. (But honestly, I found the location of almost all the places I considered staying to be weird considering the area's surroundings.) I also found the outside to be very deceiving to what I saw on the website is on the inside. That is not to say it isn't beautiful and fabulous, but on the outside it just looks like a regular house and for some reason I was surprised by that.

[DianeCourt]

I wanted to say that I saw the Trojan Horse Inn while we were there, and I agree the location is a little weird.

Oh no! Well, we have no other choice as every other place was booked. I hope it's OK.....

[clammyinsf]

i thought i'd post a review since this thread was immensely helpful for planning our 2nd anniversary trip this past weekend.

i concur w/ the others on this board who have advised planning ahead of time and making reservations for tours, restaurants, lodging, etc. we ran into a bit of trouble because our anniversary falls on memorial day weekend and we didn't start planning until about two weeks before. pretty much all of the great places to stay mentioned here and on tripadvisor.com were booked. luckily, i went out to lunch w/ my picky boss one day and he RAVED about a new bed & breakfast he'd stayed at a few weeks prior. i called right away and luckily, they had room for us.

we stayed in calistoga at the Chanric Inn (http://www.chanric.com) and it was everything my boss said it would be... newly renovated, extremely hospitable innkeepers, scrumptious brunches, and the icing on the cake--affordable!

the chanric inn exterior (formerly known as the culver mansion):
http://images17.fotki.com/v312/photos/6/67892/3605171/DSC_1127-vi.jpg?500332

living room/lounge area:
http://images16.fotki.com/v316/photos/6/67892/3605171/DSC_1123-vi.jpg?332500

our room:
http://images17.fotki.com/v319/photos/6/67892/3605171/DSC_1069-vi.jpg?500332

although we had a lovely weekend and the weather was perfect, the long holiday weekend meant that napa valley was pretty crowded. as such, we didn't visit too many wineries. also, we're total novices when it comes to appreciating wine so i'm sorry i can't elaborate on the quality of the wines we tasted.

saturday night, we had dinner reservations at Celadon (http://www.celadonnapa.com) in downtown napa. the food was FABULOUS and the service was on point. seriously, we loved everything we ate, including:

*macadamia nut crusted goat cheese with port poached figs, apples and crostini
*sweet coconut fried prawns with mango, cucumber and greens, sesame-citrus vinaigrette
*black pepper crusted rib eye steak, bacon mashed potatoes, asparagus, cabernet sauce (dave)

i had their pasta of the day, which was fetuccine w/ rock shrimp & veggies, also very tasty.

we got to the restaurant early so we ended up roaming the area and found Sweetie Pies (http://www.sweetiepies.com). the smell of the bakery was just too much for us and we had to pick up two of their mini cakes for dessert.

the next day, we stopped in at Sunshine Foods in St. Helena to pick up some food for a picnic lunch. they had a great selection of cheeses, deli and ready-made entrees to choose from.

afterwards, we went to V. Sattui Winery (http://www.vsattui.com) which would've been much more fun if it weren't so crowded. free wine tastings, though :) by chance, i saw the winery featured on Rachel Ray's $40 a Day show the night before so i knew to pick up some of their artichoke cream cheese dip... YUM!

other wineries we visited:

Opus One
Frank Family Vineyards
Sterling Vineyards
Clos Pegase

We also visited the Old Faithful Geyser just for kicks... that was fun for all of ten minutes but there's a petting zoo there where we had a good time feeding the goats & llamas.

We got massages at Lavender Hill Day Spa and I can't say that either of us were too impressed. The rooms were cramped and located right by the busy street so it was hard to relax.

That night, we went to good ole Taylor's Refresher for dinner, which was a wise choice on DH's part because the lines during the day were ridiculous and we hadn't made any reservations for Sunday night dinner. We got there a half an hour before closing and didn't have to wait too long in line. Great burgers.

[jki]

I'm planning a day trip to the wine country to celebrate our 4th anniversary - has anyone been to Redd Restaurant (http://www.reddnapavalley.com/interim.html) in Napa? Or what about Cyrus Restaurant (http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/) in Healdsburg? Cyrus is not open for lunch, so we'd need to re-think our entire itinerary and reschedule the babysitter... I'm wondering if it's worth it?

[Kates]

This thread helped me plan our time in Napa, so I thought I’d post a trip review.

Our trip consisted of San Francisco for four nights, the Napa Valley for two and Carmel for one night. Napa was our favourite stop by far.

Here is the review for Napa....

Hotel
River Terrace Inn (http://www.riverterraceinn.com)
We decided to stay in a hotel in Napa, which I’d probably wouldn’t do again. There was nothing wrong with the River Terrace Inn, but it didn’t have the ambiance or charm of a B&B. But really, it’s a hotel so I shouldn’t have expected any ambiance or charm. :) The room was very clean, and the bathroom was probably the one of the largest and most modern I’ve ever seen in a hotel. The continental breakfast was really good, lots of choice. The only thing I didn’t really like was the location of the RTI in Napa, it was near the wine train and a few blocks over from the main street. DH and I wanted to walk to dinner one night but didn’t as it looked a little deserted around our hotel. I’d recommend this hotel if you are looking for a less expensive alternative to the B&B’s in the Napa Valley, the price was right and it was a perfectly nice hotel.

Dinning
Taylor’s Refresher (http://www.taylorsrefresher.com)
We ate lunch at Taylor’s Refresher in Saint Helena on our first day in Napa Valley. We just happened to be driving by at lunch time- good timing! The lineup was long, but moved fast, and the milkshakes were awesome.

Mustards Grill (http://www.mustardsgrill.com/)
We ate at Mustards the first night in Napa. I was really disappointed with this restaurant, in fact, I was so disappointed that I posted a little rant to Trip Advisor (Mustards Grill - Restaurant Review (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33300-d346526-r5336632-Mustards_Grill-Yountville_Napa_Valley_California.html) ). Between the bad table, the awful service and the less than stellar meal, we were very surprised that Mustards has the reputation it does.

Celadon (www.celadonnapa.com)
I LOVED this restaurant. It was everything that Mustard’s should have been. Excellent service (we were even served by Greg Cole, the owner/chef), and excellent food. We started off with the beef satay appetizer, DH had the grilled pork chop and I had the Mongolian bbq’d chicken. We shared the creme brûlée with caramelized bananas for dessert. OMG, this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, start to finish. We really liked the fact that the owner/chef took time to talk to almost everyone in the restaurant, he was very personable and made an excellent wine pairing for our meal.

Transportation

Napa Winery Shuttle (www.napawineryshuttle.com)
We had planned on driving around to the wineries during our trip, but DH suggested that we do one ‘tour’ of the wineries as well. This shuttle was an awesome idea. We were one of three couples, so we had a very small group. Our driver Karl was really knowledgeable, and took us to some different wineries (see below) than I would normally chosen. I was glad that he took us to some of the less known wineries.

Wineries
Day 1
Cakebread (www.cakebread.com)
Our tour and tasting was about 1 ½ hours, Ed was our tour guide and he was very thorough. Cakebread is a working winery, so we got to see them fill the barrels and bottle some wine. The grounds were nice, but they were doing construction so we didn’t see the entire winery. I liked their wines but nothing really stood out for us. We preferred their whites to their reds.

Schramsberg (http://www.schramsberg.com)
We did the cave tour, with the tasting at the end. The cave tour was really unique, and the history of the winery and it’s relation to the Napa Valley is extensive. The tour guide went through everything pretty fast, but the tour was worth the money. We tasted four full glasses of sparkling wine, I liked the J.Schram, but for $90.00, I think we’ll probably just stick to what we usually buy at home :)

Day 2 (Wine Shuttle)
Esquisse (www.esquissewines.com)
This was a collective tasting room, so we tried Esquisse and Voss wines. I really liked the 2004 Voss Voigner. The guy who was pouring was nice and we had a little chat with him, he used to live close to where we’re from. It looks like they are enlarging the tasting room, so it seemed a little bare and cold. The patio and pond out front were nice, I guess it would have been nice to do a tasting on the patio, but no one offered!

Raymond Vineyards (www.raymondvineyards.com)
Our shuttle driver told us that Raymond supplies all the wines for the show “Will and Grace”. I guess they supply the wine for show parties and whenever a wine is featured in a scene, it’s a Raymond wine. We really liked their whites and bought a bottle of their 2004 Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay. They had a nice little gift area, and the tasting room was comfortable. The man pouring for us was nice, not snotty at all, a very friendly winery.

V. Sattui (www.vsattui.com)
We stopped at V.Sattui for lunch and loved it there. The grounds were beautiful. We did our tastings before we bought our lunch, it was super crowded in the tasting area but our shuttle driver had one of the people pouring open up a new section at the tasting bar for us. We ended up buying the Mediera, and really liked the some of their Reislings. We had something from their deli area, and bought some goodies to take home.

Cosentino Winery (http://www.cosentinowinery.com)
I have almost no memory about being at this winery (and I know I wasn’t drunk!) I just remember agreeing with the others on our tour that it wasn’t one of our favourite winery stops.

Andretti Winery (www.andrettiwinery.com)
This is Mario Andretti’s winery, he apparently oversees the operation of the winery and is there quite a bit. I’m not sure if this is a toy for him or a serious passion, but it’s been in operation for 10 years, so he must be doing something right or losing a lot of money. The winery was very picturesque, the grounds are made to look like a Tuscan villa and there’s a nice little patio out back. The wines were ok, but nothing really sticks out in my mind as being great. The person pouring was a little snotty when I said ‘no thank you’ to the red wine tasting (I was getting a little gut-rot from mixing so much).

Domaine Chandon (www.chandon.com)
Domaine Chandon was a lot more modern than Shramsberg, and a totally different vibe. You don’t have to make an appointment to taste, so Domaine Chandon was very busy. There was a restaurant in the tasting room, which sort of reminded me of a cafeteria. There was a large patio outside and the view was amazing. We tried the reserve tasting, and were very impressed by it.

All in all this was a great trip. We really enjoyed the Napa Valley and wished we had a little more time to visit more of the wineries.

[justHB]

I wanted to say that I saw the Trojan Horse Inn while we were there, and I agree the location is a little weird. It isn't BAD at all, it's just strange - right on Hwy 12, right on the corner of a fairly busy intersection. (But honestly, I found the location of almost all the places I considered staying to be weird considering the area's surroundings.) I also found the outside to be very deceiving to what I saw on the website is on the inside. That is not to say it isn't beautiful and fabulous, but on the outside it just looks like a regular house and for some reason I was surprised by that.That's one of the main reasons I don't like staying in Sonoma Valley. Even the Fairmont - which I'm considering booking for a night away soon - is located in a really run down and odd area. I found the same to be true for some of the B&Bs we've stayed in in Napa. Our suite at the Daughter's Inn overlooked some apartment complex and there were people hanging out on the front porch all night drinking (not wine).

[HeatherFL]

bump

[Amuse Bouche]

For a more reasonable inn in Sonoma, we stayed at the Inn at Sonoma (www.theinnatsonoma.com). It's very well located (just of the main square of Sonoma, which makes it easy to walk to shopping and restaurants) and has a few nice amenities, like fireplaces and terraces or balconies in every room, wine and cheese in the evenings, great breakfasts, coffee available all the time, and a jar of homemade cookies in the lobby all the time. We had a decent meal at the Girl and the Fig, and a fantastic meal at the General's Daughter in Sonoma - really terrific, and it's in this gorgeous old Victorian house.

For wineries, I'd recommend doing Benziger -- it's not my favorite wine but it's a terrific tour, including visiting their vineyards and their wine cave, and Korbel is pretty good for the tour and the (free) tasting, plus it's in the Russian River Valley, which is a very pretty area. We also enjoyed the food and wine pairing tasting at J Winery, and had a great time tasting the wines at Arrowwood and Davis Bynum.

[DianeCourt]

For those of you who have dined at The French Laundry....can you give me more specific details about your experience? What was on the tasting menu when you were there? How was the service? Did you have a hard time getting a reservation? Would you do it again?

The price is now $210 per person for dinner (including gratuity) and I'm trying to gauge whether or not it's truly worth it. Everything that I've read said it's one of the finest restaurants in the world and a "life experience." I'm willing to pay if that's the case. I'm considering attempting to make a reservation for our anniversary on 9/14 and making it a surprise for my husband. From what I've read, I'll need to be on the phone two months ahead of time to the day (this Friday!) at 10 AM Pacific time, ready to redial their reservations line for up to an hour! :eek:

[laura]

For those of you who have dined at The French Laundry....can you give me more specific details about your experience? What was on the tasting menu when you were there? How was the service? Did you have a hard time getting a reservation? Would you do it again?

The price is now $210 per person for dinner (including gratuity) and I'm trying to gauge whether or not it's truly worth it. Everything that I've read said it's one of the finest restaurants in the world and a "life experience." I'm willing to pay if that's the case. I'm considering attempting to make a reservation for our anniversary on 9/14 and making it a surprise for my husband. From what I've read, I'll need to be on the phone two months ahead of time to the day (this Friday!) at 10 AM Pacific time, ready to redial their reservations line for up to an hour! :eek:

Yes, it's ridiculously hard to get reservations. Yes, it's supposed to be one of the finest restaurants in the world. I haven't been, but yes, the food is supposed to be a "life experience" type of meal. IIRC, it is a 7 course (I think?) set menu, so if you are a picky eater at all, I wouldn't do it. Since you're not a local, and you still have time, there's no harm in trying to get a reservation and then deciding, though, IMO. Friends of ours went and there were a lot of truffles, caviar, sweetbreads, foie gras type of things on the menu when they were there. I would imagine the service is impeccable.

If you want something nice, but not AS nice, I would recommend Auberge du Soleil - be sure to request seating on the patio (they have heaters if it's chilly). We ate there for our anniversary, and it was very good, plus it's a lot easier to get reservations!

[jki]

For those of you who have dined at The French Laundry....can you give me more specific details about your experience? What was on the tasting menu when you were there? How was the service? Did you have a hard time getting a reservation? Would you do it again?

The price is now $210 per person for dinner (including gratuity) and I'm trying to gauge whether or not it's truly worth it. Everything that I've read said it's one of the finest restaurants in the world and a "life experience." I'm willing to pay if that's the case. I'm considering attempting to make a reservation for our anniversary on 9/14 and making it a surprise for my husband. From what I've read, I'll need to be on the phone two months ahead of time to the day (this Friday!) at 10 AM Pacific time, ready to redial their reservations line for up to an hour! :eek:

We dined at French Laundry on Valentine's Day 2002. We got lucky and there happened to be a cancellation (we were calling for a different date, which was already booked). I've had friends call for HOURS and not get through to the reservation desk.

IMO, it was good. I can't recall exactly what was on the tasting menu... foie gras, a duck dish... I've had many other dining experiences that were more memorable. The service was snotty. There were many things prepared in a way that you would not be able to emulate at home, there were many foods you would have difficulty procuring on your own (like organic butter from a special cow in Vermont... stuff like that) - in that regard, it was special. It was good, but for that amount of money, you could get a comprable meal for much, much less.

IIRC, it is a 7 course (I think?) set menu, so if you are a picky eater at all, I wouldn't do it.
You can always communicate what ingredients/things you don't like and they will cater to your needs.

If you want something nice, but not AS nice, I would recommend Auberge du Soleil - be sure to request seating on the patio (they have heaters if it's chilly).
The chef from Auberge just opened his own restaurant, Redd in Yountville. We went last week and it was VERY good. I've heard Cyrus in Healdsburg is being compared to French Laundry and that it's amazing, in a class of it's own. Everyone in the wine country was talking about Cyrus.

[laura]

You can always communicate what ingredients/things you don't like and they will cater to your needs.

Oh, I know. I guess I should have said, if you are a picky eater, it might not be worth it. Like I don't particularly care for foie gras or sweetbreads, so if I happened to be there and both of those things were on the menu - even though I could have them removed - it would also seem to me like I was missing out on some level.

Thanks for the Cyrus rec - we'll have to check that out, as we're always looking for new places to try. Auberge was good, but it wasn't "the best meal I've ever had" or anything. Good for our anniversary, though.

[jki]

The thing I didn't like about French Laundry vs. other restaurants which have tasting menus is that everyone at the table gets the SAME THING. At many other restaurants (Redd, Fifth Floor, La Folie), there are different preparations of the same thing or completely different items for each course.... I feel like the dining experience is more exciting when I'm tasting 14+ different things instead of just 7. JMO.

[jki]

I guess I should have said, if you are a picky eater, it might not be worth it. Like I don't particularly care for foie gras or sweetbreads, so if I happened to be there and both of those things were on the menu - even though I could have them removed - it would also seem to me like I was missing out on some level.

Thanks for the Cyrus rec - we'll have to check that out, as we're always looking for new places to try. Auberge was good, but it wasn't "the best meal I've ever had" or anything. Good for our anniversary, though.

Oh I agree - foie fras and sweetbreads are really expensive, as well, so you are literally not getting your money's worth if you request to delete those items!

Unfortunately, the best meals I've ever had are at a restaurant which is now closed. :( We used to go to Charles Nob Hill for EVERY birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, etc. It was SO amazing. During those times, we'd often try other restaurants... Masa's, Gary Danko, Fleur de Lys etc. (I used to work for a company that marketed upscale wines/champagnes so many were expense account meals and we went for DH's work as well) and we'd always marvel at how much better CNH was. The chef is now at Fifth Floor, but our most recent meal was not as good. I guess the food was good, the experience was just not the same.

[Katy]

Finally, if you're on your way to the Russian River, Dry Creek, or Alexander Valleys, you should definitely stop in to Harvest Moon Winery and say that Becky sent you. It's a small boutique winery where you're more than likely to meet the winemaker Randy. He's really young and is just generally happy to explain his wines to you and doesn't want anyone to feel put off. We spent a good couple of hours with him and another couple on Saturday bottling the wine, assembly line style. My job was to put the foil on the bottles. My husband got to take the bottles from the filling/corking station to the labeling station. It's so much fun to be right there in the process and see what it's like from start to finish.When we were in Sonoma over Memorial Day weekend, Valley of the Moon was the ONLY winery I wanted to visit (we were there just for the one day). We never got around to it. I made my husband SWEAR that we'd go back someday soon (we normally hang out in the Anderson Valley & Mendocino Coast and visit the wineries out that way). Becky, thanks for the write up.

Oh and I agree, the Fairmont is in a very strange part of town. I have to say though, the dinner right there on the corner, just outside the Fairmont is incredible! If you want a lunch that's less expensive than the normal "in town" restaurants yet still SO good, I highly recommend it.

[Tanya]

Also, has anybody taken an excursion on the Napa Valley Wine Train (www.winetrain.com)? Their monthly "Vista Dome Appellation Dinner" is on our anniversary, so I'm wondering if this would be a good surprise for DH for our anniversary dinner. It's $150 per person, so I want to find somebody who has actually done it before I fork the dough over.
I know this is an old question, and you decided not to do it, but for anyone else, we did it and enjoyed it. I knew the reviews going in, but we were with friends who wanted to go, so we went along. The views are great, and the food was decent. Overpriced, but you're paying for the experience. I was also under the impression that some wines were included in the cost, but alas, they were not. At least the wines weren't upcharged much, if at all, so not like a typical restaurant. It was too touristy, though.

We did Napa and Sonoma, so the following are both. The Schramsburg tour was the highlight of all our tours, so be sure to make an appt beforehand if you want to do it. Artesa was abolutely beautiful, and Clos Pegase has nice art/sculptures, but wine at both these wasn't that notable. Coppola was way to packed/toursity. Opus One was extraordinary, loved that one! We tried to go to Cakebread at the last minute, but they required reservations, so we didn't go, poopyheads;). We enjoy their wine, but it doesn't sound like I missed much. Mustard's (restaurant) was fantastic and they have their own vegetable garden next door, so that was neat to wander around in.

We are about to take another trip, this time up the Central Coast. Buellton(Santa Barbara)-->Paso Robles-->Monterey-->Sonoma. We are staying at mostly hotels but are doing a B&B in Sonoma, the Calderwood Inn. Anyone stayed there? Anyone have any recs for wineries along the way? We have a tentative list but are open to suggestions!

[Julss05]

Hi Girls,
I'm going to Napa/Calistoga next week on kind of a last minute summer trip. I have family in Sacramento I'm visiting and a few of us girls are going on a spa getaway to Calistoga. We are hitting up a few wineries, and a club too.

We are staying at Calistoga Hot Springs (http://www.calistogaspa.com/) for the mineral pools and going to Lavender Hill Spa (http://www.lavenderhillspa.com/) for their spa treatments. I'm not sure what wineries we are going to. Luckily I'm going with my mom and aunt who know their way around. I use to live in Napa but I was too young to drink although I do remember going to a few wineries and found the tours to be fascinating. The smaller, more quaint wineries seemed nicer than the huge over-commercialized ones. I'll let you know how everything goes. If I can recommend any good places for entertainment, eating, and wine tasting I'll be back.:)

[jki]

We are about to take another trip, this time up the Central Coast. Buellton(Santa Barbara)-->Paso Robles-->Monterey-->Sonoma.
No specific suggestions but a recent issue of the Wine Spectator has a lot of recommendations.

We are staying in Paso Robles later this month and staying at Villa Toscana (http://www.myvillatoscana.com/home.htm). I'll post back and let you know how it is.

I have a few winery recommendations for the Napa area.

**Paraduxx (http://www.paraduxx.com/)**
Paraduxx is owned by Duckhorn. Reservations are required due to licensing issues. Their tasting area is awesome and they have a really nice outdoor patio. It's $10 for a flight of 4 wines and some yummy almonds.

**Frog's Leap (http://www.frogsleap.com/flash/intro.html)**
Reservations are also required here and you can only do a full tasting with a full tour. I didn't realize reservations were required so we were each given a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and were able to walk around the property. No tasting fee.

**Peju Province (http://www.peju.com/)**
Peju is a small, family owned winery in Rutherford. I think it was $7-8 for a tasting of 5 wines. The tasting fee is applied to any bottle purchases. Reservations are not required.

[jki]

Last post...

I found this (http://www.napavintners.com/maps/map_of_napa_wineries.asp) map to be really helpful when planning our visit!

[laura]

I read an article about Villa Toscana when we were down that way recently, and it looks very nice - definitely interested in hearing about it when you return!

Second the rec for Paraduxx. Would also recommend St. Francis, Ledson, and the reserve tastings at either Kunde or Chateau St. Jean (or both!) in Sonoma/Kenwood.

There is a winery in the Paso Robles region, sort of near to 101, called Rabbit something w/ a rabbit theme - don't recall the exact name, but the wine was just "eh" and I would personally skip it. Then again, they do have cute Reidel "O" tasting glasses w/ a little bunny imprinted on them that you get to keep (via paying for your tasting), so that's kind of quirky.

[Tanya]

No specific suggestions but a recent issue of the Wine Spectator has a lot of recommendations.
Yep, that pretty much sparked the trip;). It was a helpful article.

[justHB]

I'm planning a day trip to the wine country to celebrate our 4th anniversary - has anyone been to Redd Restaurant (http://www.reddnapavalley.com/interim.html) in Napa? Or what about Cyrus Restaurant (http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/) in Healdsburg? Cyrus is not open for lunch, so we'd need to re-think our entire itinerary and reschedule the babysitter... I'm wondering if it's worth it?I haven't been, but everything I've read puts Cyprus as one of the best new restaurants in the country, so if you can get a reservation, you should jump on it. In fact, I implore you to and then report back here. :D

[jki]

I haven't been, but everything I've read puts Cyprus as one of the best new restaurants in the country, so if you can get a reservation, you should jump on it. In fact, I implore you to and then report back here. :D

Sorry, HB, we ended up going to Redd.... but I'm wishing we went to Cyrus. EVERYONE at EVERY winery we visited was talking about it. I *love* foie gras and that is a menu CATEGORY on their menu. :eek: Mmmmmm.

[DianeCourt]

OK, wish me luck! I'm calling today to try to get reservations at The French Laundry for 9/14. I don't have high hopes, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

[DianeCourt]

Ugh, after 45 minutes of redialing, we're on the waitlist. Phooey. I might try again tomorrow for reservations on the 15th - one of the travel books I have said that less people call in on weekends for reservations, so maybe I'll have a better chance.

My fingers are all cramped up. :(

[jki]

Ugh, after 45 minutes of redialing, we're on the waitlist. Phooey. I might try again tomorrow for reservations on the 15th - one of the travel books I have said that less people call in on weekends for reservations, so maybe I'll have a better chance.

My fingers are all cramped up. :(

Sorry you didn't get a reservation! :( Hope you get one tomorrow!

[DianeCourt]

Trip to San Francisco/Wine Country is in less than a month. Considering that I booked most everything in March, I feel like we've been waiting forever.

I wasn't able to secure a reservation at The French Laundry for our anniversary OR for the day after. We're on the waiting list, but I highly doubt anything will materialize from that. Knowing that my first choice isn't a reality, I'm looking for other suggestions for an amazing anniversary dinner. If you had to pick one restaurant that's the best, in your opinion, what would be?

Also, since we'll be there during busy season, how important is making reservation & winery reservations in advance? How MUCH in advance?

[laura]

I would make dinner reservations now. Actually, if you are really set on doing xyz, I would make all the reservations you can now or if they say you are too early for anything, inquire when they will be taking reservations.

We ate at Auberge du Soleil's restaurant for our anniversary this year. It was romantic and the food was good. If you go here, request a table on the balcony/patio - they have heaters if it happens to cool off in the evening. The night before that we ate at The Girl & the Fig in downtown Sonoma. The food was very good, but it was definitely a more casual type of place (and less $$) than somewhere like Auberge. I've also heard lots of good things about Martini House, but we don't eat up in wine country a lot (other than lunch) so I've never been personally.

[DianeCourt]

Laura, thank you so much for your recommendation. I also posted on the Fodor's message boards and I got one response, also recommending Auberge du Soleil! :eek: I looked over the website and I think it will be perfect - I just got off the phone & have a reservation for 8:15 on our anniversary.

Did you order off the dinner menu or did you try the tasting menu?

I'm so excited! :p

[laura]

We ordered 4 courses off the regular menu. We considered the tasting menu, but we would have both had to get it in order to have it, and we preferred menu entrees instead. Did you get a table on the patio? It's a very pretty view.

[DianeCourt]

Yes, I requested seating outdoors - thanks for your advice there. However, the prime reservations during sunset were all booked, so we we'll be dining in the dark. :( I think we'll try to get there early & maybe enjoy the sunset from the bar patio/deck with some wine instead! I'm still really excited.

Off to work on some winery itineraries......

[laura]

I don't think it will be dark at 8:15. I remember we got a reservation for something like 7:30 or so and a) the place was empty when we got there and b) it was light even when we left the restaurant. But anyway, have fun!

[elissa]

We have one more dinner reservation to make for our anniversary trip, but so far we have decided on and gotten reservations at:

Cyrus
Celedon
Martini House

So excited, now it is on to the wineries and reservations for all of those. Anyone recommend a good spa in the general area?

[Bloomwood]

eeek - are you supposed to call TWO months before your desired date for French Laundry? I thought it was ONE month. Thank goodness I stumbled in here - I need to call this week for October!

[Kates]

elissa, no spa recommendations from me, but we did love Celadon!

I found that the Trip Advisor forum for Napa Valley was excellent for winery information. We would have never found Schramsberg without knowing that we had to keep a close eye out for a tiny sign on the side of the road.

[Bloomwood]

I got put on the wait list at FL. I'm calling again next Monday to try for the 28th of Oct. I also emailed an acquaintance that works there in hopes of getting some insight.

[jki]

Anyone recommend a good spa in the general area?

I've been to the spa at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn (http://www.fairmont.com/FA/en/CDA/Home/Hotels/Facilities/CDRecreationFacilities/0,1132,code%25255Ftype%253DSPA%2526category%25255F type%253Dactv%25255Ftype%2526property%25255Fseq%25 3D100139,00.html) a few times and it's quite nice. Other than that, I've done mud baths at a few places in Calistoga, but it wasn't spectacular.

[Bloomwood]

Just skimmed the whole thread.

I am taking DH there for his bday the w/e of 10/21. But, with a 5-mo old, I am not ready to leave her for more than one night. We are also going with another couple, so I think I need 2 rooms for one night.

I have a room at Carneros Inn reserved, but they only have that one room; I need one more.

I called Auberge and they only have a suite for $1400:eek:

I've heard Silverado isn't that nice anymore.

The Kenwood pics someone posted a few pages back looked very nice. Any more reviews on that one? Any other higher-end recommendations? We don't want a B&B. Thanks!!

And, we're on the priority wait list for French Laundry (whatever that means) because of a connection, but have back up reservations at Terra.

Also, I love to see so many endorsements of Peju! We've been wine club members for years. 2 weeks after this trip to Napa, we're going to Sonoma. I'm hoping that between the two trips, we have another club to join!

[laura]

We stayed at the Kenwood Inn & Spa. It was very nice. Delicious breakfasts, beautiful grounds and (I hear) a great spa, though I didn't use it. They had a lot of nice touches in the rooms, like a complimentary bottle of wine plus a bottle of chilled champagne since it was our anniversary, things like that. They also had candles, bubble bath/bath salts, CD players, etc. I would definitely recommend it. As far as I know you have to call to make reservations, though, I don't think they have web reservations.

[jki]

What about Meadowood? (http://www.meadowood.com/) Silverado is definitely NOT nice - I didn't know that it ever was. I drove by Napa Valley Lodge (http://www.napavalleylodge.com/) while in Yountville and it looked very nice.

We are going up to Napa tomorrow. We have lunch reservations at Domaine Chandon (http://www.chandon.com/restaurant/default.html) and winery reservations at Truchard Vineyards (http://www.truchardvineyards.com/) and Far Niente. (http://www.farniente.com/) We plan to play everything else by ear. I'm so excited!

[Bloomwood]

Meadowood! That is the other place I'd heard of, thank you.

Unfortunately, Meadowood, NV Lodge and Kenwood are all sold out. dangit!

[Bloomwood]

not at all ideal, but I finally got rooms at The Lodge at Sonoma. I stayed there for my bach party a few years ago and thought it was very nice. I'm using a car service to take us to and from dinner. I guess I have to cancel the carneros reservation :(

jki - have a great time! I love DC! We went to an event there a while back; so beautiful.

[Bloomwood]

I ended up getting reservations at Carneros Inn! Yay for me!

Anyway, still doubtful we'll get into French Laundry, but if we do, for those of you that have been, do you think dressy jeans (designer, like 7) with a nice top would be appropriate?

[laura]

I would probably dress up slightly more (like a skirt/nice top), but I've never been so maybe I'm way off.

[jki]

I would probably dress up slightly more (like a skirt/nice top), but I've never been so maybe I'm way off.

I agree. I thought it was quite pretentious and snotty.... I think I wore a skirt but there were other patrons totally dressed to the nines.

[Bloomwood]

yeah, apparently no jeans allowed. damn. it just makes it so much easier to come up with an outfit when you can wear jeans!

[jki]

yeah, apparently no jeans allowed. damn. it just makes it so much easier to come up with an outfit when you can wear jeans!

No jeans allowed? :rolleyes:

Bloomwood - have you heard about Ad Hoc? (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=26&entry_id=9231) It might be a good option for dinner on another night. They don't take reservations.

[DianeCourt]

I have been an absolute maniac since I returned from our Sonoma/Napa trip last month, so I haven't taken time to post reviews and/or photos. I intend to do so.

We never got into French Laundry, but had an AMAZING anniversary dinner at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford. I highly recommend Auberge! :D

[ummserious]

If you go to the French Laundry then any men need to wear a jacket. Now I did see a man wearing a cheesy leather blazer (obviously imo it was cheesy...) so I think as long as you hit the main requirements you are fine.

For women you can wear nice pants and that same top.

I didn't find it pretentious and snotty. The point of dressing for dinner is that you are going here for a special meal which will take a long time, many courses, and special attention. For every "requirement" that they ask of you they are also giving you back multiple services which are really hard to find elsewhere.

I can totally understand if this experience doesn't appeal to everyone but I was glad that I dressed up for it and took it all in. I wore a black dress made out of jersey material which looked dressy but is fairly comfortable.

The Auberge du Soleil is another wonderful reccomendation, ITA. I have only hung out at the bar and had snacks on the balcony but we saw a gorgeous sunset and view of the valley coupled with food and wine.

[Bloomwood]

It's okay; I can do pretentious and snotty :p

I highly doubt we'll get in as it is already Wednesday and I haven't heard anything. Oh well.

I just made lunch reses at Auberge on the terrace! Fun times. So much for that baby weight I'm trying to lose. Guess I won't be able to eat for a week once we come home. :rolleyes:

[DianeCourt]

I just made lunch reses at Auberge on the terrace! Fun times. So muc