2 Full Days in Napa Valley in Aug - tips?

[skipro33]

Did anyone already mention the wine train? Just an awesome experience. If you are more sports oriented, there are hikes and kayak rentals.

There are just too many restaurants to name a favorite. My favorite is which ever one I can make a reservation with or can get seated within an hour with a reservation.

Head up to the Geysers if you've never seen an active steam field. Lake Hennesy and Berryessa are nice to spend a picnic at.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Thanks for all the inputs and ideas.


DW and I will consider these and whether it is Napa vs Sonoma.


Any more suggestions are certainly welcome!

 

[nuke_diver]

Don't be surprised if it is very hot...

the microclimates in the bay area are unlike a lot of other areas. There can be a 50F change in temp in 40 miles. Hence Mark Twain's comment

 

[Accidental Retiree]

+1
Dry Creek valley is one of our favs for tasting and general mucking about. Agree to check out VRBO for lodging. Although many places have minimum stay nights, you should be able to find a place for 2 nights. For good beer and decent food that won't break the bank, go to Bear Republic in Healdsburg. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=52Qsv22ukMPNXs-wChinKA&bvm=bv.96041959,d.cGU
Good window shopping in that town also. Wineries in Dry Creek area: Preston and Truett Hurst. Good wines, and good grounds go!

We love Healdsburg.

If you go to Sonoma, you may want to try Dry Creek Vineyards and Quivira, too.

Ferrari Carano has especially lovely grounds and gardens.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Well - in talking it over with DW, we are opting for Sonoma with Healdsburg as our 'base'.


The density of vineyards in the Dry Creek area is appealing and we may even choose a tour so we don't have to drive

Then the next day we'll go out on our own and tour around down to Hwy 1.

I'm not expecting to make this the one and only definitive trip to Sonoma - just the first of several!


Thanks for all the great ideas!


Napa is still on the radar - just not this time.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Well - in talking it over with DW, we are opting for Sonoma with Healdsburg as our 'base'.


The density of vineyards in the Dry Creek area is appealing and we may even choose a tour so we don't have to drive

Then the next day we'll go out on our own and tour around down to Hwy 1.

I'm not expecting to make this the one and only definitive trip to Sonoma - just the first of several!

I think you will be very pleased with your decision. Have a great trip!

 

[Winemaker]

As a frequent traveler to the area, I concur with a lot of the above points. Another LBYM idea is to stay in Suisun Valley which is the next valley east of Napa. A couple of small, but excellent wineries. An excellent restaurant to try is Mankas on Mankas Corner. We stay at the mouth of the SV at a Fairfield Suite and take the road thru SV over the mountain and plop down in Napa in the middle of the Silverado Trail. Your choice of north or south.


I like the Rutherford Grill, great food, fair price and NO corking fee.


I love Chimney Rock and Stags Leap for stupendous Cab Sauv, and Robert Biale's Black Chicken Old Vine Zinfandel. Healdsburg area has great OV Zins, Russian River for Pinot Noir.


If you or anybody else likes great Zinfandel (and I ain't talking no sissy White Zinfandel) and is going to be in/near Healdsburg on August 15th, PM me about a tasting event with about 50 wineries under 1 tent.

 

[HFWR]

(and I ain't talking no sissy White Zinfandel)

Isn't that a Kool-Aid flavor?

 

[Helen]

We just stayed at the Calistoga Inn a few weeks ago. It's European style in that the bathrooms/showers are not in the room but down the hall. It was reasonably priced for the area and right in the town of Calistoga so you could walk to tasting rooms and restaurants. I don't know if you want to be that far north in the Napa Valley though.

Also, I heard that Robert Mondavi Vineyard is the only one that gives winemaking tours anymore. I regret we didn't take the time to do a tour, I think it would have been interesting.

Another option is to hire a driver for a wineries tour. Those roads are filled with people who have been sampling wine, I don't think I would want to bike there. JMO.

I think I prefer the little wineries in Southern Oregon to Napa, but Napa was a good experience.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not toured Sonoma vineyards, nor Santa Barbara's, though I have passed through the areas a few times. However, I suspect that they are more spread out than Napa. I think what makes Napa Valley unique is that Route 29 takes you through many interesting places within a short distance. From Yountville to Calistoga, it's only 18 miles. It's more crowded for a reason.

I think it's worthwhile to see Napa (we came back several times), but if one can do it outside of the peak season to avoid the crowd and the summer heat, that makes it more enjoyable.

 

[ElizabethT]

In Healdsburg, highly recommend Williamson Wines, just off the square. Beautiful wines, and free wine and food pairings. We never miss it.

 

[audreyh1]

We first went to Napa on our honeymoon road trip 35 years ago. It was a day trip from SF, and I remember driving on many small highways going through many small towns to get there. There was no I-80 then.

Robert Mondavi was the only winery we visited, and they offered a free tour of the wine pressing, fermentation facility and aging cellars. That was followed by a free wine tasting though we did buy several bottles as souvenir.

Coming out of the winery, we had a nice lunch at a restaurant, which we could not locate on the revisit trips. The place may still be there, but so much has changed. The area was more rural than it is now. Traffic was also nowhere as bad.

I think we went there and had a meal in the 90s. We also went by Domaine Chandon (Moët et Chandon's Napa presence) and got a very detailed overview of the "methode Champenoise" for making sparkling wine. Last week we toured several champagne houses in Champagne, France, and it was fun seeing the same process there.

 

[Disappointed]

We just got back from Napa, we stopped for two nights on our way back before another stop in Big Sur. Below is a self guided tour article, not comprehensive but helpful. Weather can be really hot during the day but cool at night. We ate at Buchon, good but not great. Couldn't get reservation for The French Laundry. Mondavi tour gives you a little bit of history of the area as well as the winery itself, worth the $30 which also includes tasting of three different wines. We took the first tour at 10:00 am when the weather was still comfortable. Road construction on HWY 29 around St. Helena, congested traffic. So many wineries along HWY 128. We stayed at the Marriott as we are members and used points for one of the two nights, decent room and location.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Self-Guided-Driving-Tour-of-Napa-Valley-Wine-Country


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Mp

 

[ERD50]

Whaa 1G for the French Laundry?

Scratch that off...

Hey, that was for two people! Including wine! No problem for anyone considering delaying SS to age 70 (referencing another thread)!

Well, you don't have to go very high end at all to approach $200 per couple around here (very nice yes, but not 'conspicuous consumption'). So 5x for an 'experience'? I probably wouldn't do it, but I would not absolutely rule it out either.

The Chef Tasting Menu is currently $295 pp, or just about $400 after tax and tip. Corkage fee for wine brought from home is $150, or @$200 after tax and tip. ...

Whoah - I might come out of retirement if I could charge $200 to open a bottle of wine and pour it into a couple glasses! Serve a few tables, and you have enough for a dinner there!

But I'd need insurance in case I dropped someone's $25,000 bottle of wine

-ERD50

 

[Rosie]

If you're looking to dine in Yountville someplace other than the French Laundry, I had a delightful meal a few years ago at Bistro Jeanty. It's a few blocks down Washington St from the FL.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not dined there. Thought about it, but my wife said that our frugal nature might make us raise the expectations too high to really enjoy it.

Right across the street from the French Laundry is a private vegetable garden that Thomas Keller has to provide himself with fresh home-grown produce. When we first saw it in 2010, it was perhaps only 1/4 acre. Two months ago, when we next saw it, apparently he has bought more land, and that lot has grown to perhaps 2 acres, and we even saw a green house and a few full-time workers. See photo I took.

At the price that Keller charges, he still has very good business, and has money to invest further in his restaurants.

 

[TimSF]

I would head next door to Sonoma County and stay in Healdsburg. Visit the wineries along Dry Creek, head down the Russian River to the coast and take the drive to Bodega Bay, come back up to Sonoma for a walk around town, back to Healdsburg. Lots to do, beautiful country, less congested than Napa. As for where to stay, check Trip Advisor based on your preferences and budget or look to AirB&B or VRBO.

Yes. And take "Westside Road" from Healdsburg. Great wineries; lovely scenery. Stop in Armstrong Woods Park near Guerneville to see 1300-year old enormous redwoods.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Got back Thursday evening after our trip to drop off our son at Humboldt State for his sophomore year. Nice area.


We headed down the 101 thru the Avenue of the Giants (scenic bypass thru the CA redwoods), and into Healdsburg/Sonoma wine country. The weather was very warm but still pleasant. We had a very nice time on a wine tour via Wine Country Journeys, then a free day to just drive around down to the coast to hike around and check out the area.


Took some pics if anyone wants to check them out - just a link to the folder:
Index of /Pictures/humboldt-sonoma-2015


Healdsburg is a neat little town - we walked the old plaza, checked out some tasting rooms, ate at Wurst Grill & Beer Garden - had a fantastic "Southside" braut! Bought some nice wine - some drink now, some I'll lay down for a bit.


Glad to be home, though.

 

[donheff]

Nice photos. I rode a bike along the section of the coast you shot - beautiful.

 

[omysteve]

If you have time I highly recommend a trip down CA 128 towards Mendecino, an area known as Andersen Valley. There are some good wineries on that route especially for Pino Noir fans, including Navaro and Goldeneye Wineries. Take the road (CA 128) all the way into the coast and you'll reach Albion. Albion River Inn is a wonderful place to stay right on the coast, magical place IMO!!!

 

[NW-Bound]

I passed through Napa Valley 4 months ago. It was our [-]4th[/-] 5th visit over the years, but we have not been to Healdsburg. This thread makes me want to jump on my RV and go back.

 

[Winemaker]

DW and I just spent 2 weeks in wine country/ northern California coast. After landing in Sacramento, we traveled to Suisun Valley, the next valley east of Napa and where I buy the bulk of my grapes. We then traveled over the Twin Sisters into Napa and proceeded into Caspar by way of RTE 128. I concur with omySteve, great wineries, great local eats, great but small, farmer's market in Boonville. Using Caspar as our base, we hiked over 80 miles in 10 days, as far north as Patrick's Point, above Eureka. Wonderful food, eats, weather, hikes, wine and digs. Humboldt was magical!

This retirement travel is killing me and the dear wife. We hope to do it again for the 4th in a row next year.

 

[ElizabethT]

DW and I just spent 2 weeks in wine country/ northern California coast. After landing in Sacramento, we traveled to Suisun Valley, the next valley east of Napa and where I buy the bulk of my grapes. We then traveled over the Twin Sisters into Napa and proceeded into Caspar by way of RTE 128. I concur with omySteve, great wineries, great local eats, great but small, farmer's market in Boonville. Using Caspar as our base, we hiked over 80 miles in 10 days, as far north as Patrick's Point, above Eureka. Wonderful food, eats, weather, hikes, wine and digs. Humboldt was magical!

We are in the Sonoma area now with our RV, having just spent the last week in Humboldt County, and I concur that it is a magical area. While there we stayed in Trinidad at an RV Park perched above Patricks Point State Park, where we could see and hear the ocean, plus as a bonus, nicely noisy sea lions. We hiked pretty much the entirety of Patricks Point, and also the Hammond Trail between Arcata and Trinidad.

Yesterday we started our wine country stay in Healdsburg with a Legacy wine and food pairing at Williamson Wine, one our must-do wineries when in the area. After several years of enjoying their free wine and cheese pairings, we opted to upgrade to their Legacy wine and food pairing, and it was phenomenal. Seven excellent wines and six excellent small bite pairings. Must admit the day got a bit fuzzy after that . . .

But I do recall enough to know that we ended the day with dinner in Sonoma at the most excellent The Girl & The Fig.

In its own way this area is as bad as Las Vegas . . . too many days in a row and we're overloaded by the decadence of it all!

 

[Rustic23]

Go to the Jelly Belly factory just outside Fairfield. Not in Napa but close. When we lived in SF we would go there and buy two pound bags of belly flops.


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[BBQ-Nut]

We are in the Sonoma area now with our RV, having just spent the last week in Humboldt County, and I concur that it is a magical area. While there we stayed in Trinidad at an RV Park perched above Patricks Point State Park, where we could see and hear the ocean, plus as a bonus, nicely noisy sea lions. We hiked pretty much the entirety of Patricks Point, and also the Hammond Trail between Arcata and Trinidad.

Yesterday we started our wine country stay in Healdsburg with a Legacy wine and food pairing at Williamson Wine, one our must-do wineries when in the area. After several years of enjoying their free wine and cheese pairings, we opted to upgrade to their Legacy wine and food pairing, and it was phenomenal. Seven excellent wines and six excellent small bite pairings. Must admit the day got a bit fuzzy after that . . .

But I do recall enough to know that we ended the day with dinner in Sonoma at the most excellent The Girl & The Fig.

In its own way this area is as bad as Las Vegas . . . too many days in a row and we're overloaded by the decadence of it all!

Great minds think alike!

We also have explored around Trinidad - did you take the 'scenic' cliff drive from Trinidad to Moonstone Beach?

The Lighthouse Memorial was very cool, too.

Enjoy Sonoma! Sooo many wineries to choose.

If you like Zins, check out the Seghesio tasting room in Healdsburg. A bit more than others, but sooo tasty!