329263 Wed Sep 27 01:02:10 -0700 2006 6 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1904578 My boyfriend and I are going to explore Sonoma and Napa for 5 wonderful days. Neither one of us have spent time there in years. We want to eat wonderful food, try amazing wines, go shopping, hiking ... just explore, relax and enjoy. If anyone has any advice on restaurants, wineries that are a MUST try, etc... it would be greatly appreciated. Wed Sep 27 01:02:10 -0700 2006 43243 PammyP 1 1906164 In Napa our "must try" wineries are Cliff Lede, Robert Sinskey, Miner Family, August Briggs, Artesa, Bremer Family, Frank Family, Vincent Arroyo, Bennet Lane and Arger-Martucci. There are acturally hundreds of others, these just happen to be our favorites. They are all fairly small (unlike a Mondovi or Beringer), produce well crafted wines, have nice tasting rooms manned by very nice people and are just plain fun. Food wise, Bistro Jeanty and Bouchon in Yountville, Taylor's Refresher (old style drive-in) just south of St. Helena, Rutherford Grill. More upscale, Redd, Terra, Martini House, . That's just a few, again, many more. Have a great time and report back. Wed Sep 27 19:12:31 -0700 2006 1904578 10925 rtmonty 1 1906188 If you do a search for Napa or Sonoma, you'll find tons of recent reports. I had a WONDERFUL dinner at Mustard's in Yountville a few months ago. Classic Napa wine country food with a mind boggling wine list. Wed Sep 27 19:20:18 -0700 2006 1904578 19722 fine wino 1 1909362 Girl and the Fig - amazing food (and very cool use of figs) Thu Sep 28 20:57:26 -0700 2006 1904578 42758 bayareafoodiegirl 1 1910110 My wife and I just did the same thing - 5 days in wine country. We were more Sonoma-focused though. We thoroughly enjoyed dinners at Cafe Le Haye, The Girl and the Fig, and Cyrus. Here's the link to my post on our experiences: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/327060 Fri Sep 29 03:18:07 -0700 2006 1904578 19703 Cheese Please 1 1911797 If you have five days you can also hit the areas centering on Healdsburg (north of Napa Valley) - Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and the Russian River Valley. There are lots of posts here about the area. It's a great area with lots of smaller friendly wineries and great reds. A scenic way to get there is to continue north from Napa Valley/Calistoga into Alexander Valley. Fri Sep 29 20:12:19 -0700 2006 1904578 10724 Mick Ruthven 1 1912028 Dry Creek is a great area. http://www.sfbg.com/38/40/x_bottle_rockets.html Fri Sep 29 21:18:49 -0700 2006 1904578 13093 Maya