specific wineries for upcoming napa and sonoma trip
after reading A TON of posts on the message boards about wineries in the two regions, i decided to start a new thread just to see if my tentative itinerary was on point, and if there is any new information out there that would help.
for some background, my SO and I are going to be in Sonoma next week for 2 days and then Napa for the next three. we already have our meals pretty much settled, but I'll include them again just in case there seem to be any egregious errors and/or strong opinions about the nights where we have options. My SO tends to like red wines that are fairly fruity. somewhat smooth/mild pinots are her current favorite. I enjoy both red and whites, tending to like pinot gris and somewhat more bold red wines (bigger pinots and big, but not too big cabs). however, we'd both also be down to try basically anything, as long as it is of a high quality and the pourers/guides interesting and informative. in general im thinking we'll try to stick to 3 scheduled winery visits per day, leaving open the possibility of stopping in at any 1-2 others that strike our fancy or are recommended by other wineries/our innkeepers.
Fri: get to SF, have dinner (for the first time) at a world famous in-n-out burger on the way to sonoma.
Sat: try to do the healdsburg region as we have a dinner reservation at cyrus. i was thinking wellington on the way up, followed by Michel Schlumsberger, and Ridge would be good places.
Sun: focus on the russian river valley before crossing over to napa for dinner at Bottega in yountville. was planning on beginning at Mayo reserve room, and then going to iron horse, gary farell, merry edwards, and lynmar. might be a little ambitious. should i eliminate one? if so, which?
Mon: hit up the lower napa area. thinking frog's leap, cakebread, elizabeth spencer, and an olive oil tasting at round pond. tonights dinner at Bouchon (hotel res came with a $50 gift certificate so this won out over ad hoc)
Tues: head up to Calistoga for lunch at solbar and catch the upper napa valley on the way up/down. thinking plumpjack on the way up, followed by pride and schramsberg after lunch would be a good set for today. dinner back down at either mustards or cindy's backstreet kitchen. thoughts on which one?
Wed: our last day. want to stay down in the southern area so our drive to san fran isn't too bad. thought the carneros district would be good and picked hendry, truchard, and Domaine Carneros. was originally planning on an early dinner at girl and the fig before driving back to SF, but now am thinking that eating in SF might work better logisitically. any recommendations for a good spot? not trying to break the bank, but something in the realm of our other restaurant picks (excluding cyrus) would be fine. both of us are pretty big foodies and like experimental (molecular) food so something along those lines would be perfect.
thanks so much for all the help everyone has provided, both on my original thread as well as on all the other Napa/sonoma boards. the wealth of info is just amazing which makes planning a trip much easier yet harder all at the same time. there are so many good places that picking the absolute best is not easy. these were just the wineries that seemed to fit my SO and my preferences the best. if there are any other places that we absolutely cannot miss please let us know. again, thanks so much and will definitely post a full report when we return!!!
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Domaine Carneros
1240 Duhig Rd, Napa, CA
Bottega
6525 Washington Street Suite A9, Yountville, CA 94599
Bouchon
6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
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What a list. I'm to much of a newbie to the area to say much except that I'm a fan of Selby Wines in Healdsburg, especially their Pinot Noir and old vines Zinfandel. I also never lave without a bottle of port which I think runs super sweet, but delicious. They are just off the square at 215 Center.
I think we may use your itinerary next time we head up. :)
›4 Replies-
re: dcfb
CarrieWas218
Mar 10, 2011 05:47 AM
Cubicles' itinerary is pretty good and will add that DCFB's addition of Selby is spot on and a worthy stop.
Cubicles, if you are coming down the mountain from Pride, you may not want to drive all the way back to Mustards. At that point, stick with Cindy's Backstreet or consider another Calistoga sleeper, Jolé - a restaurant I think is far better than either of Cindy Pawclyn's restaurants.
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re: CarrieWas218
wolfe
Mar 10, 2011 06:24 AM
JoLe the accent aigu confuses the place link even if it's there.
http://jolerestaurant.com/-----
JoLe
1457 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga, CA 94515-
re: wolfe
Jole does seem good; we're staying in yountville that night though, so we've gotta come back down anyway and I thought a little time between tasting and dinner might be well advised. i'll definitely give it a thought though. figured we could probably fit one more winery in on that day anyway so will definitely add selby to the list. thanks for the rec!
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re: cubicles
CarrieWas218
Mar 10, 2011 07:56 AM
Selby is in Healdsburg so that would be part of your day before Cyrus.
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