wine vacation

[captainl]

soooo. The wife and I are thinking of going on a wine tour vacation around December 5th or so???? We where thinking of flying to Sacramento and spend a week ogoing to vineyards, wineries and stuff like that.

Problem is, I don't know anything about California or wineries around there. Is anyone open in the winter up there? Would I be better waiting a couple years and go in the fall? We don't really know where to go or stay. I'm sure some of you wine fanatics here have been and would have some good suggestions. So I'm up for some recommendations.

Its kind of a last minute thought. Also we are trying to keep it reasonable $$$. We promised the kids Disney World in the spring and we are going to china next fall.

Any suggestions.

Thanks

Mike

 

[robie]

Napa and Sonoma counties are about an hour west of the Sacramento airport.
One hour to the east there is Amador County. One hour to the south is Lodi and several hours more to the south is Paso Robles.

Flying into Sac, you are in California wine heaven!!!! Mendocino County is Zin and Pinot Noir country. It is North and west of Sonoma county.

I don' know of any wineries that close in the winter, but there might be a few.

I will spend Thanksgiving week there this year!!!

 

[Runningwolf]

I can't imagine any winery closing in the winter either. After fall harvest, I would think they would be busy racking and making wine all winter. Not to mention bottling and labeling last years wines.

 

[shoebiedoo]

I would try to experience the "WINE TRAIN" in Napa Valley. It's Excellent day trip.

 

[JohnT]

Been to Napa a dozen times or so. I actually taught a class at Beringer (although not on winemaking).

Napa and Sanoma are open year round. In the valleys, the micro-climate makes the weather much, much warmer than the surrounding areas. Early December will most definately be better than the winters you are used to at home.

I would suggest that you fly into San Fransisco, then drive north (also an hour) to Napa. This way you can spend a little time in the city and partake in what it also has to offer... Sea food, sourdough bread, good coffee, and the best Chineese food you will ever have! Not to mention trolleys, Alkatraz, Sea Lions, Lumbar Street, Fisherman's Warf, etc. A day or two in SF is well worth it.

Napa valley has two "main drags", highway 29 and silverado trail, that run parallel to each other. 29 has most of the old established and comercial wineries, while Silverado trail has the smaller, more "down home" wineries. I always have a much better time on Silverado Trail. I found they are more open to getting "up close and personal"

Sanoma valley has the wineries much more "spread out", but are beautiful. If you go to Sanoma, get a comfy car.

Hope you have a great time.

Other things to see would be the geyser and the John Muhr woods. Well worth the trip.

 

[captainl]

Awesome! thanks guys. It definitely helps. I like the idea of hitting san fran too. We are 50/50 on doing this or heading south of the border. Trains, seafood, wine, and peace away from the kids....man that sounds nice.

 

[ibglowin]

Just so you know, there is not too many places that have free tastings these days. Most charge from $10-25 depending on the winery and most throw in a free glass that you then get to drag around for the rest of the trip and try and find a way to get it home in one piece on the plane. There are no bargains at the winery. You will pay full price and Napa is proud of their juice these days so most bottles are now in the $25-80 price range full retail. They have a great Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods in Napa that have amazing wine selections at good to great prices compared to the wineries. Taste all you want but if your interested in buying a bottle or ten to bring home, your better looking online and having it shipped then the winery any day of the week.

Enjoy the trip its a beautiful place any time of the year!

 

[robie]

Yep, there is no reason for them to close when they charge big bucks for tastings.

I prefer going to the Santa Rosa area and spending my time in Northern Sonoma, Lake County and Mendocino County. The tastings are a little less pricey and the wineries and workers are not quite so, how shall I say it, "proud"?

Napa thinks they are doing you a favor by taking your money. Still, everyone who appreciates wine, really should go to Napa and Southern Sonoma at least once. After one time, venture out to the other wine making areas of California. They are all very interesting places.

Before you go, if you haven't seen the movie "Bottle Shock", see it, then visit Chateau Montelana (check my spelling). The movie is not all according to history, but the final results are. Going there is very special for me.

As already mentioned, much of the wine, which you can but at the wineries, can be purchased at the local Costco or grocery stores in Napa for a lot less. The only advantage of buying at the winery is that if you buy something, they may wave the tasting fee. Used to one had to buy 2 bottles to wave the fee, last time I went it was up to 3 bottles. Go figure.

 

[wood1954]

lucky you

I was in Washington state, Yakima valley in june, spent three days visiting wineries. Had a great time. Be careful and remember to spit. The first day i didn't and ended up buying some wines that were not so good upon further review. I hitchhiked through Napa Valley when i was a teenager, saw most of it from the back of a pickup truck, what a beautiful place. hope you have a great time.

 

[JohnT]

IT'S $10 to $20 for tastings now??????

OMG!

It was not always that way. Back in the day, a tasting was free and there was an "unwritten" contract that if you liked what you tasted, the you would buy some.

This contract was violated in the last several decades. Tour buses filled to the brim with tourists would unload at wineries, taste to their heart's content, then get back on the bus without buying anything. Each bus would represent the loss of several cases worth of wine. at $30 per bottle, this amounted to $1,000.00 in losses every time a full bus pulled up. For the small wineries, this was especially painful.

Something had to give, so the small wineries started charging for tastings and would then discount the tasting fee on any wine purchase made. The bigger wineries the followed suit, but decided to forego the discount, turning the tasting room into a profit center.

I long for the old days! the valley is simply not what it used to be, but what ever is?

 

[grapeman]

Some places in the country still are following the old unwritten routine. here at my winery, tastings are no charge and most folks will buy at least a couple bottles so I am happy. Some leave with a case mixed and I am even happier. Soon I will join the ranks of a $5.00 fee with a free glass with the vineyard logo on it. The fee will be waved if the taster buys 2 bottles.

You will enjoy your trip to Napa, but don't forget the little places also. We have had visitors from a lot of states and have only been open for less than a year. Oh, I almost forgot, we have no expensive wine here, it just tastes that way.

 

[ibglowin]

I like the little guy as much if not more than the big guy! He appreciates your business for one thing. The little guy will work with you if you join the wine club but would like to substitute one thing for another. Just always a better experience with the small winery. I belong to about 5 wine clubs. 4 small and one large (Columbia Crest). The small ones are by far the most pleasant to work with. The large one, is a headache for sure!

 

[robie]

I like the little guy as much if not more than the big guy! He appreciates your business for one thing. The little guy will work with you if you join the wine club but would like to substitute one thing for another. Just always a better experience with the small winery. I belong to about 5 wine clubs. 4 small and one large (Columbia Crest). The small ones are by far the most pleasant to work with. The large one, is a headache for sure!

I stopped by a tasting room in Mendocino. They sat us down next to a fireplace (late March), brought us out a tray of 7 different Pinot Noirs each; including some simple food pairings...

No tasting fee!!! Excellent Pinots!

Having been to them several times, now, that's why I now avoid Napa and southern Sonoma completely.

We ran into a place in Napa that charged $35 for a tasting. Their logic was that their wines sold for over $75 per bottle. Since we were going to get to taste $350 worth of wine, they felt justified in charging $35. Needless to say, we will never ever know what those wines would have tasted like!!!

 

[Plmac]

Some one said wine heaven, many many choices. We have been going to the Amador area now for a couple years and realy like the kick back feeling of the small wineries. Stay in a Days Inn or a bed and breakfast. We also like going to thier events, the Big Crush and Behind the Celler Door. Anyway good times to be had. But your not going to an event your going to enjoy some time away and will enjoy that where ever you go.

http://amadorwine.com/new/pages/winerylist.cgi

 

[wjdonahue]

Cost of the tastings varies with the winery. After Europe where all tastings are always free it still ticks me off.
If you go to the Amador region, go up to Murphys CA, in calestoga county and go to Ironstone Winery. May not be quite as good in the winter, but they have acrers of the most beautiful gardens that you will ever see, and John and Steven Kautz are renegades, they don't believe in charging for tasting.
In the Napa region, two that I would recommend are Luna (right outside the city of Napa) for their superb wines. If you want to go there, you have to call ahead, they don't have an "open for the public" tasting room. They also don't charge last time I was there. The other place I would recommend for the experience, not so much for their wine, is Sterling in the northern part of the valley. It looks like a Spanish Mission sitting high on the hill. You pay for the cable car ride to get up there, and that includes a tasting of their wines. There is nothing in the world that can beat sitting high on their hill on their patio, sipping wine, and looking over the entire Napa Valley in the afternoon.

 

[wjdonahue]

Ohhh...and if you go to Beringer (it's worth it to see the Mansion and caves), don't go to the downstairs tasting room. There they serve only their bulk produced wines, which are mediocre at best. Go up the staircase to the Reserve Tasting Room. Amazing how a winery known for their bulk, almost jug wines, can make some spectacular reserves. If you go to the Amador region, you will drive through Lodi......nice to look at all the vines, but not worth stoping.