The wife and I are heading to California next week and will be staying a couple nights in Sonoma County. Any recommendations for wineries we should check out? Also, what are some good questions to ask at the wineries? I've only been to a couple small local wineries and I'm not blessed with the gift if small talk...
Headed to Sonoma County next week
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First, don't limit yourself to just the wineries in Sonoma. Expand your scope to the other wineries that are in close proximity. Second, there are no deals to be had at the wineries. You will pay full price. Either except it and pay it or taste there and then look at Costco nearby or online at discount stores. There are lots of good place to go. Seghesio, La Crema, Silver Oak, Foppiano, De Loach, Rodney Strong........
Lots of choices. As long as you go during the week it should not be too crowded. Have fun!
Lots of choices. As long as you go during the week it should not be too crowded. Have fun!
MN-winer
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What city will you be staying at? There are obviously ton's of wineries and I think it depends upon what you are looking for. Some are very commercial and cost alot. We went to a little boutique winery that was in the town called Sebastapol, near Santa Rosa. It was a garage type winery called Taft Street Winery. We didn't want to visit any of the big ones. This winery was started by someone like us on these forums. They don't grow the grapes, but buy them. The wine was very reasonably priced. We shipped out 6 bottles to home for about $125 or so. Very reasonable. There won't be any pretty views, or crowds.
winemaker_3352
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Sounds like a good trip - let us know how it goes!!
My wife and I will be there in about 4 weeks. We will be staying in Santa Rosa, up in Northern Sonoma County. We are going to concentrate on that part of California and even more to the north in Lake County.
Then we will double back to the Sierra Heights Wine Growing Region - Amador County.
All the hotels/motels have info on all the wineries. Try as many as possible. Keep some cheese and bread/crackers in the car. Between tastings eat something. Otherwise, after 3 or 4 tastings you will not be able to drive anymore.
Give us a report when you get back.
Have fun!
Then we will double back to the Sierra Heights Wine Growing Region - Amador County.
All the hotels/motels have info on all the wineries. Try as many as possible. Keep some cheese and bread/crackers in the car. Between tastings eat something. Otherwise, after 3 or 4 tastings you will not be able to drive anymore.
Give us a report when you get back.
Have fun!
To add, like Mike said, there will be no deals to be had buying wine at the wineries. Every grocery store in the area sells wine. Many times you can buy the same wine in the stores for several dollars less than at the winery which makes the wine.
I found the exact same bottles of wine I bought at Grgich Hills for $10 less (ea) at either Trader Joes or Whole Foods in Napa when we toured the wine country last Summer...... 
I will be sure to let you know how it was.
We are staying in Sonoma the town, it's a little southeast of Santa Rosa, it was recommended by a friend who used to live in the area. We are planning to hit the a couple smaller wineries, don't have the names with me, but none of the big ones interest me. Kinda like touring the Budweiser factory is no longer appealing after seeing the smaller microbreweries..
Thanks for the info, I'll keep these in mind.. We are not interested in the big wineries and we plan to spend some cash since we likely won't be back for many years.
Had a great trip to Sonoma.. Learned quite a bit, more than I thought I would. Got to try some expensive wines for the first time some $80-$90/bottle cabs, I thought they were good, but not worth it for me maybe I'm just cheap. Enjoyed tasting them all though.
We hired a driver for one day to drive our rental car and take us around to wineries in and around Sonoma Valley. It has to be the best way to get around without having to worry about driving after tastings. The day we had the driver, we visited 4 wineries, we started up in the Russian River Valley area just north of Healdsburg at Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves, next we went down to Francis Coppola Winery, then on to MacPhail Family Wines, then finished at Sebastiani back down in Sonoma, where we were staying. About an 8-9 hour day in all, it was a little on the chilly side mid-50s but overall very good trip. We were in Sonoma for 3 days and then 3 days in San Francisco before jetting back to Iowa.
I don't like to plug businesses on forums but this driver was great. His prices were quite reasonable compared to other services or tours. His website is below if you want to learn more about him. Great customer service, we planned most of the trip out before we left home and he even made some reservations for us to be sure we were able to meet with one of the winemakers at McPhail.
http://winecountrydriver.com
We hired a driver for one day to drive our rental car and take us around to wineries in and around Sonoma Valley. It has to be the best way to get around without having to worry about driving after tastings. The day we had the driver, we visited 4 wineries, we started up in the Russian River Valley area just north of Healdsburg at Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves, next we went down to Francis Coppola Winery, then on to MacPhail Family Wines, then finished at Sebastiani back down in Sonoma, where we were staying. About an 8-9 hour day in all, it was a little on the chilly side mid-50s but overall very good trip. We were in Sonoma for 3 days and then 3 days in San Francisco before jetting back to Iowa.
I don't like to plug businesses on forums but this driver was great. His prices were quite reasonable compared to other services or tours. His website is below if you want to learn more about him. Great customer service, we planned most of the trip out before we left home and he even made some reservations for us to be sure we were able to meet with one of the winemakers at McPhail.
http://winecountrydriver.com
Sounds like you had a great trip. Did you bring back any juice?
My craziest "impulse" buy last Summer was at BV. I did the "premium" tasting of their Tapestry and Georges De Latour wines and walked out $180 lighter with two (2) bottles.......
I had buyers remorse for a long time after that. So much so that I found a couple of online places that had a sale on both bottles so I of course ordered a couple more at about 40% off retail just so I could average out the crazy full MSRP I paid at the winery.
I had buyers remorse for a long time after that. So much so that I found a couple of online places that had a sale on both bottles so I of course ordered a couple more at about 40% off retail just so I could average out the crazy full MSRP I paid at the winery.
