Napa & Sonoma, CA Wine tasting
Background info- The Napa & Sonoma Valleys are located about one hour north of San Francisco and are famous for their wine. Sonoma is about 15 miles west of Napa. If you travel up the Napa Valley to wine taste you will go through other wonderful towns such as Yountville, Rutherford, St. Helena & Calistoga (about 30 miles north of Napa and the furthest north point). There are a variety of ways to taste and experience the wine- driving to each place, with a tour bus or company, the Napa Valley Wine Train, and some places offer early morning hot air balloon rides.
Sonoma
Robledo- This is a smaller winery (right next to Roche listed below) that is owned by a Mexican family. It is one of our favorite wineries because of the wine, not just the wine and venue. The seating is outdoors and covered with food. We look for their wine everywhere we go but haven't found any grocery or liquor store that has them, so if you like something buy it there.
Roche- Roche has outdoor seating, some covered and some not. It has great wine and a well maintained outdoor seating area.
Nicholson Ranch- outdoor seating overlooking vines or on a patio.
Artesa
Outdoor seating overlooking vines or indoor seating. On a clear day you can see San Francisco.
Napa
North of Napa
Clif Family Winery (St. Helena)- Yes, the founders of Clif Bar have a winery! It has great wine, Clif Bar products to snack on, Clif Family Wine products (preserves, salts, crackers, jams, honeys, chocolates) and a food truck (has won many awards, check if there when you're visiting though because not there every day). They have indoor & outdoor seating on a patio. The patio does not overlook the vineyard (some of their vines are at the north side of Napa city next to Bistro Don Giovanni) but has lots of wonderful plants that are well maintained.
Flora Springs (St. Helena)- covered outdoor seating, great wine.
Sterling Vineyards (Calistoga)- Amazing views of the valley. As you taste you walk through the facility to see the production process and end on a covered patio overlooking the valley. To access the winery you take a 3 minute gondola ride to taste (8 people max per gondola) and a 2 minute ride down.
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Castello Di Amarosa (Calistoga)- This winery is most well known for looking like a castle. The grounds are beautiful with some animals (emu, peacock, goat). You can do a tasting or a tasting and tour of the castle.
Where to eat
Seeing as the food options very from winery to winery from crackers to meals to you can bring your own food, here are some options.
Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa)
Bouchon (Yountville)- Next to the restaurant is the bakery.
French Laundry (Yountville)- Book it months in advance. It has received 3 Michellin stars since 2007 and is a dining experience you will never forget.
Bonus...Caymus Valley/Fairfield
Another winery we enjoy is Caymus-Suisun. This winery is not in the Napa Valley but outside of Fairfield and just as beautiful. The wine is great and the grounds are beautiful as you sit inside or outside among the vines in a modern building that may look familiar...same architect that designs stores for Apple! They have cheeseboards for purchase on site too. What we love is that last time we went (Jan 2023, don't know if it has changed since then) they said we could pay for the tasting or buy bottles of wine equal to the same amount as the tasting and that would cover the cost of the tasting.
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