California Wine Country Trip

My wife and I will be travelling to San Francisco for the first time this fall. We will be attending a conference in the city, and would like to mix in some wine-related travel as well. I am looking for suggestions on the basics: should we stay in Napa or Sonoma, hotels or B+B's, etc. We plan on staying in the wine country for 3 nights, and then in the city for 3 nights.

[Jenise]

Nick, if there's a possibility you'll never return to Napa/Sonoma, I'd do both. That is, I'd head to Napa for the first night (stay in St. Helena), then move to Sonoma for two additional nights. Or vice versa, depending on which wineries and restaurants you'd most like to visit, but with three days you have time to visit both areas and the distance between the two (with wine) makes travelling back and forth prohibitive.

I would spend all 3 nights in one valley or the other. You can't possibly cover everything in 3 days. Napa would probably be best. I would look for the smaller wineries for huge surprises in product quality. Sawyer Cellars in Rutherford is a perfect example. Then you will have time to also go to Opus, or Phelps. Trust me on this one, I am in Napa 2-3 times a year just to taste the product and check on vintage quality. Remember this too, Silver Oak is building a new winery, it won't be completed until 08. A tour there is not an option at this time. That may not be so bad. The 2002 is made from sourced grapes, the product quality is disappointing at best for a $100 bottle of wine. Stay at a B&B if you want to spend the money. The Marriott is central enough to plan a 5 winery day including lunch. Good luck!

It depends on what you like. If you're the sort who thinks that Las Vegas is just great, stay in Napa. It's all about the image and the experience. You'll feel like you stepped into a page of Wine Spectator.

If you want to do some serious wine-geek stuff, get out of Napa and look at less glitzy regions, where you might actually be able to talk to someone who touches grapes. El Dorado, Santa Cruz Mountains, Anderson Valley, Dry Creek, and Mendocino are all still relatively unspoiled and produce the best wines in the state. If it were me, I'd split it between El Dorado and Santa Cruz, just to minimize driving. Mendo is a bit far, but some of the most stunning scenery anywhere, and it's cool enough that winemakers like Navarro can produce great Pinot and Chardonnay without the mouth-searing alcohol levels one finds in... let's just say "better-known wine areas."

And of course, Santa Cruz is home to the best Cabernet produced in the US, right along Monte Bello Ridge.

In addition to the above, Nick, I recommend setting up some appointments for tours by calling ahead yourself or asking through your local wine merchant/distributor. If you have a cellar notebook take that along, too, as it shows you are serious about wine.
A DC wine shop set up some tours for me a few years ago (1989 actually - how time flies) and at the winery I was treated like a VIP with a private tour of the vineyard and bottling room and very nice tasting in a dinning room-like setting.

Second that, get appointments at your must-visit places, but do leave some time for just driving around and being surprised.