Soaking up the Flavors: A Guide to Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

Posted On September 2, 2021

A few weeks ago, we used our handy Southwest Companion Pass to fly to visit a good friend in Sacramento, who conveniently lives near some pretty glorious destinations including Napa and Sonoma. As is often the case, our friend rarely plays tourist in his own area, so we booked some rooms in Calistoga and made a long weekend of it – alternating soaking in the hot springs and tasting some pretty incredible wine. After a very long past year (we all work in the medical field), it was just the rejuvenating vacation we needed.

Planning a Trip to Wine Country

It is good to know your options. When people say they want to go to “Napa”, that can mean many things. In the past, we have often said “we’re going to Napa” when in reality we are staying in Sonoma or an adjacent area (to date, we have “been to Napa” 5 times but have never actually stayed in downtown Napa or Napa proper). Where you want to stay, how you want to organize your days and where you visit should be based on a few things:

• What is your budget? Needless to say, this is a huge factor in how you craft your trip.
• How into wine are you? Are you hoping to nerd out over vertical tastings? Are you wanting to taste super expensive wine you will never have anywhere else? Do you prefer tasting at non-pretentious or family run operations? Are you scoping out potential wine clubs to join? Of are you just there for the scenery and the vibes? 
• Who are you traveling with? Are you traveling with non-wine drinking friends/family joining you? if so, you might be better off at low-key, less expensive wineries or wineries with other attractions (think: art galleries, car collections, etc). You might also consider staying in a town with lots of tasting room options, such as Yountville or downtown Napa, so that the oenophiles can taste to their hearts content without driving, and the rest of the group can enjoy other activities.
• What will be your mode of transportation? Will everyone in your group be wanting to taste? If so, you may need to consider hiring a designated driver (rideshare companies serve the area and can be an option, but in 2021 there is a huge shortage of drivers so I would not build my itinerary around use of taxis or rideshare companies unless you can schedule in advance). If you or someone in your group is driving and also planning on drinking, you may want to stay somewhere that has walkable options or a shuttle available for tasting for the end of the day, vs if you are hiring a driver or have a non-drinker in the group, you can really stay anywhere.
• What are your plans beyond wine tasting? Are you only coming for wine and food, or do you plan on doing non-wine/food activities, such as hiking, biking, hot springs, visiting the coast, etc?

The Lay of the Land:

Napa valley proper: many prestigious and well known wineries, Napa Valley is the “King of Cabs.” There are innumerable swanky wineries to visit, but expect higher tasting prices (think $50+ for tastings except at some of the larger more commercial wineries). Downtown Napa has the most lodging options (and eating options) including big box hotels. Some AirBnB condos exist but are very few and far between. Vallejo, south of Napa, is further from the action but has affordable AirBnB options.

Yountville and St. Helena are located more centrally within the valley with super cute small and walkable downtowns, but have very limited (and consequently, very expensive) lodging options – but also home to the most renown restaurants like French Laundry and Bottega).

Calistoga is north of St. Helena (and 30 min from downtown Napa) and is our pick for less expensive lodging in Napa, but still in very close proximity (10-15 min drive) of many of Napa’s finest including some of our favorite wineries that are near St. Helena. There are several cute local restaurants and a great coffee shop.

Sonoma has an adorable downtown  with a typical Spanish town square layout, cute shops, and excellent restaurants. This is a great home base if you want less expensive, more laid back wineries that still serve an excellent quality product. The Sonoma area tends to have more AirBnB options in our experience (although since the pandemic began, many of these rentals have vanished from the market.)

Santa Rosa is even less expensive for lodging, and is further north; it is fairly equidistant from both Napa and Sonoma downtown areas, but close to many excellent wineries around Calistoga and Kenwood.

Healdsburg is north of Santa Rosa (so a bit further from Napa/Sonoma) but is a cute little town that is further from the major airports but is a great home base for delicious Alexander Valley cabernets (Alexander Valley spans the area north of Healdsburg).

Livermore is about 1 hour drive south of downtown Napa, and I think is worth mentioning as can be a fun base for those who want to bike as well as wine taste and want a more quiet, less expensive experience. Livermore is very flat, and the majority of wineries lie in a large rectangle, making it easy to bike in-between. Think: laid back, inexpensive tastings compared to its Northern neighbors.  The hallmark winery of the area, Wente, has a beautiful  restaurant for lunch or dinner (we are also really hoping Campo di Bocce, closed during the pandemic, will reopen). Livermore is also reachable by the BART from San Francisco (you will need a car or cab to reach downtown or the wineries).  

         

Booking Your Flight

Several airport options exist. If you plan to rent a car and want to avoid traffic, the two easiest airports that I would highly recommend are Saramento International Airport (SAC) which is 45 min drive from Napa, served by all the major airlines (including Southwest); or Santa Rosa Charles Shultz – Sonoma County airport (STS) which is served by United only but is located right in wine country. Both of these airports are small and easy to navigate. San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose (SJO) are also nearby options from which you can either arrange transportation, or can rent a car and drive – but beware the traffic!

Lodging

Pre-pandemic, we always opted for a home stay via VRBO or AirBnB. We were always with a group, so it made economical sense and also allowed us to cook a few meals at home and spend more time with our company.

Flash forward to 2021: AirBnB/VRBO options are now extremely limited, and there have been reports of frequent cancellations of rentals by the owner which has me hesitant to book anything other than a hotel. Hotels are selling out, so if an AirBnB renter cancels on you at the last minute, you may have no other lodging options. Covering options for hotels is beyond the scope of this post, but here are a few tips on saving money on lodging:

• Stay in a less expensive area (around Sonoma, Santa Rosa or Vallejo for example). We have even visited Napa as day trips from Sacramento and Livermore, and day tripping from San Francisco is also popular.
• There are some chain hotels in the area that are bookable by hotel points (Marriott, Hyatt, etc) but are limited, require a lot of points, and in our experience, not always a good value (do your math!). Using your hotel credit card and hotel status to book could also potentially get you perks such as free breakfast, but ask first what is available given pandemic-related restrictions.
• Book your hotel with a card that has points you can use to reimburse travel expenses, such as the Barclay Arrival Plus card or Capitol One Sparks card.
• Book a hotel using Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express points, using the card’s travel booking portal.
• Booking through Hotels.com may be a good option to earn rewards towards a free night (essentially 10% back) if you don’t have other options. On our last visit, we used Hotels.com to book a stay at the Golden Haven Resort in Calistoga – a super old school motel, but it was clean, nicely remodeled, had 3 hot springs pools, and the price was right (they have a few 2-bedroom 1-bath rooms which are fantastic for a family or friends traveling together, so 3 of us stayed for the price of one room).

Transportation

It is entirely possible to visit the area without renting a car or booking a driver/tour. With the exception of Santa Rosa (which is further out), you could easily stay in any downtown area, spending your time at the walkable tasting rooms and using bikes or public transportation to visit a few of the nearby wineries. For a more ambitious wine tasting itinerary, you will need to rent a car or arrange transportation. If you are renting a car, do so the minute you book your flight given the current shortages in car rental bookings. Hoping to arrange transportation and not drive? Here are your options:

• Ride share or Taxi: in the past, these were options but could be slow at times, and difficult if you were visiting a winery that had a more remote location. At present time, ride shares and taxis are very short staffed and limited.
• Public transportation: Several towns offer free or cheap shuttle services within that town’s boundaries: Calistoga Shuttle (available if you are staying in a Calistoga hotel, (707) 963-4229 to schedule a pick-up); St. Helena Shuttle (available to anyone for transport within St. Helena, (707) 963-3007 to schedule a pick-up); and The Yountville Trolley (free to anyone, (707) 944-1234 or (707) 312-1509 after 7:00 p.m)
• Designated driver services: they drive your personal car or rental car and have insurance coverage to back it up. While on the expensive side (the bigger the group the better the value), we have had a great experience with using Designated Drivers multiple times in the past – and they have great recommendations on places to visit. Plus, no fear of getting a DUI!
• Book a tour or limo service: options in Napa and Sonoma.
• Think out of the box: Rent a bike. Take the wine train from downtown Napa. Take a wine trolly. Or, tour by horse & carriage!

Choosing Wineries

Where to find maps: A map of wineries in Napa Valley can be found here, as well as info on Napa Valley. A listing of Sonoma wineries (and a free visitor guide) along with additional information about the Sonoma area can be found here, and maps of Sonoma Valley extending up to Healdsberg can be found here and here.

Need a guide book? Try Drive Through Napa: Your Ultimate Companion to Napa Valley’s Wine Regions

Choosing where to taste can be an overwhelming task. Napa is King of Cabernet, but many types of excellent wine can be found in the area surrounding Napa. With so many amazing options to choose from,  I recommend sticking to wineries near your lodging when possible; if you already have a list of wineries you want to visit, choose lodging that will be as close as possible to as many of those wineries as you can. For wineries located further away that you absolutely want to visit, prioritize them for earlier in the day when your tastebuds are at their freshest and traffic as at its lowest, and gradually work your way back to your home base. Our usual rule is to pick lodging very close to wherever we are wrapping up tasting for the day and near where we plan to have dinner, to avoid having to do much driving at the end of the day. Remember that traffic can get thick up and down the Napa Valley and also between Napa and Sonoma, and the last thing you want is to end your day stuck in traffic.

If you are able to visit wineries on a weekday, you’ll have less traffic and crowds, and might have an easier time getting reservations at popular wineries as compared to the weekend.

If you have wineries in mind, you might want to download a map of the Napa or Sonoma valleys, circle which wineries interest you, and then narrow it down based on what makes logistical sense for driving/transportation. If you know nothing about wine or wear to start, consider the Wine Priority Pass, which offers a lot of discounts on various wineries as well as the Napa Wine Train. The wineries offering discounts tend to be larger, more commercial operations but can still be a lot of fun to visit. The discount on the Napa Wine Train alone can be worth the cost of the pass.

I recommend booking no more than 3 to 4 wineries max per day (2 might be plenty for starters!), and allow a good 1.5 to 2 hours or more for each (longer if booking a tour) as well as time to get from one winery to the next. Many wineries utilize an online reservation app for booking. For Chase Sapphire card holders, check for reservation options on Tock through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal for 10x points earnings on your prepaid reservations!). You can always book more than you think you need and cancel some once you have had time to finalize your itinerary.

Have non-wine drinkers in your group? They can still have a great time if you pick wineries with other attractions besides just the wine. There are also distilleries and craft breweries in the area to visit.

Winery Recommendations

• Sparking wine (best for early in the day): Schramsberg (Calistoga), Domaine Chandon (Yountville), Domaine Carneros (in-between downtown Napa and Sonoma), or Gloria Ferrer (Sonoma)
• Whites: St Supery, Grgich Hills Estate, Cliff Lede, & Covert Estate in Napa; Beltane Ranch for lovely sav blanc in Sonoma.
• Bold reds in Napa: our current loves are Alpha Omega, Bell, J Gregory, Davies (same winery as Schramsberg), Frog’s Leap, Hall, Covert, Joseph Phelps, Freemark Abbey.
• Bold reds in Sonoma: Arrowood (cabs), Beltane Ranch (red zin)
• Other excellent picks: In Napa: Duckhorn Frog’s Leap, Shafer, Croix, Quintessa. In Sonoma: Imagery, Venge, Robledo (established by a Mexican migrant, great story and great wine).
• Wine Cave Tour: Palmaz & Covert Estate in Napa; Kunde in Sonoma. Ravenswood is more commercial, but also has a decent tour with barrel tasting that isn’t far from downtown.
• For the Art Lover: Hess (modern art museum), Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley, Jamieson Ranch (murals),  Robert Mondavi (variety of art with an artist in residence), Cliff Lede (variety of exhibits), Hall (modern, painitng & sculpture), Jessup Cellars (mixed media). Closer to Sonoma:  Donum (sculpture garden), Imagery, Artesia.
• Best views: Patland, Domaine Carneros, Far Niente, Shafer, Joseph Phelps,
• For those dreaming of Italy: Castello di Amorosa (taking the 1 hour castle tour is a must; we didn’t care for the wine served on the tour however), Del Dotto caves in St. Helena
• For those who wish they were in France: Domaine Carneros, Domaine Chandron, Chateau Montelena
• For Middle Eastern art/architecture: Darioush (gorgeous property, excellent wine as well!)
• Historical buildings: Beringer (St. Helena – beautiful property, also a great stop if you need a restroom or want to buy some wine-related gifts), Monteleon (Sonoma)
• Horse lovers: Tamber Bey (Calistoga) – I have not actually visited but being a horse lover, it is on our to-do list!

Dining

The food options in this area are overwhelming to those of us who reside in a culinary-stagnant region of the country. I won’t even begin to pretend to give you a comprehensive list of options, or try to keep up with what is open when. However, I will give you a list of favorites that we keep returning to again and again. Please keep in mind, everyone is short staffed and service is much, MUCH slower than usual. Don’t try to cram a lunch reservation at a swanky place into your day unless you have a good 2 hours to spend there; if you have a packed wine-tasting itinerary, best to stop by Sunshine market in St. Helena or another grocer, and pack a picnic. Many wineries also offer food parings (although during the pandemic, most winery food offerings were on hold).

• Oxbow Market in downtown Napa is a fantastic place for food that has something for everyone. Lots of options, and reservations not needed, so it is great if you want to keep your itinerary flexible for the day.
• Gott’s Roadside is a classic lunch option with several locations. Think: roadside burgers and fries with a side of kale (yes, even this hamburger hater found something delish). Great for lunch, and easy to eat outdoors.
• Bouchon bakery: if driving through Yountville, I highly recommend picking up some pasteries for the next morning (or to snack on during the drive to the next winery.
• The Culinary Institute of America has several dining options in the area, including the Gatehouse restaurant in St. Helena and their main building in downtown Napa (which also has a store).
• Mustard’s Grill is excellent for lunch or dinner; farm to table fare, plenty of outdoor seating, located midway up the Napa Valley. We enjoyed the seafood, the pork chop, and the tamale. Reservations needed.
• Ad Hoc by Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) is a casual eatery in Yountville which might appeal to those who want outstanding comfort food without the riagmarore of getting a reservation at other Thomas Keller establishments. (Bouchon is Thomas Keller’s other Yountville outpost, and while it is a great option for straightforward classic French, it wasn’t anything unique to the area).
• Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch (near Calistoga) is another excellent farm to table venue with fantastic food and plenty of outdoor seating.
• Bottega is home of chef Michael Chiarello (of Food Network fame), and serves excellent Italian fare with a California spin. While you might need a break from drinking, do not miss out on their excellent cocktail list, and I was also pleasantly surprised by the Chiarello wines on the wine list. Reserve 60 days in advance.
• The French Laundry is mecca for many a foodie. It comes at a hefty price tag, but consider it both dinner and a show – the service and kitchen tour at the end of your multi-course, several hour meal are worth the hefty price tag. Reservations can be tough to get; you can try emailing or calling they day reservations are released (check the website for next release date, usually several months in advance), or there are other work-arounds: For Chase Sapphire credit card holders, try booking on Tock through the Chase website (I still suggest booking close to 60 days in advance). For American Express Platinum card holders, try calling the AmEx concierge service.
• La Salette in Sonoma (on town square) was an excellent find we discovered after a Ragnar relay when our group was famished and we happened upon a last minute reservation. We have gone back on every return trip to Sonoma for top notch Portugese fare.
• The Girl & Fig in Sonoma (on town square) is on everyone’s must-try list, yet I’ve never been able to try it because the reservations booked up 1-2 months in advance pre-pandemic. Very limited outdoor seating.

Planning a Visit During the Pandemic

Pre-pandemic, planning trips to Napa/Sonoma were pretty straightforward. We reserved only in advance if a winery was by appointment only, if we were doing a tour, or if we had hired a designated driver for the day (often, the places we visited on the day we had a driver were not open to the public and by appointment only). The rest of the time, we could be sporadic: see how we felt for the day, show up to the winery, belly up to the tasting bar, and sip away. The pandemic has completely changed the game plan. We recommend:

• Reserve your ground transportation (rental car, tour, etc) the minute you decide you decide the dates for your trip.
• Make winery reservations a good 6-8 weeks or more in advance, or more, if you have your heart fixed on visiting certain wineries. No joke; seating is limited, staff is limited, and good places book fast. The minute you book your plane ticket, book those winery reservations.
• Check far in advance to see if your winery is even open – some have closed during the pandemic completely, some might only be open a few days a week.
• Allow at least 1.5 to 2 hours per winery, longer if a tour. Many wineries are short staffed and tastings easily run behind schedule. I assume you are on vacation; build some time in to smell the flowers and relax.
• For best flexibility: pack a picnic lunch with you. It is possible to have a proper lunch, but make sure you have reservations and budget plenty of time for it – seats are limited and did I mention, staffing is in short supply.
• Sit outside when possible. Most wineries offer outdoor tastings at time of booking, but check in advance if the website does not clearly state whether your tasting is indoors or out.
• Do not make the bulk of your itinerary dependent on rideshare companies or taxis. They are in short supply. Figure out in advance how you will get from point A to point B. If no one in your group wants to drive, end the day tasting within walking distance of your lodging. There are plenty of tasting rooms to be found in the downtown of every little town in this area. Opt for dinner within walking distance as well, or alternate drivers among your group members.
• Smile! Yes, perhaps service isn’t as great as you had hoped, things are running slow, or maybe places are out of certain items. it is what it is. Be happy you are lucky enough to be traveling, and look at the bright side. An ounce of kindness is worth bushels of gratitude from those you encounter.