I was pretty excited to explore Sonoma and Napa and it did not disappoint! One thing we noticed is each place has their wine club they try to sell you on getting. John said it feels very much like being sold a timeshare each time.
There are so many different vineyards and you can get a very personalized experience or a very "normal" experience. We made sure to do both. Ignorantly, I assumed that since there were TONS of wineries that they would be fighting for us to come and taste THEIR wine. This is NOT the case. Most of the cute, smaller places require reservations, and due to Covid, they really were limiting the number of guests. Pro tip: Book in advance AND book the fanciest one first. Though it seems like it sets you up for disappointment, it really doesn't. All were very lovely, but being wowed off the bat really helped set us up for a wonderful stay. You COULD probably do 4 tastings in a day, but it would be back to back and probably rush you a bit. We did 2 one day and 3 the next... Here's what we tried:
Day 1: We arrived a little later in the day and checked out Downtown Napa. There's of places you can get tastings, but they're not the vineyard so it is a, relatively speaking, inexpensive tasting. We tried Shadowbox and were able to just walk up for an outdoor tasting. Everything was lovely. We ate dinner at Eiko's Sushi. I don't know if I was starving or it was THAT good, but I really enjoyed the 3 sushi rolls we got here. Then, it was off to bed because we had a big day planned for Day 2.
Day 2: On day 1 we called several places and none had availability so we were excited when we called and booked at Caldwell Vineyard. I know it's tacky to talk about pricing, but let's be real, $125 per person seemed ridiculous to me. That said, they did it right. It was absolutely my favorite tasting, and I am so glad we did it first. First and foremost, they let Lucy join. Then, we walked through the cave into a room already set up with food and wine. Our host, Mario, was very cool and elevated the experience even more. It would be a tough act to follow, but none of the other tastings were that expensive so we knew that was "the one." 10/10 highly recommend.
Next, we headed to Artesa . It was much more like a restaurant experience. Lucy wasn't allowed, but we saw other guests with their non service dogs, so I guess if you ask the right person... Anyway, we are here for the wine. You get a table and a server comes over and gives you your wines. No food pairings, just the wine. The views were stunning, the building was beautiful, the wines were good, but the experience just didn't even come close to Caldwell. And that's okay! 5/10 It was good, but I think there's a lot of similar places you could get this same experience.
We headed back to downtown Napa for dinner and went to Napa Noodles.
Day 3: We booked an "early" 10:30 am outdoor tasting at V. Sattui Winery. The grounds were absolutely beautiful, the hostess loved her job and you could tell, and the wines were very good. We got there right on time, and didn't even ask if Lucy could come. We just let her sleep in the RV. Being an "early" tasting John and I were slowly sipping. Our pourer (do they have an official name?) asked us to hurry up because we had a lot of wine to get through. Say no more. But the next time he came back he said, "Oh you guys are drinkers." Dude, you told us to pick up the pace! All the wines were good. 6/10
Next, we headed to Pride Mountain Vineyards. It was a bit of a drive up the mountain to get there, but well worth it. We got there about 40 minutes before our tasting, so I just checked in. Jay, our tour guide, was wonderful. He said Lucy was MORE than welcome, and shared some wine and conversation while we waited. He was funny, knowledgeable, and genuinely seemed to enjoy his job. We toured the cave, sipped wine, and learned a lot. Like, they have vines in both Sonoma and Napa so they have a ton of paperwork, pay taxes to both counties, and have rules they have to follow for both sides. 9/10 highly recommend.
Finally, we headed to Clif Family If you've heard of Clif Bars, it is the same owners. They have a very cute place with a very nice patio. When they first opened they got a license for a food truck so they do have food to purchase as well as food pairings with the wine. We enjoyed all of the wines and the food was a nice touch. In our true fly by the seat of our pants style, we didn't have a place to stay that night. We COULD have gone back to where we were, but it was more expensive this night and we really didn't need water or electricity. So, we said we wanted to buy a couple of bottles and asked to stay in their lot. They said it would be no problem at all. And we did. So instead of paying $45 at the RV park we spent triple that at Clif... haha good deal . Seriously though, everything was great. I'm glad we ended there. It was a wonderful stay. Oh and Lucy joined. 7/10
Bonus- on the way out of Napa we spent the day in San Francisco. On advice from Stasia and Dave, we parked at Crissy Field. There was TONS of parking and beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge and even Alcatraz. Plus, it was very dog friendly. Tons of dogs swimming, walking, and running leashless. It was beautiful. For the night we stayed in Oakland right over the Bay Bridge. This was my least favorite place for multiple reasons. 1/10 will not return haha.
Comments