Destination - Northern California Wine Country

"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."

Benjamin Franklin

In my last posting I mentioned adding a few nights in the wine country to a San Francisco vacation.  It is an excellent way to extend your stay in the area.  The wine country is just north of San Francisco.  The best known towns are Napa and Sonoma, but they are also the most commercial.  The wine country extends all the way north to Mendocino and includes Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Windsor and the Russian River area.  There are hundreds of wineries scattered throughout this area, most with tasting rooms.  Most charge a small fee for tasting, a few have free tastings.

Once you decide which town you want to stay in and make that your base, you can explore the wineries, either on your own, or with a tour.  There are many tour options, and the advantage with the daily wine tours is that you don't have to worry about how much wine you have, someone else is doing the driving.  You can take the tour with a group, or take a limo tour where it is just your own group, or just you.  If you drive, make sure you have a designated driver.

Napa Valley is one of the world’s great wine regions, with charming towns like Napa, St. Helena and Calistoga where you can tour beautiful vineyards, and tasting salons.  There are breathtaking landscapes of sun-kissed vineyards, wine trails, and over 350 historic wineries.  Taste the flavor of the land at Napa’s top wineries, including Domaine Chandon and Trefethen Vineyards. Roam the Silverado Trail to boutique wineries like Chimney Rock.  Sample the heady aromas of Sonoma’s pinot noirs, zinfandels and chardonnays. Tour the tasting rooms of Alexander Valley Vineyards, Kendall-Jackson Winery, and Buena Vista Carneros, the oldest winery in California.

Of course there are other things to do while in the wine country.  The towns have nice restaurants and cute shops to explore  There are lots of spas and hot springs to stop at and relax. You can go canoeing on the Russian River.  There is the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Pacific Coast Air Museum in Sonoma or check out Safari West , which is also in  Santa Rosa,   Safari West is the spirit of Africa in the heart of the wine country, they have a lodge you can stay at and explore the area from there.  And you are close to the coast, so spending a day at the beach is always fun, and the northern California beaches are quite pretty.

You can take the Napa Valley Wine Train which will give you a gourmet meal, views of wineries, some wine tasting, and you can even tour a winery at train stops. The Napa Valley Wine Train provides a relaxing three-hour, thirty-six mile round-trip journey between the historic town of Napa through one of the world's most famous wine valleys to the quaint village of St. Helena and back. Guests aboard the Wine Train enjoy the option of a freshly prepared lunch or dinner as they view vineyards and wineries from any of the vintage 1915-1917 Pullman Dining, Lounge, or 1952 Vista Dome rail cars which have been lavishly restored. Wine Train stops at different locations depending on the day of the week. Guests are only allowed to disembark at these locations if they have pre purchased one of the winery tours. The video below gives you more info.

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My next posting will be on the Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur area, which could also be combined with a trip to San Francisco and the Wine Country, as they are all close by.