I am planning on traveling from DFW to Napa/Sonoma for a Wine Tasting trip towards the end of April of 2024. I will be going with my wife and her parents as we are all fans of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The plan is to fly into SFO and then rent a car and drive to wine country from there. I would like to see the San Francisco Giants play a game at AT&T Park (now Oracle I think) as well but plan on doing that one of the travel days if we can catch a day game.

From the beginning stages of research I have done it seems like it will be worth it to get a chauffer service or driver to take us to the different wineries. Hoping to hit 2-3 wineries each of the two full days we are there.

Looking for any tips or recommendations on wineries or where to stay or anything in general. Thanks!

You are absolutely right to do the driver. We're Sonoma fans. Mauritson, Silver Oak, Korbel are regulars for us

I loved staying at the Hotel Healdsburg in downtown Healdsburg. (Sonoma county). Highly recommend. It's been a few years, but my favorite vineyard was Palmaz. it was a pricier tasting, but well worth it. Still some of my favorite wine.

Healdsburg Recs
- Lambert Bridge
- Mauritson
- Jordan
- Twomey
- Dry Creek

Go read the wine thread on the F&S board. Lot of great information there. Don't sleep on Sonoma and definitely don't just pigeon hole yourself to cab-centric visits. How long of a trip do you plan to take?

2-3 is good per day. I wouldn't want to do 3 every day though.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites for convenience in Napa.

Most places require reservations so you have to plan ahead somewhat. Our general itinerary is below:

Arrival Day 1- Domaine Carneros / Boon Fly Cafe
Day 2 - Wine Train / Cordeiros
Day 3 - Used a reserved driver for 3+ places - Elizabeth Spence / Prisoner / Oakville Grocery / Far Niente / Chandon
Day 4 - Relaxed around town
Day 5 - Used our Uber Driver who did tours for 1/2 cost of Day 3. Nickel / Frank Family / Castello di Armorosa / Gotts Roadside / Bottega


End of the day you cannot go wrong, but plan on spending $$$$

If you have Marriott or Hyatt points you can stay at the Hotel Trio Healdsburg (Marriott) Alila Napa (Hyatt) and a few others. Hotel Trio was very nice and the Alila is next level.

#1 Recommendation for Sonoma: Thompson31Fifty. Aggie owned, they literally pour you wine on the back porch of their house over looking the vineyards next to the Russian river. Email them to set up a tasting, Mike too great care of my Fianc when we were there a few weeks ago. Best Chardonnay we ever have had! Mike and Valerie Thompson both grew up in College Station, so it was really cool talking to them about how things have changed. Looked up and realized we were there for 3.5 hours! (Picture #1 is the view)


Other Sonoma Recs:
- Merry Edwards. Really good Pinots and unique experience with maps and wine education rolled into it.

- Balletto: Found out that when we were there one of the Tasting Room Managers is an Aggie. They have good wine at reasonable prices, but nothing 'blow your mind good'. This was our first stop and a good baseline to get into wine country.

- Mayo Family Reserve Room: This is a wine and food pairing for ~$80/pp. It was the best meal we had during the trip. Chef John was a fantastic host and we will do this again next time we are in Sonoma.


Napa recommendations:

- Buehler Vineyards: Great Cab at a great price. They are towards the base of Howell Mountain, so you're getting Howell Mountain fruit without the exorbitant price. Their most expensive Cab is like 60 bucks and easily drinks at twice the price. Family owned and really authentic experience. Got engaged here and as a repeat customer and they really took great care of us! We will actually probably be using their wine for our wedding because it is priced so well and such high quality. (Picture #2 is the view on their property where I proposed)

- Paloma on Spring Mountain: Best Merlot and another great value. Owner Sheldon won wine spectator wine of the year in 2001 for his Merlot. Spring Mountain Merlot is definitely a unique style of wine. Really authentic experience for a great price. Sheldon said that he didn't even charge for tastings until he had to start this year, and where else are you going to have someone start your $35 tasting off by pouring a 2013 wine? The view is killer, I'll see if I can update post with some pictures later. He also keeps all of his wine prices steady so we walked out with a 2014 Merlot for 72 bucks. (Picture #4 is the view from the deck of Sheldon's house/tasting room. He has a dozen hummingbird feeders and there were about 100 birds zipping around while we were there. It was really cool.)

- Pride Mountain Vineyards: Great tour and tasting, the wine is fantastic. Mike Thompson (listed above) actually knew the winemaker here and called ahead for us, they ended up rolling out the red carpet. Really great experience and at a reasonable price considering a lot of Napa is $100/tasting these days. We did the $60 tour and tasting and don't regret it at all.

- Beaulieu: This was some powerhouse cab. We stopped on a whim and they were very nice and accommodating. They let you try their Georges Latour cab on the tasting which is their flagship and it was amazing.

- Keenan: They have a great variety and pour 9-10 wines during your tasting. All of what we tried were great and we thought it was a good value.

- Krupp Brothers: You can visit their tasting room by the oxbow market. It is a different vibe but they pour some fantastic wines. Tastings are a little pricy but if you take two bottles the waive a tasting fee, and they are very generous with their pours. They also pour their $250 cab on the tasting which is a neat treat.

- Castello Di Amorosa: Go here for the tour, not the wine. It is more of a touristy vibe, but the castle is genuinely cool. Owner actually brought stone and masons from italy to build the castle in the old style. We also really loved their dessert gewrztraminer. (Picture #3 is from the top of the tower that you can climb up to after your tour)

Been a few years since our last visit, but we always try to stay at Petit Logis when we go. Can't beat the location, walking distance from all the restaurants in Yountville and like 10 steps from Bouchon Bakery for coffee & pastries every morning.

Wow, these are all great recommendations! Thank y'all very much

We plan on going for 4, maybe 5 days, but with a travel day on the each side of the trip so probably two full days for wine tasting.

I know my Father-in-Law can't even drink white wine because he thinks it is too sweet, but I think we might check out some other, non-Cab venues.

One other thing to consider:

I know you said you plan to catch a Giants game; if you want to save some extra time on one of your travel days, AA has a once-daily direct flight from DFW to STS (Santa Rosa). It is probably more expensive than flying to SFO depending on your travel dates, but might be worth looking into. If you are able to fly into SFO and out of STS, it would save you the drive back to the SFO airport the last day and you could still catch your game on the first day you get into town. You might also pay a premium for a 1-way car rental, but it might be something to consider.

We flew into Sacramento from DFW and back to DFW from Santa Rosa. We really enjoyed having the whole morning on our last day being able to spend some more time in Sonoma rather than having to get up early to drive all the way back to Sacramento. My company discount on rental cars didn't change the price as a 1-way and I got the STS-DFW ticket on sale, so it didn't really affect the price for us.

Three things I've learned while planning a trip to Napa:

1) You definitely need the Tock app. Almost all the wineries and most of the restaurants use it (rather than Open Table) for reservations.

2) Lots of places require you to pay in advance.

3) You can spend A LOT of money doing tastings.

rwhitlock3 said:

---

I know my Father-in-Law can't even drink white wine because he thinks it is too sweet, but I think we might check out some other, non-Cab venues.

---

Hm, wonder if he means too fruity and not too sweet. What white wines has he ever tried out with you?

I am confident that there is Chardonnay out there for everyone. It is a true chameleon and can be grown and made into so many styles of wine. It runs the gammit from acidic, enamel-stripping, puckery, bright, light, dry,...to bold, fruity, sweet/vanilla-y/oakey, buttery, and everything in between.

I have a buddy who used to scoff at the idea of any Chardonnay, but now he loves the stuff. It all started with one random Chardonnay from Three Sticks in Sonoma. It opened his whole wine world up.

Excellent recommendation. STS is a freaking breeze to fly out of.

Great mentions on the reservations. Once Covid rolled around and tasting rooms closed for a while, when they opened back up they were pretty much forced to reservation only to abide by limited traffic rules for a bit. What the industry found out, or rather it was already known but became even more apparent, was that when people make reservations to a place and you are better able to personally serve them, they end up spending more $/customer in wine, clubs, food, etc.

Last I read, Napa tastings averaged close to $90/person and Sonoma roughly half of that. There's a lot baked into why this discrepancy and why the tastings are close to $100/person now. Napa cabs are generally just more expensive is one thing. Another thing is that wineries are starting to charge more and offer only "enhanced" tastings, rather than charging less for a belly-up-to-the-bar model. Again it has to do with spend per customer, and the spend per customer going up the more private/personal/unique/exclusive you can be with them. The tasting room can spend less on labor and cater to fewer people while still maintaining high volume of sales.

If you like Cabernets go to Bennet Lane in the north Napa, with grapes grown just under the extinct volcano the soil is great for flavorful cabs.

Chipotlemonger said:

---

Napa tastings averaged close to $90/person

---

Great post. I would agree with the figure you quoted ... I've been doing a lot of research/making reservations for an upcoming trip and that $100 mark is definitely the norm.

We were able to get a couple of tastings at the $60-$75 a person level but they are basic ones, and those same wineries also offer far more expensive reservations.

Anyone have suggestions for a downtown Napa tasting room or wine bar? Somewhere we can go after the wineries are closed??

I saw someone post about a priority wine pass that would get you severely reduced rates. I don't think it applies to all wineries, but does include 75ish. Does anyone have any experience with this? Not really stoked about paying $100/wine tasting if I am gonna do 5-6 wine tastings while I am there.

Or would it be better to go to a tasting room?

https://prioritywinepass.com/pricing/

EclipseAg said:

---

Anyone have suggestions for a downtown Napa tasting room or wine bar? Somewhere we can go after the wineries are closed??

---

Cadet Wine & Beer Bar

If you sprinkle in Sonoma and are selective about where you go in Napa, you can get the average price/tasting down.

I looked at the details by winery of that thing you posted. Unless you only go to wineries on that pass and can plan it around the specific dates, I don't think I would do that. Too many of the items may seem like a deal but really aren't. For example:

• "Frogs Leap (Rutherford): Priority Wine Pass member and guest receive an "extra splash" with prior reservation ($10 Value) Known for: Merlot, Zin, Petite Sirah, Red blends, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay, Rose"
• I guarantee you if you have a good group, a good host, and visit a place like Frogs Leap, they're already going to give you an "extra splash" above what's on the tasting menu upon arrival and/or they will offer you a revisit of any of the wines you try while there.

That being said, there are a **** ton of wineries on there. I would just worry about the logistics and personally wouldn't want to be beholden to any of the lists. In the end of it, you'll probably spend the same if not more. A lot of those deals are given only on bottle purchases. A lot of times you can get comped tastings at wineries that you really like if you buy enough bottles anyways. So rather than feeling forced to buy 3ish bottles from any one place to get a deal on the pass, you may buy 0,1,2,12 from 4 different wineries you visit ranked from least favorite to favorite.

All in all I guess I could sum it up that in my opinion that pass is merely extra marketing for the participating wineries to try and get people through the door.

Ok, good to know! Thank you!

He definitely thinks it is too sweet. Maybe a dryer type of chardonnay would be good?

EclipseAg said:

---

Chipotlemonger said:

---

Napa tastings averaged close to $90/person

---

Great post. I would agree with the figure you quoted ... I've been doing a lot of research/making reservations for an upcoming trip and that $100 mark is definitely the norm.

We were able to get a couple of tastings at the $60-$75 a person level but they are basic ones, and those same wineries also offer far more expensive reservations.

---

This post made me go look to the most recent numbers, from the 2022 DTC survey through SVB:

Napa
Standard: $81
Reserve: $128

Sonoma
Standard: $38
Reserve: $72

rwhitlock3 said:

---

He definitely thinks it is too sweet. Maybe a dryer type of chardonnay would be good?

---

To me this means he hasn't tried enough or is just set in his ways, stubbornly.

Ok, good to know! So we should be able to do a mix of 75% Sonoma and 25% Napa for a reasonable price (under $300/person total for 5-6 places). What is the difference between Standard and Reserve?

rwhitlock3 said:

---

Ok, good to know! So we should be able to do a mix of 75% Sonoma and 25% Napa for a reasonable price (under $300/person total for 5-6 places). What is the difference between Standard and Reserve?

---

That is just the way that they split the tiers by name in the annual report. Different wineries will have different tasting options and a different amount of options, and will name them their own way.

In each format you'll probably receive similar amounts of wine, generally. Maybe 1, mayyyybe 2, more wines in the higher tier tasting. But the real difference is that you'll be trying different categories of wines in both.

One example, winery in Dry Creek. $35/person to try 5 wines. 4 of the 5 are larger area blends (e.g. Sonoma County Pinot Noir) and you ge tto try 1 single vineyard bottling. They also offer a $50/person tasting. 4 or 5 of the 5 are single vineyard wines. In both cases you're greeted with a splash of their rose or whatever white they have out at the time.

Tangent, but it's been several years since I've been to Napa, used to go annually. Do the smaller places like Realm, etc. charge tasting fees now if you're a normal buyer? I feel like we didn't pay tasting fees at 75% of the places we'd frequent....

htxag09 said:

---

Tangent, but it's been several years since I've been to Napa, used to go annually. Do the smaller places like Realm, etc. charge tasting fees now if you're a normal buyer? I feel like we didn't pay tasting fees at 75% of the places we'd frequent....

---

That's a great question. I am not sure! I'm not enough of a purchaser of any one high end winery directly to warrant that treatment. I'm sure nothing has changed there though.

Just got back and a couple $50 tastings in the Yountville area that were awesome and they waive the fee if you buy enough wine, neither are overly pricey:

Elyse/2100 Hoffman Wines - will likely be inside on a couch hanging out with the pourer 1 on 1
https://www.elysewinery.com/visit/

Goose Cross - outside, great view of vineyards
https://goosecross.com/visit/

Our favorite stop of the trip was doing the tasting menu at B Cellars for lunch, get a tour, tasted probably 8 wines, including some from the barrel that was awesome and a paired lunch that was really, really good. It's $125/pp but completely worth it for the quality of the wine and food.

B Cellars Oakville Trek Tasting

If you're a wine club member definitely not. A lot of places will waive if you purchase enough while there. If you are just on the allocation list and buy, I don't know I'm not that big of a spender but I would guess they waive.

Krupp Brothers Tasting Room by Oxbow. They're open late and have great wine.

We got the priority wine pass for this last trip. It paid for itself at the first winery we went to (Balletto) since it gave free tastings there. After that we tried using it at one or two places and results were mixed. If you plan your trip around specifically then wineries on the pass it can be a pretty good deal. Otherwise it felt to us more like we would have to skip ones we really wanted to go to that weren't on the pass just to try to get a better deal. There's some good ones on the pass though!

Gundlach Bundschu Winery close to Sonoma.

I'll second Goosecross.

Gundlach Bundschu Winery was my favorite one near Sonoma for sure. Tons of history and beautiful mountainside tour.