Probably going to do Sonoma this year for wine tasting, and wondered what some of your favorite wineries were. I am not a connoseur -- just want to go to a cool place. Favor neat architecture or good art over good wine. Something like Clos Pegase or Hess Collection -- two which I liked. Any thoughts on Sonoma, or if not, even Napa, wineries. Recommendations for dinner in Sonoma if you have them. Me, the wife, and the two happy teens.
If you want architecture, look into a Beringer winery tour in St. Helena Also, nearby is the Culinary Institute of America - used to be the Christian Brothers winery http://www.ciachef.edu/california/default.asp
The Jordan property, which is by appointment, was fantastic. Pride Mountain was very, very out of the way, but the people couldn't have been nicer. Grgich Hills were also very friendly. V. Sattui was a fun, unpretentious place. Stag's Leap has some great wines as did the reserve room at B.V.
Sonoma: Preston Vineyards in Dry Creek (near Healdsburg). Good Zin. Go to Rodney Strong and get a bottle of the sold-only-at-the-winery Syrah. Gary Farrell is good for zin, too. Do NOT go to Ferrari-Carrano! The place is tacky and disgusting. Like going to the worst nouveau riche McMansion and having an awful gift store forced upon you. Blech. Complete trash.
Auto, I like the zin but I have a wife who only drinks the white stuff and two tee-totalling teenagers. Hence, looking for interesting, pretty cool. I went to some place on the South end of Napa (near Carneros area?) that had this really cool reflecting pool and some fountains. Very open (no trees) and modern. That is kind of what I am looking for. Crap. I wish my mind wasn't going. I would remember the name. Oh yeah, maybe I was drinking too much when I was there.
If you want the carnival thing, go to Sterling Vineyards in Napa. They have a gondola/skyride thing to the top and views over the whole valley. But go early, it gets packed.
My wife and I liked the Benziger tour quite a bit and they do a nice job explaining biodynamic growing and winemaking, if you're into that kind of thing. It's in the northern Sonoma Valley. We ate at someplace in Sonoma called the something and fig. Just looked, the Girl and Fig. Nice outdoor covered porch, good aps/cheese course/wine flights. The entrees were meh.
"the girl and the fig" -- that's the only place in downtown Sonoma which I've been to. It is good. We usually go up to Healdsburg which is quite some distance from southern Sonoma county and the town of Sonoma.
http://www.chandon.com/ Domaine Chandon in Yountville (Napa) has interesting champagne making tours, but they do charge.
Yeh, it's too popular and the tasting room was like a zoo when I went. The view from the top of the gondola is spectacular though. I used to like Glen Ellen winery but they got taken over a while back (by Beringer?) and the last time I went the staff were snotty. I love the nearby Jack London museum/house ruins - well worth a visit. I'm going to be in Healdsburg on Sat so I'll try and go to the Preston Vineyards that you recommended.
Preston is fantastic but it's way at the end of a road in Dry Creek Valley, not super close to town, but worth the drive. Another winery which is nearby is Yoakim Bridge -- my wife is in the wine club there. Preston is great place for a picnic, and if you're there on Sunday, they have a guy who sells a table wine by the jug, it was $25 for 3 liters (4 bottles), I found it very tasty and great for parties. He was only there on Sundays in the summer, but that was a couple of years ago -- just checked their website and he is still there on Sundays, so you should get a jug if you're there. Good stuff.
Ditto as to Gary Farrell.....great little winery and easy to walk to from my aunt and uncle's house..... Also, not sure if it's still there but Roshambo was a cool little boutique-ish winery. When I was there they had a very good pinot and a good merlot (apologies to Mr. Giamatti).
Roshambo is fun. They usually host some kind of weird art exhibit in the tasting room so if you're into that kind of stuff, stop by. And the wine is good too.
We enjoyed the visit to Ravenswood. It was very laid-back, in contrast to our visit to Cakebread Cellars, which seemed like a tourist trap.
Bump. Didn't make it last year. Too much skinny dipping and general farting around in West Marin. Anyone with any other interesting places they want to recommend. The ones I remember that I thought were cool, mostly for just the ambiance rather than the wine, were Clos Pegase way up near Calistoga. Hess Collection way the hell up the side of the hill, and Artesa on the SW side of Napa.
Charles Krug is nice. Run by Peter, the "other" less famous Mondavi, who's a much better vintner than his brother Robert.
Trefethen in Napa is very nice. The grounds are beautiful, the staff is extremely friendly, and the wine exquisite. It's a little out of the way though.