TNT - 4 Days in SF, Napa, & the Valley

Maybe some people are a bit sensitive : ) How about look at the positives.....these people above are excited to go to the city and I peronally loved it to no matter how you name it or what walk of life you come from. The city wont change...nor will some peoples way of thinking. Go.. Live life peps...

Nice Review!

I am traveling to Napa next week with 2 girl friends to celebrate our 50th birthdays. I have a lodging reservation in Calistoga that I recently read some poor reviews on, so I am looking for recommendations in the Calistoga area for lodging and spa treatments. We don't want to spend a fortune on the lodging but would like to stay somewhere nice. Any suggestions?

Looking for nice accomodations for Napa Valley, possibly B&B for 3 or 4 days. Never been to Napa so I am green to its surroundings. Any thought as to where to go?

Sharon S - sorry I'm a bit late on replying as I've been traveling a bunch - not sure if you've already taken your trip or not. In any case my expertise is Napa but I do live in Sonoma. Parts of Sonoma tend to be less visited and less touristy especially compared to the main wine strip of Highway 29 in Napa. There are some great wineries in the alexander and dry creek valleys. If you want to get a taste of Napa without visiting Napa you can visit Silver Oak and Twomey, both located in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma, neither of which require recommendations.

Two very nice wineries in Dry Creek of Sonoma are Preston and Bella, again neither require appointments.

Appointment only wineries of course require that you make an appointment. Depending on the winery, some are "walk in appointment only" and the serious app only ones def will want you to call ahead of time - several days up to several weeks depending on the winery. This time of year is less busy in general so usually you can get in if you call within a week.

Sonoma tends to be lower key than Napa (in general), for the most part has less International recognition, and is more spread out compared to Napa which is situated along a well defined geographical valley. The wines are excellent in both counties :)

Hope this helps

David Thompson

Alybuggs,

No problem, just caught your post here 4 days ago. I've been to almost 400 Napa wineries so its tough to condense!! You mentioned liking Red Wine - theres certainly no shortage of that in Napa! A week definitely gives you some time to have fun :)

Here are just a few of my recommendations - if you need more, do a yahoo or google search for: Napa Wine Project and my site will come up. These are all appointment only wineries.

Spring Mountain is a beautiful less visited part of Napa than the valley floor.

Domain Charbay is awesome, they do have red wine but they also concentrate on ports and spirits

The best views in the Napa Valley as well as having beautiful grounds are from Kuleto Estate (variety of reds) and Constant Diamond Mountain (cab sav & cab franc).

Spottswood in St. Helena has a 1x week tour on Friday - unbelievable reserve Cabernet.

Quixote is worth visiting - syrahs and cab sav. Very nice tour and amazing eclectic winery.

Hendry winery has some of the most informative tours in the valley - def ask for George Hendry as he makes these tours.

Bourassa just south of Napa is the only winery I know of that combines a short tour of a cooperage (barrel making facility).

If you want another different experience, Delectus makes some good wines - they are located in a business park but have decorated the interior very nicely. Tell Elizabeth I mentioned their winery :)

These are just some of the wineries that stick out - I would be happy to help more with recommendations and or your trip if you contact me off list using the contact section on my website.

Best regards,

David Thompson

dt2003forsyy
I would love your help on winery suggestions. We're planning a trip in mid-march and staying in Napa for a week. We enjoy the smaller, family owned vineyards. We also prefer Red Wine. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

My boyfriend and I are going to "the City" for four days. We are staying in a Union Square hotel for a couple of nights, and then want to head to either Napa or Sonoma. We're not sure if we will stay one night or just make it a day trip. Winery recommendations would be terrific. Are reservations necessary? I've read this in some guide books. Napa or Sonoma? Is there much of a difference?

Ok, NO website listed this time. All I am trying to do is help people here. Quit removing my post.

I have personally visited over 350 wineries in the Napa Valley and would be happy to share my experiences or make any winery recommendations. I am very familiar with the Napa Valley and I enjoy sharing information.