Napa Valley

[journeyman713]

Anyone that's been to the Napa Valley, got any great places to recommend for a visit?
In a few weeks, the wife and I are headed there for some R&R.
So far, we got only one day reserved for a wine tours, and a day in San Fran.
Flying into Sacramento and as luck would have it, it's just outside the worlds only KUIU showroom. She's going to have to take one for the team! Maybe a couple more wineries wouldn't hurt.

 

[wind gypsy]

I worked out there for a while, best thing winery related I did was a segway tour. They went over the history of the area and segways are classified similarly to wheelchairs so you cant get a DUI on them like you can a bicycle

 

[Antarctica]

I lived (on a boat) in Napa for several years, and worked in Santa Rosa. If you're into the wine thing, I can't help you - to me its just an overgrown tourist trap.

FWIW, I'd rent a car and hit the coast. Run up to Santa Rosa, stop at Armstrong Woods, drive out the the coast via Jenner and head North or South. South will take you down to Point Reyes (amazing to see herds of Tule elk running around next to the ocean), Tomales bay, and down to Marin etc. North will take you to Point Arena. Plenty of places to see along the way if you like a beautifu drive.

California sucks, but the Marin and Sonoma coast line is still on of the most beautiful places on the planet, And I've seen a bit of the planet.

 

[ZDR]

My wife and I were visiting friends in California last fall and they took us to Napa and we had a great time. Sure it is touristy but the wineries are great.
We did tastings at Etude (they sell a great brandy thats aged 40yrs...) and also at B cellars. You wont see either advertised but they really were great. Not snobby or pretentious at all. We knew nothing about wine and both places really went out of the way to explain stuff. Was really worth the time...

 

[browning2480]

My wife and I have done one tour up there and just picked a winery that looked cool. It was back inside a cave. There are tours that go all over and will even pick you up from your hotel.

Once piece of advice for SF, stay out of the downtown area. Crazy people everywhere yelling, screaming and needles laying all over the sidewalks. The outside of the city are nice so stick to the edges. Take a tour of the Baseball stadium. I have started doing that in every city I can. Even if you don't like baseball, it is a cool experiance with amazing views. There is a little town across the Golden Gate Bridge called Salsolito or something like that. We had lunch there and could have done that everyday. Laid back and right on the bay. Alcatraz is another cool thing to do, but better buy tickets now. It will book up weeks in advance. Watch a sunset on the beach.

 

[Beendare]

So many good tours and the Restaurants are off the chart. Lots of farm to table stuff. The main drag hwy 12 will get pretty busy on a Saturday in spring/summer [[it was 68 deg clear skies here last weekend- beautiful] but the Silverado Trail or the fringes aren't bad.

If you like good cabs; Pine Ridge, Stags Leap, Hess and Silverado are good. I would pick the ones that you have a preference for. You might want to cluster them as you won't have time to go from one end to the other. Hess for example is way up on the hill but the other 3 I mentioned are clustered in Silverado Trail. Some of these have private tours that are worth it.

Restaurant wise there are a couple once in a lifetime spots like The French Laundry, Mustards but typically they reserve a month in advance. I like Rutherford Grill and we make the one hour drive up there a few times a year [first come first serve] so if you hit them not at prime time- you get in. [Order the corn bread]

There is literally so many 5 star restaurants....I can't even think of them all.

__

 

[bitbckt]

Napa is more adult Disneyland than working farm Sonoma - but I'm pretty biased. Driving down Hwy 128 you'll see what I mean. You can pull in almost anywhere and get decent wine, though. It's hard to make bad wine around here.

Go to Prager Portworks in St. Helena. Family owned and operated by some great folks, fantastic port and wine.

If you tire of over-oaked Cabs and buttery Chardonnay, head down Hwy 12 and get some Pinot in the Carneros AVA.

As to the City, stopping in Sausalito on your way in isn't a bad idea at all. If you're passing through Marin around dinner time, stop at Buckeye Roadhouse. With only a day in SF, it's tough to give specific advice without knowing what you like to do - there's a lot here.

 

[jfs82]

I lived (on a boat) in Napa for several years, and worked in Santa Rosa. If you're into the wine thing, I can't help you - to me its just an overgrown tourist trap.

FWIW, I'd rent a car and hit the coast. Run up to Santa Rosa, stop at Armstrong Woods, drive out the the coast via Jenner and head North or South. South will take you down to Point Reyes (amazing to see herds of Tule elk running around next to the ocean), Tomales bay, and down to Marin etc. North will take you to Point Arena. Plenty of places to see along the way if you like a beautifu drive.

California sucks, but the Marin and Sonoma coast line is still on of the most beautiful places on the planet, And I've seen a bit of the planet.

This is what I was going to say, spend a day running out to point reyes natl seashore to check out the elk and the sea lions below the cliffs. Also, maybe do some rock fish/ling cod fishing.

 

[Huntindog45]

Napa itself is kind of a big tourist trap. the better wineries are north. the standard local joke is you go to Napa for autoparts..you go to sonoma for wine. There is a pretty good waterfowl hunting store located right next to KUIU...it is worth the visit too if you are into bird hunting.

ignore the hype on crazy hype you hear about SF...usually from people who have never been out of the county they were born in but feel the need to bash the place. It is a beautiful city with amazing food. sure it is expensive and kind of tough to navigate at first but it really is an amazing place. I spend a lot of time there and I run into more needles and crazy ass people in the small town i live and work in than i see there....ok maybe not more crazy people, SF does have its collection of colorful personalities...just keep walking and you are fine.
it was mentioned above but I agree...head to the coast as much as you can. Point Arena, Jenner, Point Reyes, etc. It is spectacular. It really is some of the most beautiful country we have.

One thing that is kind of fun, and outside of the normal but since you will drive right by it you should know about it. the Jelly Belly factory. actually a pretty damn cool tour. not kidding.

 

[Huntindog45]

....also....it is the middle of commercial crab season and the prices seem pretty good this year. get as much dungeness crab as you can .... as far as I am concerned it is better than Alaskan king crab.

 

[Milestone522]

A tip for San Francisco. Park your rental in Marin county in San Anselmo and take the ferry to the city. SF has over 300 auto burglaries a day and the tourist cars are prime picking. Additionally, the DA they just elected is a liberal douche who has got rid of bail and is allowing the crooks to run rampant around the city. This is not rumor or opinion, I have friends at SFPD and the crime there is a nightmare, not reported on the news to avoid hurting the tourism. Also I just retired as a Detective from 25+ years across the bay at another crime ridden city so some of us are more in the know than the general public of what is really going on there. If you are the victim of a crime there you will receive zero justice. Stay around Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, Chrissy Field, Fort Point, the GG bridge, etc. and you should be fine. SF is a beautiful place and there is a ton to see and do there, but right now the juice is not worth the squeeze on running all over town when unfamiliar with the city.

As for Napa, I was born and raised there, but will be moving from here to Montana next month or two. I would recommend Napa Valley Bistro downtown for a meal. All the places there are nice but expensive. Up Valley try Nichelini Winery, been there over 100 years. Also if you want to see some of the old school wineries try BV or Beringer. Great but spendy wine, Joseph Phelps. The wine train is worth the money for a trip up valley and back in a 1930s train with a nice meal and wine. Rutherford Grill is a good place to eat up valley, as well as the Oxbow in Napa.

Not sure where you are staying in Napa but you can take a day drive from here, up the Napa Valley into Sonoma county and get on the 101 in Geyserville, got north to Hopland (blue bird cafe) for breakfast. Then head north to Eureka and drive thru the Avenue of the Giants and see the giant Redwoods. Eat a late lunch in Eureka or Fortuna and head back to Napa or where ever you are staying having dinner in Santa Rosa or Sonoma on the way back. You can leave at 8am and be home by 10pm on that day trip.

For Sonoma meals look at Reel and Brand, Kenwood look at Tips Roadside. I will PM my number if you have any other questions

 

[Jlong]

Never been there. One day will be great!

 

[jolemons]

My favorite Zin is Chase Cellar in St Helena. Our favorite thing to do is buy groceries and picnic while touring the vineyards. Most will be friendly to this if you buy a glass or bottle while there.

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[Hhardrockminer]

Worked on the Tunnel under Chinatown and the city itself is really neat but the crazies make for a laugh.
A little burger joint off of four I think(Good and Juicey??) great burger but even better homemade pickles.
It's a walking town, park and walk anywhere you dare, Nice visit but wouldn't let my dog live there.

 

[boom]

Anyone that's been to the Napa Valley, got any great places to recommend for a visit?
In a few weeks, the wife and I are headed there for some R&R.
So far, we got only one day reserved for a wine tours, and a day in San Fran.
Flying into Sacramento and as luck would have it, it's just outside the worlds only KUIU showroom. She's going to have to take one for the team! Maybe a couple more wineries wouldn't hurt.

you like Beer?

over the hill in Sonoma Wine country. we have BEER! i live here. we have Russian River Brewery, Laguinitas, etc. it is pretty wild. lots of smaller breweries that hit it out of the park. too bad you missed the Pliny the Younger annual fiasco at Russian river. they let us buy two bottle each.

 

[journeyman713]

WOW! Great responses!
Thanks so much, suddenly 4 days doesn't seem long enough.
Staying at Candlelight Inn in Napa. Not a total stranger to the area, my Dad used to live on the Bay in Alameda, been to the Warf a few times, but it's been a while. Looking forward to the return.
Never been north of Frisco though. Great tip on seeing the coast, planning on making that part of the San Fran day.
The wife and I will be cross checking your recommendations to the wine tour itinerary to make the most of it!

 

[brushape]

I’ve grown up right in Sonoma and have been working in sf for a while. I recommend the Healdsburg and dry creek valley 100x over Napa for wine tasting and good food. Much less touristy and less people. There are great breweries all around also if your into beer check out Russian River, lagunitas, henhouse, bear republic. While your in dry creek wine tasting visit the fish hatchery and see the steelhead spawning right now.
The redwoods are a cool thing to check out being the tallest trees on earth and I highly recommend going to Armstrong woods over Muir Woods which is the more popular one. A day along the coast from Jenner down south to pt Reyes or Stinson beach would not be wasted there are great oyster farms and bars all along tomales bay. Great hiking at pt Reyes including the herd of elk at tomales point which should be dropping any day now . Let me know if you have any other questions I’m definitly open to help out


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[Alchemy]

Spent 2 days in San Francisco with my wife last year as she was at a work conference downtown. I tried hard to like it and we did all the normal tourist things, wish I knew someone who could tell me where to go and what to avoid. Beautiful buildings/parks/ocean but my lord does that town have a drug/homeless problem. Dodging poop on the sidewalk then eating at an overpriced restaurant is not my idea of a vacation. With that said local knowledge like above would have probably changed my opinion, there was defiantly a lot to do and see just didn't leave a positive impact on us....

 

[Antarctica]

WOW! Great responses!
Thanks so much, suddenly 4 days doesn't seem long enough.
Staying at Candlelight Inn in Napa. Not a total stranger to the area, my Dad used to live on the Bay in Alameda, been to the Warf a few times, but it's been a while. Looking forward to the return.
Never been north of Frisco though. Great tip on seeing the coast, planning on making that part of the San Fran day.
The wife and I will be cross checking your recommendations to the wine tour itinerary to make the most of it!

If you're trying to do the coast and the city in a single day, you're trying to stuff in too much. Pick one or the other.

The homeless issue and turds and needles everywhere are no joke (especially near the convention center and in the train stations). Each store down in that shithole has a guy come out in the AM to wash the piss and turds away from it. I'd take redwoods, seals, whales and beautiful uncrowded beaches over turds and bums anyday. Yes, I'm biased. I hate going to that city.

I'll never forget seeing a line of 20 people outside starbucks in the AM, each carefully navigating a massive pile of crap that was stratigically dumped in front of the door the night before. Probably by the same guy who was sleeping two feet from it. F that place - gimme some fresh air and some ocean breeze man!

 

[bitbckt]

Show us on the doll where the big, mean city touched you.