Hello, this is my first time in a forum like this. I am planning my first trip to Napa Valley and was hoping to get some advice from as many of you as possible. My first question is where should I stay: Napa, Rutherford, St.Helena, etc. I have looked at silverado resort in napa, rancho caymus in rutherford, and hideaway cottages in calistoga. Any recommendations out there?

Aurora Cottages in Calistoga. A little far up the valley but nice people.

The valley starting in the south is Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Calistoga. Each has it's own particular feel based mostly on the size. St. Helena places you more central on the 29 corridor. Harvest Inn, El Bonito, Meadowwood, Auberge, Calistoga Ranch, Indian Springs, Inn at Carneros, are all good choices depending on what your looking for. Check www.vrbo.com for private property rentals if this might interest you. Also, www.beautiful-places.com If your interested in staying on the Sonoma side, as in town-Sonoma county takes in the town of Sonoma but the county includes many different wine appellations heading towards the coast etc..., then the El Dorado, Sonoma Mission Inn, Four Sisters Inn, MacArthur Place or Lodge at Sonoma might be worth checking along with Les Petite Maisons.

I have stayed at Silverado several times and it is a nice place. Check there website because they often have specials that are great deals (especially this time of year). The site is: http://www.silveradoresort.com

My favorite place to stay is actually in Healdsburg. It's called Honor Mansion and it has every amenity you can think of. Learn more about this bed and breakfast at: http://www.cheers2wine.com/honor-mansion.html

Have a great trip!
Steve

Thanks, Stephanie and Steve for the suggestions and will definitely look into them. Anyone else

Your welcome-
I do live in Healdsburg if you need help with any thoughts regarding that area. I did not get in to that since you only mentioned Napa as your desired.
s.

We just returned home from a trip to SF, Carmel, and Napa. On this trip to Napa, we stayed at the Villagio in Yountville which was very nice and a central location. Very good restaurants are very near by especially if you want high end. The concierge there was very helpful. Although we are also golfers, we preferred V to Silverado where we stayed on a previous trip. For wineries I suggest you make some appointments for some smaller wineries in advance as we enjoyed those the best. Swanson was terrific fun; Rudd was impressive, and Seavey was bucolic. The choices are endless, but our all-time favorite was the vineyard tour at Pride a couple of years ago. After visiting Pride on Spring Mountain you must visit Taylor's Refresher in St Helena which is fast food like no other. Have fun!

Stephanie, I would love to hear anything you have to say. We are going to be in the area for 6 days so we can definitely move around. I am waiting to hear from napa wine rentals about a house in St. Helena. It looks perfect. We have a baby who will be 8 months by then so a house seems to be a better fit than a hotel. The winery info is much appreciated mrbearbag and will definitely make appointments. Thinking about doing a bike tour with napa valley bike tours which will visit 4 wineries. Has anyone done these and are they worth the dough?

Hi-
Well, lets see here, if you check, just because this is easy for me, my web site, go to the wine country page there you will find two maps one "detailed sonoma county map the other detailed napa county map" these may help you find the flow for both vallies easily.
Napa has the two main roads which parallel. Riding on a bike tour with a child on the back? I could not recommend. The roads have very little shoulder here and lots of blind corners, in both counties. I actually consider them fairly dangerous and when you get with a tour group not everyone in the group tends to ride single file, simply experience speaking here, but it does create more danger.
Napa side: seems larger and grander in scale. Check out www.castellodiamorosa.com they are to open April 1. I had a private tour this week, this is beyond fun.

The Sonoma corridor (Hwy 12) Russian River appellation, and the Alexander Valley (Healdsburg) seem to be smaller in scale and there is yet a higher percentage of small family owned wineries. Because you must travel on small roads which traverse the whole area there is not a mass feeling of movement in the north to south direction making the trips on the backroads feel like your in a smaller valley space. Westside road, west dry creek road, knights valley (does connect Healdsburg to Calistoga) this road is gorgeous! Chalk Hill road etc...
There are two bike tour companies in Healdsburg. The town square is small so it gives town the sense of intimacy a little square can. The back streets to the square are full of victorian homes which make for a lovely walk in the evening after dinner in town. If you do stay within several blocks of the square walking all about is easy and fun, a stroller makes it ideal. There are 11+ tasting rooms right on the square, Tues nights live music for the whole town. This year their banning early seat set up (as in 500+ lawn chairs starting in the am)With the baby a house would be ideal (as a mom speaking) and H.burg has plenty of parks, candy store (voted best on the west coast by sunset mag)galleries and shops will be open late in the summer.
Haven't even started on the wineries yet but if you look at those detailed maps it will give you a good idea, then plug their web sites in. At some point living here you lose your common sense but you'll have a fantastic trip. Check these sites for good info.
http://www.russianrivertravel.com/
http://www.visitwineroad.com/index.htm
http://www.napavalley.com/
Let me know if you have specific questions.

B- check this link out.http://winodepot.invisionzone.com/index.php?s=ba081c1a3f389e4d9201f5d29ffa2bc1&showforum=15

More info then you'll ever need. I planned our trip last year and did all my research on WS and WD boards. Visits I highly recommend

Pride- bring a picnic basket and enjoy at the top of Spring Mountain
Trespass
Lewelling- both trespass and lewelling are unique one on one experiences with great folks and very good wine. They can also take up to half a day.
Etude
Larkmead
Shafer

Worth Trying-
Flora Springs- quick visit in the tasting room. You'll try a lot of pretty good wine.
Darioush
Frank Family
and many others

As for a place to stay, another vote for Villagio. We really liked Yountville and it's surrounded by great restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by bschandra1:
Stephanie, I would love to hear anything you have to say. We are going to be in the area for 6 days so we can definitely move around. I am waiting to hear from napa wine rentals about a house in St. Helena. It looks perfect. We have a baby who will be 8 months by then so a house seems to be a better fit than a hotel. The winery info is much appreciated mrbearbag and will definitely make appointments. Thinking about doing a bike tour with napa valley bike tours which will visit 4 wineries. Has anyone done these and are they worth the dough?

There is a new website for B&Bs in the Valley: www.bbinv.com which might help.

If you don't mind staying in Sonoma and the timing is right, the Lodge at Sonoma is running a great deal through May 25th.

From the lodge to Napa is only about 15-20 minutes drive.

OK-----an itty bitty suggestion. None of us ever get tired of visiting vineyards and tasting rooms in Napa and Sonoma, but when you go you'll see a lot of olive trees planted alongside and around grapevines. Let me suggest that you devote some time to visiting an olive grove and oil production facility. I found a visit and tasting at Round Pond in Napa exciting and fascinating. You must make arrangements in advance and do understand that there may be a charge for the tour which is usually waived if you order olive oil from them at the end. This added greatly to my understanding of the region.


Dick

I would actually second this wonderful idea. The olive groves in the two counties are beautiful and prolific. Check out the McEvoy Ranch, it is right outside of Petaluma:http://www.mcevoyranch.com/html/index.html

Also - DaVero in Healdsburg is a private estate ranch with a tasting room on the plaza. Private ranch tours can be arranged by appointmhttp://www.davero.com/davero-home.phpent.

Hi. I went to Napa for the first time back in September 2006 for harvest. I researched my trip for six months and pretty much all my research went out the window. I will give you some advice. Most of the wineries in Napa are on two main roads (HWY 29--starting in Carneros, as the Carneros HWY, and going all the way up to Calistoga--and the Silverado Trail, opposite of HWY 29). My advice to you--get a designated non-drinking driver and go up HWY 29 on the right for one day, then come down the next day. Same with the Silverado Trail. You'll get more bang for your buck, if you know what I mean. It's not easy to turn left on this road. Especially in the afternoon. If an accident occurs, watch out! You will be stuck in traffic for an hour. But all negativity aside, I visited some spectacular wineries. Here are some of my recommendations:

If you like sparkling wines: Domaine Carneros is a must! It's on the Carneros HWY before HWY 29 and it's beautiful and fun!! Also MUMM Napa was good. It's on the Silverado Trail.

If you like reds: Pride (up on Spring Mountain--make an appointment--it's beautiful, has highly rated reds and the only way you're going to be on their e-mail list to order wines in the future is to visit.), Peju Province (on HWY 29), Louis Martini (on HWY 29), Whitehall Lane (on HWY 29), Turnbull (on HWY 29), Chateau Montelena (in Calistoga--you must visit this place, they're making a Hollywood movie about soon!)

If you like reds and whites (please, by all means, visit Rombauer (on the Silverado Trail--they make some damn good Chardonnay and some great Zinfandels) and Artesa (in Carneros).

The rest of my trip took place in Sonoma, where I visited Sebastiani, Ravenswood, Simi, Rosenblum Cellars, Davis Family Vineyards and Camellia Cellars. All were exceptional...

here's my e-mail if you have any questions or want to see photos of the trip: savagegrace_77@yahoo.com

I am a true wine lover--studied for 8 years, want to be a cerified wine master. Going back next Spring.

quote:

Originally posted by bschandra1:
Thinking about doing a bike tour with napa valley bike tours which will visit 4 wineries. Has anyone done these and are they worth the dough?

Save your money on the bike tour, get your exercise in some other way. These tours just take you on Hwy 29 or Silverado Trail visiting mostly run of the mill wineries.

As cali wine mentioned in an earlier post, follow this link for some contact information you will need when arranging tasting appointments. Good luck.