Napa valley wine tours

[[G]h0s'][']

Anyone recommend a good tour package or bed and breakfast for Napa Valley? The GF & I want to check it out this november. The plan is for a 2 day stay, rent a car, check out some wineries & resturaunts. If anyone has been there, can you give any advice or suggestions? Thanks.

-Mel

[MrKrispy]

the places with the best views have the worst wine! (Sterling)

Are you going Friday and Saturday?

[phishphood]

Mel, you just looking for the best winery in the area? I can ask my dad about it, he works at one.

[[G]h0s'][']

That would be great, Phish, any insight would help. I've been online checkin out some hotel reviews as well. MrKrispy, I'll probably only stay 1 night which would be friday. I'll be planning to take her to Julian for some horseback riding on the day before. :)

-Mel

[phishphood]

helluva drive after a day at Julian, unless you're flying (which you probably are?)

[[G]h0s'][']

Yeah, definately goin to fly. Some nice rates over at southwest airlines, considering it's almost last minute.

[kchoi9172]

If you are interested in reds I would recommend Pride Mountain Vineyards in St. Helena. 707.963.4949. You will need to make an appointment (maybe a week in advance) and the drive up the windy road is quite nice. When you are there ask the wine servers which other winery is serving their best wine at reasonable prices that day. They usually know the inside track on other wineries around them. If you are interested in just tasting wines from several wine maker in Napa and not interested in a tour try the Napa Wine Company.

[MrKrispy]

For a few that are close together:

Cakebread has outstanding wines, and one of the very few Chardonnays I like.
Close by is St. Supery, they have good wines a little more affordable, and the chicks working there are usally fun. BV is also around there, lots of different wines to choose from.

Going north there are several clusters of wineries.
You should really try to make it to Sterling. They have awesome property, you ride a tram up to the building, and they have a self-guided tour of the facility. They have stops along the way to hand out wine. I don't like most of their wines, but it is a nice place to go see.

Most wineries close around 5 so plan accordingly. If you get to a place that has a ton of people at the counter, just go to the next winery because it is probably close. (That only happened to us once, and we went on a Friday).

Picnicing is somehow illegal in Napa, so you can't bring food to 95% of the wineries. Even worse, most of the wineries don't have cafes or restaurants, so don't expect to eat at any.

[[G]h0s'][']

Awesome, guys, thx for the advice. Plane is taking off this friday. :)