Wine Country beckons to Bay Areans looking for a nearby getaway. But if you are like
most visitors to Grapeland, your weekend will have you lined up elbow-to-elbow at well-traveled winery tasting rooms, browsing and buying grape-shaped trinkets and eating at
the same fancy Wine Country restaurants as the couple that muscled by you at the bar
at the last tasting room you visited that day.
The solution is to get off the beaten Wine Country path and experience the Wine
Country less traveled. Here are my top 10 ways to create a unique wine country
experience.
1. Find the Less Traveled Wine Valley -- Anderson Valley
Located about 100 miles north of San Francisco in Mendocino County between
Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast, Anderson Valley is an isolated, bucolic,
narrow wine region that has a host of tasting rooms that aren't crowded and
deliver some of the finest Pinot Noir and delicate white varietals in the land.
Anderson Valley is strewn with small B&B's, small hamlets and, most important,
a lack of crowds.
2. The City of Napa isn't for Passing By Anymore
Once upon a time, the city of Napa, located at the south end of Napa Valley,
was bypassed by wine lovers -- and for good reason. A shoddy downtown with
an old Travel Lodge and boarded up storefronts didn't exactly beckon. Today
downtown Napa has been renovated and is strewn with great new restaurants
that have it challenging Yountville further up-valley as the culinary destination of
foodies-in-the-know.
3. Make An Appointment
The vast majority of wineries in Napa Valley are not open to walk-up visitors,
but rather, by law, require an appointment to visit. Make the appointment.
These smaller tasting rooms, most of them off of the well-traveled Highway 29,
are always less crowded, provide highly personalized attention, aren't strewn
with trinkets and allow you to leisurely sip your way through generally very high
quality wines.
4. Take The Backroad
Too many Wine Country visitors never get off the main drags wine roads in
Napa and Sonoma. Yet, for those who love a leisurely drive will find numerous
beautiful back roads across Wine Country. Get out Google Maps and find Dry
Creek Road in Napa's western hills, Warm Springs Road in Sonoma Valley, the
Trinity Road/Oakville Grade reaching between Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley,
or Lawndale Road in Sonoma Valley.
5. Go Mountain Climbing
They wouldn't be called "valleys" if there weren't mountains and hills
surrounding them and few Wine Country visitors take the time to climb
the mountains. In Napa Valley spend a day on Howell Mountain or Spring
Mountain or Mount Veeder or Atlas Peak. Poised within these mountain regions
overlooking Napa Valley are wineries that house less crowds and often provide
spectacular views.
6. Spare the Wine Club and hit the Golf Club
When the boys think about their annual golf getaway it's usually Vegas or the
Southwest that attract Bay Area golfers, but Wine Country is closer and has
some great courses. In the Napa region there's the Silverado Golf and Country
Club with a championship course recently redesigned by Johnny Miller. There's
Eagle Vines where you can samples grapes on the vines while you look for your
errant tee shot. The Sonoma Country Club, connected with Sonoma Mission Inn
in Sonoma, was the longtime home for the Senior Tour's Charles Schwab Cup.
7. Village Hopping in West Sonoma
Most visitors to Sonoma Wine Country will gather around Sonoma Plaza and the
Healdsburg Square. Take a day and get outta town and visit the tiny and quaint
villages and hamlets that dot the narrow roads that lead to the Sonoma Coast.
Occidental, Valley Ford, Freestone, and Duncan Mills are a selection of the tiny
towns that you'll find if you don't blink as your drive by.
8. Less Is More: The Sonoma Co-Op Tasting Room Tour
How about this? Stop at three tasting rooms and get access to 22 wineries. Within
ten minutes of each other in the town of Sonoma are three great co-op winery
tasting rooms where you can sample the wines of 22 different producers. Spend
a day co-op tasting in Sonoma at Sonoma Enoteca, The Cellar Door and Eight
Street Wineries.
9. Sample the Napa Music Scene
Napa is not just for wine; it's for great performances too. Four outstanding
venues for music exist in Napa, providing an array of genres from classical and
Jazz to pop and rock. Before you head to Napa on your next getaway, check out
who will be performing at the Napa Valley Opera House, Silos and the Uptown
Theater in the town of Napa and the Lincoln Theater up valley in Yountville.
These four venues often attract well-known musicians and bands the average
Napa Valley visitor never knew were in their midst.
10. Chiles Valley--The Ultimate Off The Beaten Path Napa Destination
There's no one visiting the Chiles Valley except you and a few other very intrepid
wine lovers. And that's why we love it. Located in the hills east of Napa Valley
and accessed via Sage Canyon Road/Highway 128, Chiles Valley is a narrow, 8-mile long valley hidden in the mountains. A number of stellar wineries including
Red and Green Vineyard, Volker Eisele Family Estate, Eagle and Rose Winery and
Nichelini Winery among others make this remote valley home. Call ahead for
reservations and be prepared to be happily isolated.
Tom Wark founder of Wark Communications, a wine indusry-focused
PR and Marketing firm founded in 1994. Since 2004 he has written the
award winning wine blog, "FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog," which was recently named "Best Overall Wine
Blog" at the 2011 Wine Blog Awards. He lives in Napa Valley with his wife Kathy
and their Italian Greyhound, Louis B. Shrimperton III.