Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sonoma

More Quirk and Less Cork

Admiral Haddock — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:12:31 -0800

Looking for off the beaten track destinations/activities in Sonoma/Napa (and/or Monterey). My GF and I will be in Northern California from October 9 until the 18th. We will surely spend a day or so in SF, and the last couple of days will be in Berkeley for a wedding. The rest is up for grabs. We will have a car.

Broadly speaking, we know we are more "Sonoma people" than "Napa people." All the same, while we lurve a tasty wine, neither of us is an oenophile and we don't intend to go crazy with wineries--though if someone can recommend a really didactic tasting, that would be great.

Instead, we'd love to hear about any hidden gems that the real Napa crowd may avoid: the great taco stand; the pretty good used bookstore; the spice shop where the CIA kids go to get interesting stuff on the cheap; the guy who sells his kind-of-odd-but-also-charming drawings in the park; the museum of spoons, etc.

Our inclination is to make it a leisurely trip, rather than driving all the time. Can you recommend a central staging area? We're happy with getting a cheap room at a Marriott somewhere and splurging on meals/activities. Is it worth it to try to squeeze in Monterey, or would those in the know just dally in Sonoma?

Anything we can't miss? We like art/culture/food, taking photographs and having hijinks. A great hike and picnic would be awesome, but we're city mice and a 15-mile excursion is likely not on our shortlist of things to do this trip.

(Feel free to MeFi mail me your hidden gems... we will be reverent and promise not to spoil them and we shan't tell a soul! It will be our little secret.)

Reasonably priced Napa/Sonoma spa?

synapse — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:23:03 -0800

Specific recommendations for day spas in Napa or Sonoma? I'm organizing a bachelorette party, and there's been a specific request for Napa or Sonoma and a day spa visit. I know nothing about spas, have never been to one. Please help with recommendations of places in that area that look nice (so that the bride feels pampered) and/but have the option to pick among services so that no one feels trapped in a $200+ commitment.

Hunting the elusive toe ring

artdrectr — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:40:09 -0800

Toe rings and anklets in SF Bay Area, Marin/Sonoma? My wife's birthday is coming up fast and though I have a gift for her, I found out this is something she would like, but it's too late to shop online.

So, tomorrow I'll be looking in Marin/Sonoma for a couple of simple silver band toe rings. Nothing too styled or embellished, just simple and nice. Maybe an anklet too, though I guess those might be more expensive than what I had in mind for this.

The big department stores don't even list them and I'm clueless.
Any locals know a source?

What's your favorite Sonoma winery?

mostlymartha — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:38:48 -0800

What extra special wineries has this Sonoma Valley regular missed? Since we live about 40 minutes away, we go wine tasting in Sonoma quite frequently. We have probably four very regular wineries and another half dozen semi-regulars. We love these places (Mayo are practically family) but have started to wonder what jewels we've been neglecting.

A partial list of places we've been more than once: Mayo, Gloria Ferrar, Roshambo, Schug, Ravenswood, St. Jean, Wellington, Eric Ross, B.R. Cohn, Cline.

Of course, there are practically a bajillion other wineries in the area. What are the best places (big or small) we've missed? We particularly value attentive, fun, and knowledgeable staff in tasting rooms. We don't particularly care about tours and hate it when we get the perfunctory in and out with a sales pitch wine country tourist experience.

Also, although we go tasting in Napa, Healdsburg, etc. as well, I'm mostly interested in Sonoma and Glen Ellen simply because that's where we go the most.

I'll stop whining about whites if you suggest some great wine!

stewiethegreat — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:47:45 -0800

I'm a red wine snob. But I was wine tasting last week and got persuaded to try a Ravenswood muscato. I loved it! It was sweet, but tart, crisp, and refreshing, and I'm looking for more. I always thought of muscats as overly sweet, cloying dessert wines but this was great with apples and cheese on a hot Sonoma day. It would be great to try more muscats that have a slight sweet component but are tart, crisp, and refreshing as the summer months hit us - can you make more suggestions? I also really dig Vinho Verde from Portugal. Things readily available in the bay area are great and things priced <$15 (or, ideally, <$10) are even greater. Thanks for your suggestions!

Sightseeing Santa Rosa, CA

one_bean — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:15:49 -0800

Fun/quirky/hip things to do in Santa Rosa or Sonoma County in a day trip from the East Bay? Not too interested in wineries, but anything else that might catch the attention of a typical Metafilter member? Anything from breathtaking hikes (metaphorically, not physically) to nice/peculiar museums or unique shopping, etc. Bonus points for best taco truck.

SF excursions?

mkultra — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:05:00 -0800

We're heading to SF at the end of January. Any "surrounding area" recommendations for a couple days? We're out there for about 5 days, and my inclination is to head up to wine country. Any particular recommendations for B&B's? My general inclination is to head north toward wine country, given that it's not exactly beach weather. I've been before (she hasn't), so I have an idea of a few wineries to hit (Niebaum-Coppola, of course, and I love the Robert Sinsky location), but I'd be interested to hear about particularly interesting tours. And any local farm recommendations for cheese. Thanks!

How do I get from Santa Rosa, CA to I-5 North?

moss — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:55:05 -0800

DrivingDirectionsFilter: I'm in Santa Rosa, California, and I'm planning to take I-5 north to Portland, Oregon. What's the best way from here over to I-5? The map websites all suggest taking US-101 north to CA-20, and then taking that over to the 5. That will work, but it also means driving through slow, windy mountain roads (which I'm sure I'll get enough of later on), and backtracking a bit into the bargain.

The obvious alternative is to go down to Novato and then take CA-37 and I-80 east to Sacramento. But that seems kind of out of the way, too--I don't really want to spend my first hour of driving going the wrong direction.

So with all the back roads around here, it seems like there must be a better way--something a bit more direct, and maybe a bit less carsickness-inducing. Does anybody have a good idea of what it might be?

(For what it's worth, I'm actually in Healdsburg--about 15 minutes north of Santa Rosa--but I figure it's already a bit of a stretch to hope that someone will know this area that well.)