Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wineries

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.)

Where is the Napa Valley of the East?

genial — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:24:45 -0800

Planning a wine tour vacation in the spring (late April) and wondering where the Napa Valley of the Eastern US is? We live in Virginia and have a great variety of wines in the western region. We will be planning the vacation with my brother and his fiancee who live in Kentucky. Anywhere within 10 hours or so inbetween and around those regions is fair game. A few things:

Obviously we don't want to be traveling 5 hours during the day just to get to 1 winery so anywhere that has a large variety in a clustered location would be great.

Other things to do near those locations would be a bonus. I know Lexington, VA has a lot of great options for wine along with a lot of tourist attractions and spots. Things along that line would be great.

Is Spring a bad time of year to be doing this? I know little about the seasons and timings but I wondered if most wineries would still be open with a previous year's vintage or if they would be closed while planting/harvesting/etc. Any insight into this?

Winery suggestion for Wilamette Valley?

bibbit — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:47:58 -0800

Can anyone recommend a couple of wineries in the Wilamette Valley region by Portland? My SO and I will be there this coming weekend, and would like to know which ones we should stop at. We will have a car, and we're staying at McMenamin's Hotel Oregon Saturday and Sunday night (June 14th & 15th). We're driving from Portland Saturday morning and returning to Portland for a few days Monday morning. We're open to what's available, since we've never been in this region.

Looking for good hotels and wineries in Washington State wine country.

bamassippi — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:45:03 -0800

Looking for good hotels and wineries in Washington State wine country. My girlfriend and I are looking to take a weekend trip from Seattle down to Walla Walla for a weekend on wine.

I am looking for suggestions on cool hotels and wineries in the area. We are somewhat experienced in the field of wine tasting and are looking for any non-touristy wineries, though we'll put up with with tourist crowds if the wine is right.

Any suggestions (or side-trips en route to Walla Walla) are welcomed.

Help us find the best wine Willamette has to offer...

Asherah — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:56:35 -0800

Can you recommend outstanding wineries in or around Willamette Valley, Oregon? My boyfriend and I will be roadtripping through the Pacific Northwest in early August and are looking for any stand-out local wineries along the way. We were hoping for recommendations on more of the non-touristy-tour-type establishments, but more of the smaller-scale, low-key variety. We're not limited to certain varietals, and would just like to enjoy the best that Oregon and the Willamette Valley has to offer.

Google searches have come up with a list 200+ long with no extended descriptions or reviews, thus the question here.

Going Sideways to Solvang

robhuddles — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 20:04:24 -0800

I'd like recommendations on places to stay and things to do in and around Solvang, CA. For our annual anniversary trip, my wife and I are going to go all "Sideways" and head down to Solvang. A couple of notes:
1. We're driving down there, so transportation isn't an issue. If there's something neat to do in the vicinty, that'd be great.
2. We're going in late July, and will be spending the weekend, probably arriving late Thursday and leaving early Sunday, so if there are festivals and whatnot, we'd like to know.
3. We generally prefer smaller B&B's, so we're particularly interested in those, but if there's a more traditional hotel that's cool and has some local flavor, we'll consider it. Regular old hotels and motels are not to be considered. Our pricing requirements are pretty flexible.
4. We're both really into wine tasting, so that will absolutely be a primary focus of the trip. Recommendations for specific wineries to visit (or to avoid) are appreciated.
5. We'd also like to hear about good restaurants in the area. At least one meal will be the big "official" anniversary meal, so we need someplace fancy for that, but other ideas for all meals would be great.

Wineries near Oakland

allan — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 11:03:35 -0800

Recommendations for wineries for a daytrip from Oakland CA? [details inside] I am looking for something that is not a tourist-focused attraction, but at the same time am constrained more by budget (grad student) than taste. Anyone have a favorite treasured Northern California winery?