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October's gorgeous around there. It will be the busy season, so if you can go during the week things will be less crowded. I'm a fan of Chateau St. Jean and Loxton wineries. For meals: The Boon Fly Cafe at Carneros Inn is very fun and cute (Carneros Inn is gorgeous if it's in your budget), and there are a number of great restaurants in downtown Sonoma right around the central square. Check out The Girl And The Fig. Other than that I would just say pick a region and go to a bunch of wineries next to each other ... it's hard to go wrong!
Thanks! I hadn't even considered it at first so I have no idea where to start planning. I appreciate the advice!
I love Napa/Sonoma!!
Helpful planning tip - you need to book reservations at wineries months in advance (wineries book up fast, even during the week).
My favorite wineries to visit are Schramsburg and VJB.
There is a ton of great information about Napa/Sonoma on the tripadvisor.com forums. That will help you a lot!
My two favorites of the wineries I visited were Sterling and Artesa. Wine country is a great choice!
Boon Fly Cafe is really fun.
If you want something a little rustic, also consider some of the less well-known Californian wine areas. I really like Amador County, which is in the Sierra foothills, and Anderson Valley, which is North West of Sonoma. If you have time, you could also swing over to the coast, only about a two hour drive from Santa Rosa, for example. The Village of Mendocino is darling, its where they shot Murder She Wrote, and the weather in October is awesome.
We stayed at the Wine Country Inn in St. Helena after we got engaged and it was fantastic. The people are sooo nice and they have great breakfasts and afternoon snacks. In terms of restaurants, we loved Redd and Auberge du Soleil. And for wineries, our favorites were Joseph Phelps, Duckhorn, V Sattui and Frank Family.
My absolute favorite winery in Napa is Cakebread. Stellar wines and it makes you feel like you personally discovered a great hidden gem.
Another great one for the experience is Sterling. You take a gondola thing up to the top of a hill and get to wander around the winery grounds, which are beautiful and have stunning views. The wine is okay, but it's definitely worth visiting.
My fiance's company once had an event at Calistoga Ranch, which is an amazing resort with private cabins. It might be a bit of a splurge, but there are lots of different places to stay in the area. Another cool place is Indian Springs, which I think has a resort, but it's a great spa with a huge hot mineral spring pool. October will be a great time to be there.
I second Calistoga! Very friendly area in Wine Country. October is so beautiful there. All the leaves on the vines are changing colors. Rent bikes and do a tour of the wineries by bike, it was a blast when we did it a couple years ago.
I forgot to mention restaurants! You have to try one of the Thomas Keller restaurants and they're actually in a decent range of prices - French Laundry, Bouchon (and it's bakery with amazing macarons), and Ad Hoc. They're all within a couple of blocks of each other in Yountville (Napa Valley).
I second the suggestion for Anderson Valley, especially if you don't have $$$ to spend. The closer you are to San Francisco, the more expensive and more crowded everything is (because it's where people go for short vacations from the city). There's some awesome places in the southern parts of Napa and Sonoma, but there are some equally awesome places farther north. And the coast is likely to be beautiful in fall - we are planning on spending a few days in Mendocino then for a mini-moon after the wedding in inland Mendocino County.
Anderson Valley is really the best, and the next best is Healdsburg. I did a mini-moom post on wine country, check it out. Have a blast.
We're honeymooning there in June/July. We have to stay in Napa since we're on a low budget, but I think both the AVIA and Westin look nice. We're booking by next week, and we're 95% sure we're staying at the AVIA.
Trip Advisor did do wonders for us in planning though.
As for wineries, his parents frequent the area and have given us a long list. Some highlights: Duckhorn, Far Niente, Silver Oak, and Puma Springs (in Sonoma area).
Food - yes to Keller's places. And do Bottega by Michael Chiarelli.
WOW! Thanks for all of the great tips!!! We're just starting our planning and I will definitely look into all of these suggestions. Please let me know if you have any more!
Benziger in Glen Ellen has a wine cave tour and biodynamic tour. They also own Imagery just down the highway which features artist labels and an art gallery. Plus, Imagery has a bocce ball court and a nice patio.
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We are thinking of going to the wine country for our October honeymoon - is anyone else doing the same? We didn't want to spend our entire budget on flights, and it's hurricane season so there aren't many other good options, and I've always wanted to go!
If anyone's been before, can you recommend places to stay, restaurants, wineries, etc? Thanks!