What to do in wine country...
Scroll below for recs on wineries, restaurants, shopping, hikes, and more. :)
Our favorite vineyards...
Vineyard hopping is the best part of wine country. Here are some that we've been to and loved!
Sonoma Wineries
Cline Cellars
24737 Arnold Dr.
Sonoma, CA 95476
Great wine, close to Sonoma and San Francisco.
Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards
23555 Arnold Dr.
Sonoma, CA 95476
Bubbly!! Order a champagne flight and enjoy the view. (Kelz-I'll see you here for our champs.)
St. Francis Winery
100 N, Pythian Rd.
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
The best lawn and tastiest wine. We highly, highly recommend a few hours on this patio!
Kunde Family Winery
9825 Sonoma Hwy.
Kenwood, CA 95452
Right next to St. Francis - phenomenal views. Shout-out to my awesome wedding planner - her husband works here!
napa wineries
Frog's Leap Winery
8815 Conn Creek Rd.
Rutherford, CA 94573
Restoration Hardware version of a vineyard. Amazing decor, and you can walk through the vineyard + farm. So neat!
V Sattui Winery
1111 White Ln.
St. Helena, CA 94574
An excellent place for a lunch break. They have a market where you can grab food and make a picnic (with wine, of course).
Plumpjack Winery
620 Oakville Cross Rd.
Oakville, CA 94558
One of my favorites - the cutest outside areas and great wine. Walk around the vines, then grab a seat on the back patio.
Alpha Omega
1155 Mee Ln.
St. Helena, CA 94574
Gorgeous grounds and fancy wines. I want this to be my patio at home. A lovely place to round out a day of wine tasting!!
Wine and dine...
The food is just as good as the wine. Some of our favorite restaurants below!
The Girl and the Fig
110 West Spain St.
Sonoma, CA 95476
Everyone's favorite. The food is fresh and fantastic, and the place is quirky. Walk around Sonoma Square after!
Park 121
23584 Arnold Dr.
Sonoma, CA 95476
A fabulous place for lunch - its so delicious. And there are the cutest shops in the Cornerstone Marketplace where the restaurant is - have fun!
El Dorado Kitchen
405 1st St. W
Sonoma, CA 95476
A neat little restaurant in a smaller hotel on the square in Sonoma. A great place to stay, too!
Basalt
790 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559
My mom and I ended up here one night looking for venues and licked our plates clean. The food and the atmosphere were great!
Shopping and more...
If you're wine-d out and want to do some California browsing, here are some neat spots to check out!
Cornerstone Sonoma
23570 Arnold Drive
Sonoma, CA 95476
This open-air marketplace has everything you need -- amazing boutiques, gardens, wine-tasting, cafes, art installments, etc. Put your name on the Park 121 list, then walk around the shops and gardens while you wait. Its really an awesome spot!!
St. Helena
St. Helena, in Napa Valley, is an adorable town with lots of neat little shops. Some goodies (all on Main Street) include Vintage Home, for interior decorating & neat knick knacks, PEARL Wonderful for clothes, Allison in Wine Country for more clothes, Martin, for serious interior design, and Woodhouse Chocolate for the the obvious. ;)
Festivals, Hikes + Outdoors...
Taste of Sonoma
Its a blessing (and a curse), but the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Festival is Labor Day weekend! This includes Taste of Sonoma, which is a festival including wine tasting from 200+ wineries, food from 60+ chefs, and seminars and demonstrations on all things wine-making and food-tasting. You need to buy a ticket (not super cheap..), but if you're a die-hard wine-o or foodie, this would be awesome!
Hike Hood Mountain
Hood Mountain is the tallest peak of the Mayacama Mountain Range in wine country. Its not an easy hike, but the views at the top are really amazing! The hike to the summit is about 4 to 5 minutes.