Several years ago, we figured out that a best friend of Kristen and I had a milestone birthday coming up this year (2024) just 3 days apart from each other. We decided that we should plan a wine tasting trip to Napa and Sonoma together to celebrate! After a lot for planning, that trip finally came to fruition!
We just wrapped up a wonderful 3 days of wine tasting together. Here is a rundown of what we did, how we did it, and our thoughts about each part of our trip. Overall, we do recommend this kind of trip if wine tasting and pleasant weather are something that you enjoy!
We did find out that it’s important to book reservations for accommodations, wine tasting, and dinners well in advance. We booked the Airbnb more than a year ago, and we booked most of the wine tasting and dinner reservations several months ago.
Accommodations: Airbnb house near downtown Napa. It was a quick jaunt of less than a half mile to the few places that we visited in Napa. We would stay in the same place.
Day 1: North Napa Valley
Stop 1: Sterling Vineyard.
What we did: Wine tasting on self-guided walking tour.
Highlight: Gondola ride; great views
Wine quality: not that great
Recommendation: Do it once for the gondola rides and the views – it’s totally worth it, even though the wine wasn’t amazing.
Stop 2: Bennett Lane Winery
What we did: We’re wine club members here, so we did an extra long tasting beyond what is offered to typical guests
Highlight: great wine, quite a few different wines, awesome outdoor space where picnic food is welcome, staff that are friendly and welcoming
Wine quality: we really like every wine that we’ve tried here
Recommendation: Do it.
Day 2: More Napa Valley
Stop 1: Silver Oak
What we did: The Silver Tour
Highlight: Getting to see behind the scenes about bringing in grapes, processing grapes, and storing grapes.
Wine quality: Really good wine. It’s all Cabernet Sauvignon.
Other note: Our Tour Guide was very nice and very knowledgeable, but she was also very hard to follow. She told a lot of personal stories, but sometimes they would get jumbled together and we weren’t sure what she was talking about. This detracted from the experience a bit, but it was still a fun time.
Recommendation: Do it.
Stop 2: Barnett
What we did: The Tasting Experience
Highlight: This place is up very high outside of St. Helena, and it has truly stunning views back into some northern parts of Napa Valley. Also, the person who was engaged with us for our wine tasting was working with just us and one other couple, so he was very attentive in a good and pleasant way.
Wine quality: This had absolutely wonderful wine, and a good variety of wine too.
Other note: This was the most expensive tasting that we did on this trip.
Recommendation: Do it once. Given the cost, we probably won’t do it again, but we’re really glad we did it and wouldn’t change that at all for this weekend.
Day 3: Sonoma Valley
Stop 1: St. Francis
What we did: Wine and Food Pairing
Highlight: This was a 5-course meal for lunch, each course paired with a different wine. The chef started with the set of wines, and then concocted a menu of food that would go with that wine really fun. The food was great and the experience was delightful. We learned more about effective pairing, and will use some of those learnings at home!
Wine quality: We enjoyed the wine a lot! Good wine, good variety, and having it paired with food helped make the wine that much better!
Recommendation: Do it. They change up parts of the menu frequently, so this is the kind of thing that could easily be repeated because it will be different every time.
Stop 2: Deerfield
What we did: Wine Tasting
Highlight: There were two parts of this that were unique: 1) The wine tasting was deep in a cave, which was really fun. 2) This place uses some different approaches to making wine that result in “Clean Wine” that doesn’t need sulfites added, resulting in their wine working for people who are otherwise allergic to red wine.
Wine quality: The wine was pretty good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it, but I enjoyed drinking it. They had a Pinot Noir that we didn’t prefer, but we’re accustomed to very good Pinot’s from the Willamette Valley.
Other note: the price was right – this tasting was on the cheaper end. Also, it’s a much more low-key operation. The owner and wine maker was there and came to talk with us for a while, which we appreciated.
Recommendation: If you’ve got an open spot on your itinerary, this would be an OK one to add, but don’t build your plans to make this one work.
Stop 3: Loxton
What we did: Wine Tasting
Highlight: This was the smallest and most-chill operation that we went to, which we really liked. The staff person was super friendly and transparent and the owner was there too and chatted with us. We got to see various steps in the process of wine making, including a small vat of grapes that had just been brought in — and we even got to try a sample of a grape right out of the vat!
Wine quality: We really liked the wine here. Chris Loxton makes great wine.
Other note: This was the cheapest tasting that we found ($20/person), and they will wave a tasting fee if you buy 1 bottle of wine. Also, the price of the wine was very reasonable. It was a rare find to have such good wine, at such a great price point, and a fun experience.
Recommendation: Highly recommend that you do!
The Meyers 