Which Winery ?

Hi

As first timers in California, my boyfriend and I are interested in spending a day wine tasting. Clearly Napa is 鈥榯he place to go鈥? however am slightly concerned about tourist numbers - since we don鈥檛 want to be spending hours in the car getting there (from SFO). I鈥檝e heard good things about Sonoma and also Santa Ynez Valley as alternatives. We鈥檙e not very knowledge about wine and would be after a friendly winery %26amp; nice lunch. where would people suggest ?

Any advice would be super! Thanks

Which Winery ?

Santa Ynez is much farther away San Francisco than Napa and Sonoma.

Which Winery ?

Where are you landing in California? That would determine a lot. If it%26#39;s Northern California (SFO, OAK, SJC) then don%26#39;t try to go to Sta Ynez Valley. If you%26#39;re landing in LA, then Sta Ynez makes sense.

Sonoma is lovely, and, frankly, the place ';to go'; as well. A sleeper is the Lodi area. It%26#39;s been getting a nice little reputation, but it%26#39;s not as sexy as the other three. Santa Ynez didn%26#39;t really vault into prominence until ';Sideways,'; anyways.

From San Fran we are visiting Yosemite %26amp; then plan to travel back to Monterey %26amp; along the coast road to San Luis Obispo %26amp; Santa Barbara. I%26#39;m thinking stopping at a vineyard either in Paso Robles or Santa Ynez but there might well be other areas more suitable on the way down the coast. Any suggestions would be great?

Thanx

Hi I am from Liverpool and have lived for 7 years so I sometimes feel like a tourist. Although Napa is the place to go, I have not been because of time constraints. When I go wine tasting I go to Los Olivos (close to Santa Ynez) which is only 2 1/2 hrs drive north of Los Angeles. You can also stop off and see Santa Barbara on your way. The little town of Bulleton (sp) is where the wine rooms and restaurants are. Mattis Tavern is a must for dinner and we always stay over at the very rustic Zaca Lake retreat. The retreat has a website and is a bit crusty but is off Foxen Canyon Rd where you can find all of the wineries. The quality does not compare to Napa but unless you are experts, I think you would enjoy it. My favourite place to taste is Rancho Sisquoc. Good luck!