Girls Guide to Wine Country
My first time to wine country was a success! Growing up my mom always preached experiences over presents and I thought that the best Mother’s Day present of all was to take my Mom to Napa and Sonoma! My mom loves wine more than anyone I know, and I wanted to make the trip perfect. A lot of pre planning went into this trip. Placed beside is our itinerary that I created for the trip. I managed to get a lot of collaborations with hotels, restaurants and wineries which was amazing. We started the trip with a night in San Francisco, which I will cover in another blog post. My mom and sister came from Boston and I came from LA. Stopping in San Francisco gave them time to rest after the 6 hour flight and before the 1.5 hour drive from there to wine country. Keep reading for my favorites must sees and dos for your time in wine country!
When you travel to a new destination you learn a lot about the place. I hadn't known this before but apparently Sonoma County is the spot for white wines and Napa is the spot for red wines. It’s hard to choose but personally I am more of a white wine drinker but my mom is more of a red wine drinker. Both Napa and Sonoma are beautiful and would recommend visiting both but Sonoma was my personal favorite. I could spend a whole day in Sonoma’s town square. It’s quaint and everything about it made me smile. From walking by the sweet smelling ice cream shoppe to heading to the park where beautiful roses bloomed perfectly, I was in heaven. Where there’s unique boutiques and great restaurants you can find me. My favorite boutique was The Corner Store, located on the corner it’s your go to spot for great gifts to take home to your loved ones. A short walk away you’ll find my favorite tasting room, Pangloss Cellars. Pangloss Cellars is in a restored historic building that is 119 years old. It is all brick and the designs inside are beautiful. I would definitely recommend coming here for the cheese plate and tasting the rosé. I was very surprised to find how much I loved Sonoma rosés! We also went to Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma Plaza and I was surprised that the rosé from the Pinot Noir grape was my favorite! Typically I prefer a white wine but this one was amazing and we bought a bottle to bring home to the hotel. Before you leave the plaza, another spot I’d recommend is Sigh Sonoma for sparkling wines and champagne tastings! Enjoy Della Santina for lunch on the Italian inspired patio. Playing Italian music, with Italian waiters you feel as if you have just left Sonoma and walked into Rome.
We stayed at Cambria Sonoma the first 2 nights and Cambria Napa Valley the 2nd two nights. They both had very similar vibes with chic fireplaces in the lobby and outdoor patios to enjoy your fav bottle of wine after a day of tastings! The hotel was great and is one of the more reasonable priced properties in wine country. Cambria Napa Valley was close to a lot of the wineries we went to and had a lot more wineries around it that we did not get to. One of them being Domaine Carneros, a château in Napa Valley pouring sparkling wine and Pinot Noir. I was bummed we didn’t make it but heard amazing things. In Napa Valley, we visited sister properties owned by the Terlato Family, Chimney Rock & Rutherford Hill. Both were amazing but Chimney Rock was my personal favorite experience of the trip. They gave us 5 star service, made a wonderful cheese plate and the views were incredible. The building of the winery was designed as a replica of a winery in South Africa and the architecture was impeccable. Rutherford Hill winery was more of a farm feel on top of a hill with beautiful flowers blooming all around you. We enjoyed the signature selection wine tasting and tasted 5 wines from the winery and learned the history about each. My favorite was the red blend that is available for wine club members only. I will become a member someday!
Wineries are typically open during the day closing around 5pm. This was difficult for me because I am much more of a glass of wine at dinner type and tend to stay clear from day drinking. I got one really bad hangover and the day of tasting wine was pretty much called off for me. I definitely would recommend relying on Uber’s if you don’t have a designated driver!
Going out to dinner is one of my favorite things to do and in Sonoma and Napa there are so many amazing places to enjoy.
RH Yountville was my personal favorite. Luxury furniture store, RH, Restoration Hardware, has uniquely designed restaurants throughout America and Yountville is one of them. The chandelier and elegant design surrounded by the captivating nature makes you feel as if you’re dining under the stars in the most luxury way. The service was exceptional and the food was amazing. Yountville is considered the culinary heart of Napa Valley and we also went to a restaurant called Bottega. Bottega Napa Valley is a rustic and lively Italian restaurant at a historic winery estate. It reminded me of being at a bustling restaurant in Europe, tables very close together, people laughing and drinking wine glass after wine glass, and pure happiness for how good their food was tasting.
Yountville was one of my favorite places to visit on this trip, it has a small town ambiance with a sophisticated Wine Country lifestyle. My best friend is having part of her honey moon here which is seemingly perfect to me after seeing it. It’s romantic setting and quaint charm seems like the perfect place to get away with your hubby.
Another small city in Wine Country we went to was Healdsburg. Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County. We came here for dinner at Roof 106, it was a elevated open aired lounge with beautiful menus and amazing cocktails. Healdsburg also had a town square that held a gazebo reminding me of Gilmore Girls, hair salons, and small shops.
Wine Country is one of those places where I could stay for months on end, just with a lot less drinking. The views are beautiful, vibes are immaculate and each small city throughout wine country has so much to offer. I didn’t make it to the spas but there’s also some amazing spas to go to as well. I can't wait to go back again!
