Anyone been to napa for your honeymoon?

I don't mean this at all in an obnoxious way but just checking to make sure you know how far apart those two locations are. I only ask because we had family fly out from the midwest for daughter's wedding in So Cal, but they flew into San Francisco because they wanted to do Napa "on their way...". They had no idea what they were getting into (especially in January when Interstate 5 over the Grapevine ended up being closed due to snow) and they had to make last minute itinerary changes to fly down. San Diego and Napa are two of the so many awesome things to see and do in California! (There are also tons of wineries just east of San Diego.)

We love Napa, but I've never known it for much nightlife besides high-end restaurants. Have fun!

Not on honeymoon but I've been to Napa as I used to live right there. I would suggest Beringer Winery for tastings do the food and wine pairings with a tour of the caves. The Culinary Institute of California is great for food.

View Quoted Comment So beringer has lunch and stuff? Any other recommendations? Tips?

View Quoted Comment Yes. We're spendinh 3 days in san Francisco and 7 days in napa area. We're going in may 2020

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And, San Diego? That's going to be an awesome trip!

What kind of wine do you drink? Any specific reason you are doing Napa over Sonoma? Do you want large scale or family owned vineyards?

View Quoted Comment We love going to vineyards out east near ny and Ct. And we love wine

View Quoted Comment I meant more why Napa over Sonoma - they are very different places, and you will have very different experiences and varietals.


Napa will give you your big cabs, and as a whole, a more formal experience. You will have your Michelin restaurants as a whole here, as well.
Sonoma will provide more Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but the microclimates will offer many additional choices depending on where in the valley you are. It is overall more laid back, in my opinion, which I like.

View Quoted Comment It’s hard to offer suggestions without knowing your preferences -happy to help, I travel out there 1-2 times a year.

View Quoted Comment We're thinking of doing 2 or 3 directly in sonoma but not trying to drive too far from our hotel. We are interested in the following cline winery and three witch or something. im trying to remember the names

Ellen you're getting married the day after i get married

View Quoted Comment Rams Gate, Scribe & Gloria Ferrer are close to Cline. Gloria is sparkling and doesn’t require reservations. Scribe isn’t my favorite wine, but it’s a great tasting experience. Rams Gate is stunning, and I really enjoy their Pinots.

View Quoted Comment Okay great info. How far apart should we book our tastings if we do 2 in 1 day?

View Quoted Comment At max I would do 3 tastings a day and allow yourselves 90 min to 2 hours to not rush them.

Ok..now if we want to get a chance board or lunch at a winery. Do most places provide that ala carte ? . For napa we're thinking of doing beringer mondavi sterling winery and a couple others i cant remember. I want to say - Rutherford hills . Also im interested in going to boon cafe and i would like to do an olive oil tasting.

I live near Napa Valley. There's no nightlife to speak of (not even in downtown Napa), so expect your evenings to be pretty chill. I'm a foodie though, so there's a great many Michelin starred restaurants in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. I've eaten at maybe half of them?

But if you're looking for something a bit more "budget", I highly recommend going to the Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa. Lots of little shops and restaurants, with very excellent food.

A fantastic "starting place" winery is V. Sattui in St. Helena. They've got a large (and busy) tasting room, a more reserved and exclusive tasting room, a wonderful on-site deli/shop, and beautiful picnic grounds. I recommend this to all of my out-of-town friends, and they ALL enjoy it.

My other favorites include the Mumm Napa winery and the Castello di Amorosa castle winery. You'll want to do reservations for both, the latter having an actual castle tour.

Not very many wineries do wine tasting + lunch, but if that's what you're looking for, Robery Sinskey Winery is the way to go. I haven't been but heard good things about it. Also, the Francis Ford Coppola Winery--it's like a winery, museum, restaurant, and pool all in one!

View Quoted Comment A winery and lunch is not a major deciding factor but would be a nice idea. Any good breakfast spots to check out? Bakeries ?

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I don't have any good breakfast places in mind, but you should DEFINITELY check out the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville. They have the most amazing pastries, with lines out the door at all hours of the day!

One of my favorite meals ever was in Healdsburg (Sonoma side), at Valette (THE SCALLOP). Downtown Healdsburg is also super cute, check out Siduri (if you are a Pearl Jam fan, they make the Pinot that Eddie drinks on stage). Banshee is also a really cute tasting room on the square. They also have a cute pie and ice cream place, I can’t think of the name, sorry!

View Quoted Comment Have you been to Valette? And had the scallop? We all still talk about it months later! 😂