Wine and dine in Northern California
By Nanette Wiser
Fall and winter are preferable times to tour Napa and Sonoma with less crowds and more accommodation availability. However, the summer season is an excellent time to consider embellishing your wine collection for upcoming seasonal gatherings. Here's our three favorite restaurants and hotels in Napa and Sonoma plus some of our vineyard best bets! Search our related links for more ideas.
Napa Favorite Lodging
1. Auberge du Soleil: This plush French country inn overlooks the valley and the sunsets and restaurant are spectacular. (Rutherford; 707/963-1211)
2. Meadowood Resort: Site of the annual Napa Valley wine auction, this haven serves up apples in the afternoons, roofs that roll back and blustering fireplaces. You can hike, play croquet or tee off on a 9-hole golf course. Simply one of my favorite U.S. resorts, ever. (St. Helena; 707/963-3646)
3. Villa St. Helena: Rita Hayworth once stayed here, and you can understand why this Italian style villa and its stellar views are a seasoned traveler's haven. (St. Helena; 707/963-2514)
Napa Restaurants
1. Catahoula Restaurant & Saloon: We don't just like it because Oprah loves its gumbo. But there's no doubt that Chef Jan Birnbaum cooks up a Louisiana storm. (Calistoga; 707/942-2275)
2. Mustard's Grill: You have to book in advance, but the wait is worth it in this American comfort food haven that dishes up grilled seafood, duck and rabbit and sets the trends San Francisco restaurants follow. (Yountville; 707/944-2424)
3. Tra Vigne Restaurant: An award-winning melange of sunny California and Mediterranan flavors serves up some of the best pasta dishes in the valley. (St. Helena; 707/963-4444)
Favorite Napa Vineyards
So much wine, so little time. If we only can sip five, we beeline to the sculpture garden at Clos Pegase, Ggrich Hills, Neibaum Coppola, Flora Springs and Saint Clement's Victorian mansion. For more on these wineries, click Napa information.
More: Hot spots in Sonoma
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