This fall, Kacey and I are celebrating 5 years of marriage and taking a little anniversary trip to wine country. Neither of us have been before and the area has so many restaurants + wineries that we are having a hard time trying to narrow them down! These are some of the options we’re considering.
1 – Del Dotto Vineyards / candlelight cave tour
2 – Schramsberg / champagne of the White House
3 – Sterling Vineyards / arial tram
4 – Castello di Amorosa / castle + beautiful vineyard view
5 – Rotisserie & Wine / Chef Tyler Florence’s restaurant
6 – Gott’s Roadside / formerly Taylor’s Refresher
7 – Morimoto / Iron Chef Morimoto’s restaurant
8 – Bouchon Bakery / Chef Thomas Keller’s Bakery
9 – Bottega / Chef Micheal Chiarello’s restaurant
Readers, we would love to hear your recommendations! Anything we shouldn’t miss? Or, things we should pass on? It doesn’t have to be food or wine related :]
1. stroll the square downtown Sonoma; 2. visit the Coppola vineyard (it’s a bit hard to find but gorgeous and GREAT wine); 3. if you’re wine lovers plan to spend more on wine than you think (there are so many great wines you can only get at the winery); 4. join a wine club at least for 1 year (you’ll think of this trip with every shipment you receive. we did this with Clos du Bois); lastly if you’re going to try any of the above restaurants book in advance! many of them have rediculous wait times for a table. enjoy!
Schramsberg was fantastic and our two other favorites (my husband and I went with two other couples) were Peju and Frog’s Leap. Frog’s Leap was stunning! The house and property alone were worth it. If you’ll be near the town of Napa, Celadon for dinner was amazing! Have fun!
I live fairly close to Napa and have only visited a handful of the places you’ve mentioned. Castello de Amorosa is beautiful. You do have to pay to get inside, but I believe the fee includes a wine tasting.
I’m a huge fan of Gott’s. Looking at the outside, you’d never expect the delicious food they serve. Totally worth a visit.
Morimoto I really enjoyed, BUT I didn’t foot the bill.
I do plan to come back at some point with the hubs, so I do think it’s worth a return visit. I reviewed it here: http://sooverjoyed.blogspot.com/2011/04/restaurant-review-morimoto-napa.html
I haven’t visited Bottega yet (it’s next on my list), but I’ve heard good things from friends who have.
The line for Bouchon Bakery is often quite long, so be don’t be discouraged by it. It moves fairly quickly. I like their “oreo’s”.
Out of the Thomas Keller establishments, I’d recommend Ad Hoc because it’s the easiest to get into, great food and great value. The French Laundry (not that you mentioned it, but just in case it came up) is a great experience, but it’s very difficult to get a reservation.
Oh my gosh, go to Castillo di Amorosa! We went for our anniversary and it was gorgeous! Get Joe for a tour guide if you can because he is amazing and you will die laughing while touring and sipping.