Update to the WOW factor

Ok, well liek I stated in an earlier post, my wife and I are in Sonoma from 3/27-3/31. I pretty much have the first day (little SF and then Muir Woods) and last day (ALL SF) booked. Second day will be devoted to wine, with a nice dinner to cap it off. Third day will start with a hot air balloon ride in the AM, but am having difficulty figuring out where to go from there on day 3. Day 4 is going to be an early wine excusion somewhere (maybe close) and then a relaxing picnic winery lunch with spa treatments in the early afternoon (3ish) and then a nice dinner...and an early night. So, if you had to hit 5 wineries (and she prefers Pinot Noirs), which ones would you hit? I would obviously like to bring home some great wines, so if you had to plan a full day and the second half of another...how/what would you do? Include ANY good suggestions for meals along the way as well. THANKS A TON.

Update to the WOW factor

Most of the good pinot wineries will be in the russian river part of Sonoma.

I can highly reccommend the following:

1. Siduri-pinot, need appointment

2. Martinelli-pinot,chard, zin

3. Gary Farrell-pinot,zin,chard

4. J Winery-pinot,champage,

5. Porter Creek-variety of wines

6. Roshambo-wine is OK but very cool property and worth a stop

The above wineries are family owned and do not charge a tasting fee. GF will charge $5 but refund if you buy one bottle. J winery charges $15 but they match the wine with food so it is a fun time. Start with Siduri in the morning and work your way west along river road to martinelli and then north on westside road to gary farrell, porter creek and roshambo. This will be a very pretty drive. Grab a late lunch in healdsburg and then end your day at J Winery becuase after a day of reds it it nice to finsh with champagne.

Healdsburg is a great town in the heart of it all.

The following website can help plan...www.wineroad.com.

Update to the WOW factor

I saw a post on the Napa forum that recommended Ferrari something - sounded pretty. I don%26#39;t know anything about it though.

I thought that I had heard Sebastiani was good to visit also.

If you do decide to come on over to Sonoma County for Pinot tasting, a couple of my favorites are Everett Ridge off W. Dry Creek Rd. (also has beautiful views over the Russian River Valley), and Dutton-Goldfield at 5700 Occidental Rd., west of Santa Rosa (GREAT Pinots). Also, J Winery (Eastside Rd. SW of Healdsburg) and Davis Bynum (off Westside Rd.) produce some excellent Pinots. And SupremeCourt--Ferrari Carano Winery, NW of Healdsburg off Dry Creek Rd. IS a great place to visit: nice wines, gorgeous formal gardens and neat underground cellars to tour. Most definitely a destination winery.

Just starting to plan my trip to Sonoma in October. I%26#39;m dying to do a hot air balloon ride. Where did you do yours and would you recommend it?

I think we are staying at the Inn at Sonoma.

Thanks for any help

We did ours through Balloons Above the Valley (800-464-6824). I would HIGHLY recommend this company. I would suggest going through your hotel for booking as sometimes they offer better rates that way. We were in the air for a littel less than an hour and got some spectacular pictures. I would also suggest to keep your schedule flexible as if the weather is nasty you might have to reschedule. All in all, highly recommended. Have Fun!

The 2006 winners (survey by Wine Country Broadcasting) for ';best balloon ride'; were: Balloons Above the Valley (S. Napa), Napa Valley Balloons (N. Napa), and Above the Wine Country Ballooning (Sonoma).

Thanks for the info.

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