San Francisco - The Golden Gate Bridge

The spectacular view at Viader Vineyards

Frog's Leap

Barrel making in California

Tasting at Duckhorn

Pinot Noir Vines in California

Vines in California

Our Private Wine Tasting awaits in California

California

13 - 19 November 2011

The wine world owes so much to California; the idea of varietal wines, of the ‘boutique winery’, of scientific site selection, indeed the whole idea of ‘the new world’.

This wonderful wine tour includes idyllic vineyard lunches, superb tastings of the greatest wines with the winemakers, gorgeous pairings of wine and food and in-depth discussions about the wine. California is best known for full bodied reds and full bodied, oaky whites made from very ripe fruit. In fact, it is one of the most diverse wine regions in terms of its soil, climate and the amount of different grape varieties available to the winemaker.

After one night in San Francisco we stay in two four star hotels in attractive Californian country towns. First is Sonoma with its Spanish flavour and large town square, surrounded by cafes, delis, boutique stores and restaurants. For Napa, we move on to the fun town of Calistoga. This has a long wide street, with a hint of the wild-west about it. There are mud baths, a geyser that they jokingly call “old faithful”, a traditional pub, several great restaurants and small independent shops. We leave San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge (with the opportunity to stop for pictures afterwards) and travel north to begin in the Russian River area.

We explore the wineries of Sonoma and in particular the cool climate Russian River area. In cool Carneros, we lunch and taste at Acacia who were one of the first California wineries to establish a reputation for vineyard-designated Pinot Noir. In 2010 we tasted fascinating old ‘library wines’ from their early days. In the afternoon we visit Ravenswood where we’ll taste some great Zinfandel that lives up to their company motto “No wimpy wines”. Their Single Vineyard designates are not just blockbusters, they have complexity, balance and ‘terroir’ as well as full flavour.

We visit Crinella, a relatively recent venture, which we have been watching since its carefully researched inception in 1999. Ramona Crinella, will welcome us personally to taste the Pinot Noir’s that she is rightly so proud of. Just a little further north in Sonoma and the summer morning fogs don’t penetrate this far inland. It’s hot and it’s Zinfandel country! We visit masters of Zin, Segeshio.

To the north we visit the Anderson Valley where Louis Roederer opened the Roederer Estate in the 1980s, (when we first visited them). The New York Times rates the wines as the best sparkling wines outside of Champagne.

Our morning visit is to Frog’s Leap, a small neat and modern winery that produces very appetising wines. Winemaker John Williams relishes in poking fun at obsessive regulations, for instance by putting “open other end” on the bottom of his bottles! It’s not all jokes though as he makes lovely text-book Rutherford Cabernet. The motto at Frog’s Leap is – “time’s fun when you’re having flies!” – our visit here promises to be very entertaining. Based in St Helena, Duckhorn were the first to be acclaimed for Merlot. Margaret Duckhorn hopes to meet us for lunch with her lovely wines. They have also done startlingly good things with Pinot Noir.

Delia Viader invites us to taste her range, which includes bio-dynamic Cabernet Franc and Syrah wine. At the Heitz Cellars family ranch, we see why their single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons, such as ‘Martha’s’, are the stuff of legends. Heitz is one of Napa’s most prestigious wineries.

To end, before returning to San Francisco, we taste at Saintsbury who make world class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They benefit from international influences on their wine-making by comparing notes with wineries across the Atlantic in France and they give us a technical tasting in their barrel room with hopefully some barrel samples and reserve vintages.

We are always excited about returning to California to taste at these top wineries and meet again some of the people who keep this region famous. In late autumn temperatures are around a pleasant 17 degrees. There are also less general tourists than in high season, so it is a good time to go!

San Francisco & The American Breakfast!

San Francisco is a fantastic city to explore, and this should start at breakfast time! From our central Four Star hotel you can visit any one of the many local diners. The most famous and our recommendation is ‘Dotties’, just one block west of our hotel, you might have to wait in line a few minutes but the hearty specials are well worth it. For those who prefer a lighter meal in the morning there’s the excellent brasserie on the ground floor of the hotel, which caters for all. In San Francsico, Sonoma and Calistoga breakfast out is a great way to start each morning, and with plenty to choose from you can try a different diner every day!

Getting around the city is best experienced on the cable car, an all day ticket gives you great vistas of the city from Union Square all the way down to Fisherman’s wharf. Fisherman’s wharf, although a tourist trap in high season, has a great view of Alcatraz and is a lively place to see, with plenty of restaurants and shops. Stop on the way at Chinatown, for fantastic Chinese restaurants and shops, and treat yourself to a manicure too.

As this is not the main tourist season, everything will be quieter than in the high season months, so a good time for a wine holiday.

The Wine Guide is Lys Hall.

NB: As there are so many flight options available we have not included the flights to San Francisco. We are happy to assist with the booking and talk to you about which airlines operate this route. There are some great flight deals on offer at the moment so early booking is recommended.

Extend your holiday

Stay on in San Francisco, Four Star hotel in Union Square £95 per person per night (based on shared twin/double room) or £190 per person per night (Double for Sole Occupancy).

You can also take a train down the length of California’s coast on the Coast Starlight. There is fantastic scenery, with dramatic snow-covered peaks of Mount Shasta, lush forests, fertile valleys and long stretches of Pacific Ocean shoreline. This route connects Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay area, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and even travels north to Oregon and Washington for the Cascade Range and other great cities such as Portland and Seattle. Please call for details.