Going in June and looking for recommendations. Staying in Sonoma, but not afraid to travel around. Any favorites that we need to visit? Also any restaurants as well?

Sonoma city or county?

You will get a million suggestions, so many wineries and places to go.

Healdsburg is a great town to stay in, lots of food options and easy drive to RRV wineries and also Dry creek valley. We usually stay there or in Santa Rosa. We like the wines and casualness of Sonoma County as compared to Napa, but not everyone thinks like I do. How "into" wine you are might determine your preferences.

Sonoma city. My wife's been 4 or 5 times with her friends but it's my first time, so open to any suggestions. Have 3 days up there, so want to see/try a variety.

The only three I know we are going to for sure are Silver Oak, Paraduxx, and Hall, but love to try smaller less known wines.

Kinda big and near Sonoma is Hanzell. They do some nice wines. Make an appt

Go to Bouchon Bakery in Yountville for coffee and pastries. A bunch.

CammoTX said:

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Go to Bouchon Bakery in Yountville for coffee and pastries. A bunch.

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Agree with this.

I'm a Frank Family Vineyards fan. Small winery with a really cool story.

Good call not staying Napa (Disneyland of Wine). You should drive over one day just to check it out. Specifically , the Silverado Trail is beautiful. Make an appt. at Joseph Phelps and you will taste good wine and have one of the best views in Napa. If I do Napa, I start early 9:00 or so to mitigate the crowds. Beringer and Mondavi start at 9:00am in their reserve rooms which I would recommend shelling out a little extra. Also, consider making appts. at the wineries you really want to visit if not open to public. Resto reqs include AD Hoc, Bouchon Bistro, Bottega. If you want to get fancy with great view and great food....Auberge Du Soleil. Not cheap.

Sonoma. I prfre to focus Dry Creek Valley and North. You get out of the crowds that way. Healdsburg is a great town to use as a base. Dry Creek Kitchen in Hotel Healdsburg is tasty. My favorite place is Bistro Ralph on Healdsburg square. Think Chardonnay, Pinot Noir in Sonoma County and Cabernet, Merlot and Chard in Napa if that helps guide your winery visits.

Enjoy

Great stuff. We're not going until June, so we have a little time to plan.

A really fun visit is Medlock Ames. Go at 4 pm. At 5 pm the tasting room closes and a bar opens next door. On Sunday nights in the summer they have concerts. We did this last time we went and it was a great night


They make good wine, too.

A lot depends on what you want to do. You will find great wine without really trying and at some point most winerys and tasting rooms start to seem the same.

My favorites:
castello di amorosa - The wine is good, but the owner built a full scale replica of castle. Moat, draw bridge, 100+ rooms, torture chamber to name a few. It's way up 29 north of Napa, so not the easiest to get to.

Lede Family Wines - Fantastic Wine

Del Dotto - Cave Tour - we've nicknamed it Del Slotto as you will be wasted by the time you leave.

Not to be an ass, but Del Dotto represents just about everything the wine nerds hate about Napa.

We stayed in a great Airbnb in Sonoma. We took a drive out to the Russian River valley for some Pinot. We had friends in control and didn't hit near the number of wineries that I would have wanted.

Hubbs,

if you want to get a true "small" winery experience, get in touch with the sales guy at Gallica. A small winery that is a 2 person operation (pretty much). Their wine isn't cheap but it isn't Harlan or anything, either. Taste at a place like that and you'll have a great memory and likely some really good wine.