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The Chateau Montalena Winery in Calistoga, built in 1882, is famous for the Chardonnay that won the famous 1976 "Judgment of Paris" blind tasting that put California wine on the map. (Photo courtesy of Chateau Montelena)
The Chateau Montalena Estate Room is where tour guests can enjoy a tasting.(Photo courtesy of Chateau Montelena)
The Domaine Carneros château in Napa was inspired by the historic Château de la Marquetterie owned by the winery's parent, Champagne Taittinger. Sparkling wines are the attraction here, naturellement.
Wildflowers grow amid the vines at Sausal Vineyards in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, and some of its Zinfandel vines are the oldest in the valley -- 130 years old. Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery, also in Healdsburg, is famous for making high-quality Chardonnays in a valley more known for red wines.
Compared with the cozy wine regions we know and love in Washington and Oregon, California's wine country is the monster next door. It's so big that "wine country" isn't really apt; wine planet is more accurate.
For visitors from the Northwest accustomed to small wine towns and friendly, chatty tasting rooms, touring California's vast, vineyard-combed wine terrains can be frustrating to the point of giving it all up for beer. The experience often seems to be one of dodging huge tourist buses, racing across the tracks ahead of a screaming Wine Train, shouting your order across the pandemonium of a wine bar, or getting lost on dirt roads that lead to nowhere or to a mall or both.
But next time you head to California's northern wine territory -- Horizon Air has just made it very convenient, too, with new service to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County -- take along our suggested itinerary of wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties. The list isn't meant to be comprehensive, but it is focused on the pleasurable: Each of these wineries offers an experience worth traveling for.
Don't forget your corkscrew.
NAPA COUNTY
Chateau Montelena
1429 Tubbs Lane, Calistoga
707.942.5105
This winery's Chardonnay was one of the winners in the famous "Judgment of Paris" blind tasting in 1976, when a handful of upstart California wineries stunned France's best in an upset victory that revolutionized the wine world. The '76 tasting, by the way, is the subject of a new film, Bottle Shock, starring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, opening in August. While you're waiting for the movie, you'll want to taste, yes, the Chardonnay, but also Montelena's exceptionally good Cabernet. Great picnic grounds, too, and wonderful wine-country hiking is nearby on Mount St. Helena.
Domaine Carneros
1240 Duhig Road, Napa
800.716.BRUT (2788)
In 1979, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild partnered with Robert Mondavi to make Opus One, the first California "cult" wine. Its success opened the door for European investment in California. The fabulous Domaine Carneros château in Napa County's Carneros appellation is owned by Taittinger, the venerable French champagne house. Naturally, the sparkling wines here are wonderful, but the setting is a strong competitor.
The Hess Collection
4411 Redwood Road, Napa
707.255.1144
The "collection" is not just wine -- don't miss the Allomi Vineyard Cabernet -- but also art, including work by Francis Bacon, Robert Motherwell, Leopoldo Maler and several other contemporary artists. Indeed, this Hess collection is one of the finest outside of a museum. The tasting room's $10 fee is worth it; you'll be able to taste everything and tour the exquisite gallery.
SONOMA COUNTY
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery
8761 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg
707.433.6700
The house -- and what a house! -- that Chardonnay built. Ferrari-Carano proved that consistently high-quality Chardonnay can be made in high volumes. Almost single- handedly this winery changed the fortunes, including its own, of white wine producers in Sonoma County, which had been known primarily for red wines. After you've finished that bottle of Chardonnay with your picnic in Ferrari-Carano's fabulous gardens, use the location in the heart of the Dry Creek Valley as a starting point for tasting at the valley's many terrific Zinfandel- oriented wineries.
Jordan Winery
1474 Alexander Valley Road, Healdsburg
800.654.1213
Founded in 1976 with a single goal, to produce the finest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in the world, Jordan continues to focus on these two varietals. Has it made good on the promise? You be the judge. These are classic, Old World-style wines -- slightly acidic, which makes them foodfriendly -- touched by the Alexander Valley's lovely herbal flavors and fragrances. And the Jordan estate and grounds rank among the most beautiful of any California winery. Jordan also is known for its extravirgin olive oil, produced from trees on its 1,600-acre estate.
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