California Wine Country 101 Guide

An excercise in gourmet, picture-perfect indulgence

By Laura Delp

SAN FRANCISCO
The Jump-Off Point to Wine Country

This legendary city on the bay, a typical staging area for a wine country trip, is worth a few days in its own right. Stay at San Francisco’s only luxury waterfront hotel, the 199-room Hotel Vitale, across from the Ferry Building Marketplace, which is renowned for its fantastic food offerings (including the popular Vietnamese restaurant, the Slanted Door). The hotel is a modern mix of wood and stone, with great views above the seventh floor (from $299; hotelvitale.com). For even more spectacular views, cozy up in the recently redecorated rooms at the towering Mandarin Oriental (from $455; mandarinoriental.com). Or, to be slightly removed from downtown’s hubbub, check into the hundred-year-old Hotel Drisco in posh Pacific Heights (from $259; hoteldrisco.com), where you’ll be a stone’s throw from Spruce restaurant, which boasts its own organic farm. This place has been packed since it opened last summer, so be sure to reserve early (sprucesf.com). The tiny former diner Canteen is a quintessential Frisco experience, with a menu of artfully prepared local bounty that changes weekly (sfcanteen.com).

CARNEROS
Serene, Accessible Beauty

South of Napa and Sonoma, with a toe nearly in San Pablo Bay, the cool, windy area of Carneros is often overlooked as travelers make their way directly to the more famous regions. But this is perfect pinot noir country, filled with water fowl and wetlands. Catch the spectacular views from Artesa, a winery built into a hillside with exterior walls made of native grasses (artesawinery.com). Don’t miss the diRosa Preserve, an impressive collection of works by Northern California artists, all quite zanily housed in and around the buildings of a former winery (707/226-5991). Splurge on the Carneros Inn, where at first glance cottages resemble farmworker dorms, but turn out to be modern realms with cherrywood floors, fireplaces, and private patios with outdoor showers. Locals love the inn’s restaurant, with its local-produce-driven menu, fire pit, and bocce court (from $430; thecarnerosinn.com).

LAKE COUNTY
A Rural Retreat Full of Wonder

This unhurried county—an easy day trip from Calistoga or Ukiah—is enticing, especially when compared to the more expensive and established parts of wine country. Vineyards and orchards dot the countryside, and at the foot of the dormant volcano, Mt. Konocti, lies the county’s heart, Clear Lake. California’s largest natural freshwater lake (and possibly the nation’s oldest) teems with bass and catfish. You can kayak through Rodman Slough, a wetlands preserve that’s home to bald eagles, herons, and otters, or take one of the hikes guided by the Lake County Land Trust (lakecountylandtrust.org). There used to be no particularly appealing lodgings in the area, but that changed in 2006, when the 17-room Tallman Hotel opened in Upper Lake (from $139; tallmanhotel.com). Antiques abound in the restored building, and some rooms come with Japanese-style soaking tubs. The Blue Wing Saloon & Café next door serves local wines and comfort food. Further south, Jim Fetzer’s biodynamic vineyard and hacienda style tasting room, Ceàgo Vinegarden, can be reached either by car or boat (ceago.com).