5 Days to Wine & Dine in Napa & Sonoma

Fly into SFO and spend your first night at the Grand Hyatt SFO before heading north the next morning. I always recommend this over pushing straight into wine country after a late flight. The hotel is efficient and comfortable rather than a destination in itself, which is exactly the point. Insider tip: The windows are soundproof so you can have a runway view without the noise.

Working with Leone Wine Tours means a private driver picks you up at SFO for the ride to wine country. Start the morning with breakfast at Bear at Stanly Ranch. Take your time driving north through Sonoma, with a stop in Sonoma Plaza.

By midday, you'll check into Appellation Healdsburg, a new property that puts you five minutes from Healdsburg at an accessible price point. I recommend one of Appellation’s suites with vaulted ceilings; they’re worth asking for and make the whole stay feel more special. The spacious terrace is perfect for coffee on a chilly California morning.

Spend the afternoon tasting at Mascarin, a small-production winery focused on Loire-style wines.

End the day with dinner at three-Michelin-star restaurant SingleThread, which is led by a female sommelier. Get the top-level wine pairing. You won’t regret it.

Head north into Calistoga for a tasting at Sphaerics, poured out of Tamber Bey Vineyards. This is a quieter and more personal experience than most of what you’ll find along the main road. Led by a husband-and-wife duo, she is the winemaker and is making some of the region’s best Burgundian-style wines. Note: If you get motion sickness, bring some medications for the windy mountain roads!

From there, loop back toward Healdsburg for an afternoon appointment at Martha Stoumen’s tasting room. Her low-intervention, food-friendly wines have become some of the most talked-about in the region. The tasting room is colorful and lively. I like pairing these two in one day because they show different sides of what Sonoma and Napa winemaking can be.

End the night close to the hotel at Folia, the chef’s counter at Appellation. The hotel owner is Chef Charlie Palmer, and the restaurant is led by his son.

Utilizing a private transportation and tour partner like Beau Wine Tours, moving from Sonoma to Napa is easy. Check out of Appellation and into Auberge du Soleil, the Rutherford resort that helped define Napa Valley hospitality and still delivers on that reputation. Once you’re settled, head to the hotel bar for killer views of the valley and do the Vin Versus: a California versus France tasting à la the Judgment of Paris.

From there, I recommend a tasting at Promontory (owned by the Harlan family), one of the hardest appointments to get on your own since there’s no public signage and the wines rarely appear outside of allocation lists. It’s one of the most visually stunning tasting rooms I’ve seen, and any tasting that starts with Dom Perignon is going to be incredible.

Close the day with happy hour at RO Restaurant & Lounge (a Thomas Keller restaurant), a relaxed spot with a serious wine list to end the day.

Your driver can pick you up at your front door on property at ADS.

Spend the morning at women-owned Spottswoode, a family-run estate that still feels like a working farm rather than a production label. Their tours are capped at a small group size for a genuinely personal visit.

From there, stop at AXR to take pictures with the redwoods and try their cult-favorite Cabernets in the Single Vineyard tasting.

Head to dinner at the one-Michelin-star restaurant Press, a St. Helena institution with one of the strongest wine lists in the valley. In fact, they have the biggest Napa collection in the world. They also have a banger playlist, making for a fun and unpretentious vibe. Book Press well ahead if you’re visiting on a weekend; it fills up fast.

Save your last day for the resort itself. Spend the morning on the tennis courts or by the pool at Auberge du Soleil, then book a spa treatment before your evening flight home. They have a cool spring, warm spring, sauna, and steam room. If you want one more drive through the vines, utilize the Mercedes-Benz program at the hotel to ride around in style.

My tip: Schedule your massage a few hours before you need to leave for the airport, so you’re not rushing straight from the treatment table to the car.

After five days of tastings and dinners, I think this kind of unhurried close is what makes a wine country trip feel complete rather than exhausting.