Wine Editor Reviews Tasting Rooms North, South & East
Jon Bonne, wine editor at The Chronicle [ed note: we were trying to come up with a clever nickname, something along the lines of calling the NY Times "The Gray Lady," but more appropriate to the old sinking ship herself... maybe The Dying Hag, or The Faded Floozy? Help us out. Maybe we'll take a poll later.] decided to review some Bay Area wineries based solely on the ambiance and offerings of their tasting rooms. The list turns out to be pretty long, covering Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Santa Cruz and even Livermore.
While we prefer to go to wineries that have good and unique wine, we also would have to concede that the overall experience is often enough to bring us back even to mediocre joints.
On the Napa side Jon recommends Chimney Rock, Domaine Chandon and a little place across from the original Taylor's Refresher, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, among others.
In Sonoma County he points to a couple of our personal favorites, Gundlach Bundschu (which just celebrated its 150th anniversary), J Vineyards, and Cline Cellars (which has an incredible array of reasonably priced, Rhone-style reds and whites in addition to an aviary and the California Missions Museum on site).
And he also points to the Monte Bello home of Ridge Vineyards, a great hilltop space which is one of the birthplaces of modern California Cabernet.
Enjoy this warm and spring-y week and weekend, kids, and please, sip responsibly. Don't end up like this: