There are two common misconceptions surrounding northern California’s wine country in Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley that the region is a summer season only destination, and when you get there, it is an expensive endeavor no matter how you choose to participate. The reality is much different and worth capitalizing on for those in the know.
While during the summer season Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley attract hordes of wine loving tourists to the local wineries, the height of tourist season doesn’t make it any more of the right season to go, just more convenient for a lot of people. Of course if you plan to be out amongst the grapes on the vines, the summer is when they are approaching their fullest before the grapes are trimmed in the fall for pressing. But summer is also when both wine country destinations can hit triple digits in temperature under a Tuscan style sun, while any of the other three seasons will offer a more pleasant atmosphere for many. While winter in Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley can bring fewer sunny days than the blazing days of summer, the fall rains have brightened the hillsides by winter and transformed them from dusty browns to brilliant greens more closely associated with springtime. By the time the calendar flips over, the vineyards are covered in yellow mustard flowers, with trees flowering in late winter. And even though wine country is hyped for its wonderful local wineries, as well as its lifestyle, Sonoma County and Napa County over the last one hundred years have always been a celebration of the land more than anything else.
Just over the Golden Gate Bridge, the roads wend their way through Sonoma County and Napa County, and will take you through not just beautiful stretches of vineyards as far as the eye can see, but they also lead one past apple orchards and olive groves, other staples of the region, as well as giant sequoia redwood tree forests stretching to the sea. You can gain some insight into the diversity of the land and visit livestock, harvest mushrooms, or sample freshly made goat cheese, all of which might interest the kids as a balance from all the vineyards and if you’d like to mix things up a bit. They will also appreciate the 19th century village at Occidental, with its Victorian buildings and tree-lined streets.
The cost of participation is greatly reduced in the winter in Sonoma County and Napa County; not because it is necessarily a less desirable time to be there, merely because there is less competition driving the market rates up for the local businesses. And while prices are better between the seasons no matter where you choose to go, it is well established that between the two, Sonoma Valley is always more cost effective when watching your budget. Napa Valley has a tendency to charge more and that is most apparent in the hotel rates and the wine tastings at the local wineries. Tastings can run $40 per person in Napa Valley, where Sonoma Valley tastings are often free, or under $5. Sonoma County will also offer many more reasonable hotel choices given that Sonoma County is three times the size of Napa County, and it is also located closer to the main highway (and its hotel corridor) that runs back across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco and its many tourist attractions.
Arriving in Sonoma Valley or Napa Valley during the winter will force you to miss nothing more than the blazing sun and its high temperatures, along with the throngs of tourists competing for those hotel rooms and shade trees, and space at the tasting room bars. You may find a little liquid sunshine on your winter vacation and the clouds and mist may swirl through the giant sequoia redwood trees, but you can always count on the same simple pleasures of the local wineries with space to move whenever you wish to duck inside.
