Product Description

Lush, opulent pinot noir; rich, robust zinfandel; fruity, full-bodied Chardonnay—you can sample them all in California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys, which together comprise one of the world's premier wine regions. Completely up-to-date, Frommer's Portable California Wine Country is a handy guide that will give you proven strategies for exploring the region. Our candid reviews of the top wineries will tell you which tours are worth your time and which wineries offer affordable bottles. You'll also get a beginner's guide to California wines: varietals, recommendations on recent vintages, tips on wine-tasting protocol (how to sniff, swish, and spit like a pro), tips on shipping, and much, much more. And when wine-tasting is done for the day, turn to our candid, complete reviews of the region's fabulous inns and restaurants! The 5th edition has been expanded to include a new section focusing on up-and-coming but off the beaten path northern Sonoma County, including towns like Healdsburg and Santa Rosa.

Free companion podcast available.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413801 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

From the Publisher
Lush, opulent pinot noir; rich, robust zinfandel; fruity, full-bodied Chardonnayyou can sample them all in Californias Napa and Sonoma Valleys, which together comprise one of the worlds premier wine regions. The 2nd Edition of Frommers Portable California Wine Country gives readers proven strategies for exploring the region, with candid reviews of the top wineries-including which tours are worth your time and which wineries offer affordable bottles. Also included is a beginners guide to California wines: varietals, recommendations on recent vintages, tips on winetasting protocol (how to sniff, swish, and spit like a pro), tips on shipping, and much, much more.

And when wine-tasting is done for the day, readers can turn to our candid, complete reviews of the regions fabulous inns and restaurants!

From the Back Cover
Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer. And avoid tourist traps. At Frommer's, we use 150 outspoken travel experts around the world to help you make the right choices. Frommer's. The best trips start here.

Put the Best of California Wine Country in Your Pocket

• Featuring a brand-new chapter on Northern Sonoma, including the Russian River Valley and the charming town of Healdsburg.
• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip no matter what your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.
• The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews.

Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com

About the Author
Native San Franciscan Erika Lenkert fled the dot-community to find respite
and great food and wine in Napa Valley. When she’s not writing about food,
wine, and travel for the likes of Four Seasons Magazine or InStyle, or promoting her book The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining, she’s in search of Wine Country pleasures to share with Frommer’s readers. She also remains subservient to her owners—two Siamese cats and most recently, her new daughter Viva.
In addition to this guide, Erika authors and co-authors a number of other
Frommer’s guides to California, including Frommer’s California, Frommer’s
San Francisco, and Frommer’s Memorable Walks in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Broad, Generic, Timid
This, like the other Frommer's Guides I have seen, seems to be timid, generic and void of fun, gritty, insider information. It gave some useful information to read on the plane about various wineries, but I left it in my hotel the days I headed out to Sonoma, and this I did on purpose. Do your research and buy a better guide.

Touristy hot spots
Just because a travel guide rips into the Mondavi winery as being too touristy does not mean it has any special insights on how to see parts of Napa that are off the beaten path. Mondavi is an easy target. Nevertheless, this guide does have some good info about where to go to get some free drink--and do not worry about wine-drinking protocol. Because if you like it, that's all the counts. The best vintage I ever had was still the '53 Chateau Mouton Rothschild my uncle gave me as a present for getting my doctorate in material science, and I slurped down that bottle while eating a corndog.

Trip to wine country
I'm planning a trip to wine country and needed some information, not an encyclopedia's worth. This was concise and will be handy to take with me. It is laid out geographically which will make it that much easier to see the wineries that I want to see.