Wine tour: San Francisco or Santa Barbara?

Would like to do a wine tour in either San Francisco or Santa Barbara. Is one area better than the other for such a tour?

Just down the board is this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2007855

while, with only one reply, is pretty right on. Sonoma/Napa is the center of the wine universe (putting on flame retardant clothing) in the US. Santa Barbara has some interesting things, but no where near Napa/Sonoma.

Both are a 45-60+ minutes drive from the ship. I agree a ship tour would work best.

Best yet- take a tour in each area.

Thanks, CruiserBruce. Our ship is in port in SF until 11PM. The tour I'm looking at returns by 6PM. We've been to both SF and SB before. We took a Muir Woods/Sausilito tour in SF and walked around in SB since we were there on Easter Sunday and the wineries were closed.

Thanks, CruiserBruce. Our ship is in port in SF until 11PM. The tour I'm looking at returns by 6PM. We've been to both SF and SB before. We took a Muir Woods/Sausilito tour in SF and walked around in SB since we were there on Easter Sunday and the wineries were closed.

How did you like the Muir Woods tour?

Loved Muir Woods! We were only there about an hour so not nearly enough time to enjoy it like it should be. It was part of a tour and from what I understand none of the tours stop there for very long. I would have rather skipped Sausalito and stayed at MW longer.

If they leave you off at the square in Sonoma, there are quite a few wine tasting rooms there.

The Napa valley is the wine center of the world and some great wines come from there. Strongly recommend it over Santa Barbara. After the tour walk down to Fisherman's Wharf with a bottle of the wine you bought and enjoy it with a nice fish dinner.

The Napa valley is the wine center of the world and some great wines come from there. Strongly recommend it over Santa Barbara. After the tour walk down to Fisherman's Wharf with a bottle of the wine you bought and enjoy it with a nice fish dinner.

I'm pretty sure there are some people that might argue that some of the Grand Cru Bordeaux wineries might disagree is the centre of the world...

Well a joke in the Sonoma Valley is " Napa makes great auto parts, Sonoma makes great wines". A couple of years ago two couples we were sailing with put together a tour of the Sonoma Valley with Terrific Tours .... we enjoyed the tour and can recommend them wholeheartedly.

http://www.terrifictours.com/

Would like to do a wine tour in either San Francisco or Santa Barbara. Is one area better than the other for such a tour?

As someone who has spent some time in the wine business I would suggest a tour to Napa as the area produces a larger variety of wines of quality. I would suggest Sterling Vineyards, Chateau Montelena, and Mumms Napa as wineries that offer quality wines as well as an experience for non wine aficionados. Sterling has a tram ride to the winery and a video self tour with wine tasting stations. Chateau Montelena won the famous 1976 "Paris tasting" with their chardonnay which was the premise of the movie "Bottle Shock". Chateau Montelena's grounds are spectacular. Mumms Napa tour will explain the "champagne method" of their wines and they also host an art gallery. You can stop off for lunch at the Culinary Institute of America or Gott's Roadside which was featured on Drive-ins, Diners, & Dives.

Santa Barbara wineries are famous for their Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays and you can taste them on the "Urban Wine Trail" in town. I sampled some tasty wines at Au Bon Climat on my recent wine coastal.

Both places are nice and you'll enjoy either.

Just down the board is this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2007855

 

while, with only one reply, is pretty right on. Sonoma/Napa is the center of the wine universe (putting on flame retardant clothing) in the US. Santa Barbara has some interesting things, but no where near Napa/Sonoma.

 

Both are a 45-60+ minutes drive from the ship. I agree a ship tour would work best.

 

Best yet- take a tour in each area.

I took a Celebrity wine tour to Sonoma several years ago - expensive but was worth it - had a guide from Kendall Jackson with us. Had a big delay due to traffic coming back to SF. Wasn't critical because we were docking overnight but might to something to consider if you go on sailing day. In this case booking tho' ship would be less stressful.

How far is the Urban Wine Trail from where Princess tenders? Is it a walking tour?

How far is the Urban Wine Trail from where Princess tenders? Is it a walking tour?

Google maps says it's a 19 minute walk from Stearn's Wharf. We took a bit longer as DW was browsing the shops along the way. IThe "trail" is just an area with a bunch of tasting rooms of wineries from the valley. Make sure you drop into Au Bon Climat to taste some fine Pinot Noir.

You could save 15 minutes by taking the $.50 shuttle up State St.

Thanks!

I realize this is an older thread, but hoping someone will jump back in and answer my question. I'm in SB next month for a 9am-6pm port stop and would love to learn more about how wine is made and see the behind the scenes process...not just do tastings.

I narrowed down list of "wine tours" by several top rated companies that cover both drive out to main SB wine vineyard region with 3-4 tastings and lunch in a full day. So far I've called two and neither seem to include an actual tour of vineyard. I'm a bit confused: they have pics on their site of people walking in vineyards or seeing demonstrations...but they say it's basically just tastings.

Does "wine tour" really mean a driver/guide that takes you to multiple tastings and answers your questions about wine? Or are there packages that include a tour - where you can walk around; see how wine is made, the process, etc?

Well, I can't really speak for the Santa Barbara area as we are near the Napa and Sonoma vineyards but our experience in this area has been that most of the wineries offer just tastings. However, if you search around you will find those that offer "premium" tours that include more. We have walked the vineyards, seen the crush process, tasted from the barrels, etc. but you will need to do some searching to find those tours. If you dock in San Francisco I can point you in the right direction. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

We have walked the vineyards, seen the crush process, tasted from the barrels, etc.

Thanks 2pbears: that's exactly what I'm looking for! Sadly, I only have 3 days in SF before the cruise and there's just enough time to do some of the activities on my list, so a day at Napa and Sonoma are out. We port in SB and figure that's my best bet this trip. So will keep calling tour companies - hopefully will find one that includes a winery with an actual tour. The only one I found that offers a vineyard tour has a contract with Princess - I'd have to do the excursion through the ship which is close to double their standard price - that's too much of a markup for me - for the exact same tour. Appreciate your response!