Cachet. When I visit this winery, I feel like I’ve come home. The drive onto the property is lined with rose bushes. The parking lot draws you towards a multitude of excellent choices…walk straight to one of three tasting rooms, head for a shady picnic table near one of several ponds, tour the one-of-kind museum of California Mission models or visit the exotic birds on display in the aviaries. All of these choices and yet the atmosphere feels like you have walked into someone’s private farm…albeit a very lovely one that makes fabulous wine.

Wine. Cline wines come in five groupings: Oakley (from the San Joaquin Delta area), California (blends from various vineyards), Sonoma County, Ancient Vines, and Single Vineyards. With all these choices, there is something for everyone! The Oakley group is often a best buy from Wine Enthusiast. The California series has interesting wines like Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay, Viognier, Syrah (blend) and Cline’s well-known California Zinfandel. Ancient vines are popular in California, people love to talk about them. Cline has four wines in this group: Mourvedre Rose, Carignane, Mourvedre and Zinfandel. The single vineyard wines are my favorite with the Small Berry Mourvedre leading the pack.

People. Everyone that I have encountered at this winery has a happy and relaxed demeanor…tasting room staff, winemakers, management and visitors. I use the tasting room reserved for club members…the cutest little room with two to three enthusiastic, smiling people behind the counter. I think the intimacy of this room lends a tremendous amount to the convivial atmosphere. But of course, it comes down to the people. They are genuinely enthusiastic and seem to love their jobs. Once at a large event, my husband and I were chatting with winemaker Charlie Tsegeletos and he got so excited by all of our questions, he spontaneously led us on a private barrel tasting.

Getting there. If you have one day to visit and you choose Sonoma County, I recommend you start or end your day at Cline. Marin County (where I live) is beautiful so if you are coming from San Francisco or points north, take advantage and drive through Marin. From Hwy 101, (the unfortunate asphalt divider of Marin) take Hwy 37 (a stunning Marsh area) to Hwy 121. Follow the signs to Sonoma and you’ll soon find yourself in rolling pastures surrounded by cows, goats and hawks. This is the Carneros AVA. Cline is one of the first wineries (on the left).

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I have always been in awe of winemakers.  Amateurs making their own blends is an industry trend, e.g., Crushpad in San Francisco is very successful. Until now, I’ve happily sat on the sidelines (drinking fab wine).

I finally poked my beaker into the bottle so-to-speak at a corporate event where I was VIP Hostess.  The client had already chosen the wineries so I used my insider persuasion to organize the various events, get discounts and keep everyone on schedule.  We started at Ravenswood with Peter Griffith’s Blending Seminar. The guests learned the basics about acidity, sugar and tannins.  I helped translate that into “taste the three wines in front of you, decide what you think about them, then start mixing and tasting until you come up with your favorite”.

The group had a blast. They used every last minute to pour, play and taste.  When the time was up, Peter quickly bottled, corked and even hot waxed each guest’s personal blend to take home.

**(That’s me in the hat.)

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I often get requests from readers to help them with their wine country itinerary. My readers also refer their friends to me.

The places I recommend consistently treat people like welcome guests, offer something more then a belly-up-the-bar wine tasting, make fabulous wine or food, and meet my criteria for a wonderful place to stay overnight (cozy, comfortable luxury).

In ensure that my friends & fans get the same “insider” treatment that I do, I asked my favorite businesses to be part of a very special project,  Alana’s Insider Picks & Tips, Get the Inside Scoop & Save $700.  Each business provided an Insider Pass in my new guidebook.  I added tons of tips to best enjoy a day trip or a vacation in wine country.

Now you can get my recommendations plus Passes to the VIP experiences that I enjoy as an insider.

I can hardly wait to share these fabulous places and adventures with you! Learn more by going to the Guide page.

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Collective tasting rooms offer wines from various vintners in one place.  They can be co-owned by vintners like Family Wineries Tasting Rooms or independently owned like Vintners Collective. They are different from a wine shop that offers tastings in that they represent far fewer vintners.

A bad weather day is the perfect time to visit a collective tasting room.  It’s also fun to drop in when I don’t feel like driving or want to taste wines that I normally can’t access.

Every collective has a theme: some offer rare & pricey wines, some are formal while others are casual.  A good tasting experience, for me, meets the same criteria as a winery tasting.

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Welcome to Ceja (say ha) Wines.  What a lovely ambiance! They have two tasting rooms, in the Carneros appellation (which straddles Napa and Sonoma County) and downtown Napa.  The family is very hands-on. The matriarch, Amelia, cooks, entertains, talks about wine, pours wine…she does it all with an excitement and energy that belies the fact that she has been in the wine business for decades. Her husband, Pedro, and brother-in-law, Armando, head up vineyard management and winemaking.  Daughter, Dalia, and son, Ariel, both work in the family business.  Ariel is especially interested in video as you can see from their web site.

I’ve been to many family-operated wineries but this winery is distinct: I feel their Mexican-rooted hospitality; in fact, it’s a bit like being in a gracious, beautiful home in Mexico. I wanted to sit down for a meal with all of them, listen to stories, eat Amelia’s wonderful food and drink lots of wine.  (Casa Ceja members enjoy these perks.) You can find their wines at restaurants, fine wine shops and online.

Their wines are so well-structured that I enjoy them with and without food.  Their Sauvignon Blanc ($26) and Vino de Casa White ($20) are favorite summer wines at my house; when I offer a selection of whites for my guests, they are first to be emptied.  Amelia has lots of recipes online and I made my own cherry relish to pair with Ceja’s Vino de Casa Red.

TIP: Ceja is extremely well-respected in the professional wine industry.  Famed Critic, Robert Parker is a fan; he has requested their wine at events. The Ceja’s don’t submit their wines to him for rating: because he tastes 75 wines per day in his job, it’s not the best way to experience gentle, structured wines. The same goes for consumers, the more wine we taste in one day, the less we can appreciate what we’re tasting.

Be a VIP with an Insider Pass!

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Willie’s Wine Bar & Grill in Santa Rosa is the ultimate place to pair delish small plates with wine.  Sitting at the bar one rainy afternoon, I invited Darren, the server behind the bar, to design a three course meal for me.

Course 1 was rich (French), course 2 was a palette cleanser (salad) and course 3 was rich (European).

Course 1 Foie Gras “Poppers” with Sea Salt & Grape Chutney served with a Grande Maison dessert wine. The earthy flavor of Foie Gras is strong and the wine calmed my palate.  I liked the salt in the recipe too.

Course 2 Arugula, radicchio salad with white truffle Meyer lemon vinaigrette, avocado, Manchego cheese and toasted almonds served with  a MacMurray Pinot Gris. A perfect pairing! The hint of fruit at the front was a surprise; it took the edge off the strong earthiness of the salad.  Also the simplicity of the Pinot Gris (acidic and minerally) created a wonderful balance of flavors.

Course 3 This was so good I didn’t even take notes!  It was a Filet Mignon slider with a Cabernet Sauvignon. I served a take-off of the dish at home, which I’ll blog about later.

I learned so much in one afternoon!

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I have to have that forest floor on my Pinot Noir. Ann, Tasting Room, Artesa Winery

She’s serious actually.  This unusual and spectacular situated winery is built into the hillside in the Carneros region of Napa Wine Country.  The family pulls from impressive vineyards on both sides of the Mayacamas mountain range from which the winemaker, Mark Beringer*, makes exceptional wines.

They have several unique tours including a new cheese and wine tasting.  Be sure and order a glass of bubbly ($10) after your tasting and enjoy the terrace and the views all the way to San Francisco.

*I met Mark when I was an advisor to a Napa nonprofit and he sat on the board.  He struck me as kind, thoughtful, dedicated and extremely business-saavy. Through a series of twists and turns, he was introduced to David, a good friend of my family’s and they became very close. Sadly, David died a few years later.  Mark made a big effort to fly in for the service even though he had been traveling overseas nonstop for weeks. I don’t know Mark well, but that type of grace touched my heart.

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What makes Rick’s the ideal wine shop & bar?

It has it all…a wine shop with quality selections and advice from Rick; a welcoming energy that invites you to linger; half-glasses and spot-on pricing; cozy enough where you can easily meet people or talk quietly with a friend; wine served in the perfect Riedel Sommeliers glass (untouched by chlorinated water, filtered-only please), carefully chosen top-shelf meats and cheeses sliced in front of you and served with Bremer crackers (because they are sugarless and sugar in crackers “can ruin wine”); stunning photo art and nice people.

If I am going out with a wine or foodie type, I go to Rick’s.  His meticulousness results in an experience that is a perfect pairing in every way.  Go check it out.

Photo is from Gail Pierce Photography

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Do you like to get off the beaten path, away from the touristas?  Cambria, outside of the Paso Robles appellation is half-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles.  4 1/2 hours from the Bay Area, it’s not a day trip.  Cambria is a quiet little village that is a great place to rent a house for a week and go winery-hopping.

Harmony Cellars sits on a ridge just outside of the village.  It is the main attraction in a town called Harmony, population 18.  Harmony has advertised itself as a tourist destination for many years, but honestly, it has seen better days.  The winery, however, is not touristy, quite the opposite.  The family has been there 150 years. (They are part of the population 18.)

Tulip and I loved the staff and I tasted all of their wines. I especially like the reds.  They even have a Port that they serve with a chocolate-covered blueberry.  I bought wine and a sack of the berries! Go visit, it’s a lot of fun.

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