Chateau St. Jean

Chateau St. Jean is a picturesque winery located along Highway 12 just south of Kenwood in the Sonoma Valley. Beyond a long driveway surrounded by estate vineyards sits the chateau itself, along with a large complex of equally-picturesque buildings housing the winery operations and indoor cellars. After parking in one of the ample on-site lots, you enter the winery through a large gateway offering nice views of a manicured European-style garden, with a path guiding you naturally toward the main hospitality area – a large main tasting room, which sits directly across from the 1920 chateau that was once the Summer home to the Goff family. It’s truly a grand property, and even though we spent over an hour there, I could easily see myself returning again...

GustavoThrace (plus Toolbox Wines)

Napa’s underrated downtown is home to a number of tasting rooms, including this one. GustavoThrace is conveniently located near the corner of McKinstry and First streets, across the street from the Oxbow Public Markets. With several tasting rooms to choose from within a few hundred feet, this one just seems like the most fun. The interior looks like a hot-rod garage exploded and left quirky, cool artifacts everywhere. All that’s missing from the serious (but classy) man-cave vibe is a pool table. From the street, a stained-glass portrait of winemaker Gustavo Brambila hangs proudly in the front window. You might recognize the names Brambila and GustavoThrace from the 2008 movie Bottle Shock, where Brambila was portrayed by actor Freddy Rodriguez as a young lab...