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Spring Mountain Road to St. Helena
If you are escaping a concrete jungle to visit California’s wine country, there is no better place to start than Spring Mountain Road. This winding road is the most direct but wonderfully slow and picturesque path from the airport and Sonoma valley into Napa valley. Plan to take it easy and enjoy the shaded valleys and mountain-top vistas. Several wineries have braved the Spring Mountain micro-climate including Schweiger Vineyards, a charming family-run vineyard that will do on-demand tastings and tours when their “Open” sign is in front of the gate.

At the end of the hour-long drive into Napa county, your reward is the charming town of St. Helena. As you come down the mountain, you will wind through colorful California bungalows until you get to Main Street (otherwise known as Highway 29). Wander the boutiques, try some olive oil at Napa Valley Olive Oil Co., and try the delicious food at one of the many great restaurants such as Market. If you have kids or just can’t pass up a good drive-in, Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, just south of downtown St. Helena is the perfect gourmet dive. Order an Ahi tuna burger with a local Double Rainbow ice-cream shake and let everyone stretch out on the picnic tables in the grass.

Prolonging your stay in Napa valley? St. Helena is just 15 minutes north of the quintessential Yountville and 30 minutes north of the town of Napa.

Dry Creek Road to Dry Creek General Store
The Dry Creek Valley is home to some amazing wineries and stellar wine-country vistas. Two roads Dry Creek Road and West Dry Creek Road parallel the creek on both sides and make a great bicycle ride or casual afternoon drive. To get to this little piece of wine-country paradise, take the Dry Creek Road exit xx miles north on Highway 101 from the airport.

A required stop is the Dry Creek General Store which is a gourmet grocery and deli with a bar on the side. The places exudes more character and charm than we thought possible in one historic barn. Order sandwiches at the counter and take them outside to the shaded picnic tables to soak in the view of beautiful vineyards and rolling hills.

Spend the rest of the afternoon stopping by little-known and world-reknown vineyards along the creek. One of our personal favorites is a litle vineyard named Gofrich where a charming retired dentist makes delicious syrah and zinfandel.

Downtown Healdsburg
Healdsburg, CA is one of the wine-country’s greatest secrets. It is a quaint, un-commercialized, and perfect “wine-country” town just 10 minutes north of the airport on Highway 101. Healdsburg hosts several top-notch restaurants including the much ballyhooed 2-Michelin star Cyrus and Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen.

My recommendation is to have a tapas lunch at Willi’s Seafood and Raw Bar and spend a few hours walking the square’s boutiques and stores. Several great wineries have tasting rooms right downtown such as La Crema and the smaller Williamson Wines but there are also some great vineyards just outside of town. Grab some delicious to-go provisions at Oakville Grocery on Healdsburg’s square and head out to Ferrari-Carrano or J Vineyards or Rodney Strong for a tour, wine tasting, and picnic.

If you can stay overnight, there are several excellent hotels in downtown Healdsburg ranging from expensive (Healdsburg Hotel, Les Mars, Duchamp) to the charming bed and breakfast, Camellia Inn.

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