The Best Kid Friendly Tour of Napa
The other day I drove a winery tour for clients from India who were traveling with their two young children (aged 7 and 4) that spanned Napa and Sonoma. Now, bringing children to wine country is tricky, many of the wineries are not very welcoming to families with little one. They’re prefer that you bring your dog to bringing your children and the reason is simple, children tend to disrupt sales.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring children, you just need to do that correctly. On our site www.AmicisTours.com we have a larger article explaining how to visit wine country with children in the happiest and safest way from the point of view of a tour guide who has done that many, many times.
This tour the other day was so successful I thought I would share the itinerary with all of those hopeful, wine-loving parents. Now to preface this I have to say in the strongest terms that you need a designated driver, and if neither of you is willing to forego drinking during the tour then hire us or one of our friends to drive you.
The legal ramification of drinking under the influence of alcohol in California is already very difficult, but when you put children in the car you add charges for endangering the welfare of a child. That can mean jail time. A hired car and driver is a lot smart.
That said here is the tour. We started from San Francisco at 10:00 am. In fifty minutes we were at Cline Cellars in the Carneros district of Sonoma. Besides a very relaxed tasting room that looks like a comfy country home, with a nice gift shop, it also includes a bird zoo, a museum dedicated to the twenty one California Missions, donkeys that can be fed, they have carrots on hand, and a great solar energy display. The beautiful grounds, pond and fountains charm children and adults and make great place to taste some wine and stroll the grounds.
From there we went to the Sonoma Plaza and the Sonoma Cheese factory where we picked up sandwiches for lunch. The children could play on the playground for a little while, and the family could visit the twenty-first Mission, San Francisco Solano at the corner of the square.
From there we went to the Bouchaine winery in Napa’s Carneros district. Usually with kids I would go to Regusci (in the Stags Leap district of Napa) for a picnic and tasting, because it is a working farm and winery, the picnic area is shaded and spacious and they have cute dogs. But it was hot and Bouchaine is a little cooler although their picnic tables out on the yard are not shaded. Once the clients finished their lunch they sat on the patio while the children explored the gardens under our collective watchful eyes. Even though Bouchaine doesn’t encourage families with children the staff was wonderfully gracious to my clients. If you’ve never done a tasting at Bouchaine you have missed a great time.
Then we took a tour of the valley up to Beringer and the Culinary Institute of America in St Helena. I wanted them to see the beauty of the area. We went north on Route 29 and south on the Silverado trail. We then crossed over Rutherford Road and went to Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon winery. This is my favorite family winery in Napa and my clients and their children loved it. They enjoyed the grounds and fountains, tasted wine, visited the second floor museum, and then got comfortable in the lovely outdoor café for a snack and cappuccino. Personally I had an espresso.
From there we went to Goosecross Cellars mostly to show off their wonderful little winery to the father who wanted to know more about how wine was made. But, Jose poured a tasting for them that they very much enjoyed while I explained the process to them and their children.
From there we made a brief stop, about twenty minutes at Darioush, another place that is surprisingly welcoming to children. They enjoyed elegance and style of the place and then we were on our way. For a little rest stop on the way back to the city we visited the lovely Jacuzzi winery where they did an olive oil tasting at the Olive Press, just across the street from where we started, Cline Cellars. Then we headed back to the city and the whole tour was about nine hours.
Keep in mind that this is a professional drivers tour because it included fairly complicated routes to save time and be safe. Also the clients, with my encouragement drank a large amount of water, which is always the secret of a great wine tour.
For more about touring Napa and Sonoma wine country visit www.YourDayInWineCountry.com
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