North America Directory of Tips, Stories, and Advice

How to Get a French Laundry Reservation (and What The Meal is Like)

Last Updated on May 22, 2019

The French Laundry in Yountville, CA, is a three-Michelin-starred restaurant that is notoriously hard to get a reservation for. Because we love food and love experiencing travel destinations via food, we knew we had to at least try to get a French Laundry reservation on our recent trip to check out Sonoma and Napa Valley wineries.

We ended up being successful, so we wanted to share our tips for landing a coveted spot, as well as a general review of the meal and experience.

The hype around getting reservations for The French Laundry is pretty intense. But we found that if you understand the process, can plan far in advance, and are somewhat flexible in your dining date and time, a reservation is fairly easily attainable.

As with all posts on this site, the following is based on our visit date in early 2019. The booking process is liable to change.

5 of Our Favorite Napa and Sonoma Wineries to Visit

Last Updated on May 22, 2019

In a previous article, we broke down the differences between Napa and Sonoma to give broad views on these two rather unique winemaking regions.

In it, we loosely mentioned some of the vineyards we checked out during our first trip to the area, but spent most of the article speaking in generalities about the regions as a whole.

Today, we wanted to dive into the Napa Valley wineries and Sonoma wineries themselves, and highlight a few that stood out to us as being must visits!

Napa or Sonoma? Find Out Which California Wine Region is Right For You

Last Updated on May 22, 2019

When planning a trip to enjoy Napa Valley wineries or Sonoma wineries, it is very easy to get a bit of planning paralysis.

By some estimates there are well over 400 vineyards in the bay area, with the bulk centered around these two popular regions thanks to their unique terroir that results in delicious wines.

But odds are good you won't be able to make a dent in the 400+ vineyards when you visit. In fact, depending on your trip length you may find it hard to hit more than 10 or so in a couple of days.

So how do you pick where to go on a short visit? In this one we want to break down our thoughts in the big picture of comparing Napa Valley or Sonoma (and give a few of our favorite vineyards in each).

Note: We drove around Napa from North to South, but in Sonoma stuck mostly around the Russian River Valley portion. The below summaries are anecdotal based on our own experiences at about 10 vineyards between the two locations only and may not be true for every vineyard. Please keep this in mind when reading as some points are simply limited generalizations.

5 Wine Shipping Options When Visiting Napa and Sonoma Wineries

Last Updated on May 20, 2019

During our trip to California, we made it our mission to visit a number of wineries in Sonoma and Napa Valley. Naturally, this led us to purchase many bottles (15 to be precise) and a need to figure out how to get them safely to our home on the east coast. As information for this is rather limited, we thought it would be helpful to publish a detailed guide for wine shipping options for your visit!

Based on our experiences, there are five popular ways to ship wine from Sonoma and Napa wineries in order to enjoy some delicious bottles at home. But, as with all things with moving bottles of wine, there are some risks and costs involved.

As such, the following is organized from cheapest / most risky to most expensive / least risky as you proceed down. This assessment is based on our experience only.