AVA Guide · Sonoma + Napa · Modern Love Living
The cool-climate AVA between Sonoma and Napa. Sparkling, pinot, San Pablo Bay.
The fog-bowl AVA where Sonoma and Napa overlap: cool San Pablo Bay air, world-class sparkling, elegant pinot, and an under-touristed twenty-minute drive from anywhere.
The brief
Carneros is the AVA most weekend visitors drive through and never stop in, which is exactly why people who know wine country make it a deliberate stop. Cool San Pablo Bay air keeps the AVA 10–15° colder than Napa Valley proper, which is why this is where California's great sparkling houses are: Domaine Carneros (Taittinger), Gloria Ferrer (Freixenet), Schug. Cuvaison, Bouchaine, and Saintsbury are all making serious cool-climate pinot and chardonnay. The di Rosa Center is a 217-acre contemporary art preserve in the middle of vineyards. Carneros is the AVA you build a half-day around between Napa and Sonoma, or the entire day, if you slow down.
What to do
Experience 01
The Taittinger château. Terrace tasting, a flight of brut, the most photographed pour in the AVA.
Experience 02
Spanish-cellar sparkling, hillside view across the AVA toward the bay.
Experience 03
217 acres of art-and-vineyard. Two galleries, a sculpture park, a one-hour pause.
Experience 04
A modern tasting room at the AVA's heart. The chardonnay is the move.
Experience 05
Estate-pairing lunch in the garden. Quiet, considered, vineyard-edge.
Experience 06
di Rosa: contemporary art across pasture and lake at the Carneros gateway. Book the grounds.
Where to stay
The legacy stay
Auberge resort. Cottage-style, three pools, the spa. The right answer for a Carneros-only weekend.
The boutique stay
Twenty minutes east. The downtown Napa base.
The legacy stay
Twenty minutes west. The Sonoma plaza base.
The legacy stay
The Auberge property at the southern edge of Napa — working ranch land, spa, and the Carneros wind in the evening.
Where to eat
Boon Fly Café (Carneros Resort)
The Boon Fly donuts, a glass of Carneros chardonnay, the perfect mid-tasting lunch.
Bouchaine garden pairing
A small garden lunch with the estate wines.
FARM at Carneros Resort
A serious dinner room. The Wagyu, the cellar, the firepit drinks after.
The tasting list
Carneros
The Taittinger château. The terrace sparkling tasting.
Carneros
Spanish sparkling on the hilltop terrace.
Carneros
Modern AVA-heart tasting room. The chardonnay is the move.
Carneros
A garden estate, an estate-pairing lunch.
Carneros
A pinot pioneer in the AVA. By appointment.
Carneros
A sustainable estate at the Sonoma end of Carneros, with cave tours and a hilltop tasting room.
From the magazine
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Experiences provided by Viator, a Tripadvisor company. Modern Love Living may earn a commission on bookings made through these links, at no extra cost to you.
The honest answers
It's the half-day between them. From Napa: drive south on Highway 121, three sparkling stops, lunch at Boon Fly, then continue to Sonoma plaza. The trip nobody plans, that everyone wishes they had.
Domaine Carneros for the château experience. Gloria Ferrer for the hilltop view. Both for a one-day sparkling crawl.
Carneros sits at the south end of both Napa and Sonoma counties, opening directly onto San Pablo Bay. Cold marine air pushes north every afternoon and pulls back every morning.
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