The Solo Scale:

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If you’re a connoisseur of wine, then you’ll know that San Francisco is a top destination thanks to its proximity of both Napa & Sonoma. There, you’ll find an array of incredible wine offerings, but where do you start?

You could always do your own self-tour, but since you’ll be sampling wines, you don’t want to worry about driving. You could bike, but in the summer, it gets a bit toasty and the wineries can be quite far apart. Taking a wine tour is often your best bet. Plus, there’s so many variations of wine tours that you can book the option that’s best for you.

When I was last in San Francisco (July 2023), I opted for the Ultimate Napa & Sonoma Wine Country Tour with Green Dream Tours. NOTE: The itinerary I describe below appears to have changed, so keep that in mind as you book.

The tour began with a meet-up downtown San Francisco, a short walk away from Fisherman’s Wharf. If you’re staying at the Wharf, it’s no more than a ten minute walk, but if you’re staying a little further out, make sure to give yourself enough time to get down there, whether by public transport, a rideshare, cab, or walking. Once your entire group has been checked in (and be careful that you’re on the right tour as Green Dream Tours can often have multiple tours leaving from the same spot!), you’ll get on your air-conditioned small van (the A/C comes in super handy when it’s boiling in Napa & Sonoma, which doesn’t have the same cool breezes as the bay does) and head out.

The first stop of the day isn’t far. Once you cross the Golden Gate Bridge, you’ll get a quick break for photos of the bridge (and if you’re lucky, the fog will cooperate better than it did for me on this day, but given the next day it was clear, it really is a day by day thing).

From there, we stopped at the Oxbow Public Market for a breakfast stop. There were many things you could try here, including a stop at the Model Bakery (one of Oprah’s favourites). I grabbed some cookies from the shop (which didn’t last very long thanks to the incredibly warm Napa day) and bagels inside the Oxbow Market.

You’re back on the road after that with the first of the winery stops — Ru Vango. This winery takes you on a tour through the vineyards (the rows capped off with white roses to help with pest control), and then sampled several wines as you walked. They had a lovely air-conditioned tasting room that also displayed some art. It also made it extremely easy to purchase wine, if anything was to your tastes.

From there, the tour continues onward to Sonoma Square. You could attempt to make reservations and guess at what time you’ll arrive. I played it a little riskier and lucked out because we arrived just before the lunch rush (it was a weekday), heading to girl + the fig, a bib gourmande restaurant (you can read my review of my prix fixe meal of girl + the fig here). I sat at the bar and had more than enough time for a three course meal, and then to wander around Sonoma Square for a little, checking out back alleys, shops, and the mission.

What’s not included in the description and may not happen (but could) was our next stop. Prior to our second and last winery of the day, we stopped at a fresh fruit stall for people to purchase local delicacies. Given the heat of the day (clocking in over 100F), fresh fruit was exactly what helped break the heat spell, helped along by the food & the alcohol.

The second winery of the day was Robledo where there was a dedicated tasting room to sample three of this family-run winery’s offerings. Once you finished with the included samples, you could head outside to wander the patio, sample more wines, or simple enjoy the landscape.

After this, you’re back on the bus to return back to San Francisco with a much livelier group. Everyone’s much looser than they were in the morning when you were all strangers, which makes for a great ride back into San Francisco, where you’ll be dropped off right where you began.

So, are you ready to commit a day to delicious wines, fantastic food, and a fun experience? Check out Green Dream Tours and see if what they’re offering is right for you!

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