7 Charming California Wine Towns for Every Kind of Traveler

If anything can make a person feel more pleasant than having a glass of wine in hand, it’s sipping that tasty wine in the region where it was made—preferably while sitting in a sunny town plaza, leisurely discussing which local shop, gallery, or restaurant will be the next stop for the day.

As America’s capital of both wine production and pleasant weather, California has any number of towns that capture this experience, each with distinguishing characteristics that suit different types of travelers Whether you’re looking to soak in the spa, tick a destination restaurant off your bucket list, or meet America’s next great cult winemaker, we’ve got a town for you.

Photo by Dylan Patrick (L); photo by John Troxell (R)

Best for gourmands: Healdsburg

Fine wine and food go together like, well, steak and cab, so it’s a given that towns in wine regions have nice places to eat. A couple of them out-Michelin the competition though, and none more than Healdsburg. Once a quiet northern Sonoma county town with a cute plaza and not a lot else, Healdsburg began its life as a culinary destination when Charlie Palmer first opened Dry Creek Kitchen back in 2001. Michelin stars and other high-end chefs would follow, none gaining more attention than Kyle and Katina Connaughton at SingleThread, a hyper-seasonal restaurant which has three Michelin stars and placed eighth on the most recent North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Throw in urban tasting rooms from local favorites such as Idlewild, Seghesio, and Martha Stoumen, as well as gorgeous wineries—Flowers, MacRostie, Aperture—less than 10 minutes away by car, and you have a dream destination for food-and-wine lovers.

The last few years have seen explosive growth on the luxury hospitality side, as well: A Montage opened here in 2020, The Madrona in 2022, and Palmer’s Appellation Hotels brand opened a Healdsburg location this year, with a restaurant, Folia, run by his son, Reed. “When I was a kid, [Healdsburg] was very much a small agricultural town, more known for prunes and plums than wine and food,” says Reed Palmer. “Watching it grow into one of the great culinary and wine destinations in the world has been amazing. What makes it special is that the spirit of the community hasn’t changed: The same local farmers, winemakers, and artisans who built this place are still at the heart of what makes it so great.”

Photo by Anatoliy Lukich/Shutterstock (L); photo by Ritu Manoj Jethani/Shutterstock (R)

Best for spa-goers: Calistoga

The northernmost town in the Napa Valley was a wellness destination long before one of its wineries, Chateau Montelena, helped bring the region international fame 50 years ago by making a chardonnay so good it stunned a panel of French judges. The local Native American tribe, the Wappo, long frequented the area’s geothermal springs, and Calistoga’s founder, Samual Brannan, marketed it by combining “California” and “Saratoga,” inspired by the popular New York wellness retreat Saratoga Springs. Today, the small town (population 5,228) is replete with spa resorts, including Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort, Indian Springs Calistoga, Calistoga Spa Hot Springs, the Auberge Collection’s Solage, and the Four Seasons Napa Valley. Aside from the wine—other standbys include Sterling Vineyards, with its popular gondola that climbs 300 feet to a palatial hilltop villa, and Tank Garage, a quirky tasting room in a former gas station—Calistoga’s location at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains lends itself to a hyper-local spa treatment: volcanic ash mud baths.

“Mount Konocti erupted, however many eons ago, and deposited a layer of volcanic ash in the north part of the valley,” explains Calistoga Spa Hot Springs general manager Mike Lennon. “That became a concentration of natural minerals, and several properties, including Calistoga Spa Hot Springs and Dr. Wilkinson’s, started doing volcanic ash mud baths. It’s an immersive bath, using the mineral water and the volcanic ash, that starts helping your body take in the minerals, [including] magnesium, which is a natural calming agent for your digestive system and your body as a whole.”

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Best for LGBTQ people: Guerneville

Despite being located smack in the middle of Sonoma County’s renowned Russian River Valley wine region, Guerneville isn’t known as a wine destination; for decades, it has instead been known as the “Gay Riviera,” a popular summertime getaway for San Francisco’s LGBTQ population. There is tasting to do here, though, including at Korbel, which, because of legal grandfathering, is one of the few non-French producers that can call its sparkling wine “champagne.” A relatively new addition to Guerneville’s wine scene is Equality Vines, a label that donates proceeds to supporting women’s, LGBTQ, and immigrants’ rights.

“I immediately fell in love with the region,” says Equality Vines cofounder Matt Grove, who was originally drawn toward Napa but changed course after his first visit to Guerneville. “Sonoma County, redwoods, vineyards, and a like-minded local population who outwardly supported the fight for marriage equality—it’s a magical place.”

Among the other spots in town visitors should check out are Oli Art Gallery (which shares a building with Equality Vines’ tasting room and sells everything from paintings of San Francisco’s Castro District to denim jackets decorated with the Hokusai imagery), Piknik Town Market for breakfast and baked goods, and chef Crista Luedtke’s acclaimed restaurant Boon Eat + Drink for dinner. Overnighters would do well to book at Luedtke’s inn, Boon Hotel + Spa. And, no matter the time of day or year, a stop at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve to see some of the largest trees on the planet is a must.

Photos by Stephanie Russo Photography; courtesy of Lodi Winegrape Commission

Best for budget travelers: Lodi

John Fogerty may have bemoaned getting stuck in Lodi, but for drinkers on a budget this Central Valley city south of Sacramento is a great place to learn about a wide variety of wines without having to spend a fortune. While the industry here is best known for producing bulk grapes for conglomerates such as Gallo, there are high-quality zinfandel vines that are more than 100 years old, and vintners are experimenting with many other varieties. “We’ve been lucky to attract winemakers from all over the world to Lodi-grown grapes, since we have 136 different grape varieties, along with tried and true sustainable farming practices and one of the smartest and most curious bunches of farmers around,” says Stephanie L. Bolton, the research and education director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission.

Those looking to explore the many types of local wine—from that old-vine zin to the Greek white assyrtiko—would do well to stop by the Lodi Wine Visitor Center. The Center offers a four-pour tasting for just $12, along with more than 200 bottles for sale, all priced at less than $70. Those looking for a more upscale experience can check into the Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort & Spa, a recently rebranded property that has two Charlie Palmer restaurants, Maison Lodi and Americana House. “We design our menus to showcase Lodi wines, often creating dishes that pair beautifully with multiple varietals so guests can explore and discover their favorites,” Palmer says.

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Best for hipsters: Paso Robles

“The discovery of new winemakers is really analogous to finding a new band before they have a hit record,” says Douglas Minnuck, cofounder of the Garagiste Wine Festival, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in Paso Robles in November. Indeed, while this Central California town about two hours north of Santa Barbara has some established heavy hitters (among them Tablas Creek, cofounded in 1989 by the owners of the legendary Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate Château de Beaucastel), it retains something of a punk spirit. Paso Robles is independent, even a bit renegade. This edge is best experienced with a visit to Tin City, an industrial complex on the south side of downtown that’s home to more than two dozen small tasting rooms, three breweries, two distilleries, and several restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Six Test Kitchen. “The great majority of the wineries that have tasting rooms in Tin City started pouring at the Garagiste Festival,” Minnuck notes, “so Tin City is kind of like the permanent physical manifestation of the festival.”

Aside from Tin City, Paso Robles has a growing downtown with several excellent restaurants, including rotisserie-driven The Hatch and the French-Med Les Petites Canailles, whose chef-owner, Julien Asseo, is the son of groundbreaking L’Aventure winemaker Stephán Asseo. Downtown has several boutique inns, as well as a new Hilton Curio Collection property, The Ava Hotel, which features a heated saltwater rooftop pool and a restaurant, Emre, also from Julien Asseo. And at the end of a long day of tasting, you can light up your night by taking in the mesmerizing Sensorio light show.

Courtesy of the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection (L); photo by Heather Daenitz (R)

Best for cinephiles: Los Olivos

Santa Barbara County established itself as a prime region for pinot noir and chardonnay back in the 1970s, but the region really entered the public consciousness with the 2004 release of Sideways. Many of the film’s most memorable scenes take place in Los Olivos, the Santa Ynez Valley’s most bustling town: The “I’m not drinking any ******* merlot” scene was filmed at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant Cafe, while the spit bucket scene took place at the Fess Parker Winery.

Fess Parker has a cinematic history that predates Sideways. The eponymous founder played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone in Disney films during the 1950s and ’60s, and he bought a 700-acre vineyard estate here in 1988. “It was definitely kind of a getaway for a lot of people in the film business,” Fess Parker Winery co-owner Ashley Parker Snider (Fess’s daughter), says of the area. “Ray Stark, the producer, had the ranch next door to us. People like Bo Derek and James Garner were up here early on.”

The winery’s bottlings have been served at Elizabeth Taylor’s eighth wedding reception and the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Later, the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn opened, surrounded by tasting rooms, restaurants, and boutique shops. Among these is The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, a historic stagecoach stop (now an Auberge Collection resort) that hosted Hollywood stars including Reagan and Clark Gable.

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Best for nostalgists: Solvang

Solvang might seem self-consciously charming, with its windmills and traditional Scandinavian buildings. But James Sparks, winemaker and owner of Kings Carey, explains that this theme park–esque Santa Barbara County village has legitimate Scandi roots. “It looks ripped from Disneyland,” he says, “but then you learn that it’s real, that it was actually founded and settled by Danish-Americans [in 1911], and that over the course of a century they sculpted the town to become a modern history–filled California wine country destination.”

Attractions include kringle-making Danish bakeries with names like Olsen’s and Mortensen’s, a Thomas Dambo Troll at the California Nature Art Museum, cute inns (The Landsby offers a nice modern take on the local style), and tasting rooms for excellent wineries such as Sparks’s Kings Carey, as well as Alma Rosa, which was founded by Santa Barbara viticultural pioneer Richard Sanford. “People are always surprised to find out that there’s an urban wine setup just steps from Solvang’s center,” Sparks says. “Having a winery space here, in what most people just think of as a sightseeing stop, gives us a chance to chat up this charming city.”