7 Destinations for Those With Great Taste

These places offer a flavor of the location with new adventures around every turn.
BY TOURING & TASTING

Tri-Cities, WA

With 300 sun-filled days a year, the Tri-Cities is a great getaway in the heart of Washington Wine Country. The Tri-Cities is within easy reach of more than 200 wineries offering plenty of fun events, tours, and other activities. Be sure to visit the wineries of the state’s smallest appellation, Red Mountain AVA. Primarily known for its fabulous red grape varieties. Fruit of the Vine Trolley provides an enchanting and comfortable way to visit some of the most celebrated wineries. The Tri-Cities is rich in agriculture too, and locals know how to savor its bounty. Each of the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland has a farmers’ market. There’s no better way to see and sample the fruits, vegetables, breads, baked goods, jams, and other goodies of the region. The exceptional climate also makes this area a perfect place to play outdoors, with golf being very popular in the area.
www.visittri-cities.com

Calaveras County, CA

The main street, aptly called Main Street, is lined with nearly two dozen tasting rooms and an assortment of tempting restaurants. The area’s Mediterranean climate and rolling limestone foothills are perfectly suited to growing Rhône, Spanish, and Italian varieties with distinctive and elegant flavors. Outside of town, the pastoral landscape gets rugged with plenty of massive granite mountains and miles of underground caverns. In fact, Calaveras has more public caves than any other county in California! This high Sierra destination is surrounded by natural beauty, and one of the best ways to experience it is to hike one of the area’s many trails. Golfers can escape to Greenhorn Creek Resort, where the sprawling golf course is dotted with artifacts of the Gold Rush era; and foodies will want to stop at CAMPS, a renowned restaurant featuring regionally produced wines and cuisine.
www.gocalaveras.com

Kentucky

In 1798, Swiss-born Winemaker Jean-Jacques Dufour arrived in Kentucky on a mission. He had been sent by his father—Jacque Rudolph Dufour, at the urging of Benjamin Franklin—to search the new nation for climate and soil conditions suitable for growing wine grapes. After two years, Dufour arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, and came upon the ideal spot—633 acres of land on the banks of the Kentucky River. In the fall of 1802, Dufour made his first wine, which was drunk by members of the Kentucky Vineyard Society and their guests. By the late 1800s it was the nation’s third-largest producer of grapes and wine. But--as in all wine regions across the country--everything changed in 1919 when the volstead act was passed and Prohibition began. Kentucky vintners needed to find another crop, and many turned to tobacco. By the time Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the agricultural makeup of Kentucky had taken a new direction. And, it wasn’t until 1976 that the state of Kentucky passed legislation to allow wineries to operate. In the past 25 years, the number of Kentucky wineries has risen from zero to 70.
www.kentuckywine.com and www.kentuckytourism.com

The Heritage Wine Trail, CA

Providing a delightful one-day itinerary that leads from the plains of Carneros to the hills of Calistoga, The Heritage Wine Trail makes touring and tasting through the Napa Valley easy, with a full-day package that includes a complete itinerary of tours and tastings at four iconic wineries and a gourmet picnic lunch—all for just $99 per person. At each winery, guests are treated like VIPs, with behind-the-scenes tours, special tastings, and more. After stops at Acacia Vineyard, Oakville Grocery, and Beaulieu Vineyard, guests continue north on Highway 29 to Provenance Vineyards. Guests travel The Heritage Wine Trail at their own pace and, after lunch, there is more! From Provenance Vineyards, they’ll head to Sterling Vineyards for their last stop of the day. The Heritage Wine Trail itinerary is the ideal way to experience the Napa Valley in a unique and memorable way.
www.heritagewinetrail.com

San Francisco's Tri-Valley

From Dublin to Livermore to Danville to Pleasanton, it seems like everyone in San Francisco’s Tri-Valley is getting into good craft beer. Within the Tri-Valley alone, there are more than a handful of craft breweries, close to 20 brewpubs, and restaurants with great tap lists. Even the Dublin Whole Foods Market has a tap room with 12 beers on draft. It may seem hard to believe, but a century ago, San Francisco’s Tri-Valley was one of the largest producers of the nation’s hops—the ingredient responsible for the aromatics and pleasantly bitter taste we love in beer. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, hop farms covering thousands of acres were harvested each year in the late summer, and a small percentage of their yield went to local breweries who crafted flavorful beers. In 1986, craft beer was again recognized in a meaningful way when area resident and owner of the former Lyons Brewery Depot, Judy Ashworth, threw a “Farewell to Bud” party at her pub. Since then, Judy has become known as a leading ambassador for local craft beer. Lovingly referred to as The Grand Dame of Publicans and Craft Beer Missionary, she prides herself in having taught a whole generation of Tri-Valley locals and visitors alike how to taste and appreciate craft beer.
www.visittrivalley.com

Beau Wine Tours; Napa, CA

Widely known as the region’s premier wine country destination tour service, Beau Wine Tours creates lifetime memories for its clients. Although the fleet of 60 spotless vehicles— ranging from luxury town cars to Mercedes Benz Sprinters—is quite impressive, Beau Wine Tours has built a stellar reputation with its uncanny ability for building meaningful relationships with its clients and understanding their needs. For one thing, the company’s staff is knowledgeable and well-trained— from the expert tour guides who personally drive the vehicles to the team of dedicated concierges who custom-tailor itineraries for parties of up to nine. The concierge’s job is to first determine what kind of wine touring experience the customer is looking for. First time visitors to the Napa Valley often need help navigating a long list of recommendations they’ve received from well-meaning friends. Other clients have romance in mind. “There are gentlemen looking for an ideal way to propose marriage, honeymooners, and couples celebrating an anniversary, too,” says Chief Concierge Marina Freedman.
www.beauwinetours.com

Loudoun County, VA

Nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Potomac River, Loudoun County, Virginia just keeps getting better. This fantastic east coast culinary destination and premier wine region, known as DC’s Wine Country, is just 25 miles from Washington, DC. Loudoun Wine Country is home to more than 40 wineries, waiting along winding roads and amidst horse farms and historic estates. These boutique wineries have inviting tasting rooms in everything from rustic barns to architectural wonders. You can look forward to intimate tastings, informative tours, imaginative food pairings, and engaging conversation with award-winning winemakers. And now, there are new breweries and cideries to visit, too. So pick up your palate and head to DC’s Wine (and beer and cider) Country! This year, four established Loudoun wineries are adding new state-of-the art facilities: Breaux Vineyards, Chrysalis Vineyards, Stone Tower Winery, and Greenhill Winery & Vineyards. Be sure to check out the craft beer as well. All of Loudoun’s breweries are part of the new LoCo Virginia Ale Trail, which leads you to all of the craft breweries and pubs serving unique brews and featuring local favorites.
www.visitloudoun.org