Four Ways to Taste Napa and Sonoma

Inside the four winery experiences shaping the Napa Wine Down, from intimate estates to iconic sparkling wine.

Our private home base for the Napa Wine Down, designed for slow mornings, poolside conversations, and time to unwind between winery experiences.

Four Wineries That Show a Different Side of Napa and Sonoma

There is no shortage of places to taste wine in Napa and Sonoma.

But when we started designing the Napa Wine Down, we were not interested in simply checking famous wineries off a list.

We wanted each stop to offer something different.

A sense of place. A story worth knowing. Wines that are difficult to experience elsewhere. And enough time to slow down and actually be there.

The four wineries on this October itinerary do exactly that.

Together, they offer four very different perspectives on California wine, from a private Sonoma estate and a tiny three-acre vineyard in Coombsville to one of Carneros' landmark sparkling wine houses and classic Napa Valley Cabernet.

Here is where we are going, and why each winery earned its place on the itinerary.

Stone Edge Farm: Sonoma wine through the lens of place

Private vineyard estate at Stone Edge Farm

Stone Edge Farm is the kind of winery experience that immediately changes the pace of a trip.

The estate produces limited quantities of site-driven Sonoma wines from vineyards near Sonoma Square and its Silver Cloud Estate on Moon Mountain. Its wines are sold directly through the winery, with some of its most limited releases prioritized for its collector community.

What drew us here was not simply exclusivity.

It was the estate's focus on place, farming, and wines designed to reflect the vineyards they come from. Our visit will offer a more intimate look at the relationship between land, vineyard, and wine, rather than a quick tasting-room stop.

For the Napa Wine Down, this is our introduction to Sonoma: thoughtful, private, and rooted in the landscape.

Blue Oak Vineyard: a tiny Coombsville estate

Blue Oak Vineyard in Coombsville

Blue Oak Vineyard offers almost the opposite experience.

This is a small, family-owned property in Coombsville, with just three acres under vine. The vineyard sits on volcanic soils in one of Napa Valley's cooler AVAs, where marine influence and later fog burn-off help shape the region's wines.

Blue Oak's wines are produced in small quantities and are generally available only through the estate and its wine club, rather than through traditional retail distribution.

We will have time to settle in here over a private chef-catered lunch and tasting, which is exactly the kind of experience we wanted this trip to include.

Not another rushed appointment.

A table. Good food. Wine made from the place around us. Time to actually taste and talk.

Domaine Carneros: sparkling wine and the story of Carneros

Domaine Carneros château and vineyards during a Napa and Sonoma wine experience.

Some places earn their reputation.

Domaine Carneros has become one of the most recognizable winery experiences in Carneros, known for méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine, estate Pinot Noir, and its hillside château overlooking the vineyards. The estate was founded by the Taittinger family and remains closely tied to the traditions that inspired its beginnings.

For us, this stop brings something completely different to the itinerary.

After intimate, smaller-production estates, Domaine Carneros gives us a chance to explore the precision and patience behind traditional-method sparkling wine while experiencing one of the region's most visually iconic properties.

And yes, there will be bubbles.

Hess Persson Estates: a deeper look at Napa Cabernet

Cabernet tasting at Hess Persson Estates during the Napa Wine Down.

Hess Persson brings us into another side of Napa: structured reds, small-production wines, and Cabernet rooted in the valley's classic growing regions.

This is where the trip shifts toward the deeper, more powerful side of Napa wine.

We will taste a small-production Cabernet release of only 318 cases, the kind of wine that reminds you why Napa Cabernet has developed such a devoted following.

More than anything, this stop gives us another layer of the valley.

Not because every winery needs to be hidden or impossible to access, but because each one should add something meaningful to the story of the trip.

Four wineries, four different expressions of wine country

What I love most about this lineup is that no two stops feel the same.

Stone Edge Farm gives us intimacy, site-driven wines, and a private Sonoma estate experience.

Blue Oak gives us scale in the opposite direction: three acres, a family story, and time around the table.

Domaine Carneros brings sparkling wine, history, and one of Carneros' defining landscapes.

Hess Persson brings us deeper into the world of Napa Cabernet.

Four wineries.

Four different expressions of Napa and Sonoma.

Chosen not only for what is poured into the glass, but for the people, places, stories, and experiences surrounding it.

Because the Napa Wine Down was never meant to be about collecting as many tasting appointments as possible.

It is about slowing down enough to experience wine in context.

The best wine experiences are not only about what is in the glass, but who you share them with.

Join us for the Napa Wine Down

October 9 to 12, 2026

Sonoma and Napa Valley

Co-hosted by EMBODY by Antonina and Sojourn & Soirée.

A few spaces remain.