Request Info: 1st time visit to CA wine country

[Jodi]

Thanks for taking the time to provide so much great information! The various respondents' input will help us make the most of our short time in California. I'm so envious of the people who live near there and/or make frequent trips. I'm sure that no matter what we do, we'll be disappointed to have missed many excellent sights, restaurants, and wines.

Before receiving any replies (patience isn't my long suit!) we made a reservation at a B&B called The Napa Inn. So far, they seem like a nice place, and I figure we'll stick with that reservation. But if anyone has any experience or knowledge that would make us want to back out and try a different one, please let me know.

As an aside, recently we've been educating ourselves and experimenting a bit more, and found that we actually really like wines other than Chard & Cab Sauv -- e.g., some Reisling (somewhere, we had gotten the impression that it was something like a cross between White Zin and Bartles & James, but from doing the tasting recommended in Andrea Immer's book we learned that light-bodied doesn't necessarily mean sweet) and Pinot Noir. Also, $10/bottle isn't an absolute cut-off, but we like to drink wine often enough that our budget doesn't allow us to spend more than $7-10 on most bottles we buy.

Thanks again -- I love this website!