Beyond The Bay Area, This Underrated Region Offers Standout Vineyards And Restaurants

American wine enthusiasts don't need to travel far to sample delicious blends. The Golden State is well equipped to host wine-tasting excursions, and wineries throughout the region offer both scenery and bottles to please visitors. Yet while many connoisseurs are familiar with wineries in the Napa Valley, curious travelers will be well-rewarded by trips outside of the Bay Area to Capay Valley. With warm days and comfortable evenings, the climate in Capay Valley is Mediterranean-like and ideal for winemaking. The first winery in the region opened in 1860, and today, an array of vineyards and tasting rooms welcome the culinary-minded to sample food and drink. Capay Valley has been designated an American Viticultural Area, cementing this land as a unique destination for food and wine enthusiasts.

Places to visit include Capay Valley Vineyards, an elegant, family-owned estate that has helped draw attention to the area for its sparkling wines. Here, a natural fermentation process from France known as Charmat results in Prosecco-like bubbles, and sparkling Viognier and Tempranillo wines offer unique profiles to sample. Taber Ranch, established in 1867, offers a tasting room on a sprawling 500-acre property, and Grindstone Wines has collected several industry awards for quality wines with complex bouquets. 

Wine tasting isn't all that the Capay Valley offers. Restaurants like Road Trip Bar & Grill are highly rated by visitors, and a farm-to-table ethos has led to delis selling gourmet sandwiches and salads that can easily complement any bottle of Syrah picked up during days spent wine tasting. Lovers of olives will be delighted to visit Séka Hills' olive farm, an operation run by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. The farm produces over a dozen crops and is home to hundreds of Angus cattle. Here, the tasting room is nestled inside a massive olive mill, so guests can watch olives being pressed while sipping wine and snacking on nuts and jerky.

To make the most of the area and taste as much as possible, The Inn at Park Winters, a renovated farmhouse dating to 1865, is a gorgeous stop for an evening, making Capay Valley the perfect weekend getaway from the daily grind of San Francisco or Sacramento. Instead of budgeting for a trip to Europe, this kind of staycation can be the ticket to a palate-pleasing adventure that doesn't require passports or meticulous planning.