![\"\"](\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/winery_map.png\")
<\/a>An issue of a free magazine with winery maps.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Wine Country This Week.<\/em><\/p>\n- \n
- Plan A: Check a winery map before you go. <\/strong>There are a lot of them available, but if you look closely they pretty much all come from the same source, Wine Country.com.\u00a0 The maps are fairly detailed and show the location of most of the wineries you\u2019d like to visit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Pros:<\/em><\/strong> It\u2019s always a good idea to think ahead about where you want to go on a vacation or a day out.\u00a0 So, for example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re really intent on visiting Beaulieu Vineyard<\/a>.\u00a0 With a map, you will learn that Grgich Hills<\/a>, Franciscan and Inglenook are quite nearby.\u00a0 With a little time for lunch, that should make your day.<\/p>\n
Cons:<\/em><\/strong> Keep in mind that distances on a map look a lot shorter than what you actually experience when you\u2019re there. \u00a0The important lesson is to spend your time tasting, not driving from one end of the region to another.\u00a0 An inch on your screen may be ten miles of weekend traffic.\u00a0 So read the map with care.<\/p>\n
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- Plan B: Pick up a map when you get there.<\/strong> Almost every winery has a stack of free magazines by the door and many of them contain maps.\u00a0 The most commonly found magazine is Wine Country This Week, which is mostly advertising for wines and wineries.\u00a0 And the map is from Wine Country.com.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Pros:<\/em><\/strong> Even if you study in advance, it\u2019s good to have a map.\u00a0 With rare exception, every winery has a supply and it does help to know where you are and where you\u2019re going next. And magazine maps make nice souvenirs, especially if you circle the wineries you have visited.<\/p>\n
Cons:<\/em><\/strong> Remember that the free magazines make their money through advertising.\u00a0 Some of the wineries shown in bold letters or with a big star denoting their locations are in no way the best nor the ones you should necessarily be aiming for.\u00a0 Maps can lead you to your destination, but they can also mislead.<\/p>\n
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- Plan C: Wing it.<\/strong> Especially if you\u2019ve been to either Napa Valley or Sonoma County before, you may know your way around.\u00a0 Google Maps makes this a much more acceptable plan than in years before.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Pros:<\/em><\/strong> For some people, a little serendipity makes a wine tasting trip into an adventure.\u00a0 If you keep your eyes \u2013 and your mind \u2013 open you may just discover a little gem you drove past on familiar roads in the past.<\/p>\n
Cons:<\/em><\/strong> We have no argument if taking your chances is your style, but for many others with a limited amount of time to spend wine tasting, it\u2019s a better idea to know where you\u2019re going.\u00a0 And just because you think<\/em> you know the roads like the back of your hand, experience has shown us that things can look a little strange on the back roads of Napa Valley and Sonoma county.\u00a0 And we have found that for wineries off the main roads, Google Maps can be just flat out wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Napa Valley is big, 29 miles from Napa to Calistoga.\u00a0 Sonoma County is even bigger, 1,768 square miles.\u00a0 (You can look it up; we couldn\u2019t believe it either.)\u00a0 In both cases, there are wineries almost everywhere.\u00a0 There are 375 in Napa Valley and 425 in Sonoma County.\u00a0 Words of advice: You can\u2019t try them all, … Continue reading Using Winery Maps<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1807,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions\/1807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Plan C: Wing it.<\/strong> Especially if you\u2019ve been to either Napa Valley or Sonoma County before, you may know your way around.\u00a0 Google Maps makes this a much more acceptable plan than in years before.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Plan B: Pick up a map when you get there.<\/strong> Almost every winery has a stack of free magazines by the door and many of them contain maps.\u00a0 The most commonly found magazine is Wine Country This Week, which is mostly advertising for wines and wineries.\u00a0 And the map is from Wine Country.com.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n