I visited in January, and although the roads and rooms were empty and the vines had a certain skeletal beauty, some of the wineries and restaurants were closed. According to Richmond, August through October are the busiest months, with crowds gathering to watch the harvest and the crush, when the air is sweet with the scent of fermenting grapes and many wineries hold special events. Richmond prefers May, when the weather is warm but not too hot (temperatures can hit triple digits in August), the vineyards are outlined in wildflowers, and the roads are less congested. On a summer afternoon, it's nearly impossible to make a left turn out of the wineries lining Highway 29, so you'll notice that we include only right turns along that route. Note too that our itinerary is timed to a long weekend. There will be far fewer people midweek, but some wineries will be closed.

Day 1 (Thursday): Carneros AVA

Your first stop in Napa is the Carneros American Viticultural Area. The only one of Napa's 15 AVAs to share land with its hippie cousin county to the west, Sonoma, Carneros is a rural area without a single incorporated town. It was largely ignored by grape growers until the 1960s, when there was little land available elsewhere in the valley and a few pioneers discovered that the clay soil and bay-cooled weather here were perfectly suited to chardonnay and pinot noir.

Fresh off a flight into San Francisco International Airport, or after a few days in the city, pick up a rental car and head north on Highway 101. You should cross the Golden Gate Bridge (named for the Gold Rush, not its rust-colored paint job) by 10 a.m. to arrive at your first tasting appointment around 11. If it's not too foggy, pull off at the Vista Point on the far side of the bridge to admire San Francisco's skyline. You'll be passing cow farms within 20 minutes, and soon thereafter will turn right onto Highway 37. The painted bovine sporting exhaust pipes perched atop a billboard is the signal for your next turn—a left onto Highway 121, at the corner of the Infineon Raceway (once known as Sears Point).

Highway 121 hangs a right at Big Bend and takes you east into Napa County. If you've never been here before, you may well be surprised by your surroundings, since it will quickly become apparent that many of the county's residents can't afford its high-priced wines. Locals call these parts Napalachia, a term perfectly embodied by the broken helicopter in a yard near your resort, the Carneros Inn (707-299-4900; thecarnerosinn.com; doubles, $480–$655), where each cottage comes with its own wood-burning fireplace, entirely private heated porch, and outdoor shower. About seven miles past Big Bend, turn left at a traffic light onto Old Sonoma Road. Richmond has arranged for the folks at Artesa Vineyards & Winery (1345 Henry Rd.; 707-224-1668; artesawinery.com) to greet you with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine at their hilltop aerie: When the Spanish Codorníu family decided to build an American outpost, they cut the top off the highest point on their new property, inserted a winery, and replanted the grass on the roof. The result resembles a half-submerged submarine. The Codorníu clan had been making sparkling wines since 1872, and they continued to do so when they arrived in California. But in 1997, they shifted their operations to still wines, which they've been producing for four and a half centuries: chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and the occasional Gewürztraminer or cabernet franc. This is your first stop of the day because it's popular among city day-trippers, and the parking lot will be full of tour buses by afternoon. Vines cover the surrounding slopes, and on a clear day you can even see San Francisco in the distance. During your private tour and tasting, you'll see modern artworks in glass and reclaimed airplane parts, all done by artist-in-residence Gordon Huether.