The 15 top wine spots in California wine country 2026
California has it all when it comes to wine: great wineries, downtown joints and Michelin-starred restaurants, all serving local wines as well as those of the world.
Whether you're after the wines of Napa, Sonoma, or further afield, these are the places to enjoy a good glass when travelling through US wine country, handpicked by ambassador, Morgan Harris MS.
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![Compline, a wine bar and restaurant in Napa, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 492-8150
Address: 1300 1st Street #312, Napa
One of the best places in Napa to grab a casual bite and bottle, especially if that bottle is from somewhere other than Napa. The wine selection is at once classically focused and idiosyncratic in its selections, allowing you to continue discovering new wines outside of the Napa Valley after a long day of tasting. Sometimes you just need a good burger and a Champagne reset, and Compline is the perfect place to do that. You can also find great bottles at their retail shop, should you want to take something away to your AirBnB or hotel.
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![Chez Noir, a restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea, USA.]()
Address: 5th Ave between Dolores and, San Carlos Street, Carmel-by-the-Sea
Located in the tiny seaside hamlet of Carmel, Chez Noir is one of the best places to dine and drink if you happen to be staying on the other side of the Santa Lucia Highlands from the 101 corridor, or are venturing south of Santa Cruz.
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![Nepenthe, a restaurant in Big Sur, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (831) 667-2345
Address: 48510 California 1, Big Sur
If you're taking the lazy way down the coast on the iconic Highway 1, Nepenthe is a must stop for any wine lover. While not exactly close to any wine regions, it sits at the point between two or three. If you have plans to go from, say, Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, or Santa Lucia Highlands to Paso Robles, try to make the voyage out to Nepenthe, one of California’s most unique restaurants. The cuisine is French-inspired, but with local California ingredients, and the wine list, while not voluminous, does an amazing job of having something for everyone, celebrating the great wines of the world a...
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![Enclos, a restaurant in Sonoma, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 387-1724
Address: 139 East Napa Street, Sonoma
Sparkling Wine List of the Year International Open 2026
A new jewel box of a fine dining restaurant, located in Sonoma town, both the culinary and front of house teams have serious experience at some of the Bay Area’s top restaurants, including Saison, Quince, and Atelier Crenn, and The French Laundry. Certainly one of the most ambitious and exciting new venues to dine at on the North Coast, the wine list is focused on wines comparable to those made around the area, with a stock of great Bordeaux-variety wines. The dining room is extravagantly designed, and the service is professional and courteous with the finest tableware. Quite rightly, it has r...
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![Valley Bar and Bottle, a restaurant and wine bar in Sonoma, USA.]()
Phone: (707) 934-8403
Address: 487 1st Street West, Sonoma
Valley is the cosy, casual wine spot you dream of finding in California wine country, which can be a little relentlessly luxury-oriented. Want a salad, some tasty small plates and pasta or protein? This is one of the best places in wine country to dine in a more vegetable-focused, minimalist fashion while drinking food-friendly, unadorned, lower-alcohol wines. Founded by millennials with high end east coast hospitality experience, Valley reflects a much more contemporary experience of wine and food. One of the founders, Tanner Walle, worked at NYC’s famed Terroir wine bar for years, and his b...
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![Cadet Wine & Beer Bar, a wine bar in Napa, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 224-4400
Address: 930 Franklin Street, Napa
When travelling in North Coast wine country, there are plenty of opportunities for blowout meals, but it’s rare to find a solid venue for an interesting bottle of wine in a more casual, patio/bar atmosphere. Cadet, located in downtown Napa scratches that itch, with a thoughtful, extensive wine list of largely unheralded, unadorned Californian wine next to European classics and more natural-focused bottles from around the world. The wine offering is served next to small plates and snacks, but it’s a great place to explore new wines. You’re likely to rub shoulders with locals, tourists, and a f...
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![Torc, a restaurant in Napa, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 252-3292
Address: 1140 Main Street, Napa
Sean and Cynthia O'Toole have created one of the best places to drink and eat in the Napa Valley; after years of working in fine dining kitchens across America and Europe, in their own words, they’re, “proud to be 'dismantling' the fine dining experience, replacing it with a sophisticated yet relaxed evening that doesn't break the bank”. In a place as expensive and as luxury-oriented as the modern-day Napa Valley, this perspective and experience is certainly welcome. While you can certainly blow out the bank here with wines like DRC and Krug, there’s plenty of great more affordable options as...
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![Single Thread Farms, a restaurant and hotel in Healdsburg, USA.]()
Phone: (707) 723-4646
Address: 131 North Street, Healdsburg
Single Thread sits at the pinnacle of Californian fine dining as one of the most recently crowned Michelin three stars. Helmed by Chef Kyle Connaughton, and his partner-farmer-wife Katina, Single Thread celebrates the bounty of northern California’s agriculture and fisheries, infused with subtle Japanese-informed techniques and flavours. Single Thread has a 24-acre farm property that supplies the bulk of their vegetables, keeping the menu seasonal and focused on the best of what the field has to offer. The Connaughtons infuse every part of their service with the Japanese concept Omotenashi,...
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![Barndiva, a restaurant and wine bar in Healdsburg, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 431-0100
Address: 231 Center Street, Healdsburg
Michelin one-star Barndiva sits in a comfortable spot between ultra-fancy blowout and a-la carte casual restaurant. If you’re on a budget, but want something fancy-feeling or if you want a slow-paced dinner, but not quite at the level of a French Laundry or Single Thread, Barndiva is a great option. The food is delicious, thoughtful and draws heavily on the great produce available in the area. A choice-of prix fixe menu is offered nightly. The wine list draws heavily on the surrounding area, but doesn’t box you in to just the Sonoma coast, Dry Creek Valley, and Russian River; there are plent...
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![PRESS Restaurant, a restaurant in St Helena, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 967-0550
Address: 587 Saint Helena Highway, St. Helena
The baby of Leslie Rudd, founder of the Dean and Deluca luxury grocer franchise, and Napa Valley’s Rudd winery, Press was the first Napa restaurant to really celebrate Napa-qua-Napa. Revered sommelier Kelly White, who wrote the absolutely definitive, academic guide to Napa Wine, Napa Valley: Then & Now made a significant amount of the research for her work here at this restaurant, serving Napa’s history out of this cellar. There’s no restaurant that more directly revels in Napa’s history than Press. While you can drink Napa wine anywhere in Napa, if you want to drink the history of Napa and...
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![The French Laundry, a restaurant in Yountville, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 944-2380
Address: 6640 Washington Street, Yountville
Without a doubt, Chef Thomas Keller invented fine dining in America, and this is the restaurant that he first did it in. Unsurprisingly, he wanted a wine list to go with it, and the stewardship of this beverage program has been handled by some of America’s greatest wine professionals, including Frasca’s Bobby Stucky, Protege Palo Alto’s Dennis Kelly, and Gregory Castells. The wine list at The French Laundry has never been cheap, but it has always included some of the very best wines on the planet. There’s no doubt you’ll find something canonical and incredible to drink, but you’re not necessa...
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![Bouchon Bistro, a restaurant in Yountville, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 944-8037
Address: 6534 Washington Street, Yountville
Bouchon is chef Thomas Keller’s (The French Laundry) ode to the French bistro, right in the heart of Napa Valley’s charming town of Yountville. Baguettes, seafood platters, boudin blanc, steak frites, croque monsieurs… if it’s classic old-school French cooking, they’ll have it on the menu. As someone who finds this food deeply satisfying, a trip to Bouchon is always a treat. The wine list straddles between traditional French and new wave California, but given the fame of Bouchon’s executive chef, and its location in the heart of the Napa Valley, most of the tourists who visit Bouchon tend to...
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![Aubergine at L’Auberge Carmel, a restaurant and hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (831) 624-8578
Address: 7th avenue Monte Verde St, Carmel-by-the-Sea
If you’re planning on exploring the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Santa Lucia Highlands, or are on your way to points further south along the Central Coast, an evening at Aubergine at L’Auberge in Seaside Carmel is a must-do. An intimate, nine-table tasting-menu-only experience, Aubergine has one of the best wine lists in this part of California wine country, which is a little off the beaten path, outside the 101 corridor. While the wine list certainly celebrates the wines from the adjacent parts of California, there’s also a big selection of European classics, especially focused on Champagne a...
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![The Harbor House inn, a restaurant and hotel in Elk, USA.]()
Phone: +1 (707) 877-3203
Address: 5600 California 1, Elk
Located at what feels like the end of the world, amid the sleepy Redwoods at the far end of Anderson Valley is one of America’s greatest dining, hospitality, and wine destinations: The Harbor House Inn. Located in the tiny seaside hamlet of Elk (population: 599), the Inn is a lovingly updated redwood structure built by the now-defunct Goodyear Redwood Company in 1916. The Inn, plus the adjacent buildings, only have ten rooms, and an incredible view of the California Coast. They’re all decorated in a high rustic style befitting the venue. Staying overnight is an intimate, magical way to experi...
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Address: 210 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg
With decades of collective fine dining experience, Partners Jade Hufford, Evan Hufford, and Ryan Knowles wanted a change of pace, and recently opened Maison Healdsburg to bring their fine dining hospitality knowledge to a more casual, everyday venue. All Singlethread alums, the team has created one of the few places to drink well in a more casual venue on the North Coast. Located in downtown Healdsburg, it’s a great place to have a drink and a snack, and that before or after dinner glass or bottle. The team’s wine choices reflect the longstanding values that they upheld in fine dining: a com...
