Urban wineries and wine trails

There’s nothing quite like driving the back roads of California’s wine regions and sampling local wines at the source. Tasting rooms are now concentrated in cities, towns, and communities, creating often pedestrian- and bike-friendly wine trails with an appeal all their own.

Santa Barbara urban wine trail: Choose from more than two dozen wineries, most within walking distance from downtown and the beach, dotting the wine trail in this inviting oceanfront city.

Settings range from the 360-degree views of the Conway Family’s Deep-Sea Tasting Room on Stearns Wharf, to the six premium tasting rooms making up the Wine Collection of El Paseo, in the historic Presidio neighborhood.

San Francisco wineries: Interested in making your own wine? Go to Dogpatch Wine Works, which sources grapes from a variety of regions’ vineyards, but makes wine in this industrial-neighborhood cellar. You can even get hands-on. Book a time and you can make your own handcrafted wine to take home.

Downtown Napa Tasting Rooms: Over the past few years, the city of Napa has invested millions in making its downtown core gleam with gourmet markets, outstanding restaurants, a pretty-for-strolling riverfront, and plenty of places to sample the region’s world-class wines. Walk the downtown grid of streets to enjoy outdoor art and dip into a variety of tasting rooms.

Tasting rooms in Murphys: Known during the Gold Rush as a spot for some of California's richest gold finds, this Sierra foothills town has grown into a winery-rich destination with an Old West feel.