If sparkling wine is your focus, then make them a priority. Otherwise, cut them back to one or two. Schramsberg is difficult to make reservations at and has the best tour.

If you do Mumm, Quintessa, and Quixote, you have to go on the Silverado Trail.

Hess and Jarvis are very time consuming. They will take up most of a day.

As Susan suggests, plot them out on a google map.

1. So they are all equally accessible - no bad roads, difficult driving conditions, or just plain old hard to find?

2. I am looking to create an interesting time w some variety. If I have to cut some wineries, which do you suggest?

The roads aren't bad but the ones up to Jarvis and Hess are mountain roads and are somewhat twisty. The wineries are easy to find, however.

If you do Schramsberg, Chateau Montelena, and a couple of others in the Calistoga area, that would make one day's outing. Other wineries that are popular in that area are Castello di Amorosa, Sterling, Frank Family, Clos Pegase, and Dutch Henry. Other lesser known wineries include Storybook, Von Strasser, Viader, and Twomey. There are many others.

Another day could be Mumm, Quintessa, Frogs Leap, and Quixote which are all in the middle of the Valley.

A third option could be Hess, Jarvis, and then Del Dotto in Napa.

Thank you so much. This kind of information is very helpful, and is what I'm looking for.

Wondering if you might comment on one other topic-the wine and food pairings available in some wineries. Are they worth doing? If so, are there any in particular that you would recommend?

Del Dotto is worth doing. You need to reserve space on the Cave Experience at their Napa winery:

deldottovineyards.com/Del-Dotto-Caves.aspx

Wine and food pairings when offered are more expensive tasting options and are more time consuming. Whether they are worth it is hard to answer since different people would have varying opinions. If this is your focus, then maybe you should choose different wineries.

OK - I will pass on the food and wine pairing option. Thanks for your advice.

For Chateau Montelena - I am thinking about the Estate Tour, which is 1 and half hours walking around outside, seeing the grounds, drinking the wine, and hearing about the history of the winery. It goes rain or shine. I am thinking about doing this. Do you think it is worthwhile, or just a waste of my time and money?

And, in case I forget to say this later, thanks for all your help.

Del Dotto is definitely one not to miss! They produce some excellent Merlot. If you have time, Domaine Carneros is also very nice in this area. :).

If it fits in with your schedule, by all means do the Estate Tour at Chateau Montelena. This is an historic winery in many ways. It's even more interesting if you've seen the movie "Bottle Shock".