Sonoma - non geek - where to go, what to do?

Friends, my niece is making a swing through Sonoma next week.
She likes wine, and is interested in learning about it, but not to the extent of many of us here. But she does enjoy it, so I'd like to steer her away from the mass marketers, and toward better quality producers.
Does anyone have any suggestions for some friendly tasting rooms with nice, quality wines, that I can recco to a newbie?
Also, any moderately priced breakfast and lunch places?

TIA

If she is interested in learning more about wine but is not a geek I would recommend the Ravenswood tour and barrel tasting. It is very informative and even non-geeks I have known have enjoyed it. Friendly and informative tasting room staff as well. Ravenswood is very close to downtown Sonoma and for an inexpensive lunch there I would recomend the Red Grape which is right off the square. If she finds herself in Healdsburg she can enjoy a good, inexpensive lunch on the patio at Oakville Grocery.

http://www.ravenswood-wine.com/


http://www.theredgrape.com/start.html

http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/stores/stores.php

Friends, my niece is making a swing through Sonoma next week.
She likes wine, and is interested in learning about it, but not to the extent of many of us here. But she does enjoy it, so I'd like to steer her away from the mass marketers, and toward better quality producers.
Does anyone have any suggestions for some friendly tasting rooms with nice, quality wines, that I can recco to a newbie?
Also, any moderately priced breakfast and lunch places?

What part of Sonoma, John? Sonoma town, or Sonoma Valley, or some other part of Sonoma County? For an overview of suggestions for Sonoma county wine tourism put together by some friends and myself, see this website. Given the rapid pace of change, it's in need of an update, but I haven't quite finished it yet. My personal suggestions would be Cline, Porter Creek, Papapietro, Unti, Bella and Ridge, the latter of which are in the Dry Creek Valley and may be too distant for your niece.

Mark Lipton

I might recommend some of the Highway 12 wineries:

Landmark is quite nice and elegant.
Imagery has decent wines but is a bit of a "scene" and sells a lot of tourist "art"
Chateau St. Jean shouldn't be missed for the architecture and gardens alone.
Although the wines are pricey, the neo-gothic castle at Ledson is kinda fun.
Kaz is a small winery open on weekends that is a lot of fun.
Finally, I enjoyed visiting B.R. Cohn. If your niece likes olive oil, she might find this estate particularly interesting. Or, if she likes the Doobie Brothers

Along (or near) Highway 12 - Benziger has a nice vineyard tour and it's right next door to Jack London State Park, with Wolf House and a small museum.
Wellington and Loxton are right next door to each other, small places where you're in the barrel room and talking to the family. Follow the little white signs from the Highway 12 turnoff to Glen Ellen. And Glen Ellen is a pretty little village.

John

Will you be near Chalk Hill. At Calif. Wine Show today, I tasted their Pinot Gris. Very nice but hold your breath....$60 Cdn!

thanks all - I passed along your suggestions. They are very much appreciated.

I recommend Gary Farrell tasting room both for the quality of the wines (Pinot Noir especially) and the view from up high.
Also Ferrari-Carano for the wines, beautiful landscaping, impressive facility. (I chose the tasting in the wine cellar where you can sit on stools at tables and taste higher-tier wines for a reasonable fee rather than the standing at the wine bar upstairs where it is usually crowded and you get more the introductory level wines.)

I greatly enjoyed a lunch at Hoffman House Cafe in Geyserville at reasonable pricing. The lunch menu can be found at
http://hoffmanhousegeyserville.com/menus/lunch.html as well as photos of the 100-year old house at
http://hoffmanhousegeyserville.com

Dear John,

Ditto on Ravenswood, not a dud in that lineup (which is quite different from the supermarket brands, as you know).

It's not cheap, but it is a good value, The Girl and the Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen. Has good food, service, and atmosphere.
http://www.thegirlandthefig.com/html-figcafe/index.html

My wife and I spent a weekend in Sonoma and environs, and never went in a winery, as there is plenty to do.

Walt

Go by and see David Coffaro. It doesn't get more non-geeky than David.

Does Girl and the Fig have two locations? I met with Brian Miller for dinner at the one in the city of Sonoma.

Does Girl and the Fig have two locations? I met with Brian Miller for dinner at the one in the city of Sonoma.

The restaurant is on Sonoma's square. The cafe is in Glen Ellen, and there used to be another location that closed.

Walt

Thanks for clarifying Walt.