A Wine Weekend in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Updated: Oct 2
About two hours south of San Francisco, Carmel-by-the-Sea is a very easy place to spend a weekend eating, drinking, walking, and pretending you have nowhere else to be. Downtown is super compact, with wine tasting rooms, restaurants, and shops all within walking distance.
We stayed at the Pine Inn, right in town, and I’d absolutely recommend staying downtown if wine tasting is part of the plan. Parking is limited, and more importantly, nobody needs to be figuring out who’s driving after a few tastings.
Also, make time for the beach. You can walk right on the sand or along the paths above it for some spectacular views.
Where We Tasted
With so many tasting rooms within a few blocks, Carmel makes it ridiculously easy to try a couple of wineries without turning the weekend into a marathon tasting event. We made two stops and found plenty to like at both.
Caraccioli Cellars
We started at Caraccioli Cellars because bubbles are always a good idea. Their sparkling wines were the main attraction, but they also poured a range of very approachable still wines. I especially liked the Chardonnay, which showed less obvious oak, and many of the wines we tried stayed in the low-to-moderate alcohol range. The tasting room is small, so reservations are recommended, although they do accommodate walk-ins when space allows. And yes, I remain firmly in favor of starting with bubbles.
Chalone Vineyard
Our second stop was Chalone, which comes with some serious California wine history. Chalone’s Chardonnay placed third in the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris, and the winery traces its oldest Chenin Blanc vines back to 1919. The tasting room is tucked into a corner of Carmel Plaza, and Kayla took great care of us. We started with Chenin Blanc from those historic vines, but the Grenache was a favorite. We also tried several high-quality Syrahs. Between the wines and the history, Chalone is definitely worth a stop.
A Necessary Lunch Break
Because responsible wine education occasionally requires lunch, we stopped at VIN by the Sea. Great food, a strong wine list, and a busy patio, but we managed to grab a table outside. Sometimes the educational portion of a wine weekend involves ordering lunch and another glass. We make sacrifices.
A Few More Tasting Rooms to Explore
We didn’t make it to all of Carmel’s tasting rooms on this trip, which gives us a perfectly legitimate reason to go back. A few others to put on your list include Wrath Wines, Scheid Vineyards, Domaine Messier, Galante Family Winery, and Talbott Vineyards. Carmel’s downtown tasting rooms feature wines from across Monterey County, so you can explore quite a bit of the surrounding wine country without getting back in the car.
Get to Know the Wines of Monterey County
Carmel is a great jumping-off point for exploring Monterey County wines because the region has a wide range of growing conditions, from cool coastal vineyards to much warmer inland areas.
Climate: Cool Pacific air and afternoon breezes help moderate many of Monterey County’s vineyards, while areas farther inland can be considerably warmer.
Key Grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are especially important, with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and other varieties showing up depending on where the grapes are grown.
Wine Styles: Expect everything from sparkling wine and fresh whites to light Pinot Noir, Syrah, and fuller-bodied reds. The cooler areas in the region can produce wines with plenty of freshness and acidity, while warmer sites can give grapes more ripeness and body.
Worth Knowing: Monterey County includes several American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs, including Carmel Valley, Chalone, Monterey, and the Santa Lucia Highlands.
Try This: If you usually stick to one grape, Carmel is an easy place to experiment. Try a Monterey Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, then branch out into Chenin Blanc, Grenache or Syrah.
