This region is home to Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, and portions of Marin and Solano counties. Just a leisurely day’s drive from San Francisco, this winemaking mecca since the mid-19th century is home to about 800 wineries, roughly one-third of the total wineries in the state. When tasting in the north, be sure to try sumptuous Cabernet Sauvignons from the manicured vineyards of Napa, earthy Zinfandels and squeaky-clean Sauvignon Blancs from rather more down-to-earth Sonoma County, and cool-climate Pinots and Chardonnays from Carneros. Reliable winery names you will see include E&J Gallo, Beringer, Mondavi and Ravenswood.

The Central California Coast region begins at San Francisco Bay, encompasses Livermore Valley and Contra Costa and Alameda counties to the east, and runs down the California coast via Monterey to Santa Barbara. You could take the six-hour meandering drive down El Camino Real or the “royal road,” as early Franciscan monks called California Highway 101. This is one of the best ways to experience many of California’s most appealing features of rolling golden hills and valleys patchworked with green coastal scrub, native oak groves and glimpses of blue water below towering cliffs.

The Central Coast has some 6.8 million acres, of which nearly 100,000 are planted to vines that produce approximately 12 per cent of the state’s total wine grapes. More than 600 wineries lie tucked away in the numerous and diverse areas with the region: Livermore Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey County, Santa Clara Valley, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, San Benito County and Santa Barbara County. Our recommendations for the classic Central Coast wine varieties to try are sturdy Zinfandels and Rhone varietals from Paso Robles, and classy Pinots and Chardonnays from the wine roads of Santa Barbara (as immortalised in the film ‘Sideways’). Names to look for include EOS, J. Lohr and Eberle in Paso, and Zaca Mesa, Sanford and Au Bon Climat from the Santa Ynez Valley, just north of the beautiful resort of Santa Barbara.