California’s Livermore Valley: Wine, Food, And More

Such a pleasant town

It would be a shame to skip a place so welcoming it’s only natural the town’s name is Pleasanton. Travelers have several ways to get to Pleasanton. While most will drive, some will take the BART train (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from either the Oakland or San Francisco airports to the Dublin/Pleasanton station. If you take the BART, be sure and get off at the end of the line in Pleasanton where it’s easy to take an Uber/Lyft to your lodging.

Livermore or Pleasanton have excellent choices for lodging. In Pleasanton, the best lodging option is The Rose Hotel. With a location on Main Street, The Rose Hotel will put you right in the middle of the mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, and wine bars.

For lodging in Livermore, consider the Hawthorn Suites near the historic downtown area. Large rooms, friendly staff, and convenient location to everything make this an excellent hotel. Just like Pleasanton, Livermore has plenty of shopping, eating, and drinking options downtown. Livermore also has the Bankhead theater holding concerts, comedy performances, films, art shows, and more.

Wine is the draw

Most travelers coming to the Livermore Valley are visiting due to the excellent wineries. Robert Livermore, the valley’s namesake, first planted grapes in 1846, proving the region had the soil and climate to produce world-class wines. At the 1889 Grand Prix competition in Paris, Wetmore’s dry white wine took top honors putting California on the world’s wine map.

A family affair

Two of the earliest winemaking families still thrive in the Livermore Valley. Concannon Vineyard and Wente Vineyards are two wineries worth visiting. At Wente’s Vineyard Tasting Room, visitors can have one of the best lunches in all of California’s wine country. Their menu changes often to reflect what’s fresh from their 3,800 sq ft/353 sq m veggie garden. Our favorite menu items were the shrimp a la plancha, orzo mac and cheese, blistered shishito peppers, and the tomato salad with fried halloumi cheese. Wente also has a summer concert series, special wine events, wine tours, and a golf course for things to do during your visit.

Nowadays, there are 50 plus wineries in the Livermore Valley. One of the other historic vineyards is worth visiting. Fenestra Winery is in an old building dating back to 1889. The current owner saved the building from being demolished and set about making an impressive lineup of wines. This authentic building and tasting experience is all about Fenestra’s excellent wines.

Award winning boutique wineries to visit

McGrail Vineyards and Winery helped put the Livermore Valley in the news in 2012. McGrail won the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Sweepstakes red wine award for its cabernet sauvignon. At that time, cabernet sauvignon was the only grape they grew, but nowadays, visitors can taste and buy sauvignon blanc, rosé, chardonnay, malbec and more.

Next door to McGrail is 3 Steves Winery. Just like McGrail, 3 Steves won the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sweepstakes red wine award, but for zinfandel in 2014. This unpretentious winery is all about producing perfect wine. Pack a picnic basket and come up to 3 Steves for lunch and wine tasting overlooking the valley. Steve Burman shared his thoughts on making wine in the Livermore Valley. He said, “If there’s one thing I want you to share with your readers is how helpful the area’s winemakers are when a fellow winery needs help.” When 3 Steves zinfandel crops needed picking earlier than anticipated, McGrail came to their aid by letting 3 Steves use McGrail’s facilities to process the grapes. Throughout my trip, I felt a similar vibe of friendliness and cooperation amongst Livermore Valley businesses.

Organic and biodynamic wines are increasingly popular amongst health-conscious wine drinkers and environmentalists. Stop by Page Mill Winery and try their lineup of biodynamic wines. Close to Page Mill Winery is Retzlaff Vineyards, a certified organic winery. Notice the gorgeous old home next to the tasting room from the 1880s the owners fixed up, saving it from being lost forever. The tasting room is nice, but on a day when beautiful California weather shines upon the valley, this is an excellent place for a picnic and wine tasting. Retzlaff produces wines from mostly estate-grown grapes with the exception being their sparkling wine made from Alexander Valley grapes.

Bicycling Anyone?

Driving isn’t the only way to explore the region and its wineries. Consider renting a Pedego bike and ride the area’s numerous bike trails and bike lanes. On our visit, we rode all the way out to Wente (9.5 miles/15.28 km) for lunch and saw much of the countryside without straining ourselves. The Pedego bikes still allow you to pedal all you want but have a boost feature and a throttle to take the strain off your legs when needed. We throttled up the steeper hills making this a delightful way to bicycle around the valley.

Restaurants to consider

Livermore Valley Wine Country has over 150 restaurants at your service. For unbelievably good Southwestern cuisine, try Posada. Just because Posada is in a strip mall, don’t let that fool you. Eduardo, the owner, can be seen cooking, talking with diners, advising on wine, or just about anything to do with running the restaurant. His skill in the kitchen is legendary in the area, and Eduardo knows a lot about the local wine as well. Don’t miss the guacamole, shrimp tostadas, and carnitas.

For upscale dining, check out Sabio On Main in Pleasanton. In Livermore, try Range Life for seasonal/local cuisine. The smoky baba ganoush is a great starter to pair with their wine list featuring local and foreign wines.

For coffee and tea, try Inklings on Main Street in Pleasanton. Inklings partners with local bakeries to serve a variety of scones, cookies, pies, and gluten-free treats too. Livermore has Casse-Croute Bakery for French Press coffee, pastries, croissants, sandwiches, soups, and picnic supplies.