Our August Featured Destination is the Shannon Ridge Vigilance Tasting Room in Lake County, California, just north of Napa Valley. The Lake County wine region enjoys excellent warm weather growing seasons that produce a wide range of wine grapes, many of which find their way into premium wines produced locally and by many Sonoma County and Napa Valley wineries.

An old Lake County farmhouse is now the Shannon Ridge Vigilance tasting room.

The Shannon Ridge family of wines includes about a dozen different labels with names like High Elevation, Buck Shack, Old Pearl, Playtime, Vigilance and more. Most wines are available at the Vigilance Tasting Room that overlooks Clear Lake (a great bass fishing spot) and a state park. Whether your wine preference is a big, bold red or a crisp, refreshing white, you are likely to find more than a few wines of quality in the tasting flight and available to take home at moderate prices.

View from the Vigilance Tasting Room.

Reservations for Shannon Ridge are recommended. The tasting room is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm, subject to closure in off-season. Visit the tasting room web page for the latest information on making reservations. Driving time from downtown Napa to Clear Lake is about an hour (45 miles, see tasting room location in map below). There are several other very good wineries nearby, so do some research and plan on making the rounds while in the area.