Folktale Winery
8940 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley, (831) 293-7500, folktalewinery.com
Folktale Winery has everything a day-drinking crowd could ask for: Start with cheerful wine (consider Monterey County’s Best Rosé – see the “Specialty Foods” section), add excellent food, plus a beautiful, comfortable setting. Maybe you feel like sipping in the sun on the sprawling patio (or under a heat lamp on a cooler day) with a view of the Santa Lucia Mountains rising up over the vineyards, or maybe you’d rather get some shade at a table in the fairytale dining room. You could hang out here all day, or stroll around the estate taking it all in (and maybe walking it off a bit).