Wine & Dine Weekend in Morgan Hill

Itinerary created by

Ryan & Katy Smilko

What you’ll do

Just south of San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area, is a small but up and coming community-driven town called Morgan Hill. On the surface, this town looks like many of the quaint small towns you’d find all over California. But underneath, it’s unlike any town we’ve ever visited.

Morgan Hill California is located roughly 30 minutes south of San Jose, and around 1.5 hours south of San Francisco. What makes it so unique and special, is the community of businesses and how closely they all work together to create a unique experience for all visitors. This is something we’ve never experienced from a place before, and why we put together this 3-day itinerary for you to have an experience like we had.

KNOW BEFOREHAND

Nearest Airport: San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) - San Jose, California

Best time to go: This area of California is beautiful year-round, but in our opinion, the best time to visit would be during the spring months of February-May. The surrounding mountains and hills will still be lush and green from the “winter”, and the temperatures will be nice and temperate ranging from 40ºF-70ºF.

While most locations are open year-round, there may be some seasonalities to operating hours and times, so we strongly recommend doublechecking each individual locations hours before visiting.

Transportation: Most of the locations in this itinerary are walking distance from one another in downtown Morgan Hill. There are however a few locations that are spread out and would require additional transportation. For this reason, we’d recommend having a rental car or some other form of alternative transportation to get around.

OVERVIEW

Locations: 3 breakfast/cafes 4 wineries 2 breweries 1 cidery 1 farm 5 restaurants

Total mileage: 85 miles (137km) Total drive-time: 2.5 hours

Accommodations: There are a number of hotels, campgrounds and RV parks in and around Morgan Hill, but our recommendation would be to stay at either the Hampton Inn, Courtyard or La Quinta as these are all relatively central to the locations in this itinerary. If none of these work for you, feel free to browse other locations nearby.

Day 1

The start of this journey will take you north Morgan Hill and downtown Morgan Hill.

Stop 1: Grinds Vines & Automobilia Cafe - Start the day with a delicious breakfast burrito, bagel, pastry and some coffee at this unique pup-friendly cafe before heading to the first winery.
Stop 2: P&V Winery - Drive to P&V Winery a cozy gathering place for friends and family to sip delicious wines.
Stop 3: Craft Roots - From P&V, you’ll head back to downtown Morgan Hill to enjoy a fully plant-based lunch at Craft Roots Vegan Bar & Grill. But don’t worry if you aren’t vegan! This family owned restaurant will have you drooling over their delicious foods and making you question whether the food truly is plant-based or not. Trust us, it’s worth it!
Stop 4: Alara Cellars - Before heading to the next stop, you’ll want to make a stop at the hotel to clean up for the evening. Once you’ve freshened up, you’ll head to Alara Cellars, located right behind Craft Roots, which is a unique winery in that the wines and tasting room bring together the owner's love of wine and fashion. From the labels on the bottles, to the paintings and decor around the tasting room you’ll truly enjoy this experience.
Stop 5: Maurizio's - A short walk from Alara Cellars is Maurizio’s an authentic Italian dining restaurant. Maurizio enrolled in the Instituto Professionale Alberghiero di Stato Armando Perotti in Bari, Italy at the age of 15. His love of Italian cuisine and enthusiasm for cooking and care for his customers are reflected in his restaurant daily.
Stop 6: Hampton Inn - Time to head back to the hotel for some good ole’ R&R before taking on your next day of adventures!