The most popular seasons to visit Northern California's wine country are the summer and fall, and for perfectly good reasons. This is when the weather is at its best and the wineries are at their most active, laying on lavish food and wine events, preparing for harvest, and releasing new vintages.

The problem is, everyone seems to be there at that time of year. Hotels prices jump, even if you can get a room, and restaurant reservations can be hard to come by. Weekends can be particularly bad as local day-trippers from San Francisco and other Bay Area cities swell the already burgeoning tourist traffic, potentially turning a weekend getaway into a weekend of purgatory.

Driving (and even biking) under the influence of alcohol is a serious offense in California. Both state and local police are well aware that visitors to Wine Country might have overindulged and they will often be on the lookout for erratic driving or speeding in popular wine-tasting areas on busy weekends.

The blood alcohol limit for driving in the state is 0.08 percent, a level you can reach very quickly in a tasting room. Most wineries will pour about one ounce of wine per taste (some might be stingier, but use one ounce as a guideline), which means that by visiting one winery and tasting (and swallowing) four wines you will already be well on the way to that limit.

Biking is a potentially fun way of seeing parts of the wine country but one that few people seem to try, if the lack of bicycles on the roads of Sonoma and Napa is anything to go by. Choose your location well, however, and the rewards of experiencing the warm air and all the unique smells of wine country are many. Plan badly and you'll be cursing all day long.