There has been a great deal of discussion of napa wineries... however, all discussions have assumed that the target audience is interested in wine!

I'd like to find out: what wineries would you recommend to tourists that are NOT interested in collecting or buying wine? In other words, these people are not wine haters, they just have no palate, or no money.

As an example, I would list Sterling, because the tram ride is cool, and the view from the winery is impressive.

What else?

Beringer gives a great tour, very educational for newbies.

Pride gives a great tour. They usually take people to the vines & talk about the basics of wine making, growing, & such...

Coppla(sp?) has an interesting set up. He has a bunch of Godfather-related memorabilia @ the site.

Opus is a good looking winery & a great view. A nice piece of property.

Sterling (as you mention) has a great view also & a fun ride.

I agree with Sterling and Beringer.

Hess Collection - great art gallery.

Artesa - amazing winery building, grounds, and view.

Jarvis - a whole winery in a cave. If Walt Disney had built a winery, this would be it.

Domaine Carneros - sit outside with a bottle of sparkling wine and enjoy the view and afternoon.

Mondavi - back in college, my first winery tour was at Mondavi, and I left thinking it was really good. I had zero background, and I walked away with some interesting factoids about wine and a better appreciation for the wine making process. You walk through the facility, into the vineyard, and then you have a small tasting that included some snacks. I haven't been there in a while, but I hear that the tour is still pretty good. If you're looking for some place to take people fairly new to wine, I think the Mondavi tour is a great introduction.

I agree with MikeW - RMW now has a series of different tours - vineyard, winery, etc. You learn a lot and if you haven't heard the jokes before, it is quite amusing.

Mumm always has a photography exhibit - the permanent part is by Ansel Adams.

Then there is always walking through Dean & Deluca, just looking at wine labels

The Niebaum-Coppola tour is good for several reasons including the history of the Inglenook property and Francis Coppola's movie memorabilia. Our tour ended with a tasting in of the wine cellars.

The Mondavi tour gives a different look at more modern wine-making techniques. Definitely good for newbies.

Merryvale - their tasting seminar is educational for a newbie
Raymond - good tour. Informative.
Phelps - the view off the back of the winery is breathtaking.

The above recommendations are excellent. My very first day trip to Napa (when I had exactly zero wines in my "collection", and couldn't tell one wine from another) included Sterling, Merryvale, V. Sattui, Louis Martini, Sequioa Grove, Grgich Hills and Sutter Home. The person who was showing me around wanted to show me some places that I might have heard of, some places that I certainly had never heard of, and some interesting wineries. In retrospect, I think he did a marvelous job of mixing large and small; familiar and undiscovered. In making recommendations to a novice, I would be careful not to suggest too many big, institutional places. Sterling, Beringer and Mondavi are all worth a visit. But not on the same trip. It can get too repetitive.

To the suggestions above, I would add Clos Pegase and Del Dotto as interesting places where a tourist might spend a memorable few hours. I had no particular interest in salt, but I took a tour of a salt mine is Austria and it was a blast. I think Del Dotto can offer the same type of experience, even to a novice.

Above are all great. As a wine newbie I loved visiting Mumm and Clos Pegase in particular. Clos Pegase is right across street from Sterling, which makes it easy. Not too far away is St. Clement, which I love because of the beautiful house and grounds. Chateau Montelena has the Japanese gardens which are awesome. I have been told that visiting the caves at Shramsberg is good for newbies, but have never done myself.

Above are all great. As a wine newbie I loved visiting Mumm and Clos Pegase in particular. Clos Pegase is right across street from Sterling, which makes it easy. Not too far away is St. Clement, which I love because of the beautiful house and grounds. Chateau Montelena has the Japanese gardens which are awesome. I have been told that visiting the caves at Shramsberg is good for newbies, but have never done myself.

You must be really proud of that post ormbee to make it twice.

oops.

Had some sort of hang on the computer at home this morning, thought the first post didn't go through. Damn DSL.

Oh, well, one way to get the post count up.

All the ones already mentioned especially Niebaum Coppola.
I have also had non-winos tell me they really liked Peju and Franciscan both for the wines and the tours they got there - they seem to be really geared towards newbies. And I think Chandon is a good tour and tasting for newbies too - plus sometimes it's easier for non-winos to drink sparking wine earlier in the day.
Also the one time i went to COPIA it seemed perfect for newbies - they were pouring Gallo of Sonoma and 2 Buck Chuck!

All good recommendations. Since I've taken groups of 50 (with a wide mixture of people who have interest in wines), I would 2nd the recommendations of Niebaum Coppola, Domaine Chandon, Mondavi, Chateau Montelena, Sterling, Domaine Carneros, Opus One and Artesa. I would also add St. Supery to the list.

My tour would be:

1/ Cooperage Seguin Moreau (see barrels made -free)
2/ Del Dotto (learn about what barrels do to wine $30)
3/ Niebaum-Copala (especially upstaires in the museum-free)
4/ Merryvale (optional)
5/ Mondavi (different tours all day-$25 to $50)
6/ Mumm's (beautiful grounds)
7/ Domaine Carneros (taste champagne, pinot noir and cheese on their balcony-$25+-)

I wouldn't be nearly as agressive as most of the posts... I'd wake up late, go to coppola and wander around for a while, then hit Mondavi. Hit Bistro Jeanty for lunch (same food as dinner, just cheaper) After lunch, go to Opus. Opus is outrageously expensive and there isn't a lot to do, but after a patio lunch at Jeanty, there's nothing better than sitting on the upstairs lookout at Opus, having a glass of wine and completely vegging. I'd close with a trip to Sterling for the tram ride and then go blow a ton of money on dinner.

Hrmmm. i did do all of that :-)
DREW

I liked Peju. The wines are decent (the Franc Reserve is outstanding, and the late harvest Chard is sublime). They have some gorgeous stained glass windows as well.

Beringer for a newbie is a must, I'd also take them to Silver Oak as well. Stags Leap is another one. I'd take someone to Merryvale just to see the banquet room there.