If you are a wine lover, you can do the Napa Valley loop or get "Sideways" along the Santa Ynez Trail in Santa Barbara County.

But if you're looking for a new wine-tasting experience, venture off those beaten tracks and head for the Livermore Valley.

Here, nestled in rolling foothills and coastal canyons 30 miles east of San Francisco, you'll find one of California's oldest wine regions.

Despite that heritage, the Livermore Valley is a well-kept secret. It draws about a half a million visitors each year, compared with the 5 million people who trample through the Napa area annually.

I discovered the Livermore Valley last fall while traveling to watch college soccer in the Bay Area. A longtime friend who lives in nearby Dublin suggested we skip Napa for a new adventure.

So one glorious fall Saturday, we piled into a car, headed east on Interstate 580 and soon found subdivisions giving way to wine country estates on streets with names like Latour and Chardonnay.

Robert Livermore, an English sailor, came here in 1835 and planted the first commercial vines in the 1840s. Over the next decades, other early winemakers discovered the area's vine-friendly soil and climate. Among them: C.H. Wente, Charles Wetmore and James Concannon. Concannon wines are strong sellers at Utah's state liquor stores, which also carry, when available, Wente Chardonnays.

Livermore garnered recognition for California's wine-making capabilities when Wetmore won America's first international gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition for his Cresta Blanca Sauvignon Blanc.

Before Prohibition decimated its wine industry, the Livermore Valley touted more than 50 wineries.

According to the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, 80 percent of California's chardonnay vines are genetically related to Livermore Valley clones, and other vines in the state, as well as in Oregon, trace their heritage to the valley.

Today, 34 wineries dot the valley, many along Tesla Road. They range from small boutique vinters who handcraft their lots (Big White House) to bigger players (such as Cedar Mountain Winery and El Sol Vineyard). Most offer tours and tastings.

Many tasting rooms are complemented by picnic areas and gift shops stocked with local art and gourmet foods. Good finds include premium olive oils produced by a dozen olive ranches in the valley, such as The Olivina Ranch. Several wineries - Wente and Cedar Mountain, among them - make their own olive oils.

"It is fun to learn how to taste olive oils in parallel with tasting wine," said Lynn Wallace, executive director of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

The offer of fine food drew us to our first stop: The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards on Arroyo Road. With its fifth generation now onboard, Wente is the country's oldest, continuously operated family-owned winery; it has four locations in the valley.

Wine is just one thing Wente does well.

Seated on the restaurant's patio, we lunched on Brentwood white corn soup (that's the nearby town of Brentwood, not the one in Southern California) with Red Fresno Chile oil and cilantro, eggplant caviar with toy box tomatoes, salmon linguine and beet salad while trading sips of a 2003 Riva Ranch Reserve Chardonnay and a 2003 Livermore Valley Chardonnay.

We felt, to borrow a soccer phrase, like shouting GOOOAAALLL! The setting was perfect and the food delicious.

Just off the patio is where The Concerts at Wente Vineyards take place each summer. Last year's slate of performers included Donna Summer, The Wallflowers, Seal, and Huey Lewis & The News. Concert-goers can choose chair seats, table sitting for a buffet-style dinner or deluxe meal service in the restaurant, moving afterward to front-row concert seats.

Wente also offers an outdoor dinner/movie series each summer and this winter also showed films in its barrel room. One highlight last summer: It showed the film "Sideways," complemented by a buffet-style dinner and tastings courtesy of 10 Livermore Valley wineries.

Before making our way to the visitors center, we wandered along a walkway lined with different grape vines, each labeled to help us distinguish the cabernet from the sauvignon blanc clusters.

At Wente, it is possible to mix vines with tees. Its 18-hole course, designed by Greg Norman, ranked No. 14 on Fairways & Greens magazine's Winter 2004 list of best courses.

The visitors center is in what once was the Cresta Blanca Winery, just yards from The Restaurant. The tasting room at Wente's Tesla Road location is larger and where you'll want to go to catch a tour.

Next, we made our way to Concannon Vineyard, stopping first to buy a basket of delicious cherries from a roadside stand. Dessert!

Concannon is undergoing a $10 million renovation that will include a new winery and updated tasting rooms.

When we visited Concannon, the pourers were busy offering tastes and advice on which wines pair best with pork tenderloin and Gorgonzola cheese. We worked our way up the winery's red scale, finishing our sipping with a superb 2000 Heritage Petite Sirah.

James Concannon was America's first Irish vinter, a boast that may pale next to his other accomplishments. He introduced Durif vines to California, a French grape that is the basis of Petite Sirah. In 1964, Concannon became the first winery in America to release that varietal.

The infatuation with merlots and cabernets is waning and Petite Sirah is making a comeback, according to Brett Clifford, Utah state wine coordinator. He describes Concannon's sirahs as a "benchmark" for that grape. Brian Whittemore, assistant manager at Salt Lake City's 400 South liquor store, and Richard Bringhurst, manager of the State Wine Store in Salt Lake City, recommend it as a good value and tasty. "Fruit forward," is how Whittemore put it.

We agree, and have happily been stocking our shelves with Concannon bottles ever since our visit.

Livermore Valley

Why go? Livermore Valley Wine Country is one of California's oldest wine regions, but attracts a fraction of the oenophiles who head to Napa Valley each year.

How to get there: The Livermore Valley is 30 miles east of San Francisco, off Interstate 580. Expect the drive to the wineries to take 45 minutes to an hour. The best way to get there is to fly into the San Francisco or Oakland airport, rent a car and stay in Livermore or another nearby city.

Where to Stay: The Tri-Valley area - Livermore, Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon - offers a variety of economy and chain hotels as well as upscale resorts.

In Livermore, those looking for pampering might try The Purple Orchid Inn Resort & Spa, 4549 Cross Road, a bed and breakfast surrounded by an 18-acre working olive ranch. It features 10 deluxe rooms ($150 to $380 a night) in what is billed as the largest residential Lincoln log structure in the world; http://www.purple orchid.com or 800-353-4549. In Pleasanton, the Evergreen Bed & Breakfast, 9104 Longview Drive, is worth a look, http://www.evergreen-inn.com (from $135 a night), 925-426-0901.

Not to miss: A concert at Wente Vineyards offers a hat-trick: fine food, excellent wine and an intimate venue featuring top-line acts. Make a full day of it with a round of golf on its 18-hole golf course, designed by Greg Norman.

Annual events include the Livermore Wine Country Festival, May 6-7; the Western Heritage Celebration, June 3; and the 25th Annual Livermore Valley Harvest Wine Celebration, Sept. 3-4.

The inaugural Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship, at The Course at Wente Vineyards, will be March 27-April 2, the fifth stop on the 2006 Nationwide Tour.

The main streets of the Tri-Valley cities are also a draw, offering boutique stores and unique restaurants.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory operates the Discovery Center, off Greenville Road on Eastgate Drive, where visitors can learn about its work overseeing the nation's nuclear stockpile and other scientific research.

Where to eat: The Wente Vineyards Restaurant, 5050 Arroyo Road in Livermore, offers fine food in patio and indoor seatings. Cafe Garre at Garre Vineyard & Winery, 7986 Tesla Road, specializes in Mediterranean cuisine; its "Travel Around the World Series," which pairs food, wine and music, is worth considering. Trio at Stony Ridge Winery, 4952 Tesla Road, is open for lunch. In downtown Livermore, burgers, ribs and steaks are on the menu at Riata Diner and Tavern, 190 S. "J" St.

Weather: Spring temperatures reach daytime averages of 70 degrees, while October is usually a comfortable 77. Summer days can be hot.

Winery highlights: Wente Vineyards Estate Winery and Tasting Room: 5565 Tesla Road, Livermore; 925-456-2305, http://www.wente vineyards.com. The Restaurant at Wente, visitors center, golf course and concert venue are at 5050 Arroyo Road. The Estate Winery Tasting Room and Country Marketplace is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Winery tours are offered at 11 a.m. and 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

The visitors center, with a smaller tasting room, is open daily, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Wente's Riva River Chardonnay and San Francisco Bay Cabernet Sauvignon are available in Utah.

Concannon Vineyard: 4590 Tesla Road, Livermore; 800-258-9866, http://www.con cannonvineyard.com.

The tasting room is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tours are by reservation. Look for Concannon's Petite Sirah in state liquor stores.

For info: Livermore Valley Wine Country, http://www.livermorewine.com or 925-4478-9463.