BY OFFERING THESE TOURS, WINERIES HOPE YOU'LL CAVE IN.

Byline: Mike Dunne McClatchy News Service

The checklist of what constitutes a real California winery is short but inviolate:

Vineyards, of course.

Lots of locally quarried stone, for the swimming pool if not the cellar itself.

Oak barrels lined up with all the tidiness and promise of new Hondas at the auto mall.

A stately cypress or two, the exclamation points on all that other stuff, emphasizing that this place is just as traditional, romantic and mystical as those chateaux in France.A cave also helps.

While the number of wineries with caves has grown significantly in Northern California in recent years, not all are open to the public, in large part because of efforts in some areas of the north state's wine country to better manage the influx of tourists.

Here, however, is a sampling of several wineries with caves open to the public. No additional clothing or special equipment is needed to visit the caves.

Anderson Vineyard, 1473 Yountville Crossroad, Yountville; [phone]. Ninety-minute tours of the winery and caves start at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily. The $3 cost includes the tasting of four wines, two in the caves, two in the tasting room at the end of the tour.

Beringer Vineyards, 2000 Main St., St. Helena; [phone]. The 30-minute tour of the historic grounds and facilities of Beringer Vineyards includes a stroll through caves dug by Chinese laborers in the late 1800s.

The tour is followed by a tasting of three wines, the selection of which changes daily (allow an additional 15 to 20 minutes for the tasting). Tours start every half-hour beginning at 9:30 a.m.; the final four commence at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. during the winter, starting Nov. 1). No reservations are taken, and spots on each tour are on a first-come, first-served basis. No charge.

Clos Pegase Winery, 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; [phone]. Half-hour tours of the winery and caves commence at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily. No charge. At 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month (except December and January), proprietor Jan Shrem, an art collector, narrates in the cave a slide show of art inspired by wine.

The slide show is free, but reservations are requested. For $25 per person, the slide presentation can be followed by a lunch and wine-tasting; luncheon reservations are required.

Jarvis Winery, 2970 Monticello Road, Napa; [phone]. While most wineries use their caves primarily to store aging wine, Jarvis is notable for having built the entire facility underground - offices, fermentation rooms and so forth.

At 45,000 square feet, the cave is believed to be the largest in the Napa Valley. Ninety-minute tours start at 1:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturdays. The cost, which includes a tasting of wines and appetizers, is $10 per person.

Kunde Estate Winery, 10155 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, Sonoma County; [phone]. Twenty-minute tours of the cave are provided hourly Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. No charge.

Pine Ridge Winery, 5901 Silverado Trail, Napa; [phone]. Visitors to the winery's tasting room can stroll into the adjoining cave at will, but a formal tour and barrel tasting in the chamber requires an appointment. The tasting room is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with tours at 10:15 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Cost is $3 per person.

Rutherford Hill Winery, 200 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford; [phone]. Thirty-minute tours of the winery and one wing of one of the larger wine caves in the Napa Valley start at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. No charge.

Schramsberg Vineyard Co., 1400 Schramsberg Road, between St. Helena and Calistoga; [phone]. Schramsberg's two miles of historic caves - dug by Chinese laborers starting in 1862 - are included in tours that begin at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. daily. The tours are free, but an appointment is necessary. Tours end with a tasting of three Schramsberg wines, the cost of which is $6.50. The tour and tasting takes about one hour.

Steltzner Vineyards, 5998 Silverado Trail, Napa; [phone]. This is one cave in which you can see the light at the end of the tunnel (the cave has a second opening), but only if you have an appointment. No charge, unless more than 15 persons are in the group. The winery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.