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Eat, Stay, Love
With hundreds of hotels, restaurants and wineries throughout Sonoma and Napa counties, how on earth do you decide where to go? We spent the summer scouring the Wine Country to come up with our top picks for living the California high life. (Honestly—we did it for you.)
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by Robin Rinaldi
posted on September 20, 2007
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(LEFT): The point of it all; (RIGHT): A standard “studio” at Solage Calistoga. Credits: Stefanie Michejda; courtesy of Solage Calistoga
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(TOP): a tasting of sole and squid at Meadowood; (BOTTOM): Ad Hoc’s chalkboard menu
Credits: Steven Rothfield; Deborah Jones
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There was a time when Yountville was just a whistle-stop on Napa Valley’s gravy train. Then Thomas Keller came along. His latest venture, the formerly temporary Ad Hoc, is family-style—not family-style as in Friendly’s, but family-style as in you share the four courses with your tablemates and you’re given no say in the matter, apart from what to drink. That said, most families would kill to sit down to a dinner made with such stellar local ingredients (heirloom tomatoes from the restaurant’s own nearby garden, watercress from Sonoma). The recipes are straightforward, but be warned: Executive chef Jeffrey Cerciello does take risks. One recent evening, the main course was scaloppini of veal—by no means a universally popular protein. The restaurant itself is almost Shaker esque—picture a one-room schoolhouse furnished by Prada, right down to the stylishly lettered chalkboard detailing the beer on tap.
Ad Hoc 6476 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-2487
Manhattan meets the Mediterranean at Redd, the restaurant opened two years ago by chef Richard Reddington, whose résumé includes NYC’s Restaurant Daniel, Masa’s, Auberge du Soleil and Jardinière. It’s a modern, white-walled space dropped into the midst of Yountville’s Washington Street and saved from severity by its lovely, umbrella-filled patio—and by its staff. This is the sort of place where a waiter will transform himself into MacGyver—rigging a shade out of a spare tablecloth and a binder clip—to protect a guest from the sun. The food is equally approachable, staking out an eclectic middle ground between the high-flying rigor of the French Laundry and the down-home simplicity of Ad Hoc: Think hamachi sashimi over gingery sticky rice; pork belly served with apple purée, burdock strips and soy-caramel matchsticks; and, to finish, a gianduja parfait that’s like the Platonic ideal of a Reese’s Cup.
Redd 6480 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-2222
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REDD stakes out the middle ground between the high-flying rigor of the French Laundry and the down-home simplicity of Ad Hoc.
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Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen puts the big-city celebrity chef’s culinary program in an airy country context. Vacationing couples and locals living it up plant themselves on the outdoor patio for a leisurely feast to remember. Simple and seasonal are the driving themes of the menu, which allows ingredients from such local purveyors as CK Lamb and Liberty Ducks and artisanal cheeses from Redwood Hill Farm and Cowgirl Creamery to shine. The menu changes regularly (and features accents from the hotel’s garden), but diners can count on twists on the traditional, such as miso-crusted king salmon served in a coconut red-curry froth, or a mustard-crusted lamp chop paired with fragrant lamb-filled lumpia (the Philippine answer to spring rolls). There’s also a six-course, wine-paired tasting menu for those who have trouble deciding—and are ready for the challenge.
Dry Creek Kitchen 317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-431-0330
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All of Sebastopol must have breathed a collective sigh of relief when Jonathan Waxman’s long-awaited restaurant, West County Grill, finally opened this year. Sebastopol remains a sleepy, local’s kind of town—the anti-Healdsburg. That’s all good, except when it comes to its few-and-far-between dining options. West County isn’t doing anything earth-shattering (simple California cuisine with deep roots in Chez Panisse), but it’s doing it well: crisp-skinned roast chicken with fries; a beautiful, beefy hangar steak with anchovy butter; a delicate fillet of Alaskan halibut set on a bed of marble-sized cherry tomatoes and cubes of cucumber. Predictably, the wine list carries lots of local bottles that complement the rustic food to a tee. Proof that the neighbors love it? Any given night of the week they’re dining in droves, slurping oysters at the bar and settling in to a wood-oven-baked pizza.
West County Grill 6948 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, 707-829-9500
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| Redd’s dining room. Credits: Andy Katz |
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There’s no end to good food in the Wine Country—so it takes more than the promise of a remodel to lure people to a restaurant that’s been around since 1980. It takes an exceptional chef, and Meadowood is lucky to have one. Since the resort’s intimate dining room reopened its doors in 2006 after a three-year hiatus, Joseph Humphrey—who happens to be ambidextrously talented in both savory and pastry—has been separating himself from the pack with a deft touch that leaves ego at the kitchen door. In the summer, he does the property’s garden justice with a fantastic amuse-bouche of pickled eggplant on toast; a simple tomato, basil and watermelon salad; and rabbit with sweet corn and foie-gras velouté. Meadowood might be aiming for a country-estate vibe, but Humphrey’s food is urbane enough—despite the fact that it comes with a veranda and a golf-course view—to make it in the big city.
Meadowood 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, 800-458-8080
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A mix of chic barnhouse and SoMa loft, Farm, which opened last year at the Carneros Inn, oozes sophisticated comfort. Take a seat in one of the indigo-colored booths near a roaring fireplace when it’s chilly, or plop into a sofa on the loungey covered patio when it’s warm. The same ethos applies to the food on the seasonal, oft-changing menu—courtesy of executive chef Jeff Jake—which naturally relies on such local staples as Pozzi Ranch lamb, Bellwether Farms cheese and Fulton Valley Farms chicken. You really can’t go wrong here, from a salad of Dungeness crab, avocado and ruby grapefruit to a strip steak with red-potato purée and romano beans drizzled with roasted garlic-Cabernet sauce to a brioche bread pudding with huckleberry compote. A visit to Farm will remind you why it’s good to live in California—and why we’re the ones who changed the way the country eats.
Farm 4048 Sonoma Highway, Napa, 707-299-4900
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The postmodern, Michael Graves–designed Clos Pegase is for oenophiles who like a little culture with their tastings. It prides itself on being a “temple to fine wine,” as evidenced by the signature bottle, the 2003 Hommage Cabernet Sauvignon—a bold Bordeaux-style wine with hints of black currant and toffee. But it’s also an art preserve, featuring more than 1,000 works, including sculptures by Richard Serra and Henry Moore, and paintings by Francis Bacon and Karl Appel. With 450 acres of vines and 20,000 square feet of wine caves, Clos Pegase is the winery to hit when you’ve got a few hours to spare or are hosting out-of-town visitors who want nothing less than the Full Napa Experience. $10 tasting fee; tours free and open to public.
Clos Pegase 1060 Dunaweal Ln., Calistoga, 707-942-4981
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Just because Schramsberg Vineyards’ sparkling wine has been poured at more than 70 White House state dinners since the Nixon administration doesn’t mean it can’t also star at your next backyard barbecue or Netflix night. Need a pairing for your hot buttered popcorn? Tour-guide-cum-standup-comedian Todd Pippin might recommend the 2004 Brut Rosé, bright and dry with notes of peach, strawberry and vanilla. An appointment-only tasting includes a tour of the gothic, lichen-dappled caves and a demonstration of riddling (the classic method of collecting yeast sediment in the neck of each bottle—a crucial part of the méthode traditionelle), still done by hand for Schramsberg’s high-end wines. $25 tasting fee includes tour; by appointment only.
Schramsberg Vineyards 1400 Schramsberg Rd., Calistoga
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(LEFT):The old Rutherford post office serves as Elizabeth Spencer’s tasting room (RIGHT): this victorian greets sparkling-wine lovers at Schramsberg. Credits: Stefanie Michejda; courtesy of Schramsberg vineyards
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At this year-old, stamp-sized tasting room located in Rutherford’s original 1872 post office, there’s no long-winded cave tour. The setup here is as straightforward as Elizabeth Spencer’s simple, but beautifully scripted, wine labels. Reservations are taken for large groups or the outdoor tables, but you can also just stop by the little bar for a tasting, offered in varying-priced flights. Since its first vintage, in 1998, the winery—owned by Elizabeth Pressler and her husband, Spencer Graham—has been producing excellent vintages, ranging from Sauvignon Blanc to Syrah, sourced from vineyards from Mendocino to the Sonoma Coast. The wine might not all be made from Napa Valley grapes, but Pressler and Graham, who live right nearby, are true Rutherford locals. $10–$15 tasting fee; tasting room open to the public.
Elizabeth Spencer 1165 Rutherford Rd., Rutherford, 707-963-6067
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Gone are the days when a tasting room was just about, well, tasting wine. Today it’s about the whole experience, and Round Pond, the newest winery in Rutherford, is a perfect example. The MacDonnell family has owned and lived on the working vineyard since the early ’80s, and sister-and-brother team Ryan and Miles started making premium olive oil from the olive groves here in 1993. This past July, the winery’s construction was completed, giving them a place to highlight Round Pond’s estate Cabernet and Nebbiolo. Designed by Sandy Walker, it’s the epitome of barn-chic: Lazily aswirl with fans, the high-raftered, open-air tasting room looks out from the second story onto a vineyard. Pours of wines are served tableside with seasonal nibbles from the estate’s garden. $25 tasting fee; $35 guided tasting and winery tour; by appointment only.
Round Pond Estate 875 Rutherford Rd., Rutherford, 888-302-2575
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AN APPPOINTMENT-ONLY tasting at Schramsberg includes a tour of the gothic, lichen-dappled caves and a demonstration of riddling.
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Given that the owner of this winery is one Michael Collins—remember the Liam Neeson movie?—and that it’s located on (and named after) a street called Limerick Lane, it’s a wonder that the place isn’t awash with leprechauns and four-leafed clovers. Instead, its small, sunny tasting room just south of Healdsburg (and at the easternmost edge of the Russian River Valley appellation), overlooks gardens and, beyond, the vineyards that produce Limerick Lane Cellars’ award-winning Zins and Syrahs. (Before starting his own label, Collins supplied grapes to such well-known wineries as Ravenswood, Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell.) See a friendly guy with a beard and an English accent working the counter? That’s the winemaker, Ross Battersby, and if things are quiet, he just might offer you a tour of the winery—including a peek into the open fermenting tanks. $6 tasting fee; tasting room open to the public.
Limerick Lane 1023 Limerick Ln, Healdsburg, 707-433-9211
If you harbor a bit of Napa-induced wine-tasting anxiety, get yourself to Iron Horse. There, you’ll taste flights of sparkling and still wines alfresco, at a rough-hewn redwood-plank table under a pergola, without even the slightest hint of pretension. Around you, everywhere, are vines and views. Can’t finish your third or fourth generous pour of the Russian Cuvée bubbly? Don’t bother looking for a dump bucket (there aren’t any)—just walk over to the bushes and tip your glass. $10 tasting fee; tasting room open to public; tours by appointment.
Iron Horse Winery 9786 Ross Station Rd., Sebastopol, 707-887-1507
Just down the road from the much larger Whitehall Lane Winery, Tres Sabores has no sign and no actual tasting room per se. But married owners Julie Johnson and Jon Engelskirger (who’ve been in the business a combined total of nearly 60 years) will invite you into their small guest house and pour you a glass of their excellent Rutherford Perspective Cab before walking you past the vegetable garden and goats, through the organic vineyard, into the wine cave and then back out to the picnic tables overlooking the vineyard. There, you can taste more of Tres Sabores’ bounty: its olive oil, its Zinfandel-pomegranate dipping sauce and its lovely, rounded Zin-based table wine called Porqué No. You’ll pinch yourself and thank Bacchus that you’ve found this little slice of Napa-as-it-used-to-be. $10 fee includes tour and barrel tasting; by appointment only.
Tres Sabores 1620 S. Whitehall Ln., St. Helena, 707-967-8027
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(TOP): palms flank the vineyards at the new Round Pond Estate winery in Rutherford; (BOTTOM): the view out to Tres Sabores’ vineyard.
Credits: Stefanie Michejda; Herb Radley
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| A laid-back tour of Tres Sabores with co-owner Julie Johnson. Credits: Scott Mansfield |
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| Villagio touches include an in-room bottle of wine, created for the hotel by the nearby Cosentino winery, and snacks—here, it’s D.I.Y. candy apples.Credits: Stefanie Michejda |
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You could spend your entire weekend on the grounds of Solage Calistoga, the new, somewhat-more-affordable offering by Auberge Resorts that consists of 89 loft-like bungalows designed by noted Sonoma architect Howard Backen. The attentive young valet clad in a preppy polo shirt who greets you with a glass of fresh strawberry lemonade is just the beginning. Lounge in a pillow-strewn cabana alongside the 130-foot, palm-tree-lined pool; order lunch from SolBar restaurant, which dishes up options both healthy (shrimp-and-melon salad with lime vinaigrette) and hearty (double cheeseburger with fried pickles) by Brandon Sharp, formerly of the French Laundry; try the two-hour Bike & Hike class or the less strenuous Bocce 101; and indulge in a “MudSlide” treatment or a hot-stone massage. Or, in the (likely) event that you desire the seclusion of your cottage, a private Jacuzzi and separate steam room await.
Solage Calistoga 755 Silverado Tr., Calistoga, 866-942-7442
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You know those inns you’ve always dreaded—thin walls, nosy hosts and teddy bears everywhere? Well, the Gaige House, which occupies a wooded site in tiny Glen Ellen, is the polar opposite. Which shouldn’t be surprising, given that the inn’s been run since August 2006 by the Thompson Hotel group (responsible for SoHo’s 60 Thompson and the Hollywood Roosevelt, among others). The main house and its 12 rooms were given a chic makeover by erstwhile Alabaster cofounder Paul Davis; down the hill, near the three existing creek-view suites, eight new “Zen suites” were added. If you really want privacy, these are the choice for you: low-slung shingled rooms designed in a simple, Japanese style by the same master carpenter who did Larry Ellison’s Woodside compound. Each has its own Zen garden/atrium, handy for an in-room-but-still-alfresco massage.
Gaige House 13540 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen, 707-935-0237
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AMONG A CERTAIN CROWD, the supremely elegant Les Mars Hotel could be considered a bargain—that is, when you factor in the Air France fare it would set you back to approximate its European tone.
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(TOP): indulge your inner Parisian at Les Mars Hotel; (MIDDLE): a private veranda overlooking the Silverado Trail at Poetry Inn; (BOTTOM): the clubby lounge at Gaige House.
Credits (TOP to BOTTOM): courtesy of Les Mars Hotel; Erin Derby; courtesy of Poetry Inn
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To misquote a certain senator, it takes a village to relax an adult. Or, in this case, two villages: the culinary theme park that is Yountville and, right in its heart, the Villagio Inn & Spa. Villagio is designed to look like an Italian hill town, only without the hill; clusters of stucco buildings, all red-tiled roofs and ivy-festooned balconies, house 112 rooms and 26 suites, each with an oversized sunken tub, an in-room wine cellar (at retail, not minibar, prices) and a working fireplace. La dolce vita extends from the elaborate breakfast buffet to the super-social pool area (snag your cabana early) to the grand and enormous new spa, set to open early next year, which will have its own day suites with patios and private sound systems.
Villagio Inn & Spa 6481 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-8877
High on a steep hill above the Silverado Trail, the two-year-old Poetry Inn is actually a three-room B&B—certainly not in its style (which is comfy-chic, not country-quaint), but simply for the fact that innkeepers Chris Parks and Monica Collins will bring your newspaper and serve you a three-course breakfast based on your preferences. They’ll also encourage you to relax in the roomy lounge area loaded with coffee-table books, magazines and newspapers. But to do that, you’d have to leave your room, and trust us, this is going to take willpower. Because the iPod sound system, flat-screen HDTV, Italian linens, heated bathroom floors and wood-burning fireplace are going to tempt you to stay put. You say you’d like some air? Try the blanketed lounge chairs on your terrace overlooking the valley, or your own outdoor shower with toiletries from L’Occitane. The danger at Poetry Inn is that you may never see the Wine Country at all, except from 500 feet up.
Poetry Inn 6380 Silverado Trail, Napa, 707-944-0646
Among a certain crowd, the supremely elegant Les Mars Hotel could be considered a bargain—that is, when you factor in the Air France fare it would set you back to approximate the European tone you’ll encounter here. Distinguished by its Relais & Châteaux membership, this 16-room petite maison raises the bar for beck-and-call service and, with its 18th- and 19th-century European antiques, four-poster canopy beds and cocktail hour in the library (which is stocked with wine and cheese on a daily basis), provides some insight into how it would feel to actually have one of those ridiculously wealthy (and hospitable) manor-owning pals to call on.
Les Mars Hotel 27 North Street, Healdsburg, 877-431-1700
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For even more resources to plan an idyllic trip to Napa and Sonoma, check out our bonus material.
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(LEFT): The point of it all; (RIGHT): A standard “studio” at Solage Calistoga. Credits: Stefanie Michejda; courtesy of Solage Calistoga
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(TOP): a tasting of sole and squid at Meadowood; (BOTTOM): Ad Hoc’s chalkboard menu
Credits: Steven Rothfield; Deborah Jones
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There was a time when Yountville was just a whistle-stop on Napa Valley’s gravy train. Then Thomas Keller came along. His latest venture, the formerly temporary Ad Hoc, is family-style—not family-style as in Friendly’s, but family-style as in you share the four courses with your tablemates and you’re given no say in the matter, apart from what to drink. That said, most families would kill to sit down to a dinner made with such stellar local ingredients (heirloom tomatoes from the restaurant’s own nearby garden, watercress from Sonoma). The recipes are straightforward, but be warned: Executive chef Jeffrey Cerciello does take risks. One recent evening, the main course was scaloppini of veal—by no means a universally popular protein. The restaurant itself is almost Shaker esque—picture a one-room schoolhouse furnished by Prada, right down to the stylishly lettered chalkboard detailing the beer on tap.
Ad Hoc 6476 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-2487
Manhattan meets the Mediterranean at Redd, the restaurant opened two years ago by chef Richard Reddington, whose résumé includes NYC’s Restaurant Daniel, Masa’s, Auberge du Soleil and Jardinière. It’s a modern, white-walled space dropped into the midst of Yountville’s Washington Street and saved from severity by its lovely, umbrella-filled patio—and by its staff. This is the sort of place where a waiter will transform himself into MacGyver—rigging a shade out of a spare tablecloth and a binder clip—to protect a guest from the sun. The food is equally approachable, staking out an eclectic middle ground between the high-flying rigor of the French Laundry and the down-home simplicity of Ad Hoc: Think hamachi sashimi over gingery sticky rice; pork belly served with apple purée, burdock strips and soy-caramel matchsticks; and, to finish, a gianduja parfait that’s like the Platonic ideal of a Reese’s Cup.
Redd 6480 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-2222
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REDD stakes out the middle ground between the high-flying rigor of the French Laundry and the down-home simplicity of Ad Hoc.
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Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen puts the big-city celebrity chef’s culinary program in an airy country context. Vacationing couples and locals living it up plant themselves on the outdoor patio for a leisurely feast to remember. Simple and seasonal are the driving themes of the menu, which allows ingredients from such local purveyors as CK Lamb and Liberty Ducks and artisanal cheeses from Redwood Hill Farm and Cowgirl Creamery to shine. The menu changes regularly (and features accents from the hotel’s garden), but diners can count on twists on the traditional, such as miso-crusted king salmon served in a coconut red-curry froth, or a mustard-crusted lamp chop paired with fragrant lamb-filled lumpia (the Philippine answer to spring rolls). There’s also a six-course, wine-paired tasting menu for those who have trouble deciding—and are ready for the challenge.
Dry Creek Kitchen 317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-431-0330
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All of Sebastopol must have breathed a collective sigh of relief when Jonathan Waxman’s long-awaited restaurant, West County Grill, finally opened this year. Sebastopol remains a sleepy, local’s kind of town—the anti-Healdsburg. That’s all good, except when it comes to its few-and-far-between dining options. West County isn’t doing anything earth-shattering (simple California cuisine with deep roots in Chez Panisse), but it’s doing it well: crisp-skinned roast chicken with fries; a beautiful, beefy hangar steak with anchovy butter; a delicate fillet of Alaskan halibut set on a bed of marble-sized cherry tomatoes and cubes of cucumber. Predictably, the wine list carries lots of local bottles that complement the rustic food to a tee. Proof that the neighbors love it? Any given night of the week they’re dining in droves, slurping oysters at the bar and settling in to a wood-oven-baked pizza.
West County Grill 6948 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, 707-829-9500
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| Redd’s dining room. Credits: Andy Katz |
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There’s no end to good food in the Wine Country—so it takes more than the promise of a remodel to lure people to a restaurant that’s been around since 1980. It takes an exceptional chef, and Meadowood is lucky to have one. Since the resort’s intimate dining room reopened its doors in 2006 after a three-year hiatus, Joseph Humphrey—who happens to be ambidextrously talented in both savory and pastry—has been separating himself from the pack with a deft touch that leaves ego at the kitchen door. In the summer, he does the property’s garden justice with a fantastic amuse-bouche of pickled eggplant on toast; a simple tomato, basil and watermelon salad; and rabbit with sweet corn and foie-gras velouté. Meadowood might be aiming for a country-estate vibe, but Humphrey’s food is urbane enough—despite the fact that it comes with a veranda and a golf-course view—to make it in the big city.
Meadowood 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, 800-458-8080
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A mix of chic barnhouse and SoMa loft, Farm, which opened last year at the Carneros Inn, oozes sophisticated comfort. Take a seat in one of the indigo-colored booths near a roaring fireplace when it’s chilly, or plop into a sofa on the loungey covered patio when it’s warm. The same ethos applies to the food on the seasonal, oft-changing menu—courtesy of executive chef Jeff Jake—which naturally relies on such local staples as Pozzi Ranch lamb, Bellwether Farms cheese and Fulton Valley Farms chicken. You really can’t go wrong here, from a salad of Dungeness crab, avocado and ruby grapefruit to a strip steak with red-potato purée and romano beans drizzled with roasted garlic-Cabernet sauce to a brioche bread pudding with huckleberry compote. A visit to Farm will remind you why it’s good to live in California—and why we’re the ones who changed the way the country eats.
Farm 4048 Sonoma Highway, Napa, 707-299-4900
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The postmodern, Michael Graves–designed Clos Pegase is for oenophiles who like a little culture with their tastings. It prides itself on being a “temple to fine wine,” as evidenced by the signature bottle, the 2003 Hommage Cabernet Sauvignon—a bold Bordeaux-style wine with hints of black currant and toffee. But it’s also an art preserve, featuring more than 1,000 works, including sculptures by Richard Serra and Henry Moore, and paintings by Francis Bacon and Karl Appel. With 450 acres of vines and 20,000 square feet of wine caves, Clos Pegase is the winery to hit when you’ve got a few hours to spare or are hosting out-of-town visitors who want nothing less than the Full Napa Experience. $10 tasting fee; tours free and open to public.
Clos Pegase 1060 Dunaweal Ln., Calistoga, 707-942-4981
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Just because Schramsberg Vineyards’ sparkling wine has been poured at more than 70 White House state dinners since the Nixon administration doesn’t mean it can’t also star at your next backyard barbecue or Netflix night. Need a pairing for your hot buttered popcorn? Tour-guide-cum-standup-comedian Todd Pippin might recommend the 2004 Brut Rosé, bright and dry with notes of peach, strawberry and vanilla. An appointment-only tasting includes a tour of the gothic, lichen-dappled caves and a demonstration of riddling (the classic method of collecting yeast sediment in the neck of each bottle—a crucial part of the méthode traditionelle), still done by hand for Schramsberg’s high-end wines. $25 tasting fee includes tour; by appointment only.
Schramsberg Vineyards 1400 Schramsberg Rd., Calistoga
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(LEFT):The old Rutherford post office serves as Elizabeth Spencer’s tasting room (RIGHT): this victorian greets sparkling-wine lovers at Schramsberg. Credits: Stefanie Michejda; courtesy of Schramsberg vineyards
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At this year-old, stamp-sized tasting room located in Rutherford’s original 1872 post office, there’s no long-winded cave tour. The setup here is as straightforward as Elizabeth Spencer’s simple, but beautifully scripted, wine labels. Reservations are taken for large groups or the outdoor tables, but you can also just stop by the little bar for a tasting, offered in varying-priced flights. Since its first vintage, in 1998, the winery—owned by Elizabeth Pressler and her husband, Spencer Graham—has been producing excellent vintages, ranging from Sauvignon Blanc to Syrah, sourced from vineyards from Mendocino to the Sonoma Coast. The wine might not all be made from Napa Valley grapes, but Pressler and Graham, who live right nearby, are true Rutherford locals. $10–$15 tasting fee; tasting room open to the public.
Elizabeth Spencer 1165 Rutherford Rd., Rutherford, 707-963-6067
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Gone are the days when a tasting room was just about, well, tasting wine. Today it’s about the whole experience, and Round Pond, the newest winery in Rutherford, is a perfect example. The MacDonnell family has owned and lived on the working vineyard since the early ’80s, and sister-and-brother team Ryan and Miles started making premium olive oil from the olive groves here in 1993. This past July, the winery’s construction was completed, giving them a place to highlight Round Pond’s estate Cabernet and Nebbiolo. Designed by Sandy Walker, it’s the epitome of barn-chic: Lazily aswirl with fans, the high-raftered, open-air tasting room looks out from the second story onto a vineyard. Pours of wines are served tableside with seasonal nibbles from the estate’s garden. $25 tasting fee; $35 guided tasting and winery tour; by appointment only.
Round Pond Estate 875 Rutherford Rd., Rutherford, 888-302-2575
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AN APPPOINTMENT-ONLY tasting at Schramsberg includes a tour of the gothic, lichen-dappled caves and a demonstration of riddling.
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Given that the owner of this winery is one Michael Collins—remember the Liam Neeson movie?—and that it’s located on (and named after) a street called Limerick Lane, it’s a wonder that the place isn’t awash with leprechauns and four-leafed clovers. Instead, its small, sunny tasting room just south of Healdsburg (and at the easternmost edge of the Russian River Valley appellation), overlooks gardens and, beyond, the vineyards that produce Limerick Lane Cellars’ award-winning Zins and Syrahs. (Before starting his own label, Collins supplied grapes to such well-known wineries as Ravenswood, Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell.) See a friendly guy with a beard and an English accent working the counter? That’s the winemaker, Ross Battersby, and if things are quiet, he just might offer you a tour of the winery—including a peek into the open fermenting tanks. $6 tasting fee; tasting room open to the public.
Limerick Lane 1023 Limerick Ln, Healdsburg, 707-433-9211
If you harbor a bit of Napa-induced wine-tasting anxiety, get yourself to Iron Horse. There, you’ll taste flights of sparkling and still wines alfresco, at a rough-hewn redwood-plank table under a pergola, without even the slightest hint of pretension. Around you, everywhere, are vines and views. Can’t finish your third or fourth generous pour of the Russian Cuvée bubbly? Don’t bother looking for a dump bucket (there aren’t any)—just walk over to the bushes and tip your glass. $10 tasting fee; tasting room open to public; tours by appointment.
Iron Horse Winery 9786 Ross Station Rd., Sebastopol, 707-887-1507
Just down the road from the much larger Whitehall Lane Winery, Tres Sabores has no sign and no actual tasting room per se. But married owners Julie Johnson and Jon Engelskirger (who’ve been in the business a combined total of nearly 60 years) will invite you into their small guest house and pour you a glass of their excellent Rutherford Perspective Cab before walking you past the vegetable garden and goats, through the organic vineyard, into the wine cave and then back out to the picnic tables overlooking the vineyard. There, you can taste more of Tres Sabores’ bounty: its olive oil, its Zinfandel-pomegranate dipping sauce and its lovely, rounded Zin-based table wine called Porqué No. You’ll pinch yourself and thank Bacchus that you’ve found this little slice of Napa-as-it-used-to-be. $10 fee includes tour and barrel tasting; by appointment only.
Tres Sabores 1620 S. Whitehall Ln., St. Helena, 707-967-8027
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(TOP): palms flank the vineyards at the new Round Pond Estate winery in Rutherford; (BOTTOM): the view out to Tres Sabores’ vineyard.
Credits: Stefanie Michejda; Herb Radley
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| A laid-back tour of Tres Sabores with co-owner Julie Johnson. Credits: Scott Mansfield |
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| Villagio touches include an in-room bottle of wine, created for the hotel by the nearby Cosentino winery, and snacks—here, it’s D.I.Y. candy apples.Credits: Stefanie Michejda |
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You could spend your entire weekend on the grounds of Solage Calistoga, the new, somewhat-more-affordable offering by Auberge Resorts that consists of 89 loft-like bungalows designed by noted Sonoma architect Howard Backen. The attentive young valet clad in a preppy polo shirt who greets you with a glass of fresh strawberry lemonade is just the beginning. Lounge in a pillow-strewn cabana alongside the 130-foot, palm-tree-lined pool; order lunch from SolBar restaurant, which dishes up options both healthy (shrimp-and-melon salad with lime vinaigrette) and hearty (double cheeseburger with fried pickles) by Brandon Sharp, formerly of the French Laundry; try the two-hour Bike & Hike class or the less strenuous Bocce 101; and indulge in a “MudSlide” treatment or a hot-stone massage. Or, in the (likely) event that you desire the seclusion of your cottage, a private Jacuzzi and separate steam room await.
Solage Calistoga 755 Silverado Tr., Calistoga, 866-942-7442
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You know those inns you’ve always dreaded—thin walls, nosy hosts and teddy bears everywhere? Well, the Gaige House, which occupies a wooded site in tiny Glen Ellen, is the polar opposite. Which shouldn’t be surprising, given that the inn’s been run since August 2006 by the Thompson Hotel group (responsible for SoHo’s 60 Thompson and the Hollywood Roosevelt, among others). The main house and its 12 rooms were given a chic makeover by erstwhile Alabaster cofounder Paul Davis; down the hill, near the three existing creek-view suites, eight new “Zen suites” were added. If you really want privacy, these are the choice for you: low-slung shingled rooms designed in a simple, Japanese style by the same master carpenter who did Larry Ellison’s Woodside compound. Each has its own Zen garden/atrium, handy for an in-room-but-still-alfresco massage.
Gaige House 13540 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen, 707-935-0237
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AMONG A CERTAIN CROWD, the supremely elegant Les Mars Hotel could be considered a bargain—that is, when you factor in the Air France fare it would set you back to approximate its European tone.
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(TOP): indulge your inner Parisian at Les Mars Hotel; (MIDDLE): a private veranda overlooking the Silverado Trail at Poetry Inn; (BOTTOM): the clubby lounge at Gaige House.
Credits (TOP to BOTTOM): courtesy of Les Mars Hotel; Erin Derby; courtesy of Poetry Inn
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To misquote a certain senator, it takes a village to relax an adult. Or, in this case, two villages: the culinary theme park that is Yountville and, right in its heart, the Villagio Inn & Spa. Villagio is designed to look like an Italian hill town, only without the hill; clusters of stucco buildings, all red-tiled roofs and ivy-festooned balconies, house 112 rooms and 26 suites, each with an oversized sunken tub, an in-room wine cellar (at retail, not minibar, prices) and a working fireplace. La dolce vita extends from the elaborate breakfast buffet to the super-social pool area (snag your cabana early) to the grand and enormous new spa, set to open early next year, which will have its own day suites with patios and private sound systems.
Villagio Inn & Spa 6481 Washington St., Yountville, 707-944-8877
High on a steep hill above the Silverado Trail, the two-year-old Poetry Inn is actually a three-room B&B—certainly not in its style (which is comfy-chic, not country-quaint), but simply for the fact that innkeepers Chris Parks and Monica Collins will bring your newspaper and serve you a three-course breakfast based on your preferences. They’ll also encourage you to relax in the roomy lounge area loaded with coffee-table books, magazines and newspapers. But to do that, you’d have to leave your room, and trust us, this is going to take willpower. Because the iPod sound system, flat-screen HDTV, Italian linens, heated bathroom floors and wood-burning fireplace are going to tempt you to stay put. You say you’d like some air? Try the blanketed lounge chairs on your terrace overlooking the valley, or your own outdoor shower with toiletries from L’Occitane. The danger at Poetry Inn is that you may never see the Wine Country at all, except from 500 feet up.
Poetry Inn 6380 Silverado Trail, Napa, 707-944-0646
Among a certain crowd, the supremely elegant Les Mars Hotel could be considered a bargain—that is, when you factor in the Air France fare it would set you back to approximate the European tone you’ll encounter here. Distinguished by its Relais & Châteaux membership, this 16-room petite maison raises the bar for beck-and-call service and, with its 18th- and 19th-century European antiques, four-poster canopy beds and cocktail hour in the library (which is stocked with wine and cheese on a daily basis), provides some insight into how it would feel to actually have one of those ridiculously wealthy (and hospitable) manor-owning pals to call on.
Les Mars Hotel 27 North Street, Healdsburg, 877-431-1700
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For even more resources to plan an idyllic trip to Napa and Sonoma, check out our bonus material.
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