Silverado Trail In Napa Adds A Splendid Resort: Four Seasons Resort And Residences Napa Valley

Do you need a reason to go to Napa? No, no you do not. Even this month’s torrential rain in the dead of winter amid leafless vineyards can’t put a damper on how stunning the region is. There’s something about that undulating drive along Silverado Trail in the winter, dotted by many of the 450 or so wineries in the Napa region, that takes one swiftly into a new time and era. Maybe it’s the dense fog. Maybe it’s the smell of delicious dirt, if dirt could be so. Whatever it is, a trip to Napa is always reason enough to visit.

A number of big brand luxury resorts seem to agree. The Montage Hotels group opened its Healdsburg property in January 2021, and the Auberge Resorts Collection debuted Stanley Ranch in April 2022. And up in the quaint Northern corner of Napa, directly off Silverado Trail, another big brand came to town in a little spot called Calistoga: the Four Seasons. A long time visitor of Calistoga, I had been keeping tabs on the construction of this Four Seasons property for years ever since I ran by it on a morning jog in 2019. My question: How did this resort group land such a coveted spot on the most famous road of Napa, 22.5 acres to be exact, in a 5,000 person town that loves its mud baths and shuns anything flashy and new? I finally got my answer on a visit this January amid the rainstorms, and the answer, like a great wine, is satisfying, complex, and leaves one wanting more.

The terse answer for “how to open a big resort in Napa” is: work with your neighbors. In doing so, the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley finally opened after seven years since breaking ground, a feat considering the delays of wildfires, COVID-19, local permitting restrictions, and the like. Instead of feeling like a big brand that just plopped onto a piece of land, this Four Seasons feels rooted, almost endemic. That’s an impressive feeling for a resort of any brand size to accomplish, and for that, I’ll certainly be returning.

One of the biggest neighborly gestures the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley achieved was securing its spot on a notable working winery. So far, it’s the only property in all of Napa, and the first, to be set within a working winery, complete with its own vineyard. The Four Seasons property works in partnership with Elusa Winery, the essence of the winery’s indigenous name meaning to care for or hold something precious. Precious indeed: Elusa was created by legendary winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, a Calistoga resident who holds 25 perfect 100-point scores from wine critic Robert Parker for Cabernet Sauvignon. Elusa took 10 or so years to finally open, and is, according to Brown, “the only new winery in the valley that’s opening with a library of older vintages.” Guests of this Four Seasons not only enjoy constant views of the vineyards from their patios and bath tubs but also access to coveted tastings and tours. I always love a resort that doesn’t require leaving to experience something exceptional.

Another smart neighborly gesture (and all around good idea) of the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley was hiring Erin Martin, an interior designer who is “re-envisioning Napa one moody, eclectic interior at a time,” according to Sunset Magazine. I thought something good was going on. When I arrived in the lobby marked by cream colored ocean buoys and then to my darkly dramatic grey room

accented by a horse reins and an open page to Grapes of Wrath, I had to check my room key to know I was indeed at a Four Seasons. Known for her flourishes such as giant white herons and thick chains, Martin’s design zest is both exciting but unstuffy. It’s just what this Four Seasons property needed to make it a standout amid so many other luxury options.

Perhaps the 3rd and best move the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley made in establishing its intent to work well with its neighbors and get such an ambitious property open was hiring Rogelio Garcia as the Executive Chef. Raised in Napa, Chef Garcia started as a dishwasher during the school year at a restaurant in Yountville. He then completed stints at a handful of Napa’s top institutions including The French Laundry and Calistoga Ranch before venturing to San Francisco and beyond. Now back in Napa, he heads the resort’s casual dining concept, TRUSS, and its must-do fine dining option, Auro. If feasible, book Garcia’s chef tasting which snags you one of two of the tables designed inside the actual kitchen. The humming precision of the restaurant, still ran by a hand written paper system (shown to me as proof by Director of Food and Beverage, Kalyana Krishnamoorthy) and orders repeated with gusto by the entire kitchen staff, is an experience enough to take in. But the food, plated on chef’s personal collection from around the world, is utterly impeccable.

No one needs a reason to visit Napa. The place, even in the dead of winter that requires rain boots fitted to your knee caps, is still an allure. But if there needed to be a reason, perhaps the reason for the moment, it’s the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley.