What’s New In California Wine Country: Napa And Sonoma

Lush vineyards surrounded by upscale resorts and innovative restaurants specializing in wine country cuisine—that’s the setting for California’s most famous wine region just over an hour north of San Francisco. Napa is refined and manicured; Sonoma larger and more diverse but both are booming with  new properties and renovations recently unveiled with more on the way.

In Napa, the biggest news is the opening of Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley last week in Calistoga, a town in the north of the valley that became known in the 19^th century for its hot springs. Spa Talisa  here carries on that tradition featuring mineral rich mud treatments along with other services, some utilizing olive oil from the property’s olive trees. Elevated wine country cuisine is the standard in the soon to open TRUSS Restaurant + Bar (apparently named for an architectural feature as well as the way to secure a game bird) and its already open more casual side, TRUSS Living Room both helmed by Erik Anderson, former executive chef of San Francisco’s critically lauded Coi.  Another feature on property is also a rarity for the valley: a 4.7 acre vineyard, Elusa Winery, giving guests the opportunity to observe the winemaking process and sample the results without leaving the grounds.

Those vineyard views with the Palisades Mountains on the horizon are also a backdrop for the 85 rooms, suites and villas, all designed in sophisticated farmhouse style with natural woods, concrete floors and a neutral color scheme of gray and taupe, very different from the hotel group’s usual look. For extra privacy and space for multigenerational families to gather, the Private Retreats collection is comprised of completely separate two to four bedroom houses with private terraces, a resident host to arrange all activities and a private chef if desired. The largest villa is the three bedroom 3,395 square foot Estate Villa situated near the vineyard with its own pool and garden.

Across Silverado Trail from the Four Seasons, Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection unveiled a $30 million revamp earlier this year, just before California opened to outside tourism in June. The décor in the rooms, located in separate cottages, is now designer rustic with earth tones, natural materials and features such as leather headboards, graphic light fixtures and upholstered walls. There are also 11 newly built one and two bedroom cottages with outdoor patios and soaking tubs; the two two bedroom Estate Suites also come with a set of bikes, a Mercedes for guests to explore the area, an indoor oxygen bar, a dog walker for those who have brought their animal companions along and a private cabana with TV, WiFi, champagne and fruits at the pool, a new upgraded amenity, for a day.

Also near the pool is the restaurant Picobar, a new addition housed in a contemporary barn that complements the resort’s main restaurant Solbar . The menu fuses wine country with executive chef Gustavo Rios’ home in Ensenada, Mexico in dishes such as wild mushroom tostada with local herbs and goat cheese from Sonoma’s cheese specialist Laura Chenel, carne asada with short ribs cooked for 48 hours and bunuelos, a churro like funnel cake.

In February of next year, Auberge Resorts Collection will have another notable addition to the area when Stanly Ranch opens in the southern Carneros region. Located on a 700 acre working ranch including 100 acres of vineyards, the hilly property with sweeping mountain views may remind guests of Provencal towns when breezes whip through its gardens planted with lavender.  135 rooms in 78 freestanding cottages have been designed in earth tones with materials such as oak, leather and dark metal creating a sharp but not overly designed look. Wellness retreats will also be a major focus with state of the art technology, fitness classes and treatments along with visiting practitioners and healers.

Over in Sonoma County, the major news earlier this year was the opening of the full service Montage Healdsburg in January on a 258 acre site of vineyards and oak trees. Consistent with the quality of the hotel group’s other resorts, the property offers 130 bungalow style rooms and 25 private residences designed to blend into the landscape, each featuring fresh, contemporary décor, as well as three innovative restaurants spotlighting the best of wine country cuisine and an 11,500 square foot spa. Guests who want to explore local winemaking can also take advantage of access to winemaker Jesse Katz’s nearby Aperture Cellars; Katz also oversees the vineyards on site.

Elsewhere in Healdsburg, chef Dustin Valette whose first restaurant Valette is one of the most popular in town, opened another The Matheson Healdsburg in September in a sentimental place: the site of his great grandfather’s bakery in the 1920s. Now, it’s a trilevel, modern space featuring several different experiences: farm to table fine dining, a sushi bar, a wine bar with 88 local labels on tap and the more casual Roof 106. Given Valette’s exacting emphasis on top flight ingredients and skill in creating new flavors, any one of the spaces will yield a memorable meal.

Even though it’s defined as more casual, Roof 106 provided dishes that were impeccably executed and delicious the night I was there: sesame crusted local ahi tataki, a selection of sushi chef Ken Tominaga’s sashimi and sushi, coffee and spice grilled bavette steak with leek salsa verde followed by a creamy, melting mousse-like lime posset and a baked Volo chocolate s’more, a spin on the fireside classic. It’s no wonder that the receptionist at the restaurant’s entrance usually has to advise diners who haven’t made reservations that it’s at least an hour wait. If I lived there, I’d be there every week.

Other Healdsburg culinary stars Kyle and Katina Connaughton, the chef and produce master behind the three star restaurant Single Thread also recently expanded into a second restaurant, the soon to open Little Saint. In the meantime, the new restaurant is providing small dishes to accompany the wines produced by the well regarded Sonoma Coast winery Marine Layer in the tasting room in town that the company opened in September. The feeling here is very relaxed, designed to create intimate lounges filled with details such as Moroccan wool rugs and pendant lights sculpted by artists in Oaxaca, a perfect place to try the company’s small batch Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays.  

Southwest of Healdsburg, in the western stretch of Sonoma County, another September opening unveiled the transformation of the former Applewood Inn into The Stavrand Russian River Valley named after co-owner Emily Glick’s hotel owning family. An intimate, 21 room property designed in  Mediterranean Revival architecture located on six acres populated with orchards and redwood trees, it’s a tranquil place, perfect for decompression. And if it’s not relaxing itself on its own, the hotel provides kayaks and inner tubes for floating down the Russian River, a few minutes’ walk away.