Autumn and grape harvest time is just around the corner, so it’s time to think about a West Coast wine tour. We start with toasting to California for a weekend or longer, stay before moving up the coast and finish in Canada. These are winning destinations for staycations, weekends, or week-long stays, whether you are a true oenophile or just looking for a great getaway.
1. San Ysidro Ranch – Santa Barbara, California
2. Montage Healdsburg – Healdsburg (Sonoma), California
3. Bernardus Lodge & Spa – Carmel Valley, California
4. Bardessono Hotel & Spa – Yountville, California
5. Auberge du Soleil – Rutherford, California
6. The Allison Inn & Spa – Newburgh, Oregon
7. Sagecliffe Resort & Spa – Quincy, Washington
8. Hastings House Country House Hotel – Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada
1. San Ysidro Ranch – Santa Barbara, California
California’s most historic and beloved romantic hideaway, San Ysidro Ranch, is as much a retreat for oenophiles as it is for couples. The 38 intimate cottages are tucked around winding trails of incredibly lush gardens on a 500-acre estate in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. San Ysidro has played host to honeymooners like JFK and Jackie, countless politicians, Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and writers seeking solitude. Oenophiles will appreciate both the Ranch’s award-winning cellar, which holds 14,000 bottles, making it one of the largest in the country, as well as the surrounding region, which is home to some 120 wineries. The Pacific coast favors Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, but a few miles inland, with drier weather, varieties like Merlot and Cabernet Franc thrive.
Although the Santa Barbara area is often overlooked in favor of Napa or Sonoma, this region is home to an incredible diversity of terroir and micro-climates. For gourmands, San Ysidro is home to multiple award-winning dining venues: Stonehouse, set in a 19th-century citrus-packing facility, Veranda inside a restored carriage house, and Plow & Angel, featuring comfort food in a rustic venue of stone and stained glass.
2. Montage Healdsburg – Healdsburg (Sonoma), California
California’s wine regions are awash in French- and Italian-inspired hotels, but the contemporary and family-friendly Montage Healdsburg revels in a Northern California style and attitude all its own. The resort offers guests unprecedented access to the finest Sonoma County wine experiences from its 260-acre setting in the center of Sonoma. The estate blends a stunning outdoor landscape of mature golden oak and rolling vineyards, which is stylishly recalled in the hotel’s contemporary interior design.
Floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the main buildings and bungalows afford stunning vineyard, forest, or mountain views for the 130 rooms and suites (or all three views for the Guest House). At the Hazel Hill restaurant, nearly every ingredient on the French-influenced menu, from the Russian River labels on the wine list and baby lettuces to the cheeses, meats, and Dungeness crab caught off the Pacific coast, are sourced from within just a few miles. Adjacent to Hazel Hill is the Scout Field Bar which forms, along with the lobby, a sort of a huge patio complex that exploits the great year-round weather, another feature that makes this retreat ideal for families.
There is also a soothing spa near the pool, with 11 treatment rooms, a staggering array of services and amenities influenced by its wine country location, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and an adult-only zero-edge pool. Guests can also enjoy yoga classes in the vineyard, archery, pickleball, or the many culinary- and wine-themed events, like “Meet the Maker,” hosted with area vintners.
3. Bernardus Lodge & Spa – Carmel Valley, California
Bernardus Lodge & Spa is a 57-room retreat in a prime location in quaint Carmel Valley, just over an hour from San Jose and San Francisco. Tucked on a rolling estate of orchards, lavender fields, rose gardens, and 8 acres of vineyards, this ranch-chic resort puts guests entirely at ease and offers a high-touch place to experience artisanal cuisine, award-winning wines (and local wineries) and holistic wellness treatments whether guests are oenophiles, culinary — or spa — aficionados, or someone in search of a relaxing sanctuary. Guests are greeted with a glass of the Lodge’s own wine — the Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc is one of the estate’s most popular — and then escorted to spacious rooms and suites with stone fireplaces, cloud-like king beds clad in Italian linens, and French doors out to terraces, or patios on the upper floors. The adults-only spa features a heated pool (which never drops below 100° F), eucalyptus steam room, dry sauna, and indulgent treatments making an additional place to recharge or wind down during a stay.
4. Bardessono Hotel & Spa – Yountville, California
With premier restaurants, tony tasting rooms, and chic boutiques and galleries, Yountville may well be Napa Valley’s most desirable enclave, but the 62-room contemporary Bardessono is the jewel of Yountville’s crown, permitting guests to experience all the town’s treasures without having to get into a vehicle. The hotel itself is exceptionally green, too, deep green, in fact, offering guests a mindful approach to living the good life with a deep respect for nature, luxury hospitality, privacy, and family. Its modern glass, metal, and wood structure around four landscaped courtyards may qualify as LEED Platinum certified, but it is by no means spare.
Bardessono offers guests spacious rooms and suites, all with private courtyards or balconies, organic textiles, gas fireplaces, and motion sensors that adjust temperature and light settings for optimum efficiency. The hotel’s restaurant, Lucy, and its organic kitchen garden follow the values of freshness and purity instilled by the Bardessono family’s matriarch, Lucy. From complimentary bikes to a rooftop pool to wine-infused B Spa Therapy Center treatments conducted in-room on the cleverly disguised tables within the custom baths, Bardessono has thought of everything to make a stay in Napa a fully immersive experience.
5. Auberge du Soleil – Rutherford, California
Auberge du Soleil is the “one” that started it all. This adults-only country inn, part of Auberge Resorts and Relais & Chateaux, recalls the South of France within the vine-filled heart of California’s Napa Valley. Overlooking a sunlit 33-acre olive grove, Auberge boasts 50 spacious rooms and suites, each with their own fireplace and two private maisons. Its Michelin-starred Auberge Restaurant has maintained that distinction a whopping 13 times and is arguably the most romantic venue to dine in the entire region. Supremely fresh local produce makes up most of the Mediterranean-influenced dishes. The 15,000-bottle cellar features an award-winning selection of domestic and international wines for guests on the terrace as the sun slowly descends.
The luxe 7,000 sq. ft. Auberge Spa includes eight treatment rooms, an extensive menu of services, a hammam, steam rooms, and three temperate springs where guests may soak and enjoy a restorative water ritual before and after treatments. A picturesque swimming pool with cabanas, a trellised lounge area, a 24-hour fitness center, and a yoga studio are also on-site.
6. The Allison Inn & Spa – Newburgh, Oregon
Northwest Oregon’s Willamette Valley is known for its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and sparkling wine produced in Champagne style. It’s also known for the award-winning Allison Inn & Spa, a luxury destination resort nestled in the foothills of the valley just an hour from Portland airport and within easy reach of over 200 wineries.
Each of the Allison’s 85 rooms and suites features wood-burning fireplaces, cozy window seats, and walnut furniture specifically crafted for the resort. A true Oregonian spirit also prevails here, with original local and regional artwork throughout the guestrooms, public areas, hotel grounds, and welcome baskets filled with local treats for arriving guests. The same goes for the resort’s JORY Restaurant, whose menu features Oregon lamb and salmon, with produce from nearby hazelnut farms, olive groves, orchards, and the resort’s half-acre garden. JORY also features an impressive 800-label wine list.
7. Sagecliffe Resort & Spa – Quincy, Washington
There is so much going on in — and around — this cliffside resort overlooking the Colombia River Gorge that it’s difficult to know where to begin. For soft or hard adventure, relaxing, or tasting, Sagecliffe Resort & Spa and its magnificent surroundings beckon guests to become one with nature and feature something for everyone. Even in terms of accommodations, guests can select from Condos, Lake Houses, 1-3 bedroom Cliffe Houses overlooking the River, Cavern Rooms carved from the rock, or luxurious Desert Yurts during the season. In addition to a relaxing spa, there’s much to experience here.
Tendrils, the resort’s restaurant, is casual but quality, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner and supplying the coffee shop. The menus feature farm-to-table cuisine, and the restaurant is very popular in the region, so reservations are always recommended to avoid disappointment. There is a brick-fired pizza restaurant on site as well. Wine tasting is very nearby at CaveB Winery, with which Sagecliffe partners. White Heron, Beaumont Cellars, Chris Daniel, and RM Wineries are also nearby. Biking and hiking are available on-property, with so much more in the general area, including several State Parks, pristine lakes for fishing and watersports, wildlife reserves, and area farms.
8. Hastings House Country House Hotel – Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada
Hastings House Country House Hotel features an award-winning wine selection and ranks among the top destinations for wine lovers visiting British Colombia. The hotel’s extensive cellar prides itself on offering an excellent selection of the top wines from the province, including Salt Spring Island’s own Garry Oaks, Mistaken Identity, and Salt Springs Vineyards. They are in addition to iconic first-growth Bordeaux, stellar Australian Shiraz, Cabernet from California, Super Tuscans, or delicate Rieslings. A member of the esteemed Relais & Chateaux, Hastings House is a charming Sussex-style manor house in a picturesque seafront setting with 18 rooms and suites decorated in tasteful English manor décor.
Now nestled amidst abundant flower gardens and lush grounds, this was once a working farm. The Manor House features an inglenook fireplace, timber beam ceilings, and lead-paned windows. It is embellished with an array of antiques and works by local artists, providing a convivial spot for intimate dinners and cocktails. Manor Dining offers award-winning gourmet cuisine highlighting fresh produce from the estate’s 22 acres of gardens. This charming retreat is an ideal spot for exploring the exquisite natural beauty and unique ecology of the Gulf Islands, which have evolved into a magnet for artists, artisans, and locavores-minded farmers and chefs.
VIP Contact
Contact Jack Bloch at JB’s World Travel Consultant.
