WHAT’S NEW IN THE NAPA VALLEY
Winter/Spring 2019
Discover what’s new in the Napa Valley, including new and upcoming experiences, shops, wine tasting opportunities, restaurants and dining, wellness options and lodging.
Vista Collina Resort – Food & Wine Center
New Things to See and Do
American Canyon
Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards now offers the Tempo Walk by Club Car which provides golfers who enjoy walking the course with a “virtual” caddie-like experience. The state-of-the-art wireless technology includes GPS yardage and a hands-free remote control to maneuver easily around the course.
Napa
Gondola Servizio offers private tours for up to six people along the Napa River in an authentic gondola. Both 30-minute and 50-minute tours are offered, and each tour departs from the Main Street dock in Downtown Napa.
DiRosa Center for Contemporary Art offers a new exhibit, Viola Frey: Center Stage, Feb. 23 through December 2019. Known as a fiercely independent artist up to her passing in 2004, Viola Frey is perhaps most widely known for her larger than life figurative ceramic sculptures. This marks the artist’s first major exhibition on the West Coast since 1981, and includes more than 100 works of art in ceramic, painting, drawing, photography, and bronze, offering a unique opportunity to present this important body of work to a new generation.
True REST® Float Spa (Reduced Environmental Stimulus Therapy) is a zero-gravity environment that allows the mind and body to completely let go, relax, and reset. This spa-like experience is designed to allow for a minimal amount of sensory input providing several benefits and applications for health, personal development, and well-being. The state-of-the-art float pods feature optional lights and music, with the option to leave the pod door open or closed. True Rest also features a post-float lounge area with an Oxygen bar.
The newly opened Vista Collina Resort, a Meritage Collection property, has added a 40-seat Food & Wine Center offering unique culinary offerings. Led by Executive Chef Vincent Lesage and rotating guest chefs, the center features an exhibition kitchen for onsite baking and cooking classes for lunch and dinner.
Sky & Vine® Rooftop Bar offers a selection of games available to kids of all ages. Games include Connect Four, Jenga, and Corn Hole. Sky & Vine® Rooftop Bar also features live music on Sundays at noon and Thursdays at 6pm, featuring a variety of local bands and artists.
Yountville
The Napa Valley Museum Yountville presents Walt Disney’s Trains through March 2019. This family-friendly exhibition, organized with The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio in San Francisco, explores the influence that railroad trains had on Walt Disney’s life and work, and tells the story of how his railroading legacy lives on to this day in Disney films and theme parks around the world. The exhibition includes a wide variety of artifacts, firsthand accounts, archival videos, images of Walt and his trains, and one-of-a kind items, including Walt Disney’s own Carolwood gondola railroad car, a light-up model of Disneyland, and a custom model train created in partnership with the Napa Valley Wine Train by the Napa Valley Model Railroad Historical Society.
The second annual Yountville International Short Film Festival (YISFF) takes place Feb. 7 – 10, 2019 throughout Downtown Yountville. Sponsored by the Town of Yountville and inspired by the annual Jessup Cellars Art House Short Film Series, the YISFF features a lineup of more than 100 short films from across the globe, shown over four days. The films are programmed into more than 20 screening blocks and include special events.
New Lodging & Lodging Amenities
The Four Seasons Resort and Residences, situated at the northern end of Napa Valley off the Silverado Trail in Calistoga, is projected to open in summer 2019. The resort offers 80 guest rooms and 20 residences featuring two-to four-bedroom properties ideal for longer-term stays. The farmhouse-inspired resort is scattered amidst a six-acre vineyard and will feature an on-site restaurant; general store; spa and fitness center; and meeting spaces. The resort will also have its own on-site winery by award-winning winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, where guests will be able to blend their own wines.
Pet parents may pamper their furry friends with Hotel Yountville’s new pet friendly offerings. Dogs will enjoy a special culinary menu, complete with gourmet treats for dessert; monogrammed bedding; dog bowls; and ropes and frisbees to ensure playful adventures and a restful sleep. There is a $150 per pet cleaning fee.
New Dining Experiences
Napa
Charlie Palmer Steak Napa offers a seasonal Cut of the Week menu, featuring a hand-selected, unique cut of meat paired with a first course and family-style sides, presented with “bottomless wine pairings” for $58 per person. Guests may enjoy wine pairings with their meal until the Cut of the Week entrée course is cleared by the server. Note: This secret menu must be requested as it won’t be offered otherwise.
Beginning March 1, 2019, Thursday – Saturday evenings, the CIA at Copia will introduce a new interactive 3D dinner show, “Le Petit Chef™ in the Footsteps of Marco Polo,” in collaboration with the world-renown artists of Skullmapping™ and presented by TableMation™. Using groundbreaking technology, the dinner experience brings guests on a culinary journey around the globe through regions visited by the legendary traveler. The two-hour dining show will feature six courses with optional wine pairings, complemented by a unique gastronomic experience full of fun and surprises, with dishes incorporating spices found along Marco Polo’s route with a Napa Valley-twist.
Every Monday, Sky & Vine® Rooftop Bar offers $1 oysters 3pm – 6pm, and on Sundays, a Bottomless Brunch Buffet is available for $38, which includes unlimited Bloody Mary’s and Mimosas (for up to two hours). Their “Reverse Happy Hour” is 9pm to closing Sunday – Thursday, featuring half price drinks (beer, wine, and select cocktails) and a reduced-price bar snack menu.
Yountville
La Calenda, by Chef Thomas Keller, opened in Yountville in early January 2019. The new restaurant offers authentic Oaxacan cuisine, with the culinary program led by Chef de Cuisine Kaelin Ulrich Trilling. The menu, which draws on fresh and artisanal ingredients, and employs traditional cooking methods, features dishes from Chef Kaelin’s native Oaxaca while casting a glance across a range of Mexican regional cuisines.
St. Helena
Join Tra Vigne Pizzeria for “Cioppino Tuesday’s” every Tuesday evening beginning at 5 p.m. through April 30, 2019. Enjoy a bubbling bowl of Chef Nash’s San Francisco-style Cioppino with mussels, clams, calamari, and fresh fish in a spicy tomato sauce; served with grilled bread and mixed greens, for $19.95 per person.
New Shopping Experiences
Napa
First Street Napa, a 325,000-square-foot mixed-use development in the heart of Downtown Napa, opened Macbella in December 2018. Founded by Belgium fashion enthusiast Jo Van Meensel, MacBella features European brands that are exclusive to the U.S., bringing an eclectic mix of both casual and contemporary women’s ready-to-wear and designer fashion, in addition to handbags, shoes, and accessories at a wide variety of price points for every shopper.
Makers Market opened their new flagship location at First Street Napa in November 2018. Makers Market supports local artists and their endeavors by selling locally-made goods that are original, sustainable, and bring awareness to artisans, craftsmen, jewelers, and creative minds. The store carries home goods, jewelry, clothing, apothecary, bags and accessories in a variety of price points.
Napastäk Napa Valley opened in early January 2019 on First St. in Downtown Napa adjacent to the Archer Hotel lobby. Napastäk is an epicurean boutique created by Lusine and Arthur Hartunian, co-owners of Napa Valley Distillery. Guests will find imaginative items to elevate cooking and home entertaining sourced from Napa Valley, as well as from far-away exotic lands.
Published on 2019-01-31 06:09:41
