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Appellations Wine
MAJOR REFRESHES Wine country inns and lodges are unveiling big upgrades this summer. A $7 million-plus renovation of Sonoma’s Farmhouse Inn, which includes nine new luxury rooms, a brand-new spa and fitness center, and upgrades to the landscaping and pool area, is making waves. Also, the Bodega Bay Lodge, which already boasted sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, Bodega Bay and the rugged Sonoma coast, now has an improved pool, spa and fitness area and the pièce de résistance — a dramatic, infinity-edge hot tub with unobstructed ocean views. farm houseinn.com, bodegabay
lodge.com SOMER TEJWANI
24 Hours in Rutherford
Rutherford, a small town of less than 200, has acclaimed restaurants and nearby wineries using a special soil known as “Rutherford dust” that adds a spicy element to wines made there. Here are our favorite places to play, taste and eat. S.T.
1PLAY One for the Kids Bring the kids (over age 8) to the olive mill tour at Round Pond Estate. It’s an exploration of olive oils, red wine vinegars and citrus syrups, along with everything you ever wanted to know (and perhaps more) about olive cultivation, harvest and artisan methods of production at the on-site mill. Tours by appointment only, $45 per person, 707.302.2575, roundpond.com 2 TASTE Let the Light Pour In The Sequoia Grove winery is a warm and rustic spot with fresh natural light that streams in from a skylight, the winery’s solution to a hole left by a falling redwood. Production facilities are housed in a 150-yearold barn on the property, where winemaker Molly Hill oversees the production of eight wines, from a $28 chardonnay to a $140 limitededition Cambium. Open daily, 707.944.2945, sequoiagrove.com 3 EAT So Many Wines … The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil features a cellar of 17,000 wines to whet your appetite for chef Robert Curry’s Napa Valley meets Mediterranean cuisine. Ask for a window table to take in some of the best views in Napa, and don’t leave without trying the chocolate peanut butter mousse. Open daily, 707.963.1211, aubergedusoleil.com
GOOD SCENTS Did you know that when you smell a note of vanilla
perfume before you smell a barrel-aged wine, the vanilla will be easier to identify in the wine’s bouquet? Napa’s Domaine Carneros and wine and fragrance expert Mary Orlin are proving that nothing blends more beautifully than wine and fragrance with a new “Making Scents of Wine” program that launches in July. The two-hour sensory experience starts with an overview of the history of wine and of perfume. Orlin then guides the group through a tasting of wines paired with fragrant essences curated by master perfumer Sarah Horowitz. Each perfume is chosen to highlight a different aromatic note in the particular wine. Advanced booking required, $125 per person, 707.257.0101, domainecarneros.com S.T.
