To reach Meadowood, east of St Helena in California’s Napa Valley, you turn off the Silverado Trail, through vineyards to the resort’s 250 wooded acres. You will find 85 fully-wood villas that are putty-colored with white highlights.
The main lodge’s two floors were occupied by a young gentleman who offered lemonade and tea. After a brief introduction, he led us to seven outdoor tennis courts. The other was for serious swimming. There was also an oval fun pool. All the loungers are white with towels and umbrellas.
To reach Villa 33 in the “Hideaway”, we climbed wooden outdoor stairs. The one-room villa was furnished with a sage rug and a foyer with stone flooring. White walls were used for the cathedral ceiling and open vaulted ceiling. The fabric blinds at the 10 windows were also white as was the damask stripe white sheeting that covered the entire bed. Beautifully laid real log fire was provided with long matches and fire tongs. A coffee maker was included with Metropolitan sachets, Portmeiron’s Botanic Garden porcelain, and a safe. There were also iron umbrellas. Robb Report, Wine Spectator, and other reading material were available. Wireless connectivity via WiFi was the fastest in the business.
The gym was a trio of rooms located above the spa. I was greeted by bowls filled full of bananas, apples and oranges as I made my way down. After swimming in the pool, I returned home for a Molton brown shower in my white bathroom with an amazing skylight, which let in more light. The invitation for the Friday evening wine tasting was personalized. Tonight’s wines were the 2004 Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc, 2003 Monticello Pinot Noir, and 2001 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs. The tasting took place in the reception room, where there was plenty of food and a senior pianist with a beret. Stan Bromley, a young veteran, invited us to a second event. He seems to have retired from Four Seasons and is now helping his friend Bill Harlan, Meadowood’s managing partner. The nedar-shaved Bromley sat at the Grill terrace table, wearing a pink-striped, open-necked shirt. He looked out over the croquet lawns and was assisted by a barman who opened a bottle J Schram sparkling 1999.
The final round of croquet was viewed later at dinner at this same table. Over the tall-pines of other trees, it was vivid orange and blues. Then, quickly, it turned to greys and dark. The tables were decorated with tiny purple Sweet William plants, which were placed in small terracotta containers. Vincent Nattress (a truly lovely man, who seemed to be welcoming all guests), sent out a starter with Sterling Caviar, farmed white sturgeon from Stolt Sea Farm, Sacramento. He also included potato crisps, herbed cream, and an egg yolk and the white. The bread was thick slices of sourdough, served in a metal pan lined with linen. Meadowood salad consisted of a mountain full mini-greens and baby beets.
The short ribs fell off the bone – they came with a celery purée and greens, and went pretty well with Honeycut Zinfandel 2003 from a giant decanter. Michael Scherzberg (sommelier) is a diverted engineering student at MIT. He’s an encyclopedia on Napa. He suggested Mark Herold’s wines – he is the winemaker of Merus, Buccella and Harns Estates, Heston Estates, Cobalt Estates, Cayman. The 94-page menu he was preparing for his gourmet restaurant that is about to reopen, he showed us.
When we returned to the office, we found all of the white curtain blinds had been taken down. Also included was tomorrow’s Meadwood Journal calendar. Two home-made cookies were wrapped in paper and a bookmark that stated “Good wine is a necessity” (Thomas Jefferson). The morning was grey and misty in Napa. A power walk was done up some well-marked hiking paths. I finished the day in The Gym, which is packed as it’s a place for those who are fit. Back up at The Grill, breakfast – all à la carte – included a Meadowood omelette (choose whatever you want to go in it, from caramelized onions to potatoes) but we went for berries, a concentric artistic display, and six inch croissant that had been split and lightly toasted.
The adjacent Napa Valley Reserve vineyard-club of 80 acres was open to us before we left. It is Bill Harlan’s golf club with no golf’. The 284 members invited have access to their own vines which they can talk with and visit. There is also a beautiful clubhouse with two floors, one of them with a huge open-kitchen, where they can host parties. You get 80% of your initiation fee back, whenever you want it. They can also expect to receive an average annual income of $10,000. The Harlan Estate winemaker produces bottles with their label and there are educational and networking dinners every other week. Meadowood villas are heavily discounted, as you can store other (your) wines. We were soon on our way.