A few years ago, a cheeky Calistoga winemaker printed a slew of T-shirts with
the slogan, “Calistoga: It’s Not St. Helena.” This one sentence perfectly
sums up the appeal of Calistoga, the northernmost town in the Napa Valley.
It is not fancy or glamorous like its neighbours, Oakville and Yountville -
and that’s the point.
Calistoga is the way Napa used to be 50 years ago, before big money poured in.
There are no celebrity chefs here or designer clothing boutiques. And
instead of fancy SUVs and black limousines clogging the streets, you’re more
likely to see battered pick-up trucks. Or as one local sipping his morning
coffee in the Calistoga Roastery
put it, “It’s the last place in Napa where you can still find rednecks.”
Calistoga is a refreshingly unsnobby – and surprisingly affordable- outpost in
the middle of California’s wine country, sandwiched between Napa and Sonoma.
The locals are proud of their “down home attitude” and as one winemaker told
me, “Its stuck in the seventies…We’re not cool, and we like it that way.”
Clinging to this casualness is so important that it was no surprise that there
has been some grumbling about the new, sleek Solage
Calistoga hotel which opened in July, and is owned by Auberge
Resorts, which also owns the Calistoga
Ranch. Some locals feel that the hotel’s opening signals the beginning
of the end.
The town is the brainchild of entrepreneur Sam Brannan, who was drawn to the
area because of its natural hot springs and bought up 20,000 acres of land
in 1859. His vision was to create California's version of Saratoga, the New
York hot springs resort (and hence the name, "Calistoga").
Today the mineral springs and hot volcanic baths are one of the areas biggest
draws, in addition to its stellar wineries. But don’t come here expecting
marble tiled spas, purple orchids or a ginger salt scrub. Most of the spas
haven’t changed in at least 30 years and the treatments - and design - are
strictly old school.
When my husband was waiting for his mud bath treatment at Dr.
Wilkinson’s Hot Springs Resort, the man standing next to him
commented that he was coming back for the same treatment he had 15 years ago
- and how many people can say that about their spa?
Beyond the spas, one of the best parts about Calistoga is its accessible size.
The high street, Lincoln Avenue, is just a few blocks long. One end is
flanked by the Calistoga Inn which
is also a microbrewery, and the
Indian Springs Resort & Spa at the other end, which sits on the
former site of Brennan’s original resort.
The town’s small size means you can go out to dinner, knock back a bottle of
local wine or two, and not worry about driving home (sloshed drivers in Napa
are a definite problem).
In the mornings, do like the locals do. Pull up a chair at the Calistoga
Roastery, order and a big breakfast and wait for someone to start talking to
you- because they inevitably will. But whatever you do, don’t take a seat at
the large table in the front; this is known as “The Knowledge” and only
local winemakers can sit there.
And speaking of the wine, visitors will want to spend their days visiting any
of the 28 local wineries. Some of the standouts include Chateau
Montelena, whose chardonnay won the seminal 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Appointment-only Schramsberg is also
worth a stop for its champagnes, which are traditionally served at White
House dinners (Nixon carted Shramsberg to his historic 1972 visit to China). Clos
Pegase is another must visit, if only for its extensive art collection
and massive sculptures dotting the vineyards- although when the locals talk
about it, they sniff and call it a “new money vineyard.” But then again, of
course they would say that.
