Meadowood Napa Valley

Several towns in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys have a legitimate claim on the title of America’s culinary capital, and St. Helena, home of the West Coast branch of the Culinary Institute of America, is a strong contender. These days it’s also home to one of the California wine country’s most rarefied — and wine-obsessed — hotels. Meadowood Napa Valley was a country club first, a winemaking estate second, and only recently has it emerged as an absolutely first-rate luxury resort.

It’s certainly got all the building blocks. The setting, on the fringes of St. Helena, affords plenty of privacy to the rooms, suites, and cottages, all of which are outfitted in a spare, elegant, residential style, and which range from rather large to downright sprawling. All come with fireplaces, essential for those cool Northern California nights, as well as all the expected luxury trimmings, from queen or California King beds with down bedding to Molton Brown bath products, in-room espresso machines, and the full suite of electronic conveniences.

As lodgings go, they’re more or less beyond criticism. But where Meadowood really sets itself apart is outside the bedrooms. There’s a nine-hole golf course, a fitness center, several pools, a hiking trail, and facilities for tennis and croquet — and a brand-new spa completes the leisure package. And the food and wine program is perhaps second to none — Meadowood seems to have a direct line to all the local vintners, and there’s a daily wine tasting, featuring an endless array of Napa Valley wines. From there to dinner at the three-Michelin-star Restaurant at Meadowood is the work of a moment — it’s not hard to eat well in Napa Valley, but even by local standards, Meadowood is on another level entirely.