It's Time to Forget Everything You Know About Napa

Leading the charge is Odette Estate, a next-generation winery in the Stags Leap District from philanthropist Gordon Getty, California lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom, and Napa veteran John Conover. Instead of building the faux-Tuscan villa with the blue-chip art collection that used to pass for a bold statement, the trio created a LEED Gold–certified facility with a living roof and a glassedin visitors’ center with a private dining room. “Millennials are driving us in an experiential direction,” Conover says. Newsom adds, “The travelers we’re encountering are seeking more than just a tasting flight. They want their wine, but also architecture, design, and an authentic culinary experience.”

Visitors can take a guided walking tour of the grounds, then embark on a 90-minute tasting of Odette’s three bottlings, crafted by the 34-year-old winemaker Jeff Owens (left). The 2012 Estate Cabernet, with its rich black-cherry flavors, goes for $98—aspirational, but not crazily priced. Even more remarkable is the fact that all the wines can be bought under screw cap. The $300 2012 Estate Reserve Cab is the first twist-top ever to earn 100 points from Robert Parker.

The winery office, upcycled from a shipping container.

The hotel scene is also getting a stylish update, with the Yabu Pushelberg–designed Las Alcobas and Charlie Palmer’s fully upgraded Harvest Inn (pictured, doubles from $449) debuting within the year in St. Helena.

Napa’s classic resorts are taking stock, too. Meadowood Napa Valley (pictured; doubles from $900) embraced a cleaner aesthetic in the 85 rooms, with linen-covered sofas, slatefloor bathrooms, and black-and-white photos of the valley. A stand-alone spa opens this fall.

Auberge du Soleil (doubles from $850) is gradually shedding its Provençal look. Designer Suzanne Tucker has already given 12 of the 50 rooms a polished feel by adding floor-to-ceiling windows and swapping terracotta floors for cream-colored carpeting.

It’s among the valley’s chefs where you’ll see some of the biggest changes. Thomas Keller’s French Laundry (pictured; tasting menus from $295) reopened in April after the design firm Snøhetta did a Modernist overhaul of the kitchen.

This news was overshadowed only by Keller’s pop-up, Ad Lib (entrées $24–$60), at the Silverado Resort. Locals and tourists have gone mad for his riffs on Parker House rolls, Caesar salad prepared tableside, and beef Wellington, all served in a less reverential setting. It’s open through October 18.

At chic St. Helena gastropub the Farmer & the Fox (picutred; entrées $16–$32), chef Joseph Humphrey elevates British classics, pairing Scotch eggs with watercress and topping sourdough crumpets with uni.

And in the revitalized city of Napa—which felt like a ghost town in the past, but now hums with shops and fitness studios—there’s Atlas Social (entrées $7–$18), where chef Nick Ritchie serves unfussy rabbit pot pie and cherry-cola barbecue wings. With its blackboard sporting Julia Child quotes and large terrace, the place epitomizes the changing of the guard. “I’ve stopped taking my food too seriously,” says Ritchie, a Napa native. “Everything should just be delicious.”