"Northern California’s wine country retreats often model themselves on faraway places; destinations with longer traditions and more Old World gravitas. This is too bad, because their location, between the Pacific and the Mayacamas Mountains, is pure magic, and by this point on the domestic-wine timeline, there’s no need to apologize for who you are. This is why the arrival of Montage’s first property in the region, and Sonoma’s first large-scale luxury resort, is so exciting. It celebrates its own landscape, leaving the 22,000 live oaks in place and pulling a palette of dun and moss from the surrounding sun-soaked vineyards. The resort acknowledges that, as recent wildfires have shown, this is fragile terrain: Its 130 Cali-modern rooms are raised, to disturb the land as little as possible. The restaurant offers a bounty of Sonoma’s best, with everything—from the Pliny the Elder IPA to the lamb shank—sourced from within miles. And the local sixth-generation vintners who frequent the sprawling patio bar are happy to remind you that there is, in fact, plenty of history in these parts. Rooms from $995. —Rebecca Misner" - CNT Editors
