Chateau de Vie Wine

Chateau de Vie, not to be confused with Chateau de Vie in Chandler, AZ was founded in 1998; the name means ‘house of life’ and refers to both the gorgeous Bed & Breakfast built in 1983 located on 2 acres including a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard and the wine brand. The inaugural vintage of Chateau de Vie was in 2006 and featured a background image of the B&B, a much different visual than its current modern stylized look. This property is located a short drive north of Calistoga and less than a mile south of the little Marselan block we are intimately involved with. This is one of the few plantings of this French hybrid (Grenache/Cabernet Sauvignon cross) in Napa Valley. This B&B was originally called Chateau Marguerite named after its original owner.

The B&B was purchased by husbands Felipe Barragan (died in 2024) and Peter Weatherman in 1997 and was soon renamed. Both men lived in San Francisco at the time; Barragan was originally from southern California and Weatherman was born and raised in San Francisco. Prior to owning this property, Weatherman was a licensed San Francisco Bay Area contractor and the owner of Pacific Coast Woodworking.

Over the years they updated the property including adding a large deck and a smaller residence / barn. Today it features 5 bedrooms and five baths and accommodates up to 14 people. In 2022 Edward Anthony Lifestyle acquired both the inn and the wine brand from Felipe and Peter who decided to retire and travel the world. Edward Anthony Lifestyle owns and operates several Calistoga based properties including the historical and luxury Francis House (see below), places to stay in Texas Hill Country and also a beachfront estate on Sapodilla Bay in Turks & Caicos.

While known for their luxurious accommodations, Edward Anthony Lifestyle offers numerous top level services for their Napa Valley guests. These include stocking your refrigerator and kitchen pantry with plenty of food in advance of your stay, setting up private chef experiences, creating personalized winery itineraries with restaurant suggestions, securing special experiences such as riding in a hot air balloon or riding a horse through vineyards and or arranging a chauffeur/driver service. Guests can expect a certain level of both quality of wines, hospitality and exclusivity for the wineries the concierge recommends. And those celebrating special occasions should inquire about their Celebration Package.

One of our favorite airports to fly into is Santa Rosa. It is small, convenient, and typically hassle-free, making arrivals and departures refreshingly easy. Best of all, it is the closest airport to Calistoga, with a scenic drive that usually takes just 30 to 35 minutes, allowing guests to settle into wine country quickly and without stress.

Staying at Chateau de Vie places you in a rural vineyard surrounded setting, but close enough to Calistoga, a town known for its relaxed pace, historic charm, and natural wellness experiences. Just minutes away, you can soak in Calistoga’s famous geothermal mineral pools or indulge in a classic mud bath, a ritual the area has been known for since the 19th century. Several historic spas include Indian Springs and Dr. Wilkinson’s.

A stroll through downtown reveals art galleries, tasting rooms, small restaurants and locally owned boutiques, all set against a backdrop of western architecture and views of the Vaca mountains and the rocky palisade outcrops to the east or the heavily forested Mayacamas mountains to the west. For a dose of history, the Sharpsteen Museum offers insight into Calistoga’s colorful past including its founder, Samuel Brannan, hot springs tourism, and the arrival of the railroad. And every Saturday from 9am until 1pm, the Calistoga Farmers’ Market is hosted across from the Sharpsteen Museum and the City Hall.

Outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty to explore nearby. Hiking and biking trails wind through the nearby Bothe-Napa Valley State Park and or up into the Palisades, offering sweeping views of the valley below. Don’t miss the out and back Table Rock Trail hike within Robert Louis Stevenson State Park for especially panoramic vistas of Napa Valley.

Wine lovers can enjoy intimate tastings at nearby cellars; within downtown, there are numerous stand-alone tasting rooms or wineries within walking or biking distance, showcasing everything from old-vine Zinfandel to Cabernet Sauvignon. Whether your days are filled with wellness, wine, the outdoors (or all of the above), Calistoga offers a laid-back yet enriching complement to a stay at Chateau de Vie.

Select Wines
Sauvignon Blanc
The 2024 Chateau de Vie Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley) is medium straw in color. Fresh and “bouncy,” the bouquet strikes a balance between California ripeness and varietal restraint. The nose is highly aromatic, featuring citrus blossom, honeysuckle, and white nectarine at the peak of ripeness, layered with lemon zest, chalk, white peach, and lime, along with nuances of loquat, kumquat, and mandarin orange. The palate is equally bright and balanced, offering flavors of guava, golden plum, kiwi, and yellow nectarine, rounded out by apricot, Alphonso mango, and papaya. This is a textural expression of the variety; the mouthfeel is lightly fleshy and creamy—the result of being fermented slow and cold in stainless steel followed by six months of aging sur lie—yet it remains lifted by a vibrant, refreshing acidity. We recommend pairing this with shellfish, particularly lightly seared scallops. ABV: 13.3%

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2022 Chateau de Vie Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga Napa Valley is deep ruby and nearly opaque; forward fruited, the bouquet offers scents of Santa Rosa plum, dark raspberry, red cherry, boysenberry and red licorice. The oak is a light complement, offering subtle aromas of baking spices including cloves, nutmeg. Bright, fresh and energetic, this wine shows more vibrancy than many of the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons we’ve tried from this hot and challenging vintage. Its flavors are of red cherry, currant, not fully ripe boysenberry and cranberry. The tannins support the bright and red-fruited finish with a gravelly and moderately gritty and dusty character outlasting the fruit on the finish but paralleling the bright acidity for some time. Mouth watering. This bottling is one of the more age worthy 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon’s we’ve had from Napa Valley.

The 2017 Chateau de Vie Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and nearly opaque with some brickish coloring; the bouquet is ripe and sweetly fruited. This wine smells like cherry pie, blackberry, baked plums, dark raspberry, cherry liqueur and a finishing note of sweet tobacco and cloves. Some of its fruit aromatics are starting to show maturity, transitioning to dried fruit scents. This wine is balanced, ripe and easy drinking at this age, 8 years post vintage, but brighter than one would surmise from its 15% ABV. Its flavors include red cherry, raspberry, cranberry, boysenberry and red plums. The grainy and gravelly tannins are felt more on the front of the palate; they linger with a light drying character in tandem with the fruit. Finishes bright and red fruited. Shows more primary on the palate than the bouquet at this age.

We suspect that regardless of vintage or winemaker their Calistoga vineyard’s bright character will always show through in the wines.

A new chapter for Chateau de Vie began in 2024 when Angelina Mondavi took over the winemaking helm. A fourth-generation vintner, Angelina’s roots are deeply embedded in the soil of St. Helena, where she grew up on the historic Charles Krug property. Her career has come full circle in spectacular fashion: while she has spent decades building an elite consulting portfolio—including her work with Hundred Acre and her own Dark Matter brand—she was officially named Head Winemaker at Charles Krug in 2025. This historic appointment marks the first time a female family member has led the winemaking at Napa Valley’s oldest estate winery, further elevating the prestige she brings to the Chateau de Vie cellar.

Angelina’s approach at Chateau de Vie reflects both her international experience (which includes time in Australia’s Barossa Valley) and her intimate knowledge of northern Napa Valley. She is tasked with translating the specific “bright” character of the estate’s Calistoga vineyard into the bottle. Under her guidance, the brand continues to emphasize balance and freshness—qualities that are particularly evident in the current releases, which manage to showcase Calistoga’s signature power without losing their vibrant acidity.

The Francis House, Calistoga
Under the same ownership as Chateau de Vie, the Francis House was named for prominent local businessman James Harvey Francis and was built in 1886 as Second French Empire Architecture – the architect of record was John Sexton. The stone was quarried from a ranch just south of Calistoga owned at the time by an Ed Brown. According to an article in the Napa Register dated Friday October 23, 1885, “five teams were engaged the hauling of the rock for J.H. Francis’s new home being constructed on the corner of Myrtle and Elm Streets”. The same article also indicated, “It is possible for Calistoga to become as noted as Milwaukee is now for her brick”. Rock from this quarry was also used to build a retaining wall next to bridge on Lincoln Ave over the Napa River. Plans were also in place for a local business, M. Friedberg & Son to also pull rock from this same quarry to build a new store on Main Street.

Unfortunately, Francis only had a few years to enjoy the stately structure; he passed away in 1891 inside the home. His death was the first of many individuals to pass away in the building, taking into account normal hospital operations. Francis operated businesses in St. Helena in the 1860s and 1870s before permanently moving to Calistoga in 1874 where he operated a general mercantile store on the north west corner of Lincoln Ave and Washington Street, selling a variety of daily household goods, men’s clothing, mining tools as well as assorted provisions including groceries and dry goods. He also owned several ranches in the northern part of Napa Valley including one that was producing cinnabar ore. His obituary listed in the The Weekly Calistogan dated Wednesday January 7, 1891 mentions, “he knew just two places – his store and his home”. He is buried in the St. Helena Cemetery.

One of his brothers, George M. Francis, was owner of The Napa Register newspaper in the City of Napa.

One of our greatest regrets in Napa Valley was never photographing the inside of the structure before its restoration, despite having ample opportunities to do so.

His former home transitioned to the Calistoga Hospital in 1918 when Mabel, a nurse rented out the building. During her and C.L.’s ownership of the hospital, they expanded operations and added wings on each side of the original house. It served the local community until a number of its operations closed down in 1964 although it continued to service convalescents and elderly needs for about another year. A number of winemakers were born here including one of our friends who owns a winery in Calistoga. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

It was abandoned and uninhabited for decades and was slated to be demolished; however Dina and Richard Dwyer purchased the property in 2014 and spent four years overseeing its restoration. They opened the Francis House in 2018, a luxury bed and breakfast with seven distinctive rooms; a year later it was listed as one of the Best New Hotels in 2019 by Travel & Leisure Magazine and has since been mentioned in Vogue Magazine. The Dwyer’s sold Francis House in November 2024 to Anthony Edwards Luxury Estates.

The Francis House, Calistoga (original Calistoga Hospital owned by Mabel Petersen)

In addition to Chateau de Vie and The Francis House, the Edward Anthony Lifestyle Team also owns several other B&B’s in Napa Valley including Casa Rosa, located two blocks from Main Street in St. Helena, Calistoga Wine Ranch located at an elevation of about 1,700 feet above Calistoga and Modista, located in the Mayacamas mountains on a 17-acre property.

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Through a coveted permit available for bed & breakfasts within Napa County, paying guests of Chateau de Vie can enjoy the Chateau de Vie wines on premise. All sit down tastings for Chateau de Vie are by appointment. For more information, to purchase wines, to setup a visit or to join the Chateau de Vie membership (two shipments a year of either 6 or 12 bottles/shipment), visit: www.cdvwine.com