Napa Style

By Allison Jackson


Thanks to a referral from my good friend Rickie Niceta at Design Cuisine, I found myself in the very fortunate position of being hired to help plan a Napa wedding weekend for a lovely couple from Dallas, Tracie and J.W. I had not worked in Napa before, but it was a homecoming of sorts for me. I was born in San Francisco, and my grandparents lived in St. Helena for a time. Planning this wedding was such a special opportunity to revisit childhood memories, not to mention see how the area had changed and just how entertaining happens in Napa.


And here is what I learned…Besides the beautiful vistas, immediate access to rare cult wines and unparalleled focus on all things culinary, Napa is serviced by some of the most cutting edge vendors in the industry. By way of example, we hired Paula Le Duc Fine Catering as the caterer. No matter what kind of crazy request I threw at their staff, I couldn’t get a “no, we can’t do that” response.


Can you double decant all bottles of wine? Check.


Can you fashion a cocktail hour in a wine cave, involving absolutely no heating of food? Check.


Can you custom design a five course menu paired with incredibly rare wines you will have no opportunity to taste and then prepare that over-the-top meal in a galley kitchen? Check.


Pretty incredible.


The other thing I loved about working in Napa is that because there is so much natural beauty everywhere you look, the entertaining style is very relaxed. There is tremendous attention to quality and detail, but the overall Napa look is very natural, organic and informal. And someone who gets that is Kathleen Deery. Kathleen Deery is a supremely talented floral designer based in San Francisco. She blew me away from moment one. Kathleen has this ability to size up a client’s taste, assess the venue and on first try absolutely nail a look that is so spot on, it requires no adjustments. Her look for Tracie and J.W.’s wedding was based on a pale pink and ivory color palette, with touches of rich eggplant for originality and sophistication. At long rectangular dinner tables, Kathleen used fragrant free peonies, passion flower and natural grapevine to meet J.W.’s one floral request – that the flowers not conflict with the sensory food and wine experience. The overall effect was at once so intentionally styled and artful, yet so effortless in feel. So Napa.


Below are some of my favorite images from the weekend.


Starting with… Bluegrass and Texas BBQ at Meadowood. And for those of you who don’t know Meadowood, a party there almost always involves croquet on the lawn in dress whites. We just added in colorful cowboy hats for some Texas flavor!

Next up… a wine tasting and make-your-own rustic pizza party at the St. Helena warehouse of wine experts Stefan Blicker and Corey Pierce. Stefan and Corey set up the wine, and Stefan’s wife Joanne set up everything else. It turns out Joanne just happens to work for Knickerbockers Catering, and Knickerbockers just happens to have a state-of-the-art brick oven that turns out rustic pizzas in less than 2 minutes. Why doesn’t every catering company have one of those??

And then onto the wedding…


All guests were transported via limousine caravan from the Villagio in Yountville to Hall Rutherford. Hall Rutherford is an operational winery as well as the private residence of Tracie and J.W.’s friends, Kathryn and Craig Hall. This property is exquisite in every way, and the view is absolutely breathtaking.


The ceremony was held near the residence in front of a gorgeous sculpture and surrounded by Rutherford’s legendary Sacrashe Vineyard and hillside beauty.

After the ceremony, the party got started with cocktails in the wine cave. The cave features an incredible chandelier comprised of 1500 Swarkovski crystals and is meant to represent the intricate root system of a grapevine. Absolutely magical! Guests were then invited for dinner on the terrace, timed just as the sun was setting. The Martini Brothers Band provided Sinatra tunes as guests were treated to the likes of hand cut papardelle with truffle butter and Liberty Farms duck breast with pickled bing cherries. And lucky for us…Perfect Endings – celebrated cake design company to many a Hollywood star – just happens to be located in Napa and was there to provide the wedding cake. You know you are working with a fabulous cake company when a simple white chantilly cake is so exquisite, even a wedding planner can’t stop eating it.

Finally… the night ended with an afterparty set in the winery’s tank room. The sleek, stainless steel tanks worked perfectly as décor for a cool, hip late night lounge. Equally cool and hip DJ Walter Vela of Oye Productions provided the music and kept guests dancing until the wee hours.

All photos courtesy of Jennifer Baciocco. Her photos speak for themselves, and Jennifer couldn’t be a sweeter, more professional and hardworking event photographer. Mille grazie Jennifer!!!