Calistoga Depot will be home to a brewery and spirits tasting room
The Calistoga Depot is undergoing a reset.
Construction is now underway to build a brewery, spirits tasting room, artisan grocery and upscale cafe at the one-time rail station.
French vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, proprietor of the Boisset Collection, is behind the depot project. The Collection operates 28 wineries in California, France and Canada. Boisset also owns the tasting salon JCB and the Oakville Grocery, both in Yountville.
Boisset said he wants to breathe new life into the depot, which has sat empty since tenants Palisades Deli moved just a couple of doors down two years ago and Wine Stop moved across the street.
The spirits tasting room will be called Calistoga Distillery 1868; the artisan grocery and the upscale cafe, selling fresh and prepared food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus wine and gifts, will be called Depot Provisions. The brewery, yet to be named, will be in the back of the property and will produce Belgian-inspired beers and California West Coast styles.
The vision is for the Depot to be a gathering spot for those who want to learn about the history of Calistoga while tasting its brews and spirits.
In the distillery, a grand copper-clad still will be the focal point of the tasting room. Visitors will be able to sample a range of spirits – vodkas, gins, bourbons and terroir-driven California whiskies – and the walls will showcase the history of Calistoga’s mineral waters and the depot.
Dating back to 1868, the depot is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s the second-oldest train depot in California.
Boisset said plans call for a large portrait of Sam Brannan to be in a prominent place so people can celebrate his role in Calistoga’s history.
Drawn by stories of a hot springs with healing powers, Brannan first visited upper Napa Valley in 1859. Convinced people would make a pilgrimage to Calistoga, he decided to build a hot springs resort to rival Saratoga Springs, New York, which attracted wealthy travelers from all over the globe. Brannan bought more than 2,000 acres and sold off plots of land to finance his vision — Calistoga, the Hot Springs of the West.
The wealthy from San Francisco did find their way to Calistoga after Brannon opened his Hot Springs Hotel in 1862, a summer respite to take in the natural volcanic hot springs. To make the journey easier, Brannan and a group of business owners built a railroad to streamline travel to upper Napa Valley.
In the opening chapter of “The Silverado Squatters,” the late Robert Luis Stevenson describes his first impression of the City of Calistoga: “It is difficult for a European to imagine Calistoga, the whole place is so new, and of such an accidental pattern; the very name, I hear, was invented at a supper party by the man who found the springs.”
Calling himself a “steward of history,” Boisset said, “We celebrate history and we champion it. We want to remind Californians and Americans at large that their history is rich, meaningful and important to the California identity.”
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.
