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Auberge du Soleil
Rutherford, California, United States · Auberge Resorts · Apex Luxury
Claude Rouas opened a restaurant in a thirty-three-acre olive grove above Rutherford in 1981, and maison-style guest cottages followed in 1985, so Auberge du Soleil became the namesake and flagship of Auberge Resorts. The Restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2007, an outdoor sculpture garden winds through the olive groves and vineyards, and The French Laundry is ten minutes away in Yountville.
- 50 rooms
- Opened 1981
About Auberge du Soleil
- The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil has held a Michelin star continuously since 2007.
- Claude Rouas opened the hillside restaurant in 1981; maison-style guest cottages followed in 1985.
- The resort became the namesake and flagship of Auberge Resorts Collection, beginning with a restaurant in a thirty-three-acre olive grove above Rutherford.
History
The thirty-three-acre hillside olive grove above Rutherford, facing southeast across the valley floor toward the Mayacamas Mountains, was virgin Napa Valley real estate when Claude Rouas arrived in 1981. Rouas, a restaurateur who had built a following with his San Francisco restaurant L'Etoile, had a specific vision: a French restaurant on a hillside in Napa Valley, with the views, the light, and the terrace that a California interpretation of Provençal dining demanded. The building he constructed was modest by resort standards — a single-story restaurant perched on the olive terraces, with the views doing most of the work. Auberge du Soleil opened in 1981, and its success was immediate and transforming.
The lodging side came four years later, in 1985, when small maison-style guest cottages were added to the hillside below the restaurant, converting the address from a destination restaurant into the model of what Wine Country luxury hospitality would become. The combination of the terrace restaurant, the hillside rooms with private terraces and fireplaces, the outdoor pool, and the eventually-expanded spa created a template that dozens of properties have attempted to replicate across Napa, Sonoma, and beyond in the decades since. That Auberge du Soleil was first, and remains the flagship and namesake of the entire Auberge Resorts Collection, gives it a founding significance in American wine-country hospitality.
The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil has held a Michelin star continuously since 2007 — a streak that has survived multiple chef transitions and represents one of the longest unbroken Michelin-star records at a hotel restaurant in California. Forbes Travel Guide has recognized the property with its Five-Star designation for decades. The hotel holds Michelin Three Keys, the guide's highest hotel rating. A recent renovation updated the guest rooms while preserving the architectural character that made the original so compelling — the country-chic finishes, the terrace views, the fireplaces, and the sense that dinner at this table, with this valley spread below, is one of the essential American dining experiences. Forty years after Claude Rouas opened his hillside restaurant with a simple idea about food and views, Auberge du Soleil remains the property against which all other Napa Valley hotels are measured.
The setting
Auberge du Soleil commands a terraced hillside at 180 Rutherford Hill Road in the Rutherford AVA, overlooking vine-covered benchland that winemaker André Tchelistcheff famously described through the term 'Rutherford Dust' — the earthy minerality unique to these alluvial soils, Napa's premier Cabernet Sauvignon ground since the 1880s. French restaurateur Claude Rouas opened Napa's first fine-dining destination on this olive-grove hillside in 1981; the inn followed four years later. Rutherford Hill Winery is a four-minute walk. Set among 33 acres of heritage olive and oak trees with panoramic vineyard views, the property's Provençal character feels native to a setting where continuous winemaking and gold-medal Cabernets define the landscape. 4.7 miles from downtown St. 12.6 miles from Las Posadas State Forest.
Restaurants and bars
- The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil — Restaurant · French · Chef Robert Curry · One MICHELIN Star
- The Bistro & Bar — Bar
Experiences
- Judgment of Paris — Menu with side-by-side pairings of French versus California wines, showcasing the Michelin-starred menu and wine list.
- Winery Events — Guest winery wines savoured on the outdoor terrace, with Executive Chef Robert Curry's dishes paired with each pour.
- Art Walk — Stroll through the outdoor sculpture garden, reserved for overnight guests.
- Courtyard Tastings — Tasting experience offered at the property.
- Tour & Taste with Mercedes-Benz — Tour and tasting experience offered with Mercedes-Benz.
- Picnics — Picnics reserved for overnight guests.
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Tennis
- Vineyard views
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Yoga
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star (2026)
- MICHELIN Three Keys (2026)
- Travel + Leisure World's Best Hotels (2026)
- Andrew Harper Members Choice (2025)
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