Above an Olive Grove, Ferragamo Holds a Vintner’s Luncheon at Festival Napa Valley

The Tuscan-inspired summer gathering took place on Auberge du Soleil’s sprawling terrace overlooking valley wineries

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL

Amid the return of Festival Napa Valley, the annual cultural colossus complete with a full slate of outdoor musical and culinary events and hours before a star-studded tribute concert to Tony Bennett, Salvatore Ferragamo hosted a hillside vintner’s luncheon at Auberge du Soleil. The Florentine house filled the hotel’s Cedar room with designs awash in poppies, daisies and sunflowers — lush and colorful stems found along roadsides — from its Tuscan Wildflowers capsule as an opera singer’s bold notes rang out.

Floral motifs on pieces from SALVATORE FERRAGAMO’s Tuscan Wildflowers capsule. Photo by Mario Piombo.

Here sat a limited-edition Studio bag reworked in white organic cotton with the new floral print. There, men’s black sneakers printed with a tangerine-hued version of the blooms found across Tuscan landscapes perched atop Ferragamo’s geometric Gancini pattern. Silk twill patterned dresses, Viva slides and Bow bags in silver or black joined resort-ready terrycloth towels and essentials including straw sun hats with various interpretations of the wildflower graphic. Butterflies rising from the printed blooms on men’s and women’s designs, evoked notions of flight, travel and broadened horizons — concepts enhanced by views of the venerable hotel’s 33 acres of olive and oak trees bordered by sprawling valley vineyards.

A SALVATORE FERRAGAMO display at the house’s Vintner’s Luncheon at AUBERGE DU SOLEIL. Photo by Mario Piombo.

Following glasses of prosecco, Robert Curry, Auberge’s executive chef, plated sautéed day boat scallops with sugar snap peas paired with Emmolo’s 2020 Sauvignon Blanc from Caymus Vineyards, a working family farm in Rutherford that’s just minutes from the hillside hotel. Next, Curry’s filet mignon arrived with Caymus’ standout 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon accompanied by a cellist playing throughout the meal. Chocolate caramel fleur de sel tartlets and vanilla bean milkshakes capped the sun-filled luncheon held nearly a week into the alfresco 10-day festival.