Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa

Chef Charlie Palmer’s hospitality team accentuates the positive at Lodi’s most stylish accommodations.  

I’ve always thought of the Wine & Roses Resort and Spa in Lodi as a place where you could easily park yourself for a couple of days, never leaving the nearly 7-acre property. There are that many things to do: dine at two restaurants, get a facial or massage at the spa, taste Lodi’s best wines, stroll a demonstration vineyard, attend an event, work out at the fitness center, swim at the pool, and loll in the sun (or shade) amid the always manicured gardens. All this while bedding down in the town’s most stylish accommodations.

Approachable Luxury

I’d never put the theory to the test, though, until the official unveiling of Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa in June 2025. The lengthy new moniker reflects the entry of Appellation Hotels, the “approachable luxury” hospitality brand founded by high-profile chef Charlie Palmer and hotel executive Christopher Hunsberger, formerly of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Russ and Kathryn Munson, who purchased Wine & Roses a quarter century ago, remain involved in the new venture. A few highlights from the grand opening follow below. Spoiler alert: my car didn’t move an inch until the two days of festivities were over.

Culinary Emphasis 

As a brand, Appellation incorporates the culinary arts into the guest experience. This emphasis includes dining, of course, but also workshops, chef’s tables at restaurants, and in the case of Wine & Roses, interaction with the Lodi Wine Commission’s on-site tasting room. Appellation hotel projects primarily involve new builds – the first of these, in Healdsburg, is set to debut later this year – but the mission in Lodi has been to accentuate the many positives of the San Joaquin County resort.

Upgraded Rooms

My favorite accommodations are inside two-story buildings surrounding the gardens. Running a close second are ten inn rooms on the second floor above the Americana House restaurant. Soothing browns and soft whites predominate in the rooms and suites, drawing the eye toward the greenery outside. On previous visits, I’d stayed in second-floor garden or spa rooms, but I rather enjoyed being on the ground floor this time, with my patio just feet from trees and lush ferns.

Americana House

Known for years as the Towne House, the resort’s fine-dining restaurant, rechristened Americana House and headed by executive chef Marco Fossati, occupies the ground floor of a former residence whose warren of rooms Appellation opened up without sacrificing the space’s cozy allure. The adjoining patio remains a delight when the weather cooperates. 

Some of the multi-course meal’s dishes embraced produce grown in a new culinary garden steps away. Each struck the balance between complex flavors and simplicity of presentation that Palmer’s restaurants are known for. Two highlights were the sweet pea agnolotti with corn velouté and guanciale and seared Hokkaido scallops with sorrel chimichurri, both paired with local wines. The 2024 LangeTwins North River Vineyard Grüner Veltliner with the scallops was particularly compelling.

Few dishes evoke Americana more directly than cobbler, a dessert with links back to the colonial era. The blueberry and rosemary one here nodded to the past, but with its flaky, buttery crust, whipped crème fraîche, and the accompanying local sparkling wine (Nostra Vita Family Winery), it seemed modern as well. The two savory dishes and the dessert graced the restaurant’s initial à la carte dinner menu. The sweet pea agnolotti and cobbler were also featured at weekend brunch. 

Croissant Workshop at Maison Lodi

After a restful night and morning coffee on my room’s patio, I headed over to Maison Lodi, the resort’s combination café, bakery, and marketplace. Our instructors for the day were C.P., as everyone at Wine & Roses calls him, and pastry chef Anne Rosete. Learning was fun with peach mimosas, their fruit from the garden, served by Appellation’s chief culinary director, Thomas Bellec (all the big guns showed up for the grand opening).

I’d stopped by Maison Lodi in March for lunch. The week after it opened, the café already had the vibe of a community hangout – the varied breakfast and lunch offerings, as well as grab-and-go items, make it a boon for guests as well. Of note are the morning pastries, along with more substantial fare; several sandwiches for lunch; and organic Mary’s chickens constantly twirling in a high-tech French rotisserie.

Wine Tasting 

You don’t need to step outside Maison Lodi to access the adjoining Lodi Wine & Visitor Center. The center, a local treasure, was my first stop more than two decades ago on my initial Lodi wine excursion. Paul Marsh of the Lodi Winegrape Commission, a certified sommelier, curates the reasonably priced tastings, and he’s equally adept at pairing guests with wineries whose output suits their palates.

When I stopped by after the croissant demo, Marsh suggested two wines I wasn’t familiar with and poured the latest vintages of two that I was. If you think Lodi is only about its famous Zinfandels, many from century-plus-old vines, you’ll learn otherwise here.

Facial Time

After a garden stroll, it was time for a custom facial at the Wine & Roses Spa. My skin being “delicate,” as my licensed esthetician, Hannah, so delicately put it (I was expecting something like “mature”), she chose products for clients of all ages with sensitive skin. “What I love about custom facials,” she told me after mine, “is that I can dial in and look for what I think they need in addition to what they want, which of course is most important.”

The other element she believes “makes the spa unique is that we incorporate the element of massage and tranquility into our facials.” Mine included a massage of the feet and neck. After the session ended, I spent time in the tranquility room, which overlooks the Jacuzzi area with fire pits and a waterfall, and later took a steam shower. A week later, people were still remarking on the glow of my face, so for that alone, we’ll declare it a success.

Grand Opening Event

By midafternoon, it was time for the ribbon cutting at Americana House, with remarks by Palmer, the Munsons, Hunsberger, Wine & Roses GM Brent Kitsu, and Lodi’s mayor, Cameron Bregman, among others. Owners and staffers from Lodi’s top wineries often pour at Wine & Roses events, and the grand opening was no exception. I enjoyed catching up with the folks at Acquiesce, Bokisch, and Michael David, all three of which appear in Fodor’s California and a story on this website about a 2022 Lodi visit. Having enjoyed the LangeTwins Grüner the night before, I was pleased to sample it a second time, along with the winery’s excellent 2021 Starr Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel from the Mokelumne River AVA (American Viticultural Area), a subappellation within the larger Lodi AVA.

I appreciated the light touch owner-winemaker Chris Mora displayed with his 2022 Christopher Cellars Mule Plane Vineyard Carignan, from vines planted in the 1920s, and 2022 Sangiovese from two Lodi AVA vineyards. The appellation supports over 100 grape varieties, some quite rare in California. Among these is Assyrtiko, from the Greek island of Santorini, which two brothers, John and Jeff Perlegos of Perlegos Family Wines, craft into a perky sparkling wine, one of two poured at the Americana House ribbon-cutting ceremony.  The other was a Brut Rosé of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay by Sonoma County’s Bricoleur Vineyards, where Palmer serves as culinary advisor.

Pool Time 

I ended my Lodi idyll the next day with an early-morning dip in the pool, which I had to myself. It was a fittingly mellow ending to two productive yet relaxing days at Wine & Roses, which under the Appellation umbrella seems well poised to continue its status as the town’s premier resort, spa, and events venue. 

Daniel Mangin covers Lodi for the Fodor’s California and Fodor’s Northern California print/ebook guides and Fodors.com’s Sacramento and the Gold Country Online Guide.