Napa isn’t typically known for its spirits, but Jean-Charles Boisset French vintner and proprietor of the Boisset Collection, which operates 28 wineries in France, California, and Canada, wants to change that. While his resume is most prominently in wine, Boisset has had his hand in spirits since 2018 when he introduced JCB Spirits—featuring gin, and caviar-infused and truffle-infused vodkas. His latest venture, the Calistoga Depot, focuses on small-batch spirits.
“Often we think Napa Valley is just wine, and even just cabernet, whereas it’s a large group of different grape varieties,” says Boisset. “And it’s not just wine, it’s spirits.”
The Calistoga Depot is located in the city of Calistoga in Napa Valley, founded and built in 1868 by Sam Brannan, a prominent businessman. It’s the second oldest train depot in California, and still displays its cars from bygone years. Alas, the trains no longer run anywhere, but they’re being put to good use—as drinking and dining cars like the Mexican food and drink car Casa Obsidiana, and the champagne, wine, and oysters-focused JCB Parlor Car. Another car, the First Millionaire’s Saloon, now honors Sam Brannon’s title of California’s first millionaire and features spirits served in an Old West atmosphere.
“People love to hop from one bar to the other, one experience to the other, one menu to the other,” says Boisset. “It’s a beautiful place where, in one destination, you have a major adult playground.”
The site also includes Calistoga Depot Distillery—unfortunately, it’s just a tasting room and not a working distillery. (To distill in this current space would mean a total reconstruction of the historical building, which wasn’t an option.) But the Distillery is where you’ll find a spirits selection that includes whiskey and brandy flights, and a main bar that serves signature craft cocktails, brunch, lunch, and dinner (ranging from tacos to filet mignon) offered Thursday through Monday.
It makes sense to want to preserve this historic site and the history of Sam Brannan, as it’s contemporaneous with many significant local landmarks rich in California’s history, including Buena Vista, the state’s first premium winery, and Oakville Grocery, the longest-standing store of its kind in California. "It’s essential to mark this wonderful time in history,” says Boisset. “To enhance the beauty of what California is beyond the context of just winemaking.”
But it wasn’t just the history that Boisset wished to share. He also wanted to provide diversity to the drinking scene in Napa and found that many people were interested in tasting brown spirits in cocktails and neat.
“People can enjoy full whiskey tasting, full bourbon tasting, and full brandy tasting,” says Boisset. “And, of course, cocktails.”
The idea behind spirits making was natural for Boisset simply because of his wine background. That made him more interested in learning about the process behind crafting other beverages, especially brown spirits. He was especially interested in taking what he already knew about barrel aging and using that to make brandy and whiskey. The same French oak barrels used to age these spirits also aged some of Boisset’s top French and American wines. "Our contribution is very unique because we understand the smokiness, the toastiness, the flames, and depth of the oak associated with the fumes of the fire that is added to not only the barrel but the whiskey itself.”
The array of Boisset’s whiskey collection can be found here. Bottles can be purchased at the Calistoga Depot Wine Merchant train car, the Calistoga Depot Provisions, and the Calistoga Depot Distillery bar.
Calistoga Depot whiskeys are sourced from local partners including Spirits Works Distillery and Mendocino Spirits/Tamar Distillery, Inc. The goal was not to necessarily reinvent what our friends a few miles away are doing so well,” says Boisset. “It gives us a more interesting range because it allows us to work with different people who are specialists and have something very special.”
