Grape Crusher Path to Get Spruced Up

Pathway improvements are planned around one of the Napa Valley's most iconic landmarks: the Grape Crusher statue in South Napa.

The adjacent Meritage Resort & Spa, in collaboration with the surrounding Napa Commons business park, will be installing plastic fencing along a dirt path leading from Meritage's hillside vineyard to the evocative statue.

The Grape Crusher, off of Vista Point Drive and north of Soscol Ferry Road, is already accessible from the front via a paved walkway and viewpoint area managed by Caltrans.

However, the rear access through the vineyard has been rarely used up until July.

That's when the Meritage installed a sweeping double-deck hillside outdoor event space overlooking the resort and the Napa Commons area, according to Meritage spokesperson Andrew Bradley. The decks also offer a view of the top of the Grape Crusher.

Bradley said the decks, which have been booked constantly since opening for weddings and other celebrations, were built around a pergola that had sat on the hillside, previously surrounded by grassy lawns.

"People kept asking if we could put decks up around the pergola," Bradley said.

The result is a striking setting that showcases the view as well as the top of the Grape Crusher.  Party guests may visit the statue in a short walk from the festivities.

Meritage's Napa resort, the flagship of Irvine-based Pacific Hospitality Group's Meritage Collection, was built in 2006. A new wing was added in May 2012.

The 322-room resort includes 50,000-square feet of event space.

Other amenities include a winery -- Trinitas Cellars -- built into the hillside and covered by vineyards, the Siena Restaurant, a coffee shop, wine bar and the Crush lounge, which comes complete with a plush bowling alley.

The resort also has a heated outdoor swimming pool and pool bar, the Spa Terra (inside the cave of Trinitas Cellars), massive ballrooms and outdoor fireplace seating areas (one of which will host an Oktoberfest-brewfest event this Saturday, Oct. 12).

For those who might want to leave to explore downtown Napa at night for concerts, restaurants or theater, a free bus shuttle is available to go into town every night.

"You basically have everything you need here and don't have to leave unless you want to," Bradley said of Meritage. The resort collection also includes hotels in Santa Barbara, Newport Beach and La Jolla.