Montage Hotels and Resorts

Wanderlust. Through the course of the last year, all of us have caught it, the symptoms increasing with each passing day as the world compressed to within the walls of our respective homes for much of the pandemic. Dreams of escaping on a road trip with good friends, enjoying fine dining and accommodations at top resorts and rediscovering the freedom afforded only by the great wide open seemed, for a long time, to be as plausible as a journey to Mars. This past week, however, a select few found an antidote, Robb Report’s 2021 California Coastal road rally. Here’s a glimpse at some of the action. (Video courtesy of WayUp Media.)

From June 6 though 10, a cadre of 50 Robb Report RR1 club members in 27 supercars and exotics ventured through some of the Golden State’s most picturesque landscape between Santa Barbara and Napa Valley. With all Covid health and safety protocols strictly adhered to, the automotive parade marched just shy of 574 miles in three drive days.

After settling in at Santa Barbara’s Ritz-Carlton Bacara on Sunday, all the guests made a beeline to check out the other cars on display that would be joining them on the rally (additional eye candy was provided by Lugano Diamonds and Napoli-based menswear designer Isaia). Rally sponsor Porsche brought variations on its 2021 Panamera—including the GTS—and Cayenne for test-drives, while also supplying a couple of vehicles for the entire run.

The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara. 

Photo: Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara.

Monday covered 260 miles, leaving freeway traffic within the first hour to join Pacific Coast Highway in San Louis Obispo. After a coffee break at Morro Rock, a 581-foot volcanic molar in the mouth of the surrounding bay, it was on to aptly named Ragged Point flanked by the Santa Lucia Mountains and crashing surf hundreds of feet below.

Monday’s drive break at Morro Rock. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

The route then snaked through Big Sur and Carmel before reaching one of the most revered circuits in the country, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The field of entrants made two laps in formation on the same track that motorsport’s greatest names have tested their mettle against each other and the infamous set of consecutive turns known as the Corkscrew. Fittingly, another mecca for automotive enthusiasts (and golfers) was the evening’s terminus, Pebble Beach and the tony Inn at Spanish Bay.

Edward Walson and his 2021 Ferrari SF90 Stradale entering the Corkscrew at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. 

Photo: Courtesy of Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The 7:30 a.m. rolling start on June 8 was the earliest of the rally, as another 216 miles were on an already stacked agenda. After taking in the scenery of famed 17-Mile Drive and breakfast at the Beach & Tennis Club at Pebble Beach, it was on to an exclusive viewing of Bruce Canepa’s assemblage of race cars and classic automobiles, some even for sale, guided by the racer himself. Even the most jaded collectors were drooling over a lineup that includes the 1969 Porsche 917K that took the checkered flag at Daytona, the 2,500 hp 1967 Shelby Super Snake Dragster and the 2009 Audi R15, one of the three examples that swept the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010. Needless to say, there was plenty to discuss over dinner and drinks by the fire at Bodega Bay Lodge later that night.

Bruce Canepa and his 1988 Porsche 959SC restoration at his namesake facility in Scotts Valley, Calif. 

Photo by Robb Rice.

The final drive day, while only about 98 miles in length, was the most challenging. Despite breathtaking views, drivers couldn’t afford to turn their attention from the road, as hundreds of tight s-turns outlined the way to Napa Valley, finally relenting upon approach to the new Montage Healdsburg, site of the concluding gala dinner and overnight stay.

The view of the vineyards and suites at Montage Heladsburg. 

Photo: Christian Horan, courtesy of Montage Healdsburg.

“This was the first group event for us,” says Jonathan Weizman, “Anybody you sit next to, you find something in common with.” And his wife Anna noted that they felt “an instant connection” with the others. Tom Papadopoulos, a veteran of numerous rally-style programs, brought his daughter Cali as his driving companion and found the event to be “sporting, elegant and with great people who take it a little less seriously and have a really good time.”
Although this was the first rally of its kind for Robb Report, plans are already in the works for the next installment as it becomes a regular part of the curated experiences offered to RR1 club members—those who seek the road less traveled, especially now. After all, wanderlust has no permanent cure.
To receive more information on the 2022 edition, please visit here.
More stories from Robb Report’s California Coastal Rally:

The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 1: Revving Up the American Riviera
The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 2: Racing Through Laguna Seca on the Road to Pebble Beach
The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 3: A Visit With Bruce Canepa Fuels the Drive to Bodega Bay
The California Coastal Rally, Day 4: The Road to Napa

Author Louis L’Amour, famous for his classic tales of the Old West, once wrote that “a journey is time suspended.” As our modern-day, high-horsepower wagon train—that would be the supercars and exotics comprising Robb Report’s 2021 California Coastal road rally—sets off from Northern California’s Bodega Bay, the vista of coastline unfurls before us, rocks jutting from the sea like aberrant teeth.

Rally participants skirt the Pacific Ocean while tracing through Northern California. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

The final leg of this three-day journey is a 98-mile route that turns inland as drivers navigate through swaths of lushly carpeted hillsides which slowly transition to carefully tended vineyards, the bloodline for one of the world’s premier wine-producing regions: Napa Valley. En route, hundreds of tight curves around precipitous terrain remind drivers why Northern California is justly famous for its driving roads.

An Aston Martin leads the way with a Prancing Horse close on its heels. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

Driving a 2021 Bentley Continental GTC, Robb Report RR1 club member Stan Idzi described the latter part of the stretch as “difficult and challenging,” while Russell Potee, behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce Ghost, found the morning’s section to be “a wonderful way to test the car—it was just the right length.” (Citing the nearly empty roads, Potee also thanked us for “turning off the traffic.”)

The Montage Healdsburg. 

Photo by Christian Horan Photography, courtesy of Montage Healdsburg.

But upon entering the 258-acre grounds of the Montage Healdsburg, switchbacks and straightaways gave way to an 11,500-square-foot spa, three dining venues and two separate pools—all the better to help detune the senses after nearly 600 miles of stimulation. Also restorative: a welcoming cocktail reception complemented with pop-up boutiques from Lugano Diamonds and the bespoke tailors of Isaia.

The rally’s closing dinner at Montage Healdsburg. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

Car of the Day
Anyone with foreknowledge of the narrow and technical turns that defined the rally’s final drive portion of the rally would have opted for the car that Craig and Karen Stull of Scottsdale, Ariz., brought for the event: a Porsche 911 GT3. Born from motorsport, the model saw its first iteration in 1999 as the road-going version of the German marque’s GT3 Cup race car.
The Stull’s 2018 example carries a 4.0-liter, naturally aspirated flat-six engine responsible for 500 hp and 339 ft lbs of torque. Managing the power plant is Porsche’s seven-speed PDK transmission, and the combination allows for a top speed of 197 mph and a zero-to-60 mph sprint of just 3.2 seconds. Although the coupe’s straight-line acceleration impresses, it’s the car’s Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system and rear-axle steering that make it a canyon-carver extraordinaire.

Robb Report RR1 club members Russell and Deborah Potee in their 2018 Porsche 911 GT3. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

“It’s a nice combination of everyday driver and track car,” Craig says. “You still get a lot of noise with gravel hitting the fenders and that sort of thing, because they don’t overdo the sound insulation, but I love that it has the 18-way seats and a lift kit, which we ordered.” For Karen, who, along with her husband, recently earned a racing license, it was all about “becoming one with the car.” Looking back on its performance through the rally, she adds: “It never let me down.”
Course Changes
The gala dinner featured pairings from Penfolds, Australia’s 177-year old wine institution, including the 2018 Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa (paired with grilled asparagus with prosciutto de parma) and the 2018 Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, to complement a dish of braised short rib ragu. The evening’s headliner, however, is the 2018 Penfolds Bin 98 Quantum, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa and South Australian Shiraz—a unique dual-country, dual-hemisphere bottling that Penfolds calls “a wine of the world”—paired with honey-and-rosemary-glazed lamb loin.

Penfolds wines poured for the final evening’s celebratory dinner. 

Photo by WayUp Media.

The Road Ahead
The 2021 California Coastal rally officially ends with the departure brunch on June 10, but the impression made by the Golden State’s natural beauty will remain—as will the connections made. For Shery Zarnegin, the new tribe she found has been her favorite part of the last few days: “We’ve met at least five people that will be lifelong friends,” she says.
More stories from Robb Report’s California Coastal Rally:
The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 1: Revving Up the American Riviera
The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 2: Racing Through Laguna Seca on the Road to Pebble Beach
The California Coastal Road Rally, Day 3: A Visit With Bruce Canepa Fuels the Drive to Bodega Bay