7 Best Wine Country Spa Retreats
Portugal: Six Senses Spa Douro Valley
Six Senses owns wellness-focused resorts around the world, but this is its first in wine country. The 57-room 19th-century manor house and its seven new villas (two with private pools) are set in terraced vineyards that drop down to the winding Douro River. The 24,000-square-foot spa has 10 treatment rooms staffed by a rotating roster of over 100 experts; there are teachers for every level of yogi as well as a dedicated Yogic Sleep Program. Outside the spa walls, Six Senses offers forest bathing, a Japanese practice that involves a walk through the woods followed by a cool-water soak. Guests can also take cooking classes with chef Paulo Matos in his hearth-centric kitchen, using organic vegetables and fruit from the property, or taste local bottlings with sommelier Hélio Lima in the rustic-modern wine library. Guest rooms from $273 per night; sixsenses.com.
Wine Region: Douro Valley
Nearby Wineries: Quinta Vale D. Maria, Quinta Do Crasto, Quinta Do Vallado
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Italy: Spa at Monteverdi
An obsession with Renaissance art kept sending Ohio attorney Michael Cioffi to Tuscany until, finally, he discovered the crumbling town of Castiglioncello del Trinoro in 2006. Ever since, he has been renovating the tiny village, starting with a few villas, followed by a hotel. Then, last summer, Cioffi turned an old stone granary into a dreamy spa. Treatments include wine baths in outdoor soaking tubs, facials and salt scrubs that utilize Tuscan herbs, and massages using ingredients like grapeseed oil, olive oil and chocolate from the surrounding Val d’Orcia. After a session at the spa, guests can have a meal at the village enoteca, Oreade, where chef Giancarla Bodoni shows her fierce commitment to organic ingredients. Her food, featuring local signatures like Chianina beef, pairs well with the restaurant’s wine collection, heavy on Brunellos from nearby Montalcino. Guest rooms from $600 per night; monteverdituscany.com.
Wine Region: Tuscany
Nearby Wineries: Biondi Santi, Salcheto, Tenuta Valdipiatta
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Italy: Verdura Resort
This location of Rocco Forte resorts is the first with a spa and a spa dining menu (more will roll out throughout Europe). The focus at the spa is thalassotherapy, which aims to expel toxins and improve lymphatic health via soaks in different outdoor pools filled with water of varying temperatures and salt levels. As for the spa dining menu, Fulvio Pierangelini incorporates organic vegetables and grains from the property’s farm, and sea bream, cod, squid and tiger prawns from waters that are visible from the grounds. Guest rooms from $248 per night; roccofortehotels.com.
Wine Region: Menfi, Sicily
Nearby Wineries: Planeta, Tasca D’almerita, Tenuta Rapitala
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Spain: Santuario LeDomaine
Abadía Retuerta, an estate with almost 900 years of history in Ribera del Duero, launched LeDomaine hotel four years ago. Soon after that, its restaurant, Refectorio, won a Michelin star under famed Spanish chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. And last summer, the resort converted the stable of its ancient abbey into eight guest rooms with direct access to a new 10,000-square-foot underground spa. Chef Pablo Montero designed the spa menu, with dishes like grilled leeks with romesco. Guest rooms from $469 per night; ledomaine.es.
Wine Region: Ribera Del Duero
Nearby Wineries: Abadía Retuerta, Finca Torremilanos, Tinot Pesquera
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France: La Bastide de Gordes
When it reopened last summer after a major renovation, the 12th-century Bastide de Gordes castle debuted 40 Louis XV-style rooms, a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant and a three-story spa from Parisian beauty company Sisley. Guests can relax by one of the four swimming pools or have a massage. Or, to explore rosé country, they can rent a Citroën 2CV from the hotel that comes packed with a picnic. Guest rooms from $214 per night; bastide-de-gordes.com.
Wine Region: Provence
Nearby Wineries: Domaine De Fenouillet, Domaine Mas De La Dame, Domaine Mas De Gourgonnier
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California: Meadowood Spa
With its luxurious cottages hidden in the woods, just off Napa Valley’s busy wine trail, and its restaurant by F&W Best New Chef 2009 Chris Kostow, Meadowood is all about seclusion and indulgence. In that spirit, the resort recently opened a new wellness center with eight private spa suites (two for couples). Every treatment begins with a cup of organic Soothe tea from Ikaati. After a hot stone massage and black-walnut scrub, guests can order from spa chef Victoria Acosta’s menu of healthy snacks, like dried persimmons and pears, or have a more substantive meal such as grape leaves stuffed with forbidden rice, olives and cured lemons. Guest rooms from $500 per night; meadowood.com.
Wine Region: Napa Valley
Nearby Wineries: Corison, Long Meadow Ranch, Smith-Madrone
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California: Farmhouse Inn Spa
The sibling owners of this fantastic 25-room inn, Joe and Catherine Bartolomei, are champions of Sonoma wine: setting guests up with bespoke visits to top Russian River Valley producers; working with sommelier Allyson Gorsuch to curate a remarkable Sonoma wine list for their restaurant; and making their own Lost & Found Pinot Noir from their family vineyards. At their new spa, therapists concoct treatments using lavender and mint from the inn’s culinary gardens or, in the spring, blackberry honey from Catherine’s ranch. Afterward, guests can sip seasonal shrubs while lounging on a massive porch swing. Guest rooms from $545; farmhouseinn.com.
Wine Region: Sonoma
Nearby Wineries: Iron Horse, Kosta Browne, Red Car