LUXUO explores today’s winery businesses and homestays which have an added USP for guests by incorporating a holistic approach to wine tasting to include customers who enjoy luxury travel and appreciate the wonders of architectural design.

Hotel Marquès de Riscal, Spain

There is a building arms race going on in the Rioja wine country, where Frank Gehry, the adopted son of the Basques, has joined the ranks of architects like Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava. Initially, The structure was meant to serve as the Marquès de Riscal’s corporate headquarters, but it turned out to be too special to keep to itself. As a result, it is now one of the world’s most distinctive winery hotels and is available to the paying public.

Standing next to the old 19th-century winery buildings, this titanium-clad mother ship makes a striking statement. Additionally, the apartments themselves represent the pinnacle of modern luxury lodging. The main building’s rooms are strange, following the structure’s curves, with large windows facing outward and peering through a network of titanium ribbons and steel supports. On the other hand, the outbuilding’s rooms have more conventional floor plans, but their windows provide a direct view of the sparkling Gehry building.

However, both kinds have access to the same premium services and services overall. There is a molecular-gastronomy restaurant with two Michelin stars and an amazing view from the top of the Gehry building; a Caudalie vinotherapy spa with an indoor pool and large fitness centre; and plenty of opportunities to sample the Marquès de Riscal vintages, whether on winery tours, organised tastings, at dinner, or in the first-floor café and wine bar.

Address: Torrea Kalea, 1, 01340 Eltziego, Álava, Spain
Contact: +34 945 18 08 80
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Lake Spa Hotel Seeleiten, Italy

An Italian hotel with a German name is the first thing a mountain hotel enthusiast notices. This type of event is unique to South Tyrol, the Italian region located in the Alps. The Lake Spa Hotel Seeleiten is near Bolzano, Austria, almost halfway between Verona and Innsbruck. It is situated beside Lake Caldaro in a breathtaking wine-producing region with mountain peaks encircling it on all sides.

The hotel is also striking; it is a long, lodge-style building encircled by a wood exoskeleton. The rooms and suites are stylishly modern, with a hint of Alpine history in the form of knotty pine, but overall, they lean towards a sophisticated gloss and contemporary simplicity. The junior suites are roomy compared to the small single rooms, and if you’re in a suite or apartment, you’ll have more space than you can use.

A large spa offering a variety of treatments and three pools — one indoor, one outdoor, and one that resembles a lake with a sandy beach — are among the amenities dedicated to wellness. Activities include hiking, biking, tennis, golf, area excursions, and everything you can do on the lake. In addition to the hotel’s Alpine/Mediterranean cuisine, you may sample wines from the hotel’s winery and others in the surrounding area, so those grapes in the middle distance aren’t just for show.

Address: San Giuseppe al Lago, Strada del Vino, 30, 39052 Caldaro sulla strada del Vino BZ, Italy
Contact: +39 0471 960200
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Château Lafaurie Peyraguey, France

After all, with 400 years of history to uphold, this is the only premier cru winery to welcome overnight visitors. With a great deal of assistance from Lalique, whose glass has made its way into more design aspects than one may have imagined conceivable, it has had an extremely extensive interior makeover. The suites are custom-created and offer an impeccable level of comfort. Guests would be asked if they would prefer a hard mattress or memory foam, and then the housemaid would make the bed appropriately. The look is a little conservative but not unstyled.

They also take their cuisine and drink seriously here, as one might anticipate. Overseeing a restaurant with a creative menu meticulously crafted to complement the estate’s delicious Sauternes wine is chef Jérôme Schilling. Naturally, the vaults are of the highest calibre, holding more than a third of a million bottles, not just Sauternes either — though there is an abundance of that, including an 1895 vintage from the nearby winery Yquem. It’s an unrelentingly upscale experience, and one would have to think of the hotel as a labour of love considering its tiny size, particularly when compared to the magnitude of the winery and the Lalique Group.

Address: Lieu dit, Peyraguey, 33210 Bommes, France
Contact: +33 5 24 22 80 11
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Issara Winery Residences Hotel, Thailand

A posh real estate development called Issara Estates is close to Khao Yai, Thailand. The resort, perched above Muek Lek’s hills, provides guests with breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and wildlife. Charn Issara Estates is one of the few real estate developments in Khao Yai situated up on the mountains, where the air is noticeably cooler due to our position’s steep terrain and height.

The gated community provides customers with single-family houses with two to four bedrooms and the option to upgrade their opulent residence with an infinity pool. Living in harmony with nature and escaping the stresses of the city is possible in Charn Issara Estates because it is surrounded by lush foliage that brings down the temperatures consistently well below 20 degrees Celsius.

The Issara Estates Winery, Residences, and Boutique Hotel are three separate but connected businesses housed within the project, which blends residential development with the craft of winemaking.

Two generations of the Issara family manage the family-owned estate. They work closely with a select group of landscape painters, architects, viticulturists, and winemakers to create a unique location that offers freedom to like-minded people.

Address: 71 Moo 8, Saraburi, Muaklek, Nakhon Ratchasima, 18180 Thailand
Phone: +66 36 670 714
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