These are the addresses you want to go to as a wine lover
Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: the holiday addresses for wine lovers.
If you love wine, then these grape escapes are really something for you. From a weekend break to a longer vacation and from America to Portugal, these are the best places to drink and experience wine.
Just around the corner from San Francisco, California
In California, about an hour and a half drive from San Francisco, it produces Francis Ford Coppola not only world-famous movies but also world-famous wine. And he presents it in a delightful way. At his winery, you will find among other things a swimming pool, and the cabanas by the pool sell out faster in the summer season than tickets for the Champions League Final. Swum out? Then dive into the film museum, complete with the desk of mafia boss Corleone and other famous film props. And then: a wine tasting. Definitely try: the Director’s Cut Chardonnay, with a label like a… film reel!
Sleeping in a wine barrel, swimming in a carafe, Portugal
Port is undoubtedly Portugal's biggest asset. The wine comes from the Douro Valley, one of the most spectacular wine landscapes in the world, but is named after the port city of Porto. Here, enormous quantities of port are maturing in the cool cellars. The wine cellar of The Yeatman Hotel houses one of the largest port collections in the world. And of course, you can taste it here, with a bizarrely beautiful view over the old city. You swim in a life-sized carafe, and you can sleep in a wine barrel. Kitch or corny? A bit, but it's fun (and super chic!).
An architectural masterpiece, Spain
The Spanish winery Marqués de Riscal specifically wanted top architect Frank Gehry for the makeover of the old bodega from 1858. To charm Gehry, famous for ‘his’ Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, he received a bottle of Rioja from his birth year 1929. And it worked: with his graceful design for the five-star hotel as an addition to the bodega, the oldest winery in Rioja became completely future-proof. The ribbon-like titanium and stainless steel plates mimic flowing wine, dining is with a star. And with a glass of Rioja, of course, the red pearl of Spain.
Barolo and truffles, Italy
In late autumn, it is in the Northern Italian Piedmont, famous for the wines Barolo and Barbaresco, even more delightful than during the rest of the year. Not only because the hilly landscape around the Langhe, with the medieval villages on the peaks, is colored in flames by the high vines, but especially because this is the period of the white truffle. In Piedmont, the very best are found and they are lovingly served to you in the Michelin-starred restaurant of the chic Il Boscareto. Barolo on the side and heaven opens up. And after dinner? Into the impressive wine cellar!
Swimming in island wine, Italy
The famous Sicilian family Tasca d’Almerita not only makes delicious wine in Sicily, they also have a resort on the small island of Salina. Travelers with taste are more than welcome. Surrounded by sea and vineyards, relaxation is guaranteed. A bit more adventure? Take a stroll with Capofaro’s sommelier and learn all about the divine island wine Malvasia.
