The Best Wine Hotels of Southern Europe

As you know, the best wine is produced in Europe, more precisely, in Southern Europe. So, here you can find hotels that can provide the most demanding tourists the best selection of wines, as well as wine therapy, wine spa and haute cuisine. The winners of the Wine Hotel Awards in 2009 were four Spanish, three French, two Portuguese and one Italian hotel.

The winner was a French Chateau de Bagnolet, from the Department of Beaujolais, which was built in the XIII century. Despite the antiquity of the structure and the obstacle in the form of the drawbridge before entering, there is a beautiful five-star hotel in the castle with a chic restaurant. Spanish Marques de Riscal from Rioja is created by the architect Frank Gehry in the avant-garde style. Guests of the hotel are offered a real wine therapy, and a relaxed atmosphere of the hotel is stressed by the ideal interiors. In the third place in the list of the best from the best is an Italian L’Andana hotel, formerly the residence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The chef cook is famous Alain Ducasse.

The second three of the best opens with Spanish hotel called Read’s, located on Mallorca in the ancient villa. There is a very modern Vespasian hotel and spa resort. In the fifth place is a French hotel Les Sources de Caudalie, which is not far from Bordeaux. Health and rejuvenating treatments with wine bias and winner of Michelin stars- Chef Frank Salen are waiting for the visitors of the hotel. The second three of the best closes the Catalonian Peralada Hotel, which is ready to shelter not only lovers of wine, but fans of golf, beach holidays and long walks.

In the seventh place is the Portuguese hotel Aquapura, located in the valley of the River Douro, where the oldest vineyards in Europe are located – here despite the epidemic of phylloxera, survived the vines, the descendants of the Phoenicians planted more grapes. In the eighth place is the French Chateau de Berne, which is hidden in 80 acres of woods and vineyards, on the 9th is again the Portuguese Casa da Calcada, which is famous for its wine production region Vigneaud Verde, and the tenth – Spanish Hacienda Zorita, one of the oldest wineries in Spain. Rumor has it that Christopher Columbus lived here at one time, but the tourists even without such legends will find things to do in the former Dominican convent at Salamanca.

The visitors of experienciasymas.com portal assessed the hotels, which drew their attention not only on tastings, excursions to wineries and haute cuisine, but also on the promotion of wine tourism and the professional level of staff.