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Cheers! 12 best wine weekenders to book for an autumn mini break
By Alicia Miller,
18 hours ago
A stay at Quinta da Pacheca is a real ‘barrel’ of fun Quinta da Pacheca
This autumn, forget the mushroom foraging and DIY pumpkin picking — the only harvest we’re interested in is the bacchanalian sort. It’s the season of wine , and nothing beats travelling to the origin to sip plummy Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux, or zingy Riesling in Austria, and staying at a vineyard hotel.
You’ll tour the cellars, meet the winemakers and cheers with house-made bottlings to your heart’s content — then you can retreat to a chic, comfy room to sleep it all off.
All the vinous stays below are weekending-distance from London. Though after sinking a few glasses, you may want to linger longer.
La Maison D’Estournel, Bordeaux, France
Go château-chic at La Maison d’Estournel (La Maison d’Estournel / Gregoire Gardette)
Best for bragging rights
Tell the most obnoxious ‘oenophile’ you know that you’re spending a weekend at this Bordeaux Left Bank hotel, and they’ll turn an envious shade of vert . Set on the estate of prestigious Château Cos d’Estournel — famed for its powerful red wines — it combines the gilded glamour of an 18th-century elite home with the mod-con cool of an exclusive Parisian club. Velvety scalloped headboards, flickering fireplaces and wine-soaked meals all feature, as does the most aspirational of experiences: a tour and tasting at Cos’s winery, normally closed to the public.
In the cellars at Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco (Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco)
Best for: Italian opulence
Tuscany’s most luxurious wine hotel gets full points for drama. Occupying a 2,000-hectare medieval hilltop hamlet, it’s surrounded by sloping vineyards, ancient olive groves and towering pines. Swish American hotel brand Rosewood now runs it, seamlessly combining historic feels with no-holds-barred luxury — and some mighty good vino produced in the on-site winery.
This September 17 you can join in harvesting and stomping grapes for the acclaimed Brunello di Montalcino. Or visit later in the autumn to enjoy the variegated vineyard tones and the chance to uncork a spectacular old vintage on an atmospherically chilly evening.
Tinwood Estate’s modern lodges are dog-friendly (Tinwood Estate)
Best for: Dog-friendly sipping
For pup-owners that know their Sauvignon from their Chardonnay, Tinwood’s eight wood-framed lodges — set among manicured vineyards in the South Downs — provide a paw-some getaway. Spend a weekend together chilling in your dog-friendly cabin overlooking the vines, or walking or cycling through vineyards or to nearby Halnaker Windmill. Humans can enjoy on-site Jacuzzis and, in dates through mid-October, join a harvest experience where you’ll help pluck grapes for the estate’s sparkling wine.
A bird’s eye view over Meneghetti in Istria (Meneghetti)
Best for: Low-key luxury
Croatia might feel like a new name in wine, but on the Adriatic coast they’ve actually been crushing grapes since ancient times. Newer on the scene, however, is this Relais & Châteaux resort and winery, nestled in vineyards and knobbly olive groves just a three-hour journey from London. The weekend will fly by when you’re perusing the hotel’s sculpture garden (featuring work by Belgian contemporary artist Arne Quinze) eating epic tasting menus in the polished restaurant, and bedding down in lovely rooms. The latter combine the rustic charm of a wine farm with private pools and inclusive mini bars.
Sleep in a big barrel at Quinta da Pacheca (Quinta da Pacheca)
Best for: Instagram-worthy pics
The journey from Porto is half the fun: a scenic train ride into the UNESCO-listed Douro Valley that races you past steep schist terraces, century-old vines and a snaking blue river. The other half? Sleeping inside a giant wine barrel. Quinta da Pacheca might have serious historic credentials, growing grapes for Port wine since 1738, but it’s not staid. The contemporary on-site hotel dishes up a local twist on shepherd’s huts, with barrel-shaped pods among the vines featuring double beds and compact terraces.
Chef Michael Caines planted a vineyard at Lympstone Manor (Lympstone Manor)
Best for: Foodies
While chef Michael Caines’ culinary hideaway on the Exe Estuary is primarily billed as a restaurant with rooms, it holds a thirst-quenching bonus for wine lovers in the form of an on-site vineyard. It is overlooked by the hotel manor house, where bedrooms come festooned in chandeliers, silky fabrics and rolltop baths. As for the wine: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes go into producing fizz, rosé and — in exceptional years — red, all of which have snagged gongs at major international wine competitions. Any one of them is a tasty match for Caines’ sublime cooking, showcased in a range of Michelin-standard tasting menus.
Mastinell’s architecture is inspired by Gaudi (Cava & Hotel Mastinell)
Best for : Quirky design
Just a cork’s toss from Barcelona, Penedès is Spanish fizz country. Among the crop of local Cava producers, Mastinell is one of the most respected, with a bursting awards cabinet and a pedigree dating back more than four decades. But for design-minded travellers the primary draw is the hotel, inspired by Gaudí’s fluid Modernism and mimicking an oversized row of aging bottles. Soaking tubs and beds gaze out circular windows framing grape vines and the bodega beyond, while a swimming pool and terrace bar let you sip sparklers in the sunshine.
Dinner on the terrace at LOISIUM Langenlois (Mischa Nawrata)
Best for: White wine lovers
If your bag is white wine, Austria takes the proverbial cake with its peppery Grüner Veltliner and zingy Riesling. For a complete immersion, make for this stay which is an hour’s drive from Vienna in Kamptal, known for its riverside scenery and increasingly high-quality producers. Rooms at LOISIUM Langenlois keep things minimalist and modern with monochrome tones and pops of primary colour. Meanwhile, a 900-year-old cellar among the vines has been transformed into an interactive ‘Wine World’, crowned with a contemporary cube structure from American architect Steven Holl.
Organic vineyard Oxney has room for a crowd (Oxney Estate)
Best for: Group stays
What’s better than a weekend away with mates? A weekend away with mates and great wine. Make your base this vineyard in the scenic High Weald, and as well as organic sparkling vino produced from a Grade-II-listed oast house you’ll get a glut of big-format accommodation options to choose from — the largest sleeping 14. Bookings include a winery tour and tasting, but also be sure to save time to explore what’s on your doorstep. Kent has around 50 vineyards, including some of the best-known names in English wine, from Chapel Down to Balfour.
A sleek suite at Les Sources de Cheverny (Les Sources de Cheverny)
Best for: A spa and wine break
Is it really a holiday if you haven’t enjoyed a Cabernet-infused body scrub? The people at Les Sources de Cheverny don’t think so. Here in the Loire Valley, their Caudalie vinotherapy spa brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘wine-soaked break’. Crowned by an epic renovated château and dotted with new contemporary lodges, the rambling estate is just a couple of hours from Paris and has its own seven-hectare vineyard for producing organic Romorantin. Get to know the obscure white grape over a bottle in the on-site bar — once a wine storehouse — or at dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant.
Slovenia’s Brda has epic rolling hills and vineyards aplenty (Peterc Brda)
Best for: Discovering new varieties
Skirting the Italian border, Slovenia’s Brda — which is around 45 minutes’ drive from Trieste airport — has long flown under the radar. But this compact wine region between the Alps and Mediterranean has all the beauty of Tuscany, without the crowds — or the sometimes eye-watering prices. Hotel Peterc Brda is set above a plot of vines planted two centuries ago, and views from the elegant antique-decorated rooms stretch across them all the way to the sea. Sleep in late then rise for an 11am breakfast, washed down with (what else?) house-made sparkling wine.
Denbies in Dorking is England’s biggest wine estate (Denbies)
Best for: Proximity to London
Denbies is the OG of English Wine Tourism. Back when many of the wineries that carpet Kent, Sussex and Hampshire were just a twinkle in their owners’ eyes, the folks at England’s largest vineyard were already pulling in the visitors with tours, tastings and the annual Bacchus Wine Half Marathon. As it’s less than 90 minutes from Waterloo, you can just come for a day out to ride the estate wine ‘train’ or eat at one of four restaurants. But better to make a weekend of it and book into the Vineyard Hotel, which serves prime views over the 265 vineyard acres from an 1850s farmhouse.
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