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Decanter luxe list: Spring
The first in a new, seasonal series collating the luxury wine experiences taking place in the most coveted of cellars and swoon-worthy destinations across the globe.
January is when we make resolutions for the year, but spring is when new beginnings officially start, and this season has more than enough high-profile wine events to keep you on your toes.
From exclusive new wine clubs offering insider access to winemakers—and winemaking!—to wine-themed air safaris in South America, we’ve curated a list of the most luxurious and exclusive new happenings in the wine world to add to your calendar this spring.
Enjoy elevated après-ski at La Grande Après in Big Sky, Montana
Just 45 minutes from Yellowstone National Park, Montage Big Sky, overlooking the Spanish Peaks, has transformed its ski-in, ski-out eatery Backcast into La Grande Après. Skiers can warm up post-slopes with Champagne from the signature La Grande flight: Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Veuve Clicquot Rosé, La Grande Dame 2012 and La Grande Dame 2015, the 24th vintage of the cuvée which marks the 250th anniversary of Veuve Clicquot.
With a pastel-hued bar set-up by Italian designer and ceramicist Paola Paronetto—also behind the look of the La Grande Dame 2015’s playful packaging—this après-ski is an elevated take on tradition, complete with caviar service and mountain classics like Montana bison chilli.
(Image credit: La Grande Après)
Take in the members-only Gucci Lounge returning to Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz
Back for a second season, the members-only Gucci Lounge has popped up in slopeside mountain club Paradiso—accessible via ski or chairlift—at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz.
Redesigned for the winter season, the fashionable take on a mountain lodge overlooks the Engadin valley and features an extensive wine list of more than 500 wines, plus a selection of exclusive Champagnes served by staff just as stylish as the setting, outfitted in Fusalp bodysuits, Santoni mountain boots and Vuarnet sunglasses.
(Image credit: Badrutt’s Palace Hotel)
Blend your own wine with next-level private members’ club Osiris
The Covid pandemic spurred several wine subscriptions and members-only clubs, but the new Osiris Private Member Winemaking and Lifestyle Club, founded by Napa winemaker Paul McSharry, isn’t your typical private members’ club – this is one that places the art of custom wine blending (alongside legendary winemakers) on a pedestal. Initiation fees range from $25,000 to $125,000, and each tier (Balthazar, Sovereign and Midas) gives members a different layer of access, from exclusive blending events, dinners, parties and tastings at coveted wineries including the option to create bespoke bottle labels.
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A concierge service is also offered through Quintessentially who can book winery and restaurant visits in wine regions around the world as well as other extraordinary and unique luxury lifestyle experiences.
The club recently launched in San Francisco and will follow up with a special party in London in May.
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)
Credit: Osiris Club / Kelsey Floyd
Sleep on a historic wine estate in Priorat
Located along the banks of the Siurana river in southern Catalonia, the Gran Hotel Mas d’en Bruno places travellers in the heart of Priorat. Composed of two buildings, the Masía and the Atelier, the 24-suite hotel, which opens in May, features an infinity pool surrounded by vineyards. There’s also a historic private wine cellar for experiential tastings and sommelier-led masterclasses, plus a restaurant that operates by day as Tarraco ( a Mediterranean-meets-Italian eatery heavy on the region’s historic Roman influences) and gastronomic Vinum in the evenings, with tasting menus and pairings curated by the restaurant’s head sommelier.
It wouldn’t be a hotel in wine country without a wine bar, and this one is something of a secret, tucked away under a vaulted ceiling with a hidden cellar stocked with favourites from the region and around the world.
(Image credit: Gran Hotel Mas d’en Bruno)
Take a seaplane wine safari in Mendoza
At newly opened SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites in Mendoza, Argentinian winemaker Susana Balbo is organising single and multi-day trips via private seaplane with four different wine safaris in some of the country’s most remote locales.
Spend the day taking in Mendoza’s mountains and vineyards from above, flying over natural reservoirs and crystalline salt flats while sipping wine in the hybrid private plane before landing in an oasis in the desert for a meal. Or, fly over Valles Calchaquíes and taste local wines paired with traditional dishes in Cafayate, where you’ll spend your days exploring the wine region by horseback.
(Image credit: Susana Balbo Wines)
Indulge in an exclusive bouillabaisse wine pairing feast in Aix-en-Provence
Herald in the start of summer with a trip to Provence on a tour through the region’s famous cuisine led by Luxeat, food blogger-turned-gastronomic insider, who will guide travellers on a trip dedicated to the area’s iconic dish, bouillabaisse, the Provençal fish soup born in the port town of Marseille.
The highlight of the three-day trip: a bouillabaisse dinner held at a private villa in Aix-en-Provence where the owners will prep the feast—a treat not open to the public—and three Michelin-starred Flocons de Sel’s head sommelier, Ludovic Namur, will present a selection of top vintages.
(Image credit: Luxeat)
Holiday in style at Amavia’s new French Riviera villa
A new private villa group, Amavia Collection, is back for its second season in the South of France with the six-suite, 5,000-square-foot Villa Gaïa. Perched in the hills of Villefranche, the villa shows off sweeping shots of the bay all the way from Beaulieu and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to Cannes.
The wine cellar can be curated to your taste with bottles sourced from around France (you can even arrange for a wine or cocktail tasting or demonstration), and the culinary concept is helmed by Michelin-starred chef Alain Llorca, whose eponymous restaurant sits nearby in Sant-Paul-de-Vence. Rates from around 45,000 to 75,000 euros per week.
(Image credit: Amavia Collection)
Experience a curated cellar dinner at Hôtel de Crillon in Paris
At Hôtel de Crillon’s 90-minute Exclusive Encounters, a dozen guests will gather in La Cave where head sommelier Xavier Thuizat will pair five pours with bites from executive chef Boris Campanella.
Each month will take on a new theme, with Japanese Sake and Gevrey-Chambertin in April – on the 13th and 27th respectively – followed by German wines in May and the great wines of the Mediterranean islands in June.
(Image credit: Hôtel de Crillon)
Drink Dom Pérignon 2013 as the vintage makes its debut
Following the success of the 2012 vintage, Dom Pérignon has debuted its 2013 vintage—an elegant, silky Champagne capped off with a salinity-driven finish.
The late-harvest vintage, a nod to vintages past, beautifully balances the acidity in the full-bodied wine, where notes of eucalyptus, mint and vetiver, plus plums, orange blossom, hints of pepper and liquorice sticks, delicately come together on the nose, while the palate, as chef de cave Vincent Chaperon describes it, is ‘enveloping and ethereal.’
Lane Nieset is a freelance writer from Miami who has lived in France for the past 10 years. From her current base in Paris, she covers food, wine, and travel for a variety of publications, including Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Vogue.com, National Geographic Travel, and Robb Report UK.
