Decanter luxe list: Winter and beyond
The latest in a seasonal series, collating luxury wine experiences taking place in the most coveted of cellars, vineyards and must-visit destinations across the globe.
It seems like just as harvest wraps up, it’s already time to prepare for another season just as festive: the holidays.
As the final month of the year rapidly comes to a close, consider this list a condensed version of an Advent calendar, offering a small peek into some of the fabulous happenings in the days leading to the new year, and what to look forward to in 2024.
From bucket-list-worthy, Champagne-filled escapes on some of the world’s most legendary trains to 24 carat gold-themed New Year’s Eve soirées and one of the most talked-about private members’ clubs in the culinary world, you know 2024 is bound to be off to an eventful start.
Sleep in Maison Joseph Drouhin’s Beaux Arts-style boutique hotel in the heart of Beaune
Debuting in mid-December in Beaune’s historic centre, Burgundy’s Maison Joseph Drouhin is opening a 14-room, two-suite boutique hotel called Maison 1896 – named after the year the historic building was constructed.
Renovating the Beaux Arts exterior with local limestone and restoring shutters to their original shade of mint green, the design is inspired by a vigneron’s estate, albeit a luxurious version – a glass chandelier crowns the entry hall, where the flooring is composed of three local stones set in a grand, opus pattern.
Mark Bright, co-founder, winemaker and director of San Francisco’s Saison Hospitality, will head the Burgundy-centred wine programme, intended to pair with cuisine at The Slanted Door, also located in Beaune. The spin-off – and first international outpost – of the San Francisco Vietnamese eatery will be opened by the same chef, Charles Phan.
Expect some of The Slanted Door’s standouts from California, like clay pot chicken and steamed spareribs, served in the dining room or glass-covered atrium in the courtyard, whose heated limestone floors and retractable glass roof make it to be the only year-round ‘outdoor’ dining spot in town.
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Fête 2024 with decadent 24 carat gold-themed desserts and caviar at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in Dubai
Dubai’s Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is already known for being one of the most extravagant hotels in the Emirate, so as a way to herald in 2024 in the most luxurious of fashions, the property is theming the new year around 24 carat gold. Watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks show from the 27th floor, where Michelin-starred restaurant Al Muntaha’s award-winning wine director and sommelier Samuel Lacroix will have a selection of 24-year-old vintage wines waiting.
You can also raise a toast with an old fashioned cocktail crafted with the Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition and crowned with a 24-faced ice cube, or take a seat and prepare for a tasting of eight courses of 24-month-aged cheese or 24-gram caviar tagliolini pasta. Dessert ends on just as sweet of a note with a 24-carat gold leaf pastry paired with the property’s iconic gold cappuccino.
Toast to the holidays at French jewellery-adorned Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris
This season comes with extra sparkle thanks to the diamond-sprinkled snowflake sculpture and festive holiday decor from haute French jewellery house Messika at Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris. Messika transformed the Parisian palace into a whimsical winter wonderland, complete with a jewel-inspired, limited-edition yule log crafted by pastry chef Quentin Lechat, presented in a white and gold box modelled after a jewellery case.
Celebrate Christmas Eve with a five-course tasting menu dinner at Michelin-starred Il Carpaccio or an eight-course meal at Matsuhisa Paris. Watch the fireworks show over the Arc de Triomphe from your room’s private balcony on New Year’s Eve (followed by a special breakfast in bed on New Year’s Day) or in Le Long Bar for the ultimate fête with music performed by a live orchestra.
Honour the Year of the Dragon with Hennessy’s limited-edition, artist-designed bottles
Embracing Maison Hennessy’s ethos for 2024 as being ‘a year to unleash positive energy and celebrate what brings us together’, award-winning Chinese artist Yang Yongliang designed a piece of digital art dubbed Dragon’s Odyssey that will emblazon bottles in celebration of Chinese New Year. Available in three limited-edition bottles, each features a collection of three-dimensional metallic dragons that appear as if they’re dancing in and out of waves.
The VSOP is designed in a striking shade of red, symbolising joy and luck; the XO in gold for prosperity, the 485 numbered bottles of handcrafted Bernardaud Limoges porcelain Paradis being decorated with gold dragons and presented inside an oak gift box.
‘When I was a young boy, my grandmother gave me an antique coin with a dragon on it,’ explains the artist, who is known for melding traditional Chinese art with digital technology. ‘I wanted to share that memory in this Hennessy collaboration, and that’s why the dragon has a metallic surface. Using contemporary digital technology meant I could add a three-dimensional element and bring the dragons to life.’
Lounge in chic garden cabanas or the members’ club of Chandon’s new Napa Valley home
Fresh off its 50th anniversary celebration, Chandon California is unveiling its renovated Yountville winery – the first of six around the world undergoing a makeover. Opening in spring, Chandon Home’s ‘tasting oasis’ will offer a mix of bookable and custom-created experiences, from farm-to-table tasting menus and picnic boxes under airy sailcloth cabanas (with a Chandon Garden Spritz, of course) to masterclasses with Chandon winemakers and dinners under the stars.
Enlisting Taalman Architecture founder Linda Taalman to integrate a northern California aesthetic into the indoor-outdoor design, the concept behind Chandon Home is to create ‘a space that allows one to feel naturally at home and be stimulated in a multi-sensory way. It is a journey for the mind and senses,’ says Taalman.
Under the barrel-shaped roof, access off-menu cuvées and tasting flights at the members-only Chandon Club Lounge, where a concierge can also help members organise winery experiences for their group.
$2,100 for a private cabana for 12 people.
Travel on Veuve Clicquot’s new Solaire Journeys on board Belmond trains.
If you’ve been looking for the moment to splurge on a once-in-a-lifetime rail journey with Belmond, we have just the excuse to make the trip in 2024 – the debut of Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Journeys crisscrossing three continents, from east to west.
Veuve Clicquot bottles first made their way to Singapore in 1859, and now travellers can hop on board the Eastern & Oriental Express in Southeast Asia for a four-day trip between April 22-25, where highlights include a Champagne brunch overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay, a Champagne-filled jungle experience in the Taman Negara national park and a Veuve Clicquot reserve wine tasting on board.
While cruising in a cherry wood-panelled cabin through jungles and rainforest to the island of Penang, admire the scenery from the piano bar carriage while sipping some of Veuve Clicquot’s most iconic cuvées.
Other journeys in 2024 include the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express in summer (July 4-6), passing through Reims to Venice, and the six-day Andean Explorer (October 21-26), which cruises from Cusco through Peru’s Sacred Valley in autumn 2024.
Join the new $30,000 private membership ZZ’s Club New York
The group behind Carbone, one of the toughest tables in town to snag in both New York and Miami, has unveiled a Manhattan chapter of the exclusive, members-only ZZ’s Club in a two-storey, Ken Fulk-designed space in Hudson Yards. Marking the concept’s 10th anniversary, the second-floor Carbone Privato will serve some of the eatery’s most iconic dishes, such as spaghetti with Dungeness crab and maraschino quail, plus, for the first time, risotto in variations like lobster all’Arrabbiata.
Custom martini carts will roll throughout the space, serving ‘the coldest martinis in all of New York City’ at a barely-above-freezing 4°C. Another perk for members: a cellar stocked with more than 30,000 bottles spotlighting deep verticals and benchmark producers, plus a whisky collection with more than 5,000 bottles, making it one of the most expansive in the country.
All members will have access to private wine lockers, but founding members will also receive white-glove wine storage and service.
Celebrate a storied Champagne house at global Maison Bollinger pop-ups
New York’s historic Astor House was chosen as the first locale for Bollinger, a takeover that’s part of a multi-year celebration leading up to the winery’s bicentenary in 2029.
Spanning three floors, Bollinger took guests on a journey of the maison’s nearly 200-year history, creating replicas of its cooperage with in-house cooper Gaël Chanut, to show a glimpse of what goes into maintaining Bollinger’s 4,000-plus aged barrels.
Intended to feel like you’re travelling through time with vintage advertisements and artefacts from the estate, Bollinger’s managing director Charles-Armand de Belenet guided guests on the sensorial journey, while chief winemaker Denis Bunner led tastings of the newest releases of PN AYC18, La Côte aux Enfants 2013 and R.D. 2008 in the Expert Room. French chef David Toutain, whose restaurant has acquired two Michelin stars, served up a gastronomic pairing with La Grande Année.
Don’t worry if you missed the first Maison Bollinger, as these exclusive events will continue popping up throughout 2024 (dates yet to be announced).
Collect Paola Paronetto’s Champagne-themed ceramic, Le Bel Objet
Celebrating the release of Veuve Clicquot’s La Grande Dame 2015, Italian artist Paola Paronetto has crafted a collection of nature-inspired gift boxes and a sculptural composition dubbed the Giganti, moulded out of three giant bottles using her paper clay technique. The handmade-and-signed pieces take five days each to create, as she plays with irregular shapes and raw texture, culminating in a cartoccio, thin-striped finish in Veuve Clicquot’s signature yellow.
Each Le Bel Objet (beautiful object) mimics what’s behind the bottle of La Grande Dame 2015 – the craftsmanship, precision and elegance that continues to push boundaries.
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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.