Locations reviews Archives

The Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa Opens

“Follow the road of the golden bubbles”
MAITRE DE MAISON – NICOLAS BÉLIARD –

Champagne’s first contemporary luxury hotel, The Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa officially opened this week.

Embracing the lush bounty of the champagne houses and the surrounding UNESCO World Heritage sites, guests will have exclusive access to private Champagne houses, harvesting sessions with local wine producers and tastings personally curated by the in-house concierge team.

The Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa boasts an enviable location right in the middle of the vineyards that stripe the hills of Epernay, the capital of Champagne, and the historic villages of Champillon and Hautvillers of Dom Perignon fame. Reimagining a wine-country retreat for all seasons, local Reims-based architect Giovanni Pace has designed the property in the style of a contemporary amphitheatre, incorporating the original 19th Century Post House where it is said that King Charles X of France stopped over before heading to Reims for his coronation.

‘Champagne’ rooms start at £489.92 per night feature a king-size bed and private terrace.

The top tier ‘Josephine’ suite meanwhile, will set you back £1,068.71 a night and boasts a sitting room and balcony overlooking vineyards.

Each of the 49 rooms in the 16,000 square foot space features Hermès bath products.

The original property has been closed since 2014 after it was acquired by Boston-based Champagne Hospitality collection, a group of boutique luxury hotels and spas that includes the award-winning Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa in St. Barths. The hotel is led by Nicolas Béliard, formerly General Manager of the Peninsula Paris.

Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa is home to the region’s first world-class destination spa spanning 16,000 ft. In partnership with acclaimed French brand Biologique Recherche, the wellness centre comprises nine treatment rooms; state of the art fitness facilities; a wood-lined yoga studio; eucalyptus-infused sauna; manicure and pedicure stations, and a mosaic-tiled Hammam. Completing the experience are two temperature-controlled, chaise longue-lined swimming pools – one indoor, one outdoor – along with dedicated staff who deliver invigorating juice blends and guide guests to multiple relaxation lounges. Biologique Recherche offers a highly personalised approach, with signature treatments including the ‘Soin seconde peau / Second skin treatment’, a regenerating and lifting facial treatment. All products are formulated using pure natural or biotechnological compounds and are fragrance free. Spa packages and retreats will also be available throughout the year.

Two-star Michelin chef Jean-Denis Rieubland is the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa’s Executive Chef, where he leads the two gastronomic dining experiences – a gourmet dining room, Le Royal, and a more casual, all-day restaurant, Bellevue. Formerly Executive Chef of Le Chantecler at the Negresco Hotel in Nice, Chef Rieubland brings the highest level of gastronomy to Royal Champagne, where he will preserve French ‘know-how’ while injecting a contemporary touch. Rieubland’s cuisine is influenced by the local surroundings, working closely with farm producers of the region. He will also be developing a Chef’s garden on a large terrace overlooking the hills of Épernay.

www.royalchampagne.com

Majestic Douro Valley produces some of the finest red and whites in the world

Casa de Mateus on day trip in the Douro Valley on trip from Porto

Majestic Douro Valley produces some of the finest red and whites in the world

There is a dangerous beauty to Portugal’s Douro wine region. With its treacherously steep slopes, extreme summer heart, perilous roads, and a wild river – why would wine growers consider growing grapes here? Just take a sip of the red and white wines from this region and then you know why!

With three World Heritage Sites recognized by UNESCO, there is no reason not to visit Douro Valley. Home to the Douro River, the third largest river in the Iberian Peninsula, which runs 897 kilometers from Duruelo de la Sierra to Porto, Portugal.

I had the amazing opportunity to visit Douro wine region in March this year with other international wine journalists. I found the scenery in the valley to be some of the most spectacular I’ve ever seen in a wine region. Not only because of the gravity of the steep slopes of the vineyards, but also the sheer beauty of the Douro River and the hills that fall to the water’s edge.

“The sole immeasurable evidence with which we can amaze the world.”

Miguel Torga (Portuguese poet)

I found the Alto Douro Wine Region to be a land of traditions where nature reigns in perfect harmony and farmers who shaped the valley into terraced vineyards supported with stone walls (socalos). Their persistent labors have transformed this vast slate-soiled region into a true agricultural and landscape monument. The vineyards are accessible by lots of winding roads and steep cliffs.

Wine grapes have been cultivated here for over 2,000. The Demarcated Douro Region was formed (by the Marquis of Pombal) in 1756, and at this time the region became more internationally recognized. It’s important to note that it was the first region in the world to be demarcated. Even today the traditional harvest is done by hand and crushing the grapes by foot is still carried on, along with modern vinification methods that accompany these traditions.

Alto Douro Wine Region is stretched over 250,000 hectares in which 20% is used for wine production, with 9,000 wine-growers.

Quintas visited
(wine producing estates/winery or vineyard)

Adega Cooperativa de Vila Real
http://www.adegavilareal.com/pt/

The Adega is a cooperative with over 1,232 members and works with winemaker Rui Madera. It was named “up and coming wine producer” for Portugal by Wine Access magazine in 2010 and was awarded the best co-op winery of Portugal of 2013.“

We met with Nuno Ferreira Borges, Marketing and Export Manager, and his father Jaime Borges, retired director and grape grower. They discussed what the co-op is currently doing and how they keep the quality high.

Their wines are made from grapes cultivated according to traditional techniques, with low mechanization levels and low yields/hectare, while maintaining Douro’s terroir.

Their commercial brands are: Adega de Vila Real, Cancellus, Cancelão and Terras De Alleu.

Quinta de Nápoles – Niepoort
http://www.niepoort-vinhos.com/en/

Dirk Niepoort was the first to make high-quality unfortified wines in the Douro since1987.

Niepoort was founded in 1845 by Dutch merchants and at that time only produced Port wines. This changed when 5^th generation Dirk van der Niepoort took the realm. He decided not only to make port but also wine. Dirk is a true pioneer – he insisted on making the region known for its wines first. He began with an experimental wine in 1991, and his first production white in 1996.

After a guided tasting with Dirk Niepoort we lunched on the terrace at Quinta de Nápoles winery, which hosted spectacular views.

My favorite wine was Redoma 2014

Tinta amarela 40 %; Touriga Franca 30%; Tinta roriz 20%; Rufete (Tinta Pinheira)10 %.

Tasting Notes:

Dark cherry, wild herbs, hints of raspberry and red currant; some mineral-salts; fine but gripping tannins – deep, lengthy and layered.

Quinta da Casa Amarela
http://www.quinta-casa-amarela.com/en

Quinta da Casa Amarela is located on the left side of the Douro River, just opposite Régua. The Quinta has been owned by the same family since 1885 and today Laura Regueiro is sitting at the helm. The quinta is named after the main house yellow or ocher color (Amarela in Portuguese).

Quinta da Casa Amarela has 8 hectares with 45-50 year-old vineyards, mainly planted with Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca, with smaller parcels of Malvasia Fina, Viozinho and Codega. They also practice sustainability. I learned that they had traditionally delivered their grapes to other port companies, but since 1994 started marketing their own Port and wines.

Casa de Mateus
http://www.casademateus.com/

This palace is famously depicted on bottles of Mateus rosé. Casa de Mateus is one of the best surviving examples of 18th-century baroque architecture in Portugal.

Its granite wings shelter a lichen-encrusted forecourt, dominated by an ornate stairway and guarded by rooftop statues. Surrounding the palace is a fantasy garden, with boxwood hedges, prim statues, and a fragrant cypress tunnel.

Inside, the library contains one of the first illustrated editions of Luís Vaz de Camões’ Os Lusíadas, Portugal’s important epic poem, while another room houses a collection of religious artifacts, including 36 relics brought from the Vatican in the 18th century: a bit of holy fingernail, a saintly set of eyeballs, and the inevitable piece of the true cross – each with the Vatican’s proof of authenticity.

The wine shop offers tastings of three locally produced wines for €4. I found especially interesting is the Alvarelhão, which is the same rosé originally bottled by Mateus in the 1940s.

C.A.R.M.
http://www.carm.pt/

C.A.R.M. has over 200 hectares of vineyards spread over various farms and planted at different altitudes, up to 550 meters. C.A.R.M. overlooks the valley with the Douro river in full view. The temperatures in the summer reach 45C. Antonio Ribeiro gives us a tour and shows us the olive trees, vineyards and almond trees. The soil in their vineyards is schist, and granite in some areas which is good for white wines.

In the production facilities, they have modern alternatives to the traditional lagars for the foot-stomping of the grapes.

During the visit, we meet Celso Madeira – who is not only a pioneer in the organic viticulture in the region but is also the first to have had the idea to remodel the hillsides with bulldozers in 1965.

My favorite wine: Carm CM Douro 2013, a 94+ points/Robert Parker

The back label adds 4130 bottles total (this one was No 124). 14 % alcohol

Fresh nose of black fruit and berries; nice balance with nuances of licorice and complex aromas of wood; firm tannins and smooth texture.

The Douro wine region has truly maintained their rural character and traditional roots with culture and religious customs and truly worth a visit to some of the historic quintas and to taste their wines!

I want personally thank Rita and Pedro Figueiredo for putting together this extraordinary tour! #TeamDouro

Harrods sets new standards for drinks retailing

Harrods new wine and spirits shop is part of a multi-million pound investment in food and drinks retailing at the London department store

The shop can be found within the basement of Harrods that forms part of a wider overhaul of the department store’s food and drink offering dubbed ‘The Taste Revolution’.

Designer Martin Brudnizki has created the space to be inspired by the Art Deco opulence captured in The Great Gatsby to be elegant and glamorous.

Brudnizki – who was responsible for the look of famous restaurants such as The Ivy and Sexy Fish.

With marble flooring and limed oak shelving, the look and feel of the new area was carefully done to create something “quite homely and accessible”, as well as a space that “talked of the history of Harrods; talked of an iconic British brand”, said Gerard, noting that wine and spirits was the second department ever created in the life of the store, following its origins as a tea house.

While the materials give an impression of opulence, the scale of the new shop, which covers around 8,000 sq ft, is accentuated by its layout over a long, low-ceilinged space, featuring a series of interconnected rooms, allowing one to look through the store from one end to the other, with features that lead the eye into the distance.

Putting aside the overall impact, it’s the detailing of the drinks shop that really impresses. Chilled, glass-fronted cabinets called ‘Hero Shelves’ contain the finest wines in the range, while all the lighting is screened in such as way to prevent the emission of damaging heat or ultraviolet rays.

Within these cabinets are constantly circulating flows of air to keep the wines at the perfect temperature and humidity, and there’s even a whole room of these transparent containers for magnums and even bigger bottle sizes.

“We have always had a really good range of large formats, but before, they weren’t displayed with authority,” said Gerard.

Bespoke cradles are also used to hold display bottles at an angle of 27 degrees, which, Gerard told db, is the optimum slant for visual effect that still allows the wine to remain in contact with the cork – which is of course necessary to keep the stopper wet.

Then there’s the overall temperature of the space, which is kept at a constant 18.5 degrees Celsius, in contrast to the old drinks shop, which was at 20 degrees C like the rest of the department store (although this former area did contain at ‘fine wine vault’ chilled to 17 degrees C).

Considering the new shop, like its predecessor, is housed in the lower ground floor of Harrods, why was the decision taken to move it to a different part of the same level?

Gerard explains. “With our old location we were effectively landlocked, whereas now there are 12 different ways of approaching the shop, so we are much more accessible, and there are five separate openings leading into the area.”

But the other main reason to move and create a completely new drinks shop within the department store is “to revolutionise the concept of fine wine retailing,” according to Gerard.

Aroma tables guide shoppers through the flavours of each grape

Continuing, he said, “Often the experience of buying fine wine is too high-brow and intimidating, so you don’t attract the aspiring amateurs…. We wanted to create an environment that would deliver the exclusive service of Harrods to everyone.”

Helping Harrods in this endeavour is the educational element within the new store.

Throughout the space are ‘aroma tables’ featuring trumpet-like devices that, with the squeeze of a rubber bulb, like an old-fashioned perfume sprayer, delivers the trademark smells of key noble grape varieties, from Chardonnay to Syrah and Pinot Noir.

The shop also includes two private tasting areas, one devoted to delivering wine education in partnership with the WSET, and the other acting as a consulting area for clients looking for specialist advice.

There is also a spirits room where, unusually, the labels are arranged by style, and this leads into a special area devoted entirely to the retailing of Louis XIII Cognac by Rémy Martin.

Beyond this is one of the most notable new developments for London as a whole, and that is the creation of a walk-in humidor and ‘cigar sampling’ room.

While the former allows customers to store cigars in special lockers that can be rented for £3000 per year, the latter is the first space in the UK to use a special smoke-filtering system to ensure you don’t step out of this basement space smelling of tobacco.

Developed in Switzerland, the Airkel air-filtration system ensures the sampling area is subject to a constant flow of air that strips the room from any smoke, but also your clothes – effectively washing everything free from the aroma-giving particles.

Also, one can consume any drink bought in the wine and spirits to complement your cigar, and there’s no extra ‘corkage’ charge.

Furthermore, all wines bought in the shop can be drunk in any of Harrods restaurants for £30.

So, what about the wine range in the new space? Gerard told db that it runs to 1,400 different lines, augmented by a further 600 spirits. While the wine range isn’t significantly larger than it was in the old shop, he has made a lot of changes, and says there are as many as 400 new lines, and, in terms of price, the current range goes from £9 to £28,000 a bottle.

“We are now direct to source, because we want to always offer perfect provenance… the prevalence of forgery and fakes out there is scary, and Harrods has to have the stamp of authenticity,” he remarked, adding, “But it’s not just about forgery, but getting the wines to the customers in the right condition.”

“There is a lot happening at Harrods, and we are going through our biggest development in the 180-year history of Harrods, which we are calling ‘the taste revolution’. And we are doing this because the food and wine business is at the heart of this business.”

The most expensive single bottle of wine in the new shop is a Riesling! Hailing directly from the cellars of Egon Muller – a Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) from the producer’s famous Scharzofberger vineyard in Germany’s Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region.

Source: Drinks Business UK

Dom Pérignon Pop-Up at Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat

Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel, is celebrating summer in style with the launch of an exclusive Dom Pérignon Pop Up Bar in the Hotel’s lush garden.

Located in the hotel’s garden among the bougainvilleas, rosebays and hibiscus, the Dom Pérignon Pop Up Bar offers an ideal setting to enjoy a pre-dinner or post-dinner drink. The décor is themed after Dom Pérignon’s elegant black and gold colours in a chic and cosy spirit. Benches and chairs with comfortable cushions are set up in a lounge-styled atmosphere around a fountain while tables are lit by candles creating an utmost romantic feel. Guests can sip on Champagne and taste a selection of food pairings from Executive Chef Yoric Tièche while enjoying live music entertainment.

Two vintages will be poured: from P1 2006 and the P2 2000, both reflecting the exceptional savoir-faire of the brand. To pair with these exceptional vintages, Chef Yoric Tièche has created a selection of canapés combining Provençal flavours and sea influences.

The Dom Pérignon Pop-Up Bar is open from July 15 to September 16, 2017, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 pm, with live music atmosphere coming from the Grand-Hôtel’s terraces. No booking required.

• Glass of Dom Pérignon “P1” 2006: EUR 64 with food pairing
• Glass of Dom Pérignon “P2” 2000: EUR 78 with food pairing

To enhance their gastronomic experience, guests at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel, may book the French Riviera Gourmet package including an aperitif at the Pop-Up Dom Pérignon Champagne Bar and a dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Cap. Reservations at + 33(0)4 93 76 50 50 or reservations.capferrat@fourseasons.com

http://www.fourseasons.com/capferrat/
https://www.domperignon.com/ww-en/

The Cités des Vins de Bourgogne Has Been Approved

The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) has recently voted and approved the Cités des Vins de Bourgogne. This new wine tourism, cultural and education facility will be built on three sites located in Mâcon, Beaune, and Chablis.

According to Louis-Fabrice Latour, President of the BIVB, it will be “a project that will affect an entire generation”. Partners include the Association for the Climats of Bourgogne, the tourism industry, and local and regional authorities.

The main site of the Cités des Vins will be located just outside the town of Beaune, which will also include a five-star hotel.

From the Cité des Vins de Bourgogne –“Each Cité des Vins de Bourgogne is a place where people can find out about Bourgogne wines, with shared content and communication tools, each site also acting as a local showcase. The Climats of the Bourgogne winegrowing region, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a real differentiator for Bourgogne wines, will be presented in each site, in Chablis, Beaune, and Mâcon.”

This project has won € 17.1 from BIVB and local authorities.

Next steps:

– To define the economic and legal model for each of the Cité des Vins de Bourgogne;

– To select the architects and exhibition designers for the Cités des Vins in Mâcon and Chablis;

– To work with the city of Beaune on integrating the Cité des Vins into the urban project; and

– To design the museographical model of the whole.