Vinotherapy
Posted on January 4, 2008
Napa Valley has become the vinotherapy capital of the country.
Vinotherapy became all the rage nearly a decade ago, when the Vinothérapie Spa at Les Sources de Caudalie spa opened its doors in Bordeaux, France. Here, on the grounds of the Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte vineyard, spa-goers could spend the day soaking in wine-barrel baths, being massaged with grape-seed oil, and dining on the most fabulous five-course gourmet meals—all while drinking the château’s highly regarded wines. It was a novel approach, especially when the spa industry in the United States was busy cultivating denial: no coffee, alcohol, or food with taste. But when news began to spread about the antiaging properties of polyphenols in grape seeds and the anticancer effects of resveratrol—a compound found in the skin of red grapes—vinotherapy became the must-do beauty regimen. And Caudalie capitalized on the phenomenon, becoming the first company to patent a skincare line based on the findings. Next, with the Bordeaux spa fully booked year-round, Caudalie began opening facilities in Paris, California, Taiwan, Italy, and, just last year, at the Frank Gehry–designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Rioja, Spain. Two more outposts will open this year in Gstaad, Switzerland, and at The Plaza in New York City. Until then the Kenwood Inn and Spa in Sonoma Valley is the only Caudalie-sanctioned spa on these shores.
For more on this, visit Departures.com
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