By Sarah Marshall
Wine and wellbeing aren’t an obvious marriage, but as I sip and sniff my way through fine tipples, I’m easily convinced this could be the path to rude health.
This innovative approach to choosing a treatment is part of the Spa Sommelier experience at the award winning winery and hotel Abadia Retuerta Le Domaine.
Based on my wine choice, an appropriate oil fragrance is selected and I’m treated to a morning of massage and steam room sessions at the Santuario Spa, in the former stables of a 12th-century abbey.
The Romanesque property has been meticulously restored as a hotel, with stone corridors, a pretty courtyard and a one Michelin-starred restaurant, Refectorio, in a space once used as a monks’ dining room.
Here, a selection from the winery is served, all produced in this Tempranillo-rich area known as Spain’s Golden Mile.
You can cycle through 500 acres of vineyards, eat picnics beneath shady trees or tour winemaking facilities a short walk down the road.
It’s an hour from Madrid by train, plus a 25-minute transfer which the hotel can arrange.
In my bedroom, gazing out at the vines with a butler attending, I raise a glass in the knowledge the monks would approve.
TRAVEL FACTS
Doubles from €430 with breakfast. Visit www.ledomaine.es
easyJet flies to Madrid from London Gatwick from £55 return. Flights are also available from Liverpool, Edinburgh and Bristol. Visit www.easyjet.com/en
