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10 Luxury Wine Spas
Douglas Rogers March 9, 2007PAGES: 1 2
Given that she created the wine therapy concept, Mathilde Thomas seems surprisingly unruffled by the new wave of rival wine cosmetics companies and spas. “On the contrary,” she said. “It makes me feel proud to see how quickly wine therapy has grown.”
The trend has spread to America’s wine country, too. One of the classiest wine hotels in the U.S. is Kenwood Inn and Spa, a 30-room, Mediterranean-style boutique villa surrounded by vineyards in the Sonoma Valley, and specializing in such soothing therapies as the Sauvignon Massage. “In Hawaii you can get a hot lava rock massage, in Sonoma it makes sense to do wine-based treatments,” says Kenwood Inn Spa Director Debra Burquez. “There’s something about doing wine tastings in the day and getting a soothing vine bath at night that makes visiting here so special.”
But Mathilde Thomas does warn spa-goers that not all wine spas are the real thing. Contrary to some perceptions, drinking wine during a treatment is not encouraged. “You should drink water of course. Only afterwards you can drink wine over a good meal.”
As for bathing in wine a la Cleopatra as some spas suggest, that’s a complete no-no. “Bathing in wine is definitely not good for you,” said Thomas. “You should bathe in spring water treated with the extract of red vines, which is good for the circulation and the skin.”
Sounds like fine advice to us. She’s French, after all.
See our slideshow of 10 Luxury Wine Spa Hotels.
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