
11.03.2011 / Food & Leisure
OUT OF THE GLASS, INTO THE BATHTUB
Polyphenols. These antioxidant organic chemicals, existing in the grape seeds and usually thrown away during the production of wine, are the base of wine therapy, an ancient tradition reinvented in the Nineties by French wine growers Mathilde Cathiard and Bertrand Thomas. To enjoy their benefits, what you need is not a glass but a wide bathtub to lower yourself into.Here’s where and how to do it.
Caudalie
Besides being an oenological French term that quantifies the duration of a wine’s flavor in your mouth, Caudalie is the quality brand o the original vinotherapie by Mathilde Cathiard and Bertrand Thomas, under which several spas and city-spas in the world do operate. Caudalie’s treatments mainly consist of hot baths, scrubs, massages and hydro-massages with fresh grapes and vine extracts mostly from local vineyards.
Les Sources de Caudalie, France
The first vinotherapie spa, dating back to 1999, is close to Bordeaux and surrounded by the Grand Cru vineyards. It combines the benefits of polyphenols with those of natural hot spring water.
Les Etangs de Corot, France
A new vinotherapie space inside a historical building surrounded by the countryside, just a stone’s throw from Paris.
Marques de Riscal, Spain
Designed by Frank Gehry, the architect behind Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, this unusual luxury hotel hosts a contemporary vinotherapie spa.
Le Plaza, New York
Manhattan’s celebrated historical hotel has recently opened a Caudalie city-spa.
Spa do Vinho Caudalie, Brasil
Located in Bento Gonçalves, Brasil’s wine capital in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The spa’s treatments make use of local grapes from the Vale dos Vinhedos.
Les Ottomans, Turkey
The first and only Caudalie spa of Turkey is located inside a former 18th-century seaside mansion set on the shores of the Bosphorous, in Istanbul.
Wine therapy in pure Italian style
Sparkling Lambrusco, Piedmont’s fine wines and the juicy grapes of Umbrian vineyards are the ingredients of Italy’s local wine therapy. Here are a couple of hints on where to try it.
Terme della Salvarola, Sassuolo (MO)
The “Benessere di Bacco” package includes treatments with local grapes such as Grasparossa and Trebbiano, grape seeds and fresh must. During the grape harvest, you can try the massage with Lambrusco grapes and grape seed oil.
Le tre vaselle, Torgiano (PG)
Inside an 18th century building within Torgiano’s Medieval walls, grapes, wine, must and grape seeds from the Lungarotti vineyards become massage and treatment creams or extracts for relaxing wine baths.
Ca’ San Sebastiano Wine Resort & Spa
A holiday farmhouse on the Monferrato hills offering a romantic wine bath.




