Wine Hunting

Brad Pitt, Sting and even Madonna own one. Dreamers long to inherit one (cue A Good Year). And sometimes, accidental hoteliers simply fall in love. Welcome to The Vineyard Edit, a tribute to off-grid wineries and oenophile heroes – the perfect escort to our newest boutique hotel sibling, nestled in the wild beauty of Le Marche, Italy.

I could easily imagine myself as Château Marquis, reigning over perfectly regimented vines. Truth be told, though, not a single bottle would ever leave the estate. My insatiable appetite for wine would see to that. But I’m not alone. Ever tried to buy Swiss wine outside of Switzerland? Exactly. The locals drink it all, and rightly so.

That’s the beauty of travel: experiencing wine at its source, where land, people and process come together in the glass. So follow me as we uncover this stunning new place and a handful of other winery hotels, the perfect pairing.

If anyone is looking for a happy chappie to take over their vineyards, drop me a line. Imagine the bottle labels - beautiful, never mind my flamboyant descriptions of chocolate and grapefruits included. 

Message in a Bottle...

"Do you get the notes of grapefruit, Iain?" asks the sommelier, eyes gleaming with expectation. I nod knowingly, though, truth be told, I rarely do. But we all love to play the expert. Malbec? That’s easier – cocoa powder, chocolate-covered cherries. Not that it really matters. Wine is about pleasure, not pretension.

Keeping up with wine is a challenge. Regions, vintages, family legacies, the eternal good year vs. avoid-at-all-cost debates. That’s why I love a proper wine tour, with leisurely vineyard stops, meeting winemakers and finally crashing at a wine hotel, the perfect finale to a day of indulgence.

Filodivino is exactly that kind of place. Set in the untamed hills of San Marcello, 233-metres above sea level, it’s more than a boutique retreat. It’s a sanctuary wrapped in sentinel vines. A place where wine isn’t just poured, it’s woven into the landscape, the architecture and the experience.

Wine has a romantic allure – just ask Hollywood. A Good Year had Russell Crowe inheriting a château, Brad Pitt co-owns Château Miraval and Sting bottles organic wines with names like Sister Moon and Message in a Bottle. Fitting, really, because every bottle carries a message. History, terroir and the soul of a place.

For me, wine is as much about the land as the bottle. I love grabbing a handful of vineyard soil, inhaling its scent like a hopeful truffle hound. Clay, chalk, minerals—they’re all part of a wine’s DNA, shaping its character, its identity.

This week, we’re mapping out the finest wine hotels, from Filodivino to our hand-picked vineyards. Set your coordinates for indulgence and make sure there’s room in your car trunk or luggage because no wine journey is complete without a few bottles (and plenty of stories) to take home.

Ready to hit the wine road? 

Hugs
Marquis Iain & Co.

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE VINES

Wine is more than what’s in the glass—it’s the land, the people, and the stories woven through every vine. In this series, local hoteliers and insiders reveal their favourite vineyards, from Siena’s peaceful Podere Sedime to the volcanic soils of Santorini and the biodynamic wines of Burgenland. Explore Italy, Greece, and Austria through their terroir, traditions and the passionate winemakers behind every bottle.

Working with a rocky terroir and the waterless and unyielding Tinos soil was the first challenge for Gerard Margeon, 20 years ago when he discovered this craggy outcrop. 

The charred Greek isle of Santorini, famed for extraordinary sunsets, is also known for its successful viticulture, grown productively in the volcanic soil using unique, basket-shaped ‘kouloura’ vines which keep the Cycladic sun and wind at bay, but collect moisture at night. Santorini is home to some of the world’s oldest vines, with a wine-making culture that burgeoned in medieval times; today we seek out Santorini’s best winemakers and their vineyards where you can taste it for yourself. 

Thomas Niedermayr is totally committed to an ecological path for his wine production, with unique methods used at the vineyard including companion planting such as bee-friendly sunflowers and sweet clover, plus the free-range ducks and chickens that contribute to the circularity of nature here.

We asked Barbara Eselböck, pioneer and co-owner of the legendary Taubenkobel Restaurant in Schützen am Gebirge, to pick out her favourite vineyards - not forgetting her sister's Gut Oggau winery - an early adopter of sustainable, biodynamic wines in the Burgenland region. But besides the family bond to in-house wines, Barbara has given us her five insider tips and a few comments about some of her viniculture friends.  

The brothers' obsession lies with the soil and its acidity. And no wonder – its healthy, calcareous clay soil is the reason vines have been cultivated here since Roman times when Catullus impressed Julius Caesar with locally made wine.

Located in Siena's Podere Sedime, which translates from Latin as "place where everything stops, falls silent and rests", Capitoni Marco is a small, peaceful and picturesque vineyard of six hectares, the majority of which are sangiovese grapes with a few merlots in between.

Describing themselves as "a microcosm of time, history, nature and art", Castello di Ama is a spectacularly grand vineyard, built on the spot where a Roman castle once stood. John describes the Chianti here as "spectacular" but what also draws him to this enchanting borgo is the vineyard’s association with art. 

Wine Hotel Siblings

Places that have nurtured nature and the environment way before it became ‘in’. These families are humble, honest and on a mission for the next century. They love architecture and design as much as they do their vines, oak and olive orchards; they respect the locals and have deep connective roots to the region’s nature, beauty and history. 
 
Meet our wine hotel siblings, authentic, beautiful, real and terribly comfy.