These days, luxury travel is as much about exclusive, elegant locales as it is about new and exciting experiences. The Torre de Palma Wine Hotel, a Member of Design Hotels in the Alentejo region of Portugal, about two hours from the Lisbon airport, is one of those unusual properties that offers both. It’s a gorgeous, rustic, family-run hotel, intimate enough that, should you have trouble opening your room door after dinner, help is just a moment away by WhatsApp. The architecture at Torre de Palma is also traditional enough to feel as if, as a guest, you’re stepping into a different world—perhaps a fantasy where you might see Don Quixote sunning himself at the pool, sipping a glass of wine on a vacation from the Spanish countryside. (The property is a member of Marriott Bonvoy’s Design Hotels Collection.)
The Torre de Palma Wine Hotel
Of course, this being a “wine hotel,” the Torre de Palma produces its own wines. Guests can arrange wine tastings for during their stay, including tastings directly from the wine barrels.
Last month, however, Marriott Bonvoy Moments took the Torre de Palma wine tasting program to another level. The program designs immersive experiences for the “curious traveler.” For instance, Marriott Bonvoy members can bid for a weaving workshop with a chef’s culinary table experience at Otro Oaxaca in Mexico. The Torre de Palma weekend kicked off with a special “four hands” dinner featuring dishes by two chefs with wine pairings: Torre de Palma’s Miguel Laffan and Vladmir Veiga, from the Penha Longa Resort in Lisbon.
The next day, everyone was given personalized t-shirts, large buckets and pruning tools and sent into the vineyards to collect grapes. Then, Duarte de Deus, the hotel’s chief winemaker, guided everyone to the winery where they removed their shoes and socks and participated in a traditional foot-treading of grapes in marble lagares. It was all very I Love Lucy goes to Italy, and, by all accounts both therapeutic for the skin (all those tannins!) and for the mind (all the stomping!). The reality is, though: it was an experience for the ages. You know, like fine wine.
Grapes being sorted