We reveal five exceptional Swiss hotels that have devoted themselves to wine as well as food for the gourmet vinophile.
Switzerland has so many wonderful hotels and regions to explore. We have compiled a list of accommodation that focuses on wine in different ways – from overnight stays in the middle of vineyards to remarkable wine lists, exquisite wines from their own vineyards and spectacular wine cellars. We reveal which hotels are worth a vinophile visit. Here are our Top Five:
This romantic 16th-century winery and hotel is located in the middle of vineyards looking over the river Rhône with views towards the Jura and Salève mountains: Domaine de Châteauvieux not only offers excellent 2 star Michelin cuisine with homemade products such as terrines and mustards, but owner, Philippe Chevrier, also has his own wine line with more than 800 exquisite wines on his list. In autumn, wine tastings and visits to the well-stocked wine cellar are always on the programme at the Domaine.
Chemin de Châteauvieux 16, Peney-Dessus, 1242 Satigny, Geneva
chateauvieux.ch
Albi and Silvana von Felten wanted to create a place of culinary craftsmanship at their hotel Hirschen in Erlinsbach: The hotel's new extension, the Weinhaus am Bach (Wine House by the Creek) offers 22 rooms, all bearing the name of a Swiss vintner. In addition, the wine house has two wine suites: One dedicated to the Champagne House Bollinger and one located in the wine cellar itself. In the latter, guests can even spend the night between two walk-in wine vaults. The wine list of the house has a clear focus on local wines.
Hauptstrasse 125, 5015 Erlinsbach
hirschen-erlinsbach.ch
This 5-star hotel, designed by Karl Gottlieb Koller in 1903, overlooks Lake Lucerne. The hotel's high-quality design includes the entire interior even down to the wine cellars. In total, there are six different wine cellars with a collection of no less than 32,000 bottles. Wine lovers can elect to taste different grape varieties during a private wine tasting, or take a guided tour with the sommelier through the wine cellars and there is also a cellar devoted entirely to Champagne and rarities. The six wine cellars, arranged in categories – France, Old World, New World, Château d'Yquem, Champagne and Rarities – combine a total of four centuries of wine history. The design of the various cellars has a museum-like feel to it.
Seestrasse 18, 6354 Vitznau
parkhotel-vitznau.ch
A former monastery, Hotel Kartause Ittingen, is located in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by vines. The historic buildings, the courtyard and the extensive gardens offer stylish ambience and also make an ideal retreat. Behind the old monastery walls are 68 modern hotel rooms as well as a number of delicacies: an estate farm with its own viticulture, a cheese dairy, a butchery and a wood-fired bakery. The estate also offers cellar tours with tastings of its own wines. The hotel's bubble pod is an interesting highlight: with a direct view over the vineyards and the idyllic landscape of Thur. This special feature – a transparent bubble – stands where guests can spend the night under the stars and between flowering shrubs, protected from view and from the weather.
Stiftung Kartause Ittingen, 8532 Warth
kartause.ch/de/hotel
At the Chalet Hotel Schönegg in Zermatt, the passion for exquisite wines is combined with a unique alpine location and refreshing mountain air: With a direct view of the Matterhorn, guests can enjoy the hotel's own wines from the Metry family, which has been producing mainly Fendant and Pinot Noir in Varen near Salgesch for more than four generations. With a range of more than 80 wines from the Valais and top wines from the Bordeaux region, a dinner in the Uncorked restaurant is a true delight for both palate and nose. The restaurant also creates a harmonious vinophile atmosphere with its ceiling paintings based around wine and ambient lighting from bottle lamps. After a wine tasting, guests can spend the night in one of the 39 rooms in the main house or in the nine styled rooms in the connected annexe building of the Petit Chalet.
Riedweg 35, 3920 Zermatt
schonegg.ch
