Odette Estate
Photo Courtesy of Odette Estate
Weddings offer the perfect opportunity not only to celebrate the person you love, but also mark all the traits that brought you together and unfolded along the way. If a mutual love of wine is one of those things, there’s no doubt it should be a part of the special day. Below are the ingredients for five dream oenophile weddings.
Carneros Inn
Located in Carneros, the rich viticultural region where Napa and Sonoma meet, on 27 acres of grape vines, Carneros Inn provides the ideal setting for a wedding in the heart of wine country. The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star property just finished $1 million in renovations to the Arbor, the property’s main wedding and events site, which included adding a peaceful water sculpture, beautiful floral landscaping and a trellis framing the picturesque rolling hills and mountains of Napa Valley.
Couples can choose to stay in a farmhouse chic cottage with a private courtyard, indoor/outdoor showers, heated slate floors, a crackling indoor fireplace and an outdoor fire pit. Suites are offered as two cottages joined by an extended deck for more space or larger groups. Meanwhile, the entire wedding party can settle in at a luxurious private home outfitted with Viking appliances, a rooftop sundeck and ample space for entertaining or relaxing after a day of wine tastings.
The inn’s concierge can arrange private tours and tastings at award-winning wineries such as Odette Estate and Cade Estate Winery, which both use sustainable winemaking practices and feature modern architecture and stunning vistas.
Also available at Carneros Inn are custom onsite tastings and wine-paired dinners featuring chef Aaron Meneghelli’s beautiful creations. He uses exquisite local products in his preparations, including produce and herbs grown in the kitchen garden. Guests can even truly honor the occasion by blending and bottling their own customized wine (either onsite or at a nearby winery) to enjoy for years to come.
The Allison Inn & Spa, Photo Courtesy of The Allison Inn & Spa
The Allison Inn & Spa
If a destination in Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine region is what you seek, Four-Star The Allison Inn & Spa is the venue for you. Located in the heart of Pinot Noir country, this luxury resort features idyllic outdoor gardens and vineyard backdrops, as well as elegant indoor venue options.
The Four-Star JORY at the Allison Inn, named for the region’s fertile soil, has cuisine artfully and sustainably crafted by chef Sunny Jin using the bounty grown on the property’s 1.5-acre garden and greenhouse. Smaller groups (up to 10 guests) can opt for a customized chef’s table experience while enjoying a view of the kitchen. Two private dining rooms that seat up to 18 guests and feature private terraces are perfect for rehearsal dinners.
With over 850 wine labels, including the property’s own pinot noir and pinot gris vintages, the bride and groom can choose from a variety of award-winning and rare pours for the wedding festivities or private wedding-party tastings. The concierge will gladly customize private wine and olive oil tastings, equestrian rides to wineries, wine-paired picnics, hot air balloon rides and more.
Each of the inn’s 77 rooms comes with a fireplace, wet bar, local artwork, gourmet amenities and open views of the Willamette Valley vineyards. Eight suites, featuring dining areas, balconies, soaking tubs and living rooms, make for the perfect bridal retreat to enhance any newlywed getaway.
Sparkling Pointe
Champagne lovers will take delight in celebrating at Sparkling Pointe, an upscale winery in the the Hamptons that produces award-winning sparkling wines in the traditional méthode champenoise using classic champagne grapes (pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay).
The venue impresses with a two-level tasting house, Venetian crystal chandeliers and a grand lawn with vineyard vistas. The VIP Bubble Room, perfect for a bridal suite or a wedding party lounge for up to 50 guests, features a flat-screen TV, fireplace, full-service bar and powder room. The winery partners with multiple local caterers and restaurants so guests can customize menus to match the occasion to a tee.
The winery also offers engagement packages consisting of a private tour of the winery and cellar, a guided tasting of Sparkling Pointe cuvée wines with a dedicated server, a chocolate tasting for two and commemorative flutes to take home.
To cap off a perfectly romantic affair, book nearby at the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Jedediah Hawkins Inn, a boutique hotel surrounded by 22 acres of beautiful gardens and farmland. Guests of the inn receive complimentary tasting vouchers for 14 nearby vineyards, and the hotel can also arrange a private limousine tour and a picnic lunch. The historic property, which was built by a sea captain in the 1800s, is set in the ideal location to enjoy the vineyards, farm stands and beaches of peaceful North Fork, located just an hour and a half from Manhattan.
Stone Tower Winery, Photo Courtesy of Veronica Meewes
Lansdowne Resort and Spa
Northern Virginia‘s Lansdowne Resort and Spa, located in in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountain valley, features unique offerings for wine lovers, including bridal celebrations. Grape-loving ladies can congregate at the resort for a series of wine-infused spa treatments like the signature Chardonnay facial and wrap or the Cabernet and cacao treatment, which use the free-radical fighting antioxidants found in wine grapes to increase circulation and detoxify.
While the bridal party indulges, the groomsmen can enjoy 45 holes on the championship golf course. Everyone involved in the celebration can appreciate the Discover Virginia Wine Country package with customized wine tours of the Loudoun County Wine Trail. Without worrying about transportation, wedding parties explore and sample labels at sites like the beautiful Sunset Hills Vineyards, located in a lofty, handcrafted wooden barn.
Couples can choose from multiple indoor and outdoor venues at the newly renovated Lansdowne Resort, and those who prefer to wed on the grounds of a winery can work with their partner, Stone Tower Winery. Lansdowne’s talented culinary team will customize menus paired with the winery’s top-notch vintages, and they’ll cater onsite at the beautiful and spacious vino property, which features a variety of venues, from upscale dining areas to barrel rooms to rustic fireplace lounges.
Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Located in British Columbia’s beautiful Okanagan Valley wine region, Kelowna’s Summerhill Pyramid Winery is known for crafting organic and biodynamic wines and cuisine made using regional ingredients from its own garden and wildlife preserves. Located on a picturesque lake, the venue offers multiple onsite locations for events of every size, both indoor (the Summerhill Pyramid and the Vineyard Ballroom) and outdoor (the Heritage Lawn and the Vineyard Lawn).
The winery’s various wedding packages include personalized add-on options such as private wine tours and tastings for up to 50 guests, wine bottle wedding favors, a private wine-tasting bar for up to 40 guests, a bride-and-groom sabering presentation and more.
Book a plush one-, two- or three-bedroom villa overlooking Okanagan Lake at the nearby Royal Private Residence Club. In addition to opportunities for outdoor exploration (golfing, hiking, cycling and sailing), Kelowna alone has 25 wineries and vineyards and over 100 more are found throughout the surrounding valley.
