Wine is the multitasking hero of the beverage world. What other drink can improve your memory, enhance your workout and make your recipes shine? You can use wine crates as home décor and make jewelry and lighting fixtures out of corks. Is there anything wine can’t do? Luckily for oenophiles everywhere, a bottle of red also goes great with your skin. Vinotherapy — the use of wine and grapes in beauty treatments — has caught on in almost every wine-producing region in the world. Here is where to get your wine fix on every continent.
1. Les Sources de Caudalie, France: Bordeaux is synonymous with wine, and it is here, surrounded by the famed vineyards of the region, that vinotherapy took root back in the ‘90s. The key to reaping the benefits of these treatments is polyphenols, which are antioxidants found in grape pips. Surrounded by the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, the spa at Les Source de Caudalie pays homage to its locale with treatments like the Crushed Cabernet Scrub with grape seeds and honey to polish and soften. (Photo via Sources Caudalie)
2. Cavas Wine Lodge, Argentina: Set in the Mendoza wine region famed for its Malbecs, Cavas Wine Lodge is the perfect place to start exploring the nearby wineries on horseback, though with views of the snowcapped Andes and private plunge pools, you might be tempted to stay put. At the hotel’s spa you can indulge in some wine therapy, like the Torrontés Wine Wrap, which uses wine yeast and organic oils to moisturize your limbs. (Photo via Cavas Wine Lodge)
3. La Tre Vasselle Resort, Italy: A medieval village among the hills of Umbria is exactly the kind of place you’d want to experience Italian wines in all capacities. At La Tre Vasselle, you can satisfy your palette at the well-stocked wine bar, organize a trip to the Lungarotti wine museum or head to the spa. A scalp and reflexology foot massage with wine nectar will have you covered head to toe. (Photo via La Tre Vasselle)
4. Devonvale Wine Estate, South Africa: Grape vines were first planted in South Africa in the 1600s, but it wasn’t until the start of the 20th century that the country first cultivated its signature grape — the Pinotage. At Devonvale’s organic Healing Earth spa, faces are cared for with nourishing masks made with a pinotage serum or hydrating pinotage grape seeds with marula and rose. (Photo via Devondale Wine Estate)
5. Hotel Healdsburg, California: The spa at this Sonoma County hotel emphasizes local ingredients and handmade and tested formulas for their skincare products. For the Wine to Spa treatments the hotel paired up with the Lambert Bridge Winery for therapies like the Wine Wellness Massage (an oil massage that will loosen tight muscles), a wine poultice applied to the chest and a wine-infused cream for your feet. (Photo via Hotel Healdsburg)
6. Yunessun Spa Resort, Japan: A hot soak is an essential part of Japanese culture. You’ll find a generously deep tub in every home and more than 3000 Onsen (public hot springs) around the country. The Yunessun Spa Resort takes the ritual up a notch with a wine bath that that can fit dozens of excited bathers and is outfitted with a 12-foot bottle of red. If you want something that reads more remedy than spring break, try the resort’s sake bath, which is said to give you brighter and smoother skin. (Photo via Yunessun Spa Resort)
7. Qualia, Australia: Looking out onto the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef, Qualia’s light-filled pavilions shaded by fragrant Eucalyptus trees are an invitation to luxuriate to the max. The Wine Lover’s Package for two is guaranteed to get you drunk on decadence, if nothing else. It all starts with a Chardonnay massage, followed by a vinotherapy scrub and a moisturizing Pinot Noir body wrap. As if that weren’t enough, you’ll also soak in a wine bath with a glass of your favorite varietal. Just be careful getting out of the tub. (Photo via Qualia)
Would you try wine in your beauty routine? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Photo via La Tre Vasselle)