It’s late summer, when farm stands are bursting with color, piled with vegatables and fruits within the weeks before the season draws to a detailed. And where higher to enjoy a summer harvest — or to try your hand at activities like beekeeping, foraging, even the art of ax-throwing — than at a farm or vineyard hotel?
Whether you ought to escape to a working farm just outside of Nashville; a farm and vineyard with an inn and “yurt village” within the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia; or a restored distillery and boutique hotel on a river in Cognac, France, these getaways for epicures and country-lovers await with fresh eggs, jams and food for the soul.
Bristol, Va.
Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards
Wander this 450-acre farm and vineyard amid the Blue Ridge Mountains (its viognier, chardonnay and merlot have been winners of the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition) and also you’ll find cattle, chickens, vegetable gardens — and a recent 28 room-and-suite inn. Or you may stay within the “yurt village”: nine yurts made from cedar, making them feel more like cabins, situated between the inn and the winery’s tasting room. Book a yurt and also you’ll have your individual kitchenette and rainfall shower, in addition to a porch and back deck from which to breathe within the mountain air. Each yurt can sleep two to 6 people; pets are welcome, too (for a fee).
As you would possibly expect, meals at Nicewonder are farm-to-table affairs. Hickory, on the bottom floor of the inn, serves seasonal, Appalachian-inspired dishes — like whipped Spam with house pickles, nori, yuzu hot sauce and fried saltines — and overlooks a lake and the vineyard. There’s also a bar and, in fact, a wine cellar. And you may shop for flowers, vegetables, jams and jellies on the property’s produce market. In fact, you might spend a complete weekend just eating and imbibing. Yet there are miles of trails to tackle, leading you past trees, over hills and near a creek. You can go for a swim within the infinity pool and, come September, work out in a recent “fitness yurt” with spin bikes and exercise equipment, or unwind with a spa treatment within the forthcoming “spa yurt village.” Prices from $335 an evening in August and September, including breakfast.
Los Olivos, Calif.
The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection
A former stagecoach stop, this property, situated near the vineyards and farms of the Santa Ynez Valley, has been receiving guests for the reason that late Eighteen Eighties. Shuttered in 2018, it reopened this yr after a renovation that included recent buildings and a recent name. You can pick from 67 rooms, 4 of that are restored cottages dating to the early 1900s. There are recent guest rooms, each with a patio, terrace or sun porch, situated in structures called Guest Houses. Also recent is the two-bedroom Courtyard cottage with a front room and personal outdoor space where you may end the day beside an out of doors fireplace or in a hot tub. The Homestead cottage has two bedrooms and personal outdoor space as well.
Beyond your sleeping quarters is the Tavern restaurant, where lots of the ingredients come from an on-site garden and the menu focuses on grilled proteins and vegetables, served indoors or outside beneath a trellis. For dishes inspired by Chinese cuisine — think duck won tons, soy-braised Chinese eggplant, crispy pork belly, spicy peanuts, grilled shiitakes and shrimp toast — pop into Gin’s Tap Bar, named for the property’s former chef, Gin Lung Gin. Need a caffeine fix? Try Felix Feed & Coffee, where it’s also possible to order fresh baked goods and breakfast. For a cocktail or a glass of wine, head to the Bar. Or placed on a washing suit and visit the Shed, a poolside bar with casual Mediterranean-inspired fare. After a bite and a dip, hop on a bicycle and go for a ride past vineyards — or stay put and learn the way to infuse your individual olive oil with herbs from the garden. Prices from $950 an evening.
Cognac, France
La Nauve Hôtel et Jardin
While France is understood for major wine regions like Bordeaux and Champagne, this restored distillery and boutique hotel goals to lure you to Cognac country in southwest France, home to leading producers corresponding to Hennessy, Martell and Rémy Martin. The hotel opened in June in a belle epoque mansion by the Charente River and is a component of the Almae Collection of hotels in addition to a member of the hotel network Relais & Chateaux. Its 12 suites are set amid 12 acres of gardens rife with fruit trees, rose bushes and vegetables. Crack open a favourite novel, ease into the swimming pool, or follow the gardens toward the river. There, private canoes await. Or you may board the hotel’s boat and visit the town of Cognac. E-bikes are also available.
Meals may be had at Notes, a fine-dining restaurant with a four-course or seven-course tasting menu that makes use of herbs and vegetables from the property’s gardens, in addition to ingredients from Cognac distilleries and native farms. Alternatively, head over to the old distillery constructing, which is now Brasserie des Flâneurs, where the French brasserie menu highlights seasonal produce like ceviche with citrus fruit from the property’s greenhouse. There’s also the Bar and Tea Room, connected to a terrace where you may have a pastry (or two) together with your tea or coffee. Should you like something a bit stronger, you may order a cocktail, wine or — what else?— Cognac. Prices from 450 euros, or about $490, an evening, including breakfast.
Amenia, N. Y.
Troutbeck
This storied Hudson Valley country estate about two hours north of Manhattan has attracted a protracted list of writers and thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois. In the early 1900s the property was bought from its original owners, the Benton family, by Amy and Joel E. Spingarn, one in all the founders of the publisher Harcourt, Brace & Co. and a former president of the N.A.A.C.P. (he was the originator of the Spingarn Medal, awarded annually by the N.A.A.C.P.). Today the 250-acre property is a member of Design Hotels and has 37 rooms and suites. Recently, it opened Benton House along Webutuck Creek, where you’ll find 13 guest rooms, each with private outdoor space amid grasses and wildflowers. All look to nature for inspiration, with grass cloth wallpaper and beds by the Connecticut-based furniture maker Ian Ingersoll.
Head to the barns — that are covered in timber reclaimed from the old Tappan Zee Bridge Hudson River crossing — for a fitness or yoga class, or to make use of the gym and sauna. Outside you may play tennis, swim within the pool, stroll through a walled garden inbuilt 1916, or take a personal falconry session. You can hike and bike on the property, too. Or enterprise just a little farther for a fly-fishing tour, or a visit to nearby Maitri Farm, where you may browse produce and flowers (private tours are also available). Birders will want to try the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. Other guests, within the tradition of Troutbeck, may simply want to sit down back and converse over a meal. Settle right into a booth within the Dining Room for seasonal dishes with local ingredients, like spelt ricotta cavatelli with chanterelles and garlic scapes. For bites on the go and late-night snacks, the Pantry offers temptations like salted chocolate chip cookies, coffee cake, brownies and blondies made in-house and available 24 hours. Prices from $400 an evening.
Franklin, Tenn.
Southall Farm & Inn
Just 25 miles south of Nashville’s buzzing music scene, this nascent farm and inn offers a buzz of a special sort with seven apiaries that house thousands and thousands of honeybees, together with some 1,300 apple trees, greenhouses (including an orangerie), formal kitchen gardens, crops and many land for foraging fungi and berries. While the property calls to mind a historic farm, it has the comforts of a contemporary escape. You can pick from 62 rooms and suites, 16 cottages and plenty of places to savor the land’s bounty. For casual meals, try Sojourner, where you may begin every day with pastries and eggs (lunch and dinner are also available). Even the cocktails are made with freshly harvested herbs and juices. Stop by the Farm Stand for produce, picnic baskets and preserves. And later this yr, be looking out for January, a restaurant with a dining room and outdoor patio that plans to supply multicourse menus with ingredients grown at Southall.
If the pastoral views will not be enough to shed your stress, head over to the 15,000-square-foot spa to decompress with treatments that use botanicals and ingredients, some from the farm. You can work out on the fitness center, float within the 104-degree mineral pool (there’s an out of doors pool, too), strike a pose on the property’s hilltop meditation and yoga spot, or challenge yourself on the ropes-and-obstacle course. Runners and hikers can make the most of greater than five miles of trails. And there’s no shortage of additional outdoor activities (some for a fee), including falconry, fishing, bee keeping, archery and ax-throwing. Prices from $559 an evening in August, and from $839 starting in September.
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