Schön! alive 3 | time and terroir

Nestled in a valley of pine groves two hours north of Madrid is arguably one of the best hotels in Spain. Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine is one of only five hotels in the country to hold three international Michelin Keys, the Guide’s highest ranking for hotel accommodation. But on the slopes beyond the beautifully restored 12th-century monastery, more magic is being made. This is home to one of the most prestigious vineyards in the region, with its own Protected Designation of Origin no less. It’s hard to imagine that the impressive chapel, which Stella del Carmen Banderas (daughter of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith) chose for her recent wedding, was once used for nothing more than storing grain. By 1988, when the Sandoz group bought the seed company that owned the land, the Romanesque abbey was derelict, and the vineyards surrounding it had, over the preceding decades, been dug up and used for other crops. Yet the Swiss pharmaceutical firm recognised that there was something precious hidden in the terroir: a legacy of wine making that could be traced back to the monks who toiled over it centuries before. And so, a new winery was built in 1996. In less than... Read more » The post Schön! alive 3 | time and terroir appeared first on Schön! Magazine.