The start of a BOND wine dinner at the Wynn Las Vegas
The world’s cult wines, those highly-allocated rare specimens that wine lovers thirst to try, might be right under your nose if you are visiting the right hotel. Consider The Connaught in London, the only hotel in the world to offer the cult wine rarity Harlan Estate by-the-glass (for 350£). The bottle sells at retail for around $1,650. These wine-centric hotel properties squirrel away decades of rare, collectible vintages of the world’s greatest wines—whether you seek a special bottle to share with another, or look to host a chef-focused private dinner with ten friends, these hotels and resorts are where you need to go for access to wine’s upper crust offerings. Wine Director Julia Dalton at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston sums it up nicely, “When cult wines hit the table, it’s incredible how infectious this is in a restaurant.” Here’s where to sip the greats now:
The Connaught, London: The Connaught in London boasts a wine vault with the largest offering of library vintages of Harlan Estate and they are the only hotel in the world to offer the wine by the glass.
The Wynn, Las Vegas: This luxury hotel has over 92,000 bottles on property across more than 3000 selections; the oldest is an 1850 Madeira, offered for $760 per glass at Delilah. Guests will find 30 wines from Domain H. William Harlan across most of their fine dining restaurants, and at the property’s SW Steakhouse, the wine list has an entire page dedicated to Harlan wines.
Post Oak Hotel Houston: The Cellar, the hotel’s expansive wine collection with over 30,000 bottles, offers guests and restaurant patrons access to more than $5 million of the world’s finest wines including vintages dating back to the 1800’s. For the glass offering, they have Schrader LPV 2016 – full bottle price does not contain a comma – but it’s pretty close.
San Ysidro Guest Ranch, CA: Their restaurant, Stonehouse, which received a Michelin plate award, is home to a 12,000-bottle cellar offering some of the most sought-after vintage varietals in the world. They’ve also held the title of Wine Spectator’s highest honor, the Grand Award, since 2014. Guests can also book private in-cottage wine tastings with the resort’s Advanced Sommelier Tristan Pitre.
St. Regis Hotel, Atlas Restaurant, Atlanta, GA: Sommelier Samuel Gamble has created a wine menu of dazzling proportions at this fine dining restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel. He offers four different vintages of Opus One by the glass and lays claim to the south’s largest selection Madeira vintages. The list changes daily and Gamble keeps over 90 offerings by the glass (or Coravin) on hand. The Tasting Menu with wine pairings created in collaboration with Chef Freddy Money, is one of the best experiences in the city.
The Umstead, Cary, NC: Heron’s restaurant is one of only 64 Forbes Five Star restaurants—and the wine program is just as impressive, with multiple vintages of Bond Estate, and the world’s classic dessert wine, Château d’Yquem, sauternes, France 2010, by-the-glass for $900.
