The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Restored monastery now a deluxe hotel
LeDomaine is a 12th-century monastery-turned-hotel framed by wine estate
An arm was there for me to grasp for balance every time I faced the occasional stone steps at the onetime monastery. Staffers, noticing my uncertainty up and down even two and three stairs, materialized from nowhere to help. When I asked, I learned there are three staffers for every guest at LeDomaine. And they pay close attention to their guests. I never even told them about my knees.
It’s those small details that contribute to the enchantment and make this place a must-visit for anyone spending time in Spain. Since its opening in 2012, Abadia Retuerta LeDomaine has become one of the country’s most deluxe hotels. Its 30 guest rooms and public spaces, framed around a magnificently restored 12th-century monastery, now are at the center of a 1,730-acre wine estate where foodies and oenophiles alike find an uncommon sanctuary while indulging their passions. It’s next to the Duero River, which begins along Portugal’s Atlantic coast as the Doura.
The Refectorio, its Michelin-starred dining room in the one-time Abbey Church, is led by Executive Chef Marc Segarra. Dining beneath vaulted ceilings with original frescoes on the walls is an extraordinary experience. Food crafted by Segarra and his staff delights and intrigues the taste buds with sometimes-extravagant but always-delicious locally sourced dishes. Lighter dishes are found in the Vinotecca, a casual wine-led bistro.
The austerity of the original monastery has been retained with a spareness communicated by limestone floors and beamed ceilings beneath which are found beautifully simple teak furnishings and wide-plank oak floors. Tall wooden shutters frame windows overlooking the vineyards, and during my late-March visit provided views of a stork couple nesting high in the steeple.
Its owner, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, has placed museum-quality artworks throughout LeDomaine, and a tour of them can be arranged with your butler. My room had a pair of original Joan Miro works on its walls. Nearly 50 of Miro’s works have sold for more than $5 million.
In northwest Spain, about a two-hour drive from Madrid, LeDomaine is the countryside near the old city of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon. Its French name, which translates as “the estate,” pays tribute to the Cistercian monks from France who founded it.
The spareness and simplicity of LeDomaine also is reflected in its service, which is attentive without ever being overbearing or pretentious. A butler, assigned to each guest room, continues his or her service to guests throughout the huge estate. When guests are out and about, they’re encouraged to bring along a cellphone that’s in each room for the purpose of summoning the butler. A L’Occitane pillow mist, also in my room, came with a thoughtful note advising of its use to combat jet lag.
Gifts left on the pillow at turndown included little packages of roasted and smoked walnuts and a tiny bouquet of fragrant dried lavender. At departure, we each received a little jar of tasty pine nuts harvested from the property’s stone pines and a jar of honey from its hives.
I got some insight into the mysterious way everyone there knows your face and your name as I left a cooking class led
by Segarra. There, in the back of the house, was a sheet with the photos and bios each of us in our press group had been asked to provide before we left home.
Although foodie-fueled diversions such as guided mushroom hunts and wine tastings dominate activities available to LeDomaine guests, 4-by-4 tours, hikes, horseback rides and mountain-bike forays on trails among the vineyards burn calories and contribute to a visitor’s sense of history here. Falconry and beekeeping sessions connect with the creatures living here.
Its location on a plateau amid one of the highest-altitude areas in the country contributes to a climate that bestows a growing season ideal for wine production. The early monks who lived here are said to have been the first to make wine, in a time when water wasn’t purified and they were encouraged to drink 2 liters of wine a day. The monks’ winemaking has been traced to 1315.
In the past 30 years, there’s been an explosion of winemaking in the Ribera del Duero wine region — a Spanish Denominación de Origen between Valladolid and Aranda.
Although the grapes grown here are mostly tempranillo — the same as those used make the wines of neighboring Rioja — the altitude of Ribera de Duero creates wines that are fresher and more elegant than those of other Spanish wine regions.
Grapes here are grown at more than 2,500 feet in dry limestone and chalk soil. The fluctuating temperatures between day and night bestow on the fruit a complexity not found elsewhere.
As the name might indicate, the area is crossed by the Duero River, the Spanish name for the Douro River, whose mouth to the Atlantic is in Porto, next door in Portugal.
Autumnal pleasures include opportunities to help with the grape harvest, a mushroom-gathering experience that includes having them for dinner, a beekeeping day, and a Land Rover tour of the property.
The below-ground wellness spa adds a unique twist to its treatments by including a spa sommelier, who pairs treatments with local wines. SpaFinder magazine named it the world’s best-designed spa. Treatments begin with a wine tasting paired with various essential oils depending on the desired result. My massage used Valdebellon, a blend of almond oil with spices and the essence of thyme to help me with jet lag and fatigue.
The range of treatments include facials, massages, wraps and body treatments using grapeseed oil. There are both indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, steam rooms and whirlpools in separate areas for men and women. The latest equipment is in a trainer-staffed fitness center near the yoga room, a serene space with soft lighting where Pilates sessions also are given. We missed the chance to have yoga sessions outdoors because March temperatures dropped and snowflakes fluttered over the vineyards. Fall and spring are the best times to visit.