Travel Trends: Wine Bottled Exclusively for Luxury Hotels

The next time you're in London, stop by The Ritz to taste a glass of the hotel's signature Pauillac wine, bottled by Baron Philippe de Rothschild in the first ever partnership between the prestigious label and a hotel. The Ritz London exemplifies the new movement by luxury hotels to offer guests bespoke, customized house wines. Across the pond in Palm Beach, Florida, The Breakers has custom Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc in its 28,000-bottle wine cellar. The Grand Del Mar in San Diego has created 13 custom vintages over the last two years, while Hotel Vitale in San Francisco features a California Syrah made from grapes on plots in Carneros or Santa Barbara. And at Keswick Hall in Virginia last autumn, staff actually sorted the grapes from local vineyards, pumped juice into barrels, and fermented the wine on site. The result? The release of the first private-label Edith's Chardonnay and Edith's Petit Verdot in September, which can be enjoyed in Fossett's restaurant. (Edith Fossett was Thomas Jefferson's cook at Monticello.) Coming this spring: the resort will plant its own one-acre vineyard. Note: Guests are actually invited to join the grape-stomping.