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THE WAUWINET
NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS
Wine director Jason Irving shapes the 1,550-
bottle wine list at this Nantucket destination.
It offers a spectacular Burgundy selection
and rare back-vintage finds like a 2005 Louis
Jadot Beaune Clos des Couchereaux for
$135. The best way to drink them is outside
on a summer’s day at the property’s excellent
restaurant, Topper’s. (wauwinet.com)THE NOMAD LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES
While the entire 4,000-bottle wine list is dis-
tinguished at this hotel, its Champagne selec-
tion is the big lure—750 different choices,
from obscure growers to famed grandes
marques, all purchased and curated by wine
director Ryan Bailey over the past two years.
(thenomadhotel.com/los-angeles)RACK REPORT
Will Travel for WineThese hotels havedestination cellars.BLACKBERRY FARM
WALLAND, TENNESSEE
Guests pilgrimage to Blackberry Farm’s
idyllic estate outside Walland. The property’s
outstanding wine collection, overseen by
wine director Andy Chabot, has more than
160,000 bottles. Need a bottle of ultra-rare
Château Rayas delivered to your private
cabin? No problem. (blackberryfarm.com)HOTEL DE’ RICCI
ROME
Most of the staff at Rome’s Hotel De’ Ricci
are sommeliers, and every minibar offers
a personalized cellar. Add the Italy-centric
15,000-bottle cellar, with extensive verticals
of high spots like Giacomo Conterno Barolo
Monfortino and Biondi-Santi Brunello (dating
back to 1961), and you have a do-not-miss
destination for wine lovers. (hoteldericci.com)THE LITTLE NELL
ASPEN, COLORADO
Ignore the extraordinary mountains ringing
this ski-town classic (well, try; it isn’t easy)
and concentrate instead on wine director
Chris Dunaway’s 25,000-bottle cellar. Order
a bottle in the refined Element 47 restaurant
or just to enjoy at a cozy fireside sofa in The
Little Nell’s living room. (thelittlenell.com)POST HOTEL
LAKE LOUISE, CANADA
George Schwarz, who owns Canada’s Post
Hotel with his brother André, has assembled
this resort’s vast 25,500-bottle cellar over
40 years—truly a life’s work. Since almost
all the wines were purchased on release,
cellar treasures abound, such as Shafer
Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet from
1991 or Château Lynch-Bages from 1961.
(posthotel.com)BAUR AU LAC
ZURICH
Baur au Lac, whose head sommelier Marc
Almert was named Best Sommelier in the
World in 2019, has the advantage of being
under the same ownership as the city’s pre-
mier wine store. The hotel’s 700 selections
are magnified by the shop’s 3,000 bottles
(and 2 million in storage). (bauraulac.ch)THE POST OAK HOTEL AT UPTOWN
HOUSTON
HOUSTON
When owner Tilman Fertitta set his sights
on creating the biggest wine cellar in Texas,
Master Sommelier Keith Goldston took on
the task. Together, they’ve created a 30,000-
bottle collection, with offerings ranging from
affordable to stratospheric ($80,000 for an
1825 Château Gruaud Larose). (thepostoak
hotel.com)PALAIS COBURG
VIENNA
Austrian Sommelier of the Year Wolfgang
Kneidinger heads up the wine program
at this former private palace. Guests can
choose from over 6,000 different wines
spanning four centuries of vintages from the
hotel’s six wine cellars, for a total of 60,000
bottles. (palais-coburg.com/en)At Blackberry
Farm, two cellars
are connected by a
dramatic tunnel.WHILE MANY HOTELS HAVE restaurants
with great wine lists, those wines aren’t
always accessible to guests at the prop-
erty. To my mind, the spectacular bottles
from a truly great hotel wine list should
be available anywhere—in the restaurant,
in your room, even on the private terrace
of your presidential suite (hey, why not
dream, right?). The following hotels all
offer that, making them a magnet for
wine-loving travelers. —RAY ISLE PHOTO
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FW_0520_Obsessions.indd 32 FINAL CONTENT 3/18/20 12:28 PM