On the table next to us at the glamorous World Boutique Hotel Awards, Francisco Seresina, owner of the sublime Villa Sostaga on Lake Garda, shared his insider knowledge, “Good Italian sparkling wine is from Franciacorta and also Trento.” Yes, “The point is these sparkling wines are made from the Champagne method. They take from 24 months to 10 years to mature whereas Prosecco is very quick. The best ways of making sparkling wine are the Champagne method by French inventors or the Martinotti method by Italian inventors.”
When pushed, Signor Seresina confided, “My favourite wine depends on the period of the year. There’s a perfect wine for many different moments. Italy has the largest variety of indigenous wines in the world. There’s life after Chardonnay and Merlot! Italy is geographically a very long country with mountains and seas which allow for many different wines in varying soil expositions.” Franciacorta is a small wine producing area in Lombardy, northern Italy.
Jan Konetzki steps in: “The general perception of rosé is not very serious. A copperish colour isn’t good. But the more vibrant colour rosé is, the more it merits attention. Rosé Rare Millésime Champagne 2008 is the best.” He adds, “And some of the finest French wines are from Northern Rhône.” Jan should know. Based in London, he’s one of the world’s leading sommeliers, on speed dial to triple Michelin star Chefs Clare Smyth and Anne-Sophie Pic. We’re chatting to him in the latter’s eponymous restaurant in our favourite Four Seasons Tower Hill.
Later, Maud Rabin, Global Director of Rare Champagne, the world’s most expensive and exclusive bubbly, will smile over drinks with us in the eternally divine Hôtel Meurice, “C’est la vie! That’s what we say in Paris. We always mean it in a positive way. Rosé Rare Millésime Champagne 2008 is a thrilling vintage. June and July of that year were very cool before favourable weather returned in August. Warm dry days and cool nights continued through to the mid September harvest, resulting in Champagne with great finesse and ageing potential.” Now is a good time for the lengthily refined Franicacorta Ca’del Bosco from the Vintage Collection Satèn 2015 en plage. Isn’t it always?
A lavish setting for a lavish gala. It’s a high octane international evening of accolades and industry recognition, of competition and celebration, of flowing wine and fine cuisine. A reception of award winning Tenuta Montemagno Relais and Wines precedes a cocktail party courtesy of “intricately realised” Silent Pool Gin (which turns out to be blackberry and damson gin liquors). Laura Scampini, proprietor of Tenuta Montemagno Resort, comments, “It’s a very nice occasion to be here this evening. Our resort is quiet, calm, very comfortable. We produce our own wine there.” The suspense gains momentum during the three course dinner (globe artichoke of course) before the ceremony truly gets underway.
It’s a serious global operation. Director Schlomo Gabbai explains more: “There are many awards in the world of hospitality. But remarkably the World Boutique Hotel Awards is the only one of its kind that takes the time, care, and in all honesty, pure joy, to visit each and every prospective winner. We don’t judge from afar. We feel the full experience – the rooms, the grounds, the lobbies, the private islands, wilderness tents and castles. We see the attention to detail in every stitch of fabric and every crumb of food. Most importantly, our judges are always moved by the extraordinary people behind each establishment, by the people who pour their hearts and souls into creating timeless memories.” This year there are 300 nominees from 80 countries.
The roll call of honours begins… Fond Doux Plantation and Resort in Soufrière, St Lucia, wins America’s Most Ecofriendly Hotel. It’s owned by Lyton and Eroline Lamontagne. “What I really like is that boutique hotels are niche – they’re all completely different and very personal,” believes Eroline. “They’re about hospitality. We own a plantation hotel in St Lucia. It is the heartbeat of the island. We do our bit for the island. There is nobody like us. It’s a working plantation. You can see how cocoa grows on trees and is then fermented before becoming chocolate.”
Villa Sostaga in Gargano, Italy, is awarded Europe’s Most Stunning View Hotel – it revels in a breathtaking panorama of Lake Garda. Owner Francisco Seresina reports, “It’s a 19th century building my family and I renovated in 2004 and opened the following year. Villa Sostaga is cosy and romantic and most of all has the real taste of a home. My wife and I personally look after it seven days a week. We are surrounded by a 40,000 square metre park. It’s kind of unique!”
Elisabeth Visoanska, Founder of eco luxury skincare line Visoanska, is a sponsor and judge at the 2019 World Boutique Hotel Awards. She says, “Every winner stands for making their dream come true and each founding story could make the synopsis of a film. It is all about sharing your passions and executing them in the best way forward.” Wanderlust fills the air. Writer Cheryl King hails from Tennessee but now lives in Costa Rica: “South America is all about the food and the people. I want to see it all!” This year’s keynote speaker is CNN travel journalist Maureen O’Hare. Originally from Northern Ireland, Maureen is based at CNN’s London bureau. “Travel is exciting!” she proclaims. “It’s real life but better.” And now, for the overall winner… silence… drum roll… applause on standby… envelope opening… Awarta Nusa Dua Resort and Villas in Bali, Indonesia, is crowned the World’s Best Boutique Hotel 2019. Adieus! Goody bags! Carriages!
When pushed, Signor Seresina confided, “My favourite wine depends on the period of the year. There’s a perfect wine for many different moments. Italy has the largest variety of indigenous wines in the world. There’s life after Chardonnay and Merlot! Italy is geographically a very long country with mountains and seas which allow for many different wines in varying soil expositions.” Franciacorta is a small wine producing area in Lombardy, northern Italy.
