If you couldn’t tell, we like wine a lot. So when we heard about a spa in Tuscany that offers red wine baths, we got crazy excited. The Essere Spa is located in the former wine cellar of a castle near Relais La Suvera, and actually offers a few wine-focused treatments.
The castle, Castello di Casole, has been converted into a luxurious hotel, and sits on an estate surrounded by vineyards. If you’re not into bathing in wine for whatever reason, Castello di Casole has activities ranging from croquet to pizza making. Sounds like heaven on earth, no?
The DiVino Ritual includes a body scrub made with grapeseed oil, honey, wine and brown sugar, followed by the main event: a red wine bath. Guests also get a hydro-massage infused with wine extracts, and get to snack on fresh grapes and red wine. Once you’re done bathing, you’ll get another massage, complete with grapeseed and essential oils. New motto: a tub of wine a day keeps the doctor away.
While the idea of a wine bath is definitely headline-worthy, the treatments go beyond novelty. People have been talking about red wine’s health benefits for years, and vino has inspired a number of beauty products. Polyphenols in wine like resveratrol are believed to have anti-cancer benefits as well as tons of great antioxidants, though you probably get more of these by actually ingesting the wine. Bathing in it is likely most beneficial in terms of improving circulation and blood flow.
Vinotherapy has also become a very celebrity thing to do. Teri Hatcher reportedly adds a bottle of red wine to her baths, and former Knicks player Amar’e Stoudemire has been known for indulging in regular red wine baths. He praises this vinotherapy treatment for improving blood flow, keeping skin youthful and cleansing the body of toxins. Each of Stoudemire’s baths is around half an hour, and the wine is heated to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Sounds pretty cozy—maybe he should think about adding some mulling spices?
If you don’t want to plan a vacation to Tuscany but still need your red wine bath fix, you still have options. Aire Baths in New York offers a Red Wine Experience, which includes a 30-minute bath and full-body massage for a hefty $450. But if bathing in wine will keep us looking young and feeling healthy, we’ll be saying salute.
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