It’s late summer, when farm stands are bursting with color, piled with fruits and vegetables in the weeks before the season draws to a close. And where better to enjoy a summer harvest — or to try your hand at activities like beekeeping, foraging, even the art of ax-throwing — than at a farm or vineyard hotel?
Whether you want to escape to a working farm just outside of Nashville; a farm and vineyard with an inn and “yurt village” in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia; or a restored distillery and boutique hotel on a river in Cognac, France, these getaways for epicures and country-lovers await with fresh eggs, jams and food for the soul.
Bristol, Va.
Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards
Wander this 450-acre farm and vineyard amid the Blue Ridge Mountains (its viognier, chardonnay and merlot have been winners of the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition) and you’ll find cattle, chickens, vegetable gardens — and a new 28 room-and-suite inn. Or you can stay in the “yurt village”: nine yurts made of cedar, making them feel more like cabins, situated between the inn and the winery’s tasting room. Book a yurt and you’ll have your own kitchenette and rainfall shower, as well as a porch and back deck from which to breathe in the mountain air. Each yurt can sleep two to six people; pets are welcome, too (for a fee).
As you might expect, meals at Nicewonder are farm-to-table affairs. Hickory, on the ground floor of the inn, serves seasonal, Appalachian-inspired dishes — like whipped Spam with house pickles, nori, yuzu hot sauce and fried saltines — and overlooks a lake and the vineyard. There’s also a bar and, of course, a wine cellar. And you can shop for flowers, vegetables, jams and jellies at the property’s produce market. In fact, you could spend an entire weekend just eating and imbibing. Yet there are miles of trails to tackle, leading you past trees, over hills and near a creek. You can go for a swim in the infinity pool and, come September, work out in a new “fitness yurt” with spin bikes and exercise equipment, or unwind with a spa treatment in the forthcoming “spa yurt village.” Prices from $335 a night in August and September, including breakfast.
Los Olivos, Calif.
The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection
A former stagecoach stop, this property, situated near the vineyards and farms of the Santa Ynez Valley, has been receiving guests since the late 1880s. Shuttered in 2018, it reopened this year after a renovation…
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