A new hospitality group is betting that the best hotel amenity is a working vineyard outside your window. The Giovanni Bonelli Collection has launched with a portfolio of winery-based properties planned across some of the world's most famous wine regions, starting in Napa Valley and expanding to Italy and France over the next few years.
The first property, The Yount Leap Estate, opened this year along the Silverado Trail overlooking Yountville, California. Rather than a traditional hotel, it works as a residential co-ownership model: buyers purchase one-eighth shares in vineyard estate residences, managed entirely by the brand. Each owner gets six weeks of annual stays, plus a supply of estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon made by winemaker Marc Gagnon. It is pitched at people who want more than a second home — a base they return to each season without the hassle of running a vineyard estate themselves.
California expansion follows next spring with Calistoga Farms, a winery property in the northern part of the valley. It will feature a cellar and 25,000 square feet of underground wine caves, used for tastings and private dinner parties — a nod to the cave-dug tradition that defines much of Napa's high-end wine scene.
The brand's first hotel, and first property outside the US, arrives in 2028. Borgo Bonelli in Tuscany revives a 16th-century hamlet and winery in the Val d'Elsa countryside. Plans call for nine suites carved out of five restored stone buildings, two restaurants, a traditional pizzeria, a library, a spa and fitness centre, and a working winery. Residences will follow after opening, and guests can expect reserve wines alongside a rolling programme of culinary, wine and cultural experiences.
A French hotel is also on the roadmap, slated for Saint-Émilion — the medieval Bordeaux appellation famous for its Merlot-heavy reds and hillside monolithic church. Details are thin so far, but the brand describes it as a grand-estate experience built around deep connections to the region.
Why should a traveller care? Because wine-region accommodation is shifting from rooms-abross-a-tasting-room towards full estate living, where the winery is the destination rather than a day trip. If your idea of a holiday involves private tastings in candlelit caves or lingering over long lunches steps from the vines that made the bottle, this collection is building precisely that — you just need to plan around its timeline. Napa is open now, Tuscany lands in 2028, and Saint-Émilion is one to watch.
