Style: August 03, 2017

62 STYLE | travel
CHAMPAGNE
ON ICE
A short trip south sees Kate Preece
sipping champagne in snowy surrounds.
The mighty mountain ranges that epitomise
Queenstown give nature the upper hand
in this tourist town. And, as if the views are
not enough, the crisp mountain air is quick to
wipe away any memory of the 55-minute flight
from Christchurch, cementing your arrival in
the adventure capital of the south.
Despite being surrounded by waterproofed
men, women and children, I had no intention
of hitting the snow-laden slopes. In fact, I had
only one destination in mind – the Hilton.
A $20 taxi ride from the airport and I am at
its door, ready to see what happens when a
luxury accommodation chain pairs up with a
Champagne house.
The room in which I am to rest my head is
one of a kind, thanks to a perfect partnership
between The Hilton and Veuve Clicquot. In
Queenstown, this means room 133 has had a
makeover. Renamed La Grande Dame Room
(until the end of August), muted tones of grey
and pink, with textural elements from fur,
velvet and wool, form a luxurious backdrop,
while Jo Malone’s lime, basil and mandarin
scent fills the air. Veuve-yellow highlights are at
every turn, from the flowers and cushions to
a framed LED-lit portrait of Madame Clicquot
– the ‘Grande Dame of Champagne’ herself.
An ice-filled bucket proffers a bottle of the
widowed French woman’s legacy, and a bath
with a water view promises to deliver on the
relaxation front.
My timing to visit the on-site Eforea spa
couldn’t have been better either. With the
annual Clicquot In The Snow festival in August,
there are opportunities at every turn to ‘have
champagne with that’, with spa treatments
being no exception.
An oasis of calm and professionalism, the spa
offers all the bells and whistles, from robes and
slippers to the use of a 25-metre swimming
pool, sauna and a post-treatment lounge.
Until September 30, the Veuve Clicquot Flute
& Facial is a 60-minute treatment customised to
target your skin’s needs, and finished with a flute
of Madame Clicquot’s finest. My Finnish beauty
therapist soon had me in a state of zen, the
world’s worries a million miles away, with not
a sound from the outside world, nor a note of
Enya to be heard. Bliss.
Dinner matched with Veuve Clicquot seemed
the only way to follow such an experience.
One of five Kawarau Village eateries,
Wakatipu Grill’s special wine-matched menu
also challenges the chef to base the threecourse
dinner around the ingredient of the
month – pumpkin for August. During my visit,
however, it was ‘pear’, with the finest dish being
prawn ravioli, with sweet and sour nashi pear,
fennel, pancetta and toasted buckwheat. The
2008 vintage served alongside it was also the
standout.
While Veuve doesn’t feature on the
breakfast menu, nearly everything else does.
Whether craving a croissant, eggs Benedict, or
a curry, the buffet will have you sated.
Sitting in Wakatipu Grill’s observatory-style
area, the sun streaming in as mist rolls gently
across the serene lake, I willed the clock to
slow its pace. The waterproofed ones were
fuelling up for another day of adrenaline and
hot chocolate, while all I could think about
was one more hour in the spa. Or, at the very
least, more time on the balcony of La Grande
Dame Room, sipping Veuve in the shadow of
the mountains.