The Vineyard hotel in Newbury is a mecca for wine lovers and art aficionados, with fabulous food thrown in

The wine cellar at The Vineyard caters for every kind of taste, and every kind of budget. There are more than 30,000 bottles squirrelled away to sip over dinner, a tempting little wine boutique if you want to buy something unusual to take home, and wine is a decorating theme that runs throughout the hotel. The rooms are either red- or white-wine themed, the headboards are in the shapes of bottlenecks, and the sommelier Romain Bourger, who has been with the hotel for more than a decade, was awarded first place in the Top 100 Sommeliers UK Awards 2024.

The hotel is owned by Sir Peter Michael, and his family is involved in many areas of the business. Not least with supplying wine – the list includes a full range from his vineyards in Knights Valley, California. And it’s not just in the cellars that his influence pervades; his private and extensive art collection decorates the hotel throughout. There is a Henry Moore sculpture in the reception area, paintings by Degas and Pissarro and the largest collection of Boris Smirnoff artworks (portraits from the Golden Age of cinema) and those by Doris Zinkeisen (costume and theatre designs) in private hands available to look at too.

I was keen to try the seasonal tasting menu, now available in the does-what-it- says-on-the-tin Tasting Room restaurant; there is also a regular à la carte restaurant and an all-day dining menu to enjoy in the more casual areas, including a beautiful outdoor marquee, simply called OutSide – for warmer months. With chef Tom Scade at the helm, I had high expectations; Tom trained under one of my favourite chefs, John Williams, who has run the fabulous restaurant at The Ritz London for many years, and, of course, he didn’t disappoint. Many of the dishes highlight a cheeky quality in Tom’s personality; on the summer menu, the King’s imperial caviar ‘pie and mash’ was one of them. Other stars in the show included the English pea tart: a vivid green mousse in a crisp shell garnished with vibrant purple lovage blossom; a tender slice of Hereford beef fillet garnished with crispy onion rings and served with an IPA jus; and a delicious almond financier, sticky and sweet in a perfect puddle of apricot sauce.

The service is warm, friendly and down to earth, and if you choose the matching wine flight (an additional £85 per person), you are in for a treat that could include cocktails, sake and rare wine delights. With comfortable, luxurious rooms, a bijou indoor pool and spa, and only an hour’s train ride from London, this is a regular haunt of west Londoners and smart Berkshire locals, but don’t let them keep it all to themselves. In true wine lovers’ words – it’s a corker!