Travel + Leisure

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 49 The drawing room in Noor Mahal. The Raza Library is ensconced in acres of manicured gardens. Below: A painting of Bahadur Shah Zafar from the collection of the library. traders. Their leader had two sons, Dawood and Kaisaf Khan. This was when the Marathas, a Hindu warrior sect, were fi ghting back the Mughal dynasty in the subcontinent. They had reached up to what is now northern Uttar Pradesh in victory. By the 1700s, the Mughals engaged the services of the Pathans and the fi rst battle pitted the Marathas against the Pathans in Fatehganj. The Maratha Peshwas were defeated pushed down to Gwalior. In honour of this victo the Mughals gave the Pathans eight districts in Rohilkhand. Dawood Khan moved to India, and this marked the beginning of the Rohila family saga in India. Faizullah Khan, one of the eight grandsons of Dawood Khan, inherited the kingdom of Rampur and was established as its fi rst nawab. During the British Raj, as the city of Rampur expanded, a new undertaking of building the Khas Bagh palace was begun. Built over several years and completed in 1930, it marries a variety of architectural styles. With India’s Independence came a new strain of history into the Rampur family. Nawab Raza Ali Khan was the fi rst to merge his state into the Indian Union in May 1949. And fi nally, in 1960, Noor Mahal, formerly the Viceroy’s representative’s palace, was turned into a haveli—as it stands now—for the birth of Nawab Kazim Ali Khan. He grew up there surrounded by his governess and staff, was fed food cooked in copper vessels, and had a daily appointment between 6pm and 8pm with his grandfather in Khas Bagh. Noor Mahal, where Navaid bhai lives to this day, stands surrounded by his lush never-ending acr of farmland. The haveli holds priceless treasure intricate vases, jade pieces of pottery, and photographs of the family beautifully installed by Queen Mother Begum Noor Bano and the current queen of Rampur, Begum Yaseen Ali Khan. Built in the classic British Raj style of architecture, with open FROM TOP: MATTEO OMIED/ALAMY; THE PICTURE ART COLLECTION/ALAMY

50 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 R OYA LT Y verandahs circling the palace, Noor Mahal is where the heart of the family resides. The Raza Library is the crown jewel of the Rampur dynasty. It stands tall and imposing, a precursor to the Indo-Saracenic architectural style, ensconced in acres of manicured gardens. The erudite Rampur nawabs had a passion for learning and collected over 22,000 manuscripts since the library was established in 1774 by Nawab Faizullah Khan. They were also great promoters of women’s education. Begum Noor Bano, a descendant of Uzbekistan royalty, brought several manuscripts to Rampur as her bridal gift to the family. Today, the Raza Library remains one of the most important repositories of Indo-Islamic learning in South Asia. Its range of manuscripts stretch from Persian to Arabic, Pashto, Sanskrit, and Urdu. The collection includes the al-Qurani Majid, a priceless manuscript dating to the seventh century AD, and an illustrated Ramayana translated to Persian around 1715 AD. Firm believers in the value of secularism and progressive thinking, the Rampur nawabs were the only Islamic kingdom where the coronation ceremony was performed by a Hindu Brahmin pandit. With the advent of industrialisation, the far-sighted rulers realised that agriculture alone could not sustain the economy. Hence, land was leased out to several manufacturers, including a distillery that produces the fabulous Rampur Single Malt Whisky today. With the birth of democracy in India, the instinct of the sovereign ruler of the time was to enter politics or the armed forces. Navaid bhai’s grandfather, Nawab Raza Ali Khan, was the honorary colonel of two infantries and an armoured regiment that participated in World War II to protect what was to become Indian territory post Independence. Queen Mother Begum Noor Bano was the fi rst female member of the family to successfully contest elections and win the seat of Rampur. This began a new era in the lives of the Rampur family. The seat of the nawabs was then moved to Noor Mahal so Navaid bhai takes his daughter-in-law on a tour of the treasures of Rampur. Below: Nawabzada Haider Ali Khan and his bride Shaukat Zamani Begum.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 51 Nawabzada Haider, sending the guests into raptures. The Pathani nawabs of Rampur have always adopted the Hindu rituals of their homeland, so they include a henna ceremony and an evening of dancing to celebrate the union. The ceremony verifi es everything the nawab has told me about his family, “Of the 300-odd sovereign states of the Union of modern India, there are only a dozen Islamic royal families. Ours has always believed in educating our women, and we have forever held a deep passion for art, literature, and music.” Rampur sparkles as a shining example of myriad traditions evolved into a singular culture, which spans thousands of years and retains a resplendence of its own in modern India. that they could move a little away from the swiftly expanding city of Rampur. This brings us to the present day, when I fi nd myself at this stunningly historic haveli to celebrate the wedding of Nawab Kazim Ali Khan’s second son. The year 2020, with all its woes, brought this one joyous occasion for Navaid bhai to gather an intimate group of family and friends and celebrate the nikah of his second son, Haider Ali Khan, to the beautiful Shaukat Zamani Begum. Sufi music composed by Navaid bhai’s grandfather fi lls the haveli. An incredible performance of a whirling Sufi dancer puts us in a delicious trance. The exotic aroma of Rampur’s extraordinary cuisine titillates our olfactory nerves. And the melting fl avours of the famous chapli kebab make our palates spiral into ecstasy. As our senses are soothed into sublime languor through three days of feasting, dancing, laughter, and love, we awake to the nikah on the fi nal morning. The pure pageantry of the ceremony is a joy to behold. Begum Zamani is clad in an intricately embroidered sharara that requires three bridesmaids to carry it; Nawabzada Haider is dressed up in his Pathan grandeur, with the family’s bejewelled heirloom sword; Navaid bhai is in a stunning rose ensemble and Begum Yaseen in delicate beige—the scene belongs to a different time, a few thousand years before 2020. The dynasty is inclusive as always, and the rites are performed in Shia and Sunni traditions. And then the gentle, lilting sound of “Qubool hai” from the bride’s veil confi rms her assent to the marriage to From top left: The wedding portrait of Nawab Kazim Ali Khan and Begum Yaseen Ali Khan; Begum Zamani clad in an intricately embroidered sharara for her nikah. The writer is the founding partner of Welcome Home Luxury Real Estate Services in New Delhi.

5 2 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 FROM THE ROYAL COOKBOOK Rewa in Madhya Pradesh used to be a hunting ground for maharajas, but few were privy to its recipes involving game meat. As the royal cuisine adapts to the times, GEETIKA SACHDEV samples its flavourful offerings. R OYA LT Y

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 5 3 M ADHYA PRADESH IS A treasure trove of stories, and if you dig deep enough, you might find previously untold tales of its rich history. Rewa, a city in the northwestern part of the state, is one such chapter. On the surface it might resemble any other hotbed of industrialisation, but its heart overflows with myriad legends. The kingdom of Rewa was the home of the blue-blooded Baghels, descendants of the Solanki clan, who ruled Gujarat from the 10th to the 13th century. A string of rajas and maharajas ruled this erstwhile princely state, the last being Maharaja Martand Singh Ju Deo, who was most famously known for capturing Mohan, the white tiger. In fact, the now-popular Bandhavgarh forest once served as the private hunting ground of the royals of Rewa. They would organise shikar, and the men would match their wits and courage with that of their quarry. After striking down their targets, the royals would boast about their records over slow-cooked game dishes prepared by their khansamas (royal cooks). It was this tradition of feasting and feeding others that gave birth to the glorious culinary heritage of Rewa. Maharaja Pushpraj Singh, the royal scion of Rewa says, “Earlier, the royal dishes were mostly nonvegetarian and revolved around game meat. So, an alternative was needed in this day and age. But the spices, style of cooking, and herbs used have been retained. Such delicacies are best served when their original flavour and style are not compromised.” FROM SOIL TO STOMACH The region of Baghelkhand, where Rewa sits, is a fertile and arable land, criss-crossed with rivers Son and Tons as well as their tributaries. This supports the growth of a variety of cereals, dals, and leafy vegetables that form an indispensable part of Bagheli cuisine. “River Son is an important tributary of River Ganga, and it flows through Sidhi and Shahdol, both of which are rich in black Maharaja Pushpraj Singh of Rewa holds up a Bagheli thali. Below: A plate of Indrahar without the gravy. Opposite: Spicy chicken biryani in a bowl. FROM LEF T: MARRYAM H RESHII; COURTESY OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF REWA . OPPOSITE PAGE: SHUT TERSTOCK

5 4 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 R OYA LT Y soil, sal forests, bamboo, and even mahua. River Tons flows through the lime belt of Rewa, known for its yellow cotton soil, which is conducive for the growth of wheat and other millets. On the last leg of its journey, it falls from the Vindhyan Plateau, traversing through the tip of the Northern Plains that grow the best varieties of rice,” adds the Maharaja. The star dish from the royal kitchens of Rewa is Indrahar, loosely translated as ‘food of the gods’. A culinary masterpiece, it is prepared using five lentils—arhar (pigeon pea), masoor (split red lentils), chana (split chickpeas), moong (yellow lentils), and urad (split black lentils) dal—coarsely ground using a silbatta (stone grinder). This mixture is then peppered with a variety of spices, including coriander powder, salt, turmeric, and garam masala, and left undisturbed to ferment overnight. The magic unfolds when these protein cakes are steamed and deep fried, before they are dunked in a curry whipped with gram flour. This delicacy can also be enjoyed as a cocktail snack—minus the gravy. Noted food critic Marryam H Reshii says of Rewa, “Their vegetarian dishes are exalting to the next level, Indrahar for instance. The royal family came seven centuries ago from Patan, Gujarat, so there’s a visible link between their vegetarian food. All over Gujarat, vegetarian food is very advanced; in fact, all the princely families, including the Muslim ones, prepare vegetarian dishes that are very sophisticated. Even in the case of Indrahar, the process is painstaking, much more than non-vegetarian dishes.” Bagheli chicken employs the use of numerous spices (top). Below: River Son’s water makes the land of Baghelkhand favourable for growing a variety of crops. CLOCKWISE: SHUT TERSTOCK (2); COURTESY OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF REWA

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 5 5 Another original delicacy of the region, Bagheli chicken, contains generous amounts of khada masala. It is made by dry roasting the spices and grinding them into a fine powder. The chicken dish is marinated in this and cooked low and slow. “We need to understand that most of the ingredients that are used as part of Bagheli cuisine are locally sourced and grown. Originally, the vintage recipes did not have use for chicken, because it wasn’t even available. It is the use of masalas like cardamom and cinnamon, which are found locally, and the technique in which it is cooked that makes the chicken different,” says Sonal Saxena, co-founder of Eat with India (eatwithindia.com). A typical Bagheli thali boasts an eclectic mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that might look simplistic but taste unique. The confluence of different cultures— Rajputana, Gujarati, and Afghani—is what makes the royal cuisine of Rewa singular. Whether it is the Son ki macchi (fish), Bagheli chicken, chane ki sabzi (vegetable made from chickpeas), aloo ka chokha (a spiced mashed potatoes dish), or laal saag (red spinach) enjoyed with missi berri roti, the flavours are sure to take your taste buds on a rollercoaster ride. The chutneys and other condiments are also prepared from farm-fresh ingredients such as flaxseeds or chana leaves. “The food of the royals in Rewa is nutritious and offers several health benefits. In any other royal kingdom, the richness of food is more important, whether it is the gravy or the overuse of dry fruits. In this part of the world, the simplicity of food is what stands out,” says Saxena. For Maharaja Pushpraj Singh, who is at the forefront of popularising the cuisine, it is important to preserve both tradition and taste. He doesn’t want a mishmash of vintage and contemporary dishes; the focus is on homegrown ingredients that are readily available, and on addding a unique quality to the dishes. PROMOTING CULINARY HERITAGE The royal spread of Rewa might have once been a well-kept secret, but today, consistent efforts are being made by Madhya Pradesh Tourism and the Maharaja of Rewa himself to take Bagheli cuisine to every nook and cranny of India. In the early part of 2020, two spectacular feasts were organised—one as part of MP Tourism’s The Royale Cuisine Festival in Bhopal, and the other in the heart of Delhi in association with Eat with India. Although they displayed a sharp contrast in setting, what stood out was the finesse with which the Maharaja of Rewa and his khansamas presented the vintage recipes in their (almost) original form. “There was a lot of curiosity and inquisitiveness in people, because they had never sampled anything of this sort before. Bagheli cuisine has not been heard of much, and it will take some time for it to get popular. The journey has begun, but there’s still a long way to go. It’s certainly a positive start,” adds Saxena. Rewa’s royalty is deeply entrenched in its unique cuisine, and the only fitting tribute would be to consume their edible stories. GETTING THERE The airports closest to Rewa are in Khajuraho (167 km), Prayagraj (171 km), Jabalpur (229 km), and Varanasi (231 km). You can hire a car or take a bus from any of these to reach Rewa. STAY Hotel Rewa Raj Vilas, owned by the Maharaja of Rewa, is situated in the heart of the city. Maharaja Suite from `3,500; maharajrewa.com A serving of chana masala. SHUTTERSTOCK

5 6 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 EXCLUSIVELY YOURS, SANTORINI A couple travels to the famous Greek island in winter to find it completely bereft of tourists, an unlikely but ideal scenario for a honeymoon. BY HUZAN TATA OFF SEASON

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 5 7 W E SIPPED ON OUR glasses of rosé and blue wine, sitting under a pergola at Pelican Kipos (pelicankipos.com), a garden restaurant with decor that comprised palm trees and vibrant blooms. The open air eatery was empty except for one couple dining in a far corner. In that quiet moment, we knew that our Greek getaway was going to follow this tranquil template. Just a little over an hour earlier, our 30-minute flight from Athens had touched down at Thira International Airport to kick-start the second leg of our winter honeymoon. As we walked out with our bags, my husband and I never imagined that we would get to experience our shared dream of living on our own private island in the middle of the Aegean Sea—even if just for two days. Santorini, the crescent-shaped volcanic locale famed for its sunset vistas and pristine white houses, is also known to be overcrowded with Santorini is a crescent-shaped Cyclades island in theAegean Sea. Below: Pelican Kipos is a garden restaurant sporting vibrant blossoms. tourists and cruise ships that usually dilute the perfect romantic holiday. We were prepared for this, but the five-minute drive to our villa through empty roads painted a different picture. “It’s off season, almost no one comes to vacation here. You’ll find only locals who live on the outskirts. This island is all yours,” our driver explained in a thick Greek accent. After a delectable lunch of potatoes au gratin, spinach-stuffed chicken, and grilled pork fillet, we headed to our restored 18th-century villa at one end of the main street of Fira, the capital of the island. Although it was the middle of the afternoon, a week before Christmas, there wasn’t a single human in sight. Fira’s main road, a bustling area in summer, could be mistaken for a ghost town in the cold months, but there’s something about winter that makes Santorini feel serene. FROM LEFT: ACHIM THOMAE/GETTYIMAGES; HUZAN TATA

5 8 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 A surreal sunset in Santorini. the white town makes for a beautiful sight, especially if you get to explore it in solitude and at your own pace. My husband and I took selfies at every corner, until we found a friendly local who photographed us under an arch of the lush pink blooms that dominate the town. After a walk through the winding alleys, a sign along the main street of Nikolaou Nomikou informed us that we had reached the ‘photo point’—in time for sunset hour. The changing colours of the skyline and After we got our fill of the azure waters from our private balcony, we headed north to Oia—on the northwestern tip of the island—in our rented hatchback for that sunset view we had read so much about. I’d first seen the white houses of this tiny, coastal Greek hamlet in a movie when I was 12, and I’d held on to the dream of walking its pathways on my honeymoon ever since. “Be prepared to be disappointed because of the rush and the difficulty to get a good photo,” I had read on a blog. “The view is marvellous, but the jostling of people for photos takes away from the experience,” a friend who had visited in summer told me. The shortest route from Fira to Oia takes just 20 minutes, but since there was no traffic, we enjoyed a leisurely long drive through the winding roads, swaying to country music as the cold December wind messed up my hair. We could go as fast or as slow as we wished— the island was our oyster. In the Monastiri neighbourhood, we walked along cobblestone pathways, lush bougainvillaeas providing shade and pops of colour. Several blue doors led to nowhere, and the whitewashed houses and shops were all shuttered down, save for a single gift shop. Rumour has it that the homes were painted white to prevent diseases from plaguing the town, since whitewash was the most affordable disinfectant. Another theory says that it was simply to keep the houses cool during summer. Whatever be the reason, FROM TOP: ALEXANDROS PHOTOS/GETTYIMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK The Greek Orthodox church of Panagia Platsani in Oia is a popular tourist site. OFF SEASON

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 5 9 From left: Sail to the famous White Beach and Red Beach in a catamaran; whitewashed houses and blue doors lend Oia an ethereal aura. A spanakopita (filo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta cheese) in one hand and the steering wheel in the other, we then drove to the highest part of the island, the Profitis Ilias Monastery, 565 metres above sea level. Winding roads and hairpin bends led us to our destination, but the church was shut. This was the downside of the off season, but we did score some postcardworthy panoramic views of the city. Our pre-booked luxury catamaran ride with Spiridakos Sailing Cruises (santoriniyachts.com) proved to be a great way to end our honeymoon. Three more couples were on the boat, but each of us got a private corner to enjoy the waves as we sipped on wines from a local vineyard. We sailed to the famous White Beach and Red Beach. On a brief stop at volcanic hot springs, we tucked into a lunch of Greek salad, pasta, shrimp, grilled chicken, and tzatziki, while goats and seagulls perched on black rocks nearby and stared at us curiously. As the sun went down and sunglasses were traded for sweaters, we watched, one last time, the orange Greek sky enveloping the island. As the world seeks physical distancing and private retreats in the wake of the pandemic, we now look back at those winter days in Santorini with much fondness. I hope all of us can find such islands of joy and pristine beauty all to ourselves, in the new world. the famed blue domes of Panagia Platsani and Anastasi Orthodox Church overlooking the caldera were ours to savour, exclusively. My husband had been wary of travelling to Europe in the off season, but on this evening of solitude, he learnt how fulfilling it was to be alone in a beautiful place like Santorini. I could see why the locals call the town Apano Meria— it’s truly ‘a place on top of the world’. At Kokkalo (kokkalosantorini.com), the sole open restaurant in Fira, we toasted to our evening in Oia with some Cretan raki—an aniseflavoured alcoholic beverage that warms you up with a single shot—and ended the night with some luscious lamb souvlaki. On our morning walk through the alleys of Fira the next day, we found ourselves following a path of nearly 300 steps to a cable car station. A stone statue of a donkey welcomed us inside, but no human was around. A few moments later, the official at the ticketing office stepped out, surprised at our appearance. A stowed away ticket machine suggested that no tourist had come this way in months. We headed down for a view of the volcanic islands from the old port, watching the whitewashed buildings of Fira shrink behind us. The port may be a vibrant place to hang out in the summer, but it is desolate in winter. The only human presence at the landing was a fisherman catching his wares close to the shore. There was none of the famous tourist jostling as we captured a picture of the magnificent seascape for posterity. GETTING THERE British Airways (britishairways.com) flies from Mumbai to Santorini via London. Alternatively, several international airlines, including Etihad (etihad. com) and Swiss Air (swissair.com), fly from major Indian cities to the Greek capital of Athens. Olympic Air (olympicair.com) has daily flights from Athens to Santorini. STAY Casa Santantonio is a restored 18th-century mansion in Fira that offers luxe apartments to couples and families all year round. All three rooms of the villa come with an outdoor jacuzzi and patio, and the honeymoon suite on the third level offers a brilliant view of the sea. From `9,000; casasantantonio.gr Andronis Luxury Suites offers the ultimate hotel experience to indulge yourself in the summer, with stunning views of the caldera. From `40,000; FROM LEFT: CRISTIAN BORTES/EYEEM/GETTYIMAGES; HUZAN TATA andronis-suites.com

60 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 D URING A CATAMARAN cruise off the coast of Bermuda, I fell into easy conversation with Kim Deuss, a young designer with sun-streaked blonde hair and a lifelong passion for the sea. She grew up on the island, then, after high school, got her BFA from Parsons School of Design and worked for various fashion companies in New York. “I was like many Bermuda kids, who long to get off the island and explore the world,” she said. But Deuss found the pull of home too strong, and last year returned to launch Daughters of Summer (daughters-of-summer.com), a chic swimwear brand that uses fabric made from plastics and other waste retrieved from landfi lls and the ocean. “Bermuda is small,” she said, “so we have this tight-knit group of creatives who are very supportive and collaborative, and that inspires me.” She gestures at the crystalline water around us, adding, “Of course, so does all of this wild beauty.” Deuss is just one of the young Bermudians opening businesses in droves, and the infl ux is re-energising the once-staid country. “There really is more opportunity than ever for folks to turn their talents and hobbies into self-employment,” said Genelle John, owner of Salt Spray Soap Co. (salt spray soap.com). Everything from salt scrubs to body oils is handmade in the back of the brand’s St. George store, using natural ingredients such as seawater that John collects from nearby St. Catherine’s Beach. “The days of having to stick to buying trinkets and T-shirts, choosing from a handful of hotels, and staying on the well-beaten path are long gone,” John adds. I witnessed this new energy fi rst-hand when I visited her bustling, sunfl ooded shop, where one employee was busy trimming magenta bars of Pink Colada soap (scented with pineapple, coconut, and lime) while the soulful voice of Bermudian singer Joy T Barnum played on the record player. STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE From an Instagram star who leads photo tours of secret spots to a herbalist who shows visitors how to cook what they forage, enterprising Bermudians are giving travellers an insider’s perspective of the island’s dynamic culture. BY JANCEE DUNN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MEREDITH ANDREWS Conservationist Weldon Wade keeps the invasive lionfi sh population in check on Southlands Beach. NEXT ACT

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 61 Myriad specialised activities and tours have also sprung up, ranging from the elegant sunset picnics thrown by artist Lizzy Blankendal (eettafel bermuda. com) to the African Diaspora Heritage Trail (gotobermuda.com), which explores monuments and historic sites connected to enslaved people brought to Bermuda from the West Indies and West Africa in the 1700s . One way to seek out these kinds of curated experiences is through the travel website Winnow (winnow.life/kiosk/vsc), cofounded by Alison Swan. Among its most popular listings: the four-hour insider photo tour led by photographer, model, and Instagram star Rachel Sawden. “Some of my favourite places are the ones even many locals don’t know about, like secret islands, or a scenic spot I found on Abbot’s Cliff,” she said as we explored the gorgeous pinksand beach at Frick’s Point. Bermuda’s reputation as an adventure destination is also growing. More than 300 shipwrecks can be explored in the reefs off its coast, and other aquatic pursuits include cliff jumping and helmet diving (which involves walking along the ocean fl oor while wearing glass-sided headgear attached to an oxygen hose). “Jumping off the docks and rocks is a Bermudian pastime,” conservationist and free diver Weldon Wade told me. “We also have the healthiest, most abundant reef in the region.” Through his organisation Guardians of the Reef (fb.com/guardians ofthe reef), Wade hosts an annual spearfi shing tournament to tame the invasive lionfi sh population, as well as seasonal beach clean-ups. To observe wildlife on the open seas, travellers can join the Bermuda Abbot’s Cliff is one of the under-theradar spots to which Rachel Sawden (right pic) takes budding photographers.

6 2 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 NEXT ACT Hamilton B e rm u d a ATLANTIC OCEAN Doreen WilliamsJames gathers edible plants and herbs on one of her foraging tours. Zoological Society (bamz.org) aboard its research vessel, Endurance. A five-hour excursion on the gleaming-white, 14-metre boat offers the opportunity to see a cahow, one of the rarest seabirds in the world. It is known as a ‘Lazarus species’—thought to be extinct for more than 300 years until it was rediscovered in 1951 on the isolated and ruggedly beautiful Nonsuch Island, off Bermuda’s northeastern coast. The country’s new energy also extends to its dynamic, ingredient-driven culinary scene, which is supported in large part by its dozenplus farms. The Birdcage (thebirdcagebda.com), a rooftop bar with pink chairs and dazzling views of Hamilton Harbour, uses mint and other foraged ingredients in its craft cocktails, along with locally grown passion fruit, allspice, and hibiscus. At OM Juicery (omjuicery.net), healthand-fitness coach Preston James Ephraim II whips up vegan burgers with his own special sauce, soup from homegrown pumpkins and squash, and a tart, velvety vegan blackberry cheesecake that I devoured in under a minute. Those who want to get even more closely acquainted with Bermuda’s nascent farm-totable scene can seek out Wild Herbs N Plants of Bermuda (tours `2,575, workshops `4,785; wild herbsnplantsofbda.com). Owner Doreen Williams-James, who leads 90-minute foraging tours, said, “People are truly amazed at what they can find here in Bermuda that’s edible.” So far, she’s made a list of more than 60 plants and herbs, which she showcases during cooking workshops that include courses like sorbet made with indigenous prickly pears. The number of millennial visitors is rising, thanks to several factors. Affordable Airbnbs are plentiful, zippy two-seat electric rental cars called Twizys offer an easy mode of transportation, and a new visa programme gives digital nomads the chance to spend a year working remotely from the island. Another plus: customs forms can now be completed online to whisk visitors through L. F. Wade International Airport, making the country that much easier to visit. Even Bermuda shorts are newly hip, featured in seemingly every runway collection, including Tom Ford’s. To support the rising interest, older hotels such as the Rosewood Bermuda (doubles from `46,000; rosewoodhotels.com), in Tucker’s Point, have gotten a stylish refresh. The reborn icon swapped its faded pink colour scheme for a clean, bright palette punctuated by pops of deep blue. There have also been recent debuts, like the Azura Hotel (doubles from `27,235; azura bermuda.com), which sits on a pristine private beach but is still just 10 minutes from the capital, Hamilton. The property has 22 rooms done up in creamy white with floor-to-ceiling oceanfront windows that may afford glimpses—if you’re lucky—of migrating humpback whales. “After being away from Bermuda and returning,” Deuss said as we towelled off from our swim, “I’ve realised that this is my happy place.” ILLUSTRATION BY LOLITH T.K.

TRAVELANDLE ISURE INDIA.IN 6 3 RAISING THE BAR Cognac, the corner of southwestern France best known for its brandy, has long held fast to tradition. But as young chefs, winegrowers, and distillers shake up the status quo, the region is learning to embrace innovation—without losing its old-fashioned spirit. BY JASON WILSON ELCOME TO the turn of the 20th century,” said my guide, Marielle Chopin-Pascaud, as I entered the tasting room of BacheGabrielsen (bache-gabrielsen.com), on a quiet street in downtown Cognac. As four generations of Bache-Gabrielsens stared down at me from black-and-white portraits, I sipped the double-distilled brandy that bears the name of this city and region. Blended from spirits dating as far back as World War I, the drink offered a complex taste from another era: rich, unctuous, with evocative aromas and flavours of well-worn leather, dark tobacco, antique furniture. It was the sort of brandy you’d imagine a man in a smoking jacket might drink from a snifter while sitting before a roaring fire. But as we descended into the cellars, we entered the 21st century. Isaw Cognacs aged in amphorae, like the orange winesthat have become the rage at natural-wine Clockwise from left: Sampling Cognac at Hine, in the town of Jarnac; the St Jacques Gate, on the banks of River Charente in the city of Cognac; tartare with tomatoes and smoked dashi at Poulpette; a bartender at Bar Louise. PHOTOGRAPHS BY CÉLINE CLANET HIGH SPIRITS

6 4 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 HIGH SPIRITS F r a n c e Bordeaux Cognac Paris BAY OF BISCAY Guinguet, the rooftop bar at Hôtel Chais Monnet & Spa, in downtown Cognac. bars. Some were treated like bourbon, aged in American oak rather than French—a heresy in this tradition-minded place. “We want to be an audacious house,” Chopin-Pascaud told me. That sort of quiet but radical innovation has become the norm. As a city, Cognac—which sits on the banks of the languid Charente, at the heart of the appellation of the same name—had always been a sleepy destination, the sort of place that rolled up the sidewalks at 10 pm. A decade ago, while running up a hefty tab with friends at a local bar, I remember being asked to leave because the staff wanted to close early. In the aughts, a friend who’d moved from Paris nearly went crazy with boredom and fled. But on the heels of the cocktail renaissance, people are seeking out spirits destinations the same way previous generations flocked to wine regions. Cognac is now a must-visit, much like Kentucky’s bourbon trail or the scotch circuit in Scotland, and the city is responding accordingly. New accommodations are opening, including Hôtel Chais Monnet & Spa (doubles from `26,190; chaismonnethotel.com), Cognac’s first high-end property. Beyond its gleaming glass-and-iron facade, limestone walls and wood beams recall the building’s days as a 19th-century brandy cellar. The restaurant and bar landscape is shifting, too. Poulpette (entrées `1,550–`2,360; poulpette. com), with its steel accents and open kitchen, is a showcase for an ever-changing menu that blends southwestern French food—duck tartare, foie gras—with subtle Japanese influences. Cocktail spots Bar Luciole (bar-luciole.com) and Bar Louise (barlouise.com) riff on standbys like the Sidecar in ways that still honour the region’s namesake spirit. All this new energy complements stalwarts like the Michelin-starred La Ribaudière (entrées `3,320–`3,835; laribaudiere.com) in nearby Bourg-Charente, where chef Thierry Verrat has been serving classical French cuisine for more than 30 years. There’s also been a revolution in distilling, with craft producers breaking the stereotypes of what brandy is meant to be—and who it’s for. At Bar Luciole, I met Jean and Amy Pasquet of Pasquet Cognac (cognac-pasquet.com), a storied house that has been in Jean’s family since 1730. They were hosting an oysters-andCognac happy hour with their new line of organic, younger brandies (labelled as 04, 07, or 10 years, rather than with the traditional alphabet soup of VS, VSOP, XO, and so on). There were DJ sets, and not a snifter or smoking jacket in sight. These smaller producers are stepping out from the shadows of the ‘big four’—Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Martell, and Courvoisier—which together control 90 per cent of the market. The giants have always run boutique tasting rooms akin to high-end jewellery stores, but even they have had to adapt. Last year, the 300-year-old Maison Martell (martell.com) opened Martell the Journey, a multimedia experience with a 360° projection of vineyards, life-size videos of winegrowers and barrel makers, and interactive games that immerse visitors in the spirit’s aromas, sounds, and tastes. There’s still a slow, stately pace of life in Cognac that I admire: wandering the Jardin Public or taking the path along the Charente to the 10th-century Château Royal de Cognac (chateau royal de cognac.com), or exploring cobwebbed cellars where barrels of brandy GETTING THERE & AROUND Most travellers fly in to Paris, then rent a car or hop the high-speed TGV (sncf.com) to reach Cognac, changing trains at Angoulême. It’s also possible to combine a few days in Cognac with a winefocussed trip to Bordeaux, around 96 kilometres south. ILLUSTRATION BY LOLITH T.K.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 6 5 have matured for decades. The newcomers aren’t erasing the past—merely expanding the vision of what Cognac can be. The appellation doesn’t reveal itself fully until you drive into the countryside, past hundreds of vineyards that produce the (rather unremarkable) wine that, after distillation and ageing, becomes an exquisite brandy. One of my favourite excursions is to Jarnac, a village on the Charente with cobblestone streets lined with boulangeries and patisseries. At the 14-room Hotel Ligaro (doubles from `12,175; hotel-ligaro.com), co-owner Caroline Rooney helped me plan a walking tour of the riverfront, which is home to some of the world’s most important Cognac houses, including Courvoisier (courvoisier.com), Delamain (delamaincognac.com), Hine (hinecognac.com), and Braastad-Tiffon (braastad.com). Between tastings, the sunny Le Verre y Table (entrées `1,992–`2,508; restaurant-leverre ytable.com) was the ideal spot for lunch, with a lighter take on the local cuisine. Near the town of Segonzac, I visited Guillon-Painturaud (cognac-guillonpainturaud.fr), an estate that dates to 1610 and is now run by Line Guillon-Painturaud, one of Cognac’s few female master distillers. She’s also one of the dwindling number still producing Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine made by adding Cognac to grape juice that’s just begun to ferment. We shared a Pineau that had been aged since the late 1980s, still bright and lively. “These days, producers need to sell more Cognac to meet demand,” she said. “So there’s little left for Pineau.” Farther east, in Gondeville, lies the estate of Jacky Navarre ([email protected]), known among Cognac producers as the last of the purists. Navarre’s dedication to his craft is legendary, a point driven home by the bed next to the wood-fired still in his distillery. We tasted a Cognac made from grapes that his grandfather had harvested in 1925 and his family had bottled in 1975. For a spirits geek like me, it was a religious experience. One of Navarre’s finest bottlings, the stunning Navarre Souvenir Impérial Très Vieille Réserve Hors d’Age, could win an award for sheer number of confusing traditional terms on a label. “Instead of trying to re-create what the consumer wants,” he told me, “I make what I want and like, and I hope the customer will like it, too.” That attitude, of course, runs counter to the more innovative impulse that’s on display elsewhere in the region. It’s a tricky balance. Cognac doesn’t want to lose its soul, but evolution is a matter of survival. As I saw at Bache-Gabrielsen, balance is possible. One of the last Cognacs that ChopinPascaud poured was from the 1971 vintage—just a year younger than me—that had been aged in barrels for almost four decades. Sometimes, on rare occasions, very old Cognac begins to take on flavours of tropical fruit and flowers, and this one was practically wearing an aloha shirt. Sitting in the century-old tasting room, I found it to be both modern and classic, old and new. It was the opposite of buttoned-up, boring Cognac. It was impossible not to love. The city of Cognac as seen from Indigo, the rooftop bar at Maison Martell. Master distiller Line Guillon-Painturaud in the cellar at her family’s 410-year-old Cognac estate.

66 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 PILGRIMAGE A woman walks through Harar Jugol, the ancient walled heart of the city. M Y FIRST GLIMPSE of Harar was through a late-afternoon haze, a balmy veil that blurred the pinks, blues, and greens of the old city’s walls. It was a few days before Ramadan, and around every corner, residents were rejuvenating sun-blanched façades with fresh coats of paint in preparation for the holy month. Harar Jugol, the labyrinthine walled quarter, seemed to twist the sunlight like a prism, beaming it out into a rainbow of lanes. One colourful path deposited me at a spice market perfumed with frankincense, berbere, cloves, and cardamom. Another led to a mansion with a grand exterior of mahogany and stained glass. It had wood carvings of the Hindu gods Krishna and Ganesh over the threshold, a legacy of the Indian merchant who built the home. Elsewhere in the medina, I took respite from the heat under a sycamore tree and murmured a prayer at the tomb of Harar’s patron saint, Sheikh Abadir. A stroll down Mekina Girgir—a street that gets its onomatopoeic name from the rhythmic rattle of sewing machines—ended at a busy square, where I caught a marching band parading past, led by a baton-twirling majorette. When I began plotting a side trip from Addis Ababa, Harar hadn’t initially been on my radar. I wanted to see the rock churches of Lalibela, the palaces of Gonder, the expanse of the Danakil Depression—but that dream Ethiopian itinerary required two weeks, and I only had two days to spare. Then someone mentioned a millennia-old walled town to the east, said to be Islam’s fourthholiest city. It wasn’t what I’d expected to fi nd in one of the oldest Christian countries on the planet, IN THE CITY OF SAINTS On a journey to Ethiopia, SARAH KHAN wanders the ancient alleyways of Harar and fi nds a new link to her faith—one that makes even the most far-fl ung place feel familiar. PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAHEDER HAILESELASSIE

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 67 Street vendors frying bombolini in Harar’s old city. Hayya al-falah. Hurry to prayer, hurry to salvation. I felt the joyful fl utter of recognition. At the Sherif Harar City Museum, I browsed coins from Axum, Austria, India, Great Britain, Egypt, and Italy—evidence of Harar’s heyday as a trading hub. While the city has a handful of interesting museums, the better way to fi nd traces of its multicultural background is by sampling its street food. One vendor fried falafel under a faded blue awning. Nearby, a woman bent over a basket of glistening samosas . A young boy plucked bombolini, piping-hot Italian doughnuts, from a cauldron, stringing them like pearls along a skewer. I had ful medames, a fava-bean stew, for breakfast, then stopped at a pharmacy to chase it with a macchiato. As a crossroads where the Harla tribe, Arab emirs, European explorers, and Indian merchants converged, Harar appears frequently in the footnotes of history. Look up Haile Selassie and you’ll fi nd a nod to Harar as the emperor’s childhood home (his one-time residence now houses the aforementioned city museum). Read about Richard Francis Burton and you’ll learn how the British explorer breached the city—closed to non-Muslims until the late 19th century—disguised as an Arab merchant. Search for Arthur Rimbaud and there’s a mention of the French poet’s turn as a Harar-based gunrunner (the Arthur Rimbaud Center showcases his photos of the city). On Ethiopia’s tourist circuit, Harar has become known for its spotted hyenas—and the ‘hyena men’, who hand-feed raw meat to the wild animals, a tradition that began generations ago as a way to deter attacks on livestock. “Humans and hyenas have been living side by side for centuries,” said my guide, Biniyam Fiyato, as he led me to one of the city’s feeding grounds to watch the nightly ritual. “Even when the walled city was locked, hyenas would enter through drainage holes and roam the alleys.” At the sound of a whistle, dozens of hyenas slinked out of the darkness, their eyes lit by the headlights of idling vans. These feedings have become the city’s tourist calling card, but the spectacle of it all left me wanting a last glimpse of Harar that was free of theatrics or artifi ce. I found what I was seeking the next day in the 16th-century Jama Mosque, in the quiet hours between Zuhr and Asr, the afternoon prayers, when the hall stood silent. I prayed in solitude amid the white and green arches, reciting words I’ve repeated everywhere from Hyderabad to Honolulu—and now, Harar. No matter where I am, in a mosque, I’m home . but then, the Muslim world is more of a nebulous idea than a cartographic reality. As a practising Muslim, I’ve found that Islam has become one of many lenses through which I see the world, as much a part of my travels as food or art. Whether I’m seeking out peaceful interludes at mosques in Buenos Aires or Minneapolis or exploring predominantly Muslim destinations like Zanzibar or Bosnia, I try to infuse my travels with a bit of local Islamic history and culture. Many places vie for the title of Islam’s fourthholiest city (after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem), but Harar Jugol, founded by Arab traders in the 10th century, has UNESCO credentials bolstering its claim. It is said to have the world’s highest concentration of mosques, with at least 82 scattered across 118 acres. The many shrines have earned Harar the nickname City of Saints. Islam has been woven into the fabric of Ethiopia as long as the religion has existed. Fleeing persecution in 613 BC, followers of the Prophet Muhammad sought refuge in the kingdom of Axum, in northern Ethiopia; when Harar was founded centuries later, it became an important locus for the faith in East Africa. At sunset, the familiar Arabic summons of the adhaan swelled above torrents of Harari and Amharic chatter in the streets. Hayya as-salah, GETTING THERE & AROUND Harar is a one-hour flight from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. On the ground, the city’s maze-like layout and lack of addresses can make navigation tricky, so a guide is essential. Habtamu Bekele of Adinas Agera Tour & Travel (adinas tour.com) can plan both multi-day Ethio pian itineraries and one-off city tours. ILLUSTRATION BY MEGHNA PATWAL ARABIAN SEA SOMALIA DJIBOUTI Addis Ababa Harar E t h i o p i a

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SHUTTERSTOCK KEEP THE COLD AT BAY BEAUTY p 74 WINTER ROUTINES SKINCARE p 70 WELLNESS &SPAS

70 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 SKINCARE Wellness & Spas T URNING ITS GAZE towards a common household ingredient, ITC Grand Goa recommends a cashew nut ritual for your winter skincare routine. Begin with a cashew kernel scrub mixed with oils to exfoliate and cleanse the skin. Apply it on the body generously, then wipe it off using a warm towel. Slather your body with cashew nut paste and fresh apricot. This helps the proteins and the essential minerals to seep into the epidermis, leading to smooth skin. Follow this with a coldcompressed virgin cashew oil massage to restore natural moisture and prevent damage. The oils— replete with Vitamin E—reverse ageing, while ITC Grand Goa HOME INDULGENCE As many spas remain closed due to the pandemic, it is time to take winter skincare into your own hands. Wellness experts from luxury hotels across the country share easy-to-follow rituals. BY BAYAR JAIN iron and phosphorus are ideal antidotes for cracked heels and fungal infections. Recreating this indulgent experience and amping it up with luxurious elements is the Cashew Ritual available at the property’s Kaya Kalp spa. itchotels.in FROM TOP: SHUTTERSTOCK; COURTESY OF ITC HOTELS

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 71 The Lodhi F OR ATHINI KASHE,spa director of The Lodhi, New Delhi, skin nourishment should take centre stage during winter. Using a mild moisturiser to balance the skin’s pH levels is step one, which should be paired with an alcohol-free toner. “Rosewater can be used, as it has hydrating and clarifying properties,” she says. To prevent flakiness, Kashe suggests you start with a serum and then apply a heavy cream-based moisturiser, replete with emollients. For acne-prone skin, look for lighter products. To ensure healthy, glowing skin and to neutralise free radicals, choose a night cream that is loaded with Vitamin C, anti-ageing properties, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants. thelodhi.com THE RITZ-CARLTON BANGALORE ASSISTANT SPA MANAGER at The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore, Tamyaola M S, advises oil-based foaming cleansers to facilitate skin hydration. “Winter months tend to make the skin dry. You must always remember to use ultrahydrating moisturisers or opt for oils like olive or coconut to nourish your skin. Don’t forget to apply a good sunscreen—even when you are indoors—as the winter sun can be very harsh.” Dryness aside, Tamyaola advises weekly exfoliation, particularly to combat dead skin. While scrubbing elbows, knees, ankles, and feet, use ground oatmeal with honey. Applying a homemade avocado and olive oil mask nourishes the FROM TOP: COURTESY OF THE LODHI; COURTESY OF ITC HOTELS; COURTESY OF THE RITZ-CARLTON skin too. ritzcarlton.com

7 2 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 T O PREVENT SKIN DEHYDRATION, experts at Roseate Hotels & Resorts recommend using a soyabean body scrub mixed with almond powder, oatmeal, and warm milk. Alternatively, massaging the body with warm olive oil before taking a shower achieves the same result—provided one moisturises post cleansing. By doing so, the skin’s elasticity is maintained and it attains a natural glow. For best results, apply a mix of gram flour, honey, and warm milk for 10 minutes post showering or scrubbing. Apart from enhancing the skin’s glow, this pack also facilitates skin tightening. roseatehotels.com Roseate Hotels & Resorts SKINCARE Wellness & Spas HYATT REGENCY PUNE & RESIDENCES ACCORDING TO Hyatt Regency Pune & Residences’ spa manager, Gautam Singh, an extravagant winter skincare routine is not a mandatory requirement. Instead, simple lifestyle changes can help. Apart from including seasonal fruits and vegetables— particularly antioxidant-rich berries—in your daily diet, Singh says that you should avoid hot showers. “Instead, use lukewarm water to bathe as hot water can make your skin dry.” To ensure proper skin hydration, invest in a humidifier and avoid using any alcohol-based face masks and peels. Rely on moisturising cleansers to help soothe your skin. hyatt.com

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 7 3 Hyatt Regency Kolkata N ITIN DOIPHODE, Hyatt Regency Kolkata’s spa manager, feels that apart from using moisturisers generously, you must also apply a radiance-boosting facial oil thrice a week during winter. In doing so, you will end up banishing dullness as your epidermis receives proper nourishment. Switching to ginger tea, green tea, or select red wines also helps. “Warm sangria, if consumed in moderation, works wonders, thanks to its powerful antioxidants, polyphenols, and flavonoids that prevent ageing.” Adding foods rich in vitamin A and vitamin C to your diet will help your skin glow. hyatt.com EARTHEN WELLNESS MANY OF YOU MAY experience acne breakouts during the colder months. Because of dryness in the air, the skin tends to secrete more oil. To combat this, Earthen Wellness, a medical spa in Bengaluru, advises using red sandalwood powder as a face mask and face scrub twice a week. To apply this, take a tablespoon of the Earthen Wellness Kamadhenu Rakthachandana powder and mix it with two tablespoons of honey to make a fine paste. Apply this on your face and scrub off gently after five minutes for thorough exfoliation. Another alternative is saffron oil-based massages. Known as an Ayurvedic elixir for beautiful skin, this oil guarantees glow and minimises acne FROM TOP: SHUTTERSTOCK; COURTESY OF HYATT; COURTESY OF EARTHEN WELLNESS. OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE: COURTESY OF HYATT; COURTESY OF ROSEATE HOTELS & RESORTS; COURTESY OF HYATT scars. earthenwellness.com

74 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 Clean Beauty Argan Oil BB Foundation Stick - Oak, MyGlamm, `950 (5.8 gm); myglamm.com a-Essentiel sture Replenishing p Balm, Clarins, `1,967 (15 ml); allbeauty.com BEAUTY Wellness & Spas WINTER FAVOURITES This January, fi ll your vanity bag with plush lip balms, creamy moisturisers, and smoothening scrubs. BY PRIYANKA CHAKRABARTI Discover the secrets to maintaining flawless skin in the cold weather. SHUTTERSTOCK Eight Hour® Cream Intensive Moisturizing Body Treatment, Elizabeth Arden, `2,081 (200 ml); elizabetharden.com Milk & Honey Gold Smoothing Hand Scrub, Oriflame, `249 (75 ml); in.oriflame.com Bienfait Multi-Vital SPF 30 Day Cream, Lancôme, `3,864 (50 ml); lancome-usa.com Duh – Elixir Face Glow Serum, Digvijaya Herbals, `649 (15 ml); digvijayaherbals.com Essential Energy Moisturizing Cream, Shiseido, `3,700 (50 ml); sephora.nnnow.com A Thousand Wishes Bubble Bath, Bath & Body Works, `1,499 (295 ml); bathandbodyworks.in Grand Finale Dewy Setting Mist, SUGAR Cosmetics, `699 (50 ml); Retinol Youth in.sugarcosmetics.com Renewal Eye Serum, Murad, `7,050 (15 ml); nykaa.com

TRAVELANDLE ISURE INDIA.IN 75 ROBERTO FRANKENBERG Vineyards in Sancerre, Loire Valley, France. Travel + Leisure India & South Asia ENGLAND OVER HILL, OVER DALE P. 76 FRANCE NATURAL SOPHISTICATION P. 88 JANUARY 2021

OVER HILL,

OVER The wild, windswept landscapes and industrial-age towns of Yorkshire, in northeastern DALE England, might seem like an unlikely setting for a cultural and culinary groundswell. But in fact, as JOSHUA LEVINE finds, this has always been a place that fosters proudly unexpected points of view. PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY Henry Moore’s Large Two Forms, on display in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

well-ordered Methodist towns of West Yorkshire, this county goes a long way towards justifying its billing. Bear in mind, this is not Keats’s “beaker full of the warm south.” It is bracing northern beer, and that’s the way the locals like it. “The landscape has a strong character, and so does the local accent,” the TV writer Sally Wainwright told me over e-mail. “ ‘God’s own country’ is kind of a joke, but it’s also a strong identity.” It was Wainwright who indirectly beckoned me here through my television. On a fine morning last fall just outside Halifax, not far from where she grew up, I found a bunch of other visitors waiting in line to enter Shibden Hall. Grantley Hall, a stately home near the city of Ripon that was converted into a hotel last year. people of Yorkshire call their region “God’s own country,” as they have for centuries, it conveys several meanings. One carries a hint of smugness: these are among the most county-proud citizens in all of England. Another meaning, only slightly contradictory, is gently ironic. The men and women of this sprawling northern county— England’s largest—are known for their selfdeprecating humour, and love to stick a pin in any kind of puffery, especially their own. To a visitor like myself, however, the most obvious meaning is rooted in plain fact. From its deep-green dales to the windswept moors of Brontë country in the South Pennines and the W H E N T H E GOOD

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 7 9 A dessert of damson-plum parfait, buckwheat praline, and Chantilly cream at the Black Swan pub, in Oldstead. Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, one of four restaurants at the hotel. This 15th-century estate is the setting for a BBC TV series Wainwright created called Gentleman Jack, and it turns out its popularity has set off a small tourist stampede. Gentleman Jack is based on a real person named Anne Lister, who inherited Shibden Hall in the early 1800s. She was a lesbian, and, as her nickname suggests, she didn’t try very hard to hide it. Not for Lister the melancholy vapours of the closet; this is Yorkshire, home of the brave and unabashed. Lister proved a shrewd business owner, not to mention a diligent seductress of local gentlewomen. All this she set down in voluminous diaries (rendering the naughty bits in a code of her own devising that wasn’t cracked until over a century later). Even if you’re not a Gentleman Jack fan, Shibden Hall is well worth visiting. It’s a fine half-timbered manor with rich panelling and coffered ceilings the colour of mink. When she wasn’t pursuing romantic conquests, the reallife Anne Lister was making money, and much of it ended up being spent on the house. As a motivation to hike through Shibden Hall’s extensive parkland, there’s the prospect of ending up for lunch at the Shibden Mill Inn nearby. Like much else in the county, Yorkshire cuisine is not prissy, but this pub serves comfort food with particular vigour. My pork chop arrived with gammon crumble, saltbaked carrot, pickled carrot, sticky toffee pudding puree, and cider cream. It was a lot harder waddling back from the pub than it was walking there. It turns out there’s also a Sally Wainwright link to Holdsworth House, the hotel I stayed at in Halifax. The handsome Jacobean manor served as a backdrop for an earlier Wainwright TV drama, Last Tango in Halifax. This is not surprising. The sandstone building, which dates back to the early 1600s, makes for a telegenic setting: the interiors are low-slung and woodsy; the large gardens, set off with stone ornaments and box hedges, are delightful. As I sat outside in the warm twilight, several young couples walked through on wedding-planning missions. Good luck to

8 0 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 them—they picked a splendid place to embark on married life. Halifax sits at the heart of West Yorkshire, which is what locals call the populous southwestern end of the county. This is a textilemilling and coal-mining region, or at least it was in England’s 19th-century industrial heyday. A lone smokestack, jutting up like a spire, is often your first view of a village nestled in a West Yorkshire valley. Those industries are long gone, but they’ve left reminders of a bustling past all over the region. Piece Hall, in the centre of Halifax, is where merchants came to trade their woollen goods. Its two levels of colonnaded galleries arranged around a vast open square were recently converted into a mall of pubs, cafes, and shops. This striking public space, originally built in 1779, manages to look surprisingly modern. Methodism sank deep roots in Yorkshire, and while its stern doctrine wasn’t a lot of fun, its aesthetics have aged well. The minimalist architect John Pawson, who made his name with the old Calvin Klein store on Madison Avenue, grew up a stone’s throw from here. (“Piece Hall is fantastic,” Pawson once told me in an interview, adding that as a child, its straight lines engraved themselves on his brain.) The industry and landscape of Yorkshire also left their marks on two giants of modern sculpture, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, both of whom were raised here. That in itself is enough to certify the county’s claim to be the UK’s unofficial sculpture capital—one it asserts every summer in a wonderful festival, the Yorkshire Sculpture International. (Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event went mostly online for 2020, though most participating venues had reopened by late summer.) A short drive east from Halifax is the Hepworth Wakefield. The museum is a jewel, opened in 2011 and housed in a blocky building by David Chipperfield that’s a pretty fine sculpture itself. Inside, you can find the hollowed-out forms Hepworth carved in wood to reveal that a sculpture can have its own organic interior. The idea felt brave and fresh in the 1960s, and it still does. I missed the Henry Moore Institute in nearby Leeds, preferring to steer clear of Yorkshire’s biggest city, but I can’t imagine a better setting for Moore’s monumental Reclining Woman than the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, just outside Wakefield. Scattered among 500 acres of grassland and woodland on the old Bretton Estate are dozens of immense, sometimes startling objects. The juxtaposition of modern sculpture and grazing sheep is idyllic—if occasionally jarring. I will not soon forget gazing out over the pasture while contemplating the exposed unicorn innards of Damien Hirst’s Myth. I drove back to Halifax through the village of Hebden Bridge, which has been beckoning bohemians and hipsters from all over England for some time now. It’s clear right away that this is not your typical sober Yorkshire mill town; window and doorframes are painted blue, orange, green, and purple. The main drag could have been transplanted from Brooklyn—the artisanal soap maker, the bike shop, the vegetarian cafe—and I’m told housing in town is getting just as pricey. How hip is Hebden Bridge? When the Calder River flooded in 2012, Patti Smith flew in to play a benefit at the tiny Trades Club, considered one of England’s best music venues. Just outside of town, a charming gastropub called Stubbing Wharf straddles a sliver of land between the Calder River and YORKSHIRE London Manchester Leeds E n g l a n d WALES ENGLISH CHANNEL ILLUSTRATION BY LOLITH T.K.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway has had starring roles in multiple TV and film productions.

8 2 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 8 3 Fountains Abbey, in York, is one of the largest—and most impressive—monastic ruins in the UK. the Rochdale Canal. I wanted to stop here for lunch because former poet laureate Ted Hughes, another local son, wrote a dreary poem called Stubbing Wharfe about eating here with his wife, the writer Sylvia Plath, when the couple were living in Hebden Bridge. “This gloomy memorial of a valley” is what he called the region in his poem. “A gorge of ruined mills and abandoned chapels.” That’s not the view from Stubbing Wharf today. Outside, a steady stream of hikers clomped merrily past my table along the canal towpath. The pub’s monstrous portion of fish-and-chips was excellent. Plath, though one of the most celebrated female poets of all time, merits barely a footnote in Hebden’s past. Instead, Hebden Bridge is known as an LGBTQ-friendly town, and celebrates its reputation as the lesbian capital of the UK. THE AREA JUST NORTH of West Yorkshire, where I headed next, looked like a big, empty splotch of green on my Google Map. This is the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a broad expanse of rolling hills and shaded valleys (known locally as dales) broken up by low stone walls and clear, swift streams. Here, beauty exists in perfect balance, neither too tame nor too savage. Grantley Hall, just outside the town of Ripon, lies right on the edge of Nidderdale, a corner of the Dales considered so sublime that Her Majesty’s government added its approval to God’s by designating it an AONB, or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Grantley Hall’s current owner, Valeria Sykes, relaunched the stately Palladian mansion as a hotel just last year. Sykes, now 76, grew up a coal miner’s daughter in Barnsley, down south in Yorkshire. In 2012, she divorced her exceedingly rich husband and spent a reported $90 million of her settlement doing up Grantley Hall good and proper. “I wanted to put Yorkshire on the luxury map,” Sykes said in one newspaper interview. I stayed in one of the plush grand suites overlooking the endless front lawn with its traditional ha-ha. (What is a ha-ha, you ask? It is a steep drop-off that prevents sheep from wandering up to the front door, designed to be invisible so as not to mar the view. Of course, if you don’t know it’s there, you fall in. Ha ha.) The structure itself needs little help to shine. It was owned and added to by a succession of men who were good at making money and wanted people to know it. Thomas Norton kicked things off in about 1710, when he began work on the original building. In 1760, his son Fletcher Norton, an avaricious lawyer known locally as Sir Bullface Doublefee, extended Grantley Hall out sideways, the better to fan his plumage. “It’s all frontage— look at me, look at me!” says Anne Harrison, the hotel’s head of guest relations and its unofficial historian. “All the Norton men were unpleasant.” Portraits of a few of these feckless rotters line the wall on the way to dinner, along with the portrait of another of the doughty women who seem to keep popping up in Yorkshire. This one was Caroline Norton, wife of Fletcher’s even more odious grandson George. In 1836, Caroline left George, who then denied her any property or access to their three children. Norton fought back, and her ceaseless pleas to Parliament led eventually to the

8 4 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 passage of landmark feminist legislation. Many Englishwomen, Valeria Sykes not least among them, owe her a debt. THE FOOD GAME IN YORKSHIRE is lively and played for high stakes. There are more Michelin stars here—five in all—than in any other county in the UK outside of London. In hiring Shaun Rankin, Grantley Hall clearly means to up Yorkshire’s count. (Rankin already won a star for Bohemia, on the Channel Island of Jersey.) Rankin has said that he aims to fill his market basket within 40 kilometres of the hotel. This is not such a tight straitjacket: Yorkshire’s beef and lamb are renowned, and its produce is bountiful. There are exceptions to Rankin’s rule, of course— Wensleydale, home of one of England’s iconic cheeses, is 56 kilometres away. But vanilla, which grows in Madagascar, doesn’t come anywhere close. Rankin was raised in North Yorkshire, and he knows his way around its woods. So he makes his ‘vanilla’ ice cream from a locally available herb called woodruff, which has a similar flavour. Driving straight east from Ripon, away from the Dales, you cross Dere Street, which is the modern name for the old Roman road that splits Yorkshire lengthwise. On the far side of this thoroughfare, the character of the land changes strongly and quickly. Glades give way to bare, low hills that roll eastward to the North Sea. Before long, you enter the uplands of North York Moors National Park, which in September are quilted purple with heather. It’s a sadder, lonelier landscape than the Dales, but equally beautiful. There are many ways to take it in, but the quaintest and most romantic must surely be the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. A charitable trust now operates the old steam and diesel trains that make the 29-kilometre run over the moors from Pickering to Whitby. Hokey as it may be, I find it difficult to resist the chugging and clanking of the old locomotives—mine was the Repton No. 926 from 1934—or the great plumes of smoke that rise up as you pull into country stations like Goathland, which stood in for Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter movies. More than one grown man let loose with a “whoo whoo!” as the Repton 926 blew its steam whistle. The moors meet the sea at Whitby, where the railroad line ends. There I toured the supremely haunting Whitby Abbey, which glowers over the town and the gray waves from high on the cliffs. To see the roofless nave backlit against low clouds provokes an involuntary shudder. The monastery was founded by the Abbess Hild in 657, which makes her perhaps the original eminent Yorkshirewoman, but the Gothic building whose ruins cast their spell today dates from much later. Those ruins left their creepy imprint on Bram Stoker, who saw them on a visit in 1890 and set several scenes from his Dracula in the abbey. So I was not surprised, as I wandered among the bare ruined choirs, to hear a gent in a Victorian bowler say, “Dead! And with two small holes in his neck!” They typically run theatrical renditions of Dracula all summer long— though they’re currently on hiatus because of the pandemic. The one I happened upon last year was pretty good, too. IT WOULD BE HARD to pick a winner in a Dales vs. Moors cookoff. A short hop from the Feversham Arms in Helmsley, where I was staying, are two of Yorkshire’s best-loved restaurants. The Star Inn, in Harome, is a homey, low-ceilinged cottage (when I came, they were re-thatching the roof). I first stopped by for a snack, and figured that since this is Yorkshire, it would be a crime to leave without sampling its namesake pudding. What arrived were three fluffy monsters, each about the size of a grapefruit, accompanied by root vegetables and bathed in a hearty gravy. Henceforth, this will be the standard against which all Yorkshire puddings will be judged. The next day I tried the inn’s signature dish: a layered confection of black pudding, foie gras, and a caramelised apple. I could have stopped right there but, reader, I did not. A work by Yorkshire sculptor Barbara Hepworth at the Hepworth Wakefield gallery.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 8 5 The David Chipperfield– designed Hepworth Wakefield. Pieces by Henry Moore tower over the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

8 6 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 Hebden Bridge, once an industrial town but today a thriving centre for arts and culture. Dinner at the Black Swan in nearby Oldstead is an even more elaborate affair. Chef Tommy Banks serves up one of those operatic tasting menus where the words are as important as the music. And so it was explained to me that Banks achieves the explosive intensity of his beet salad by dehydrating and then rehydrating the beets before sprinkling them with crumbly frozen goat-milk cheese. I felt bad asking the staff to shorten the menu so my companion wouldn’t miss her train, which is like stopping the opera before the fat lady sings. They were very good sports about it. England is so saturated with stately homes that I sidestepped most of the Yorkshire ones. I made an exception for Castle Howard, and I’m so glad I did. This property, just south of the moors in the Howardian Hills, is the stately pile’s stately pile. When a TV or film production needs a grand country seat as a location, they’re very likely to book Castle Howard. It stood in for Brideshead in the beloved 1981 TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, and I arrived there a month ahead of a film crew from Netflix. Suffice it to say, the grandeur here—of the house, the park, the art collection—is even grander than is the norm for this kind of place. The Howards, or some of them, still live here in a wing far, far away. Lucky them, you say? Yes and no. Through history, 19 Howards lost their heads on the chopping block, which, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, seems more like carelessness than misfortune. Rain had begun to fall as I made my way back to the Feversham Arms Hotel. The morning weather report had put the chance of a shower at one in three, but the woman at the front desk explained that in Yorkshire, one in three means 90 per cent. “Nice weather for ducks,” she said cheerfully. Ducks and Yorkshiremen, who rarely let a passing downpour get in their way. I noted, even with the rain pelting down, no one got out of the hotel’s outdoor pool.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 8 7 Seeing Yorkshire in Style Getting There Manchester is the nearest major airport to Yorkshire; change planes in London for the hop north. The area is also easily reached by taking a train to Halifax, Leeds, or York. Stay I adored Grantley Hall (doubles from `35,900; grantleyhall. co.uk), a converted 17th-century mansion with 47 rooms and suites and a restaurant helmed by chef Shaun Rankin. Holdsworth House (doubles from `10,520; holdsworth house.co.uk) lies on the edge of busy Halifax, but sitting in the hotel’s Jacobean garden, you’d never know it. Just outside York, I stayed at the Feversham Arms Hotel (doubles from `11,625; feversham armshotel.com), a stylishly restored former coaching inn in the village of Helmsley. Eat At the Shibden Mill Inn (entrées `1,400– `2,870; shibden millinn.com), you can feast on dishes like duck-fat brioche prepared with hen of the woods mushrooms, slowcooked duck egg, and scallions. The Stubbing Wharf (entrées `735–`1,470; stubbing.co.uk) is a quaint little pub on the Rochdale Canal that cooks up a dynamite fish and chips. Black Swan at Oldstead (tasting menu `11,770; black swanoldstead.co.uk) has a clutch of awards for chef Tommy Banks’s way with local produce. Don’t miss the Yorkshire pudding at Andrew Pern’s Michelin-starred Star Inn at Harome (entrées `1,400– `3,240; thestarat harome.co.uk). See The 15th-century estate at Shibden Hall (museums. calderdale.org.uk) is a must-visit for fans of the TV series Gentleman Jack. The Hepworth Wakefield (hepworth wakefield.org) and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (ysp.org) showcase works by local sculpture stars Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. You’ll find haunting ruins at Whitby Abbey (english-heritage.org. uk) and Fountains Abbey (nationaltrust. org.uk), while the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (nymr.co.uk) covers one of the most scenic routes in the UK. — J.L.

Château de Chambord, built in the 16th century by King Francis I. Opposite: Ballotine of sole with kohlrabi at Relais de Chambord, a new hotel on the grounds. 8 8 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021

The Loire Valley is home to some of the grandest châteaux in France. Yet, among the storied towers and gabled roofs, RAY ISLE finds an upstart generation of vintners whose low-intervention wines are redefining old-world style. PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERTO FRANKENBERG NATURAL SOPHISTICATION TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 8 9

ON MY LAST TRIP to France’s Loire Valley, back in March 2019, I did something I’d never done before: I visited several châteaux. The statement sounds ridiculous because castles are as common in the region as grains of sand on a beach—it’s hard to not stay in one. But as a wine writer, I’m usually tromping around vineyards with a winemaker, crouching down to study gray whorls of elderly grapevines and asking, literally, about the dirt. Holing up in fairy-tale castles? Not so much. This time, I found myself standing in the highest tower of the Château de Chambord, built by King Francis I as a hunting lodge in the 16th century. It was some lodge: 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, more than 13,000 acres of land. It took 28 years to build. Francis spent less than seven weeks there, total, before he died. Obviously, a lot has changed since the 1500s, but what’s remarkable is that in the Loire, a surprising amount of that change, both in terms of wine and châteaux, has taken place quite recently. Over three decades or so, the Loire has become the heart of France’s natural-wine movement. The place is vast, with 87 wine appellations strung along the river, from Muscadet on the coast to Sancerre some 385 kilometres east, and even beyond. Natural-wine stars Damien and Coralie Delecheneau of La Grange Tiphaine. Below: Pumpkin-curry soup at Momento. The entrance hall of Hôtel Château du Grand-Lucé.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 91 with my heart.” His 2018 Clef de Sol Chenin Blanc speaks to that: it’s all spring flowers and wildflower honey when you smell it, bright and vivid on your tongue. As we walked between the 80-year-old vines behind the winery, Lou trotted after us, ears perked. ACROSS THE RIVER from La Grange Tiphaine is Domaine Huet, the most acclaimed producer in the Vouvray appellation. Founded in 1928 by Victor Huët, a World War I veteran, it was run for 55 years by his son Gaston Huët, save for five years he spent in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp northeast of Dresden. He walked back to Vouvray from Germany in 1945 and proceeded to make one of the greatest vintages of the 20th century. Since 2003, the property has been owned by Hungarian winemaker István Szepsy and New York financier Anthony Hwang; daughter Sarah Hwang runs the winery and lives there. She’s well aware of Huet’s stellar reputation, “It’s something we could choose to embrace or fight against, and we’ve chosen to embrace it. Ultimately, we’re just a few pages in a huge book. Our job is to make sure that the story is still being written, and written properly.” Huet’s Chenin Blancs, dry or sweet, are chiselled and intense—gorgeous white wines that linger on the palate as you drive to the 15th-century Château du Rivau, opened as a 12-room hotel in 2019 that has elegant stone and wood interiors and modern art throughout. Rivau But throughout the region, you can find members of a loose confederation of raffish producers who are making what are often called minimal-intervention wines. Unlike conventional techniques, their growing and vinification methods eschew chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and artificial yeasts, as well as fining agents (which help improve clarity) and other technological trickery. There’s also little or no use of sulphur as a preservative. The results can be intriguing or bizarre; the best are absolutely brilliant, full of a kind of vibrancy that’s absent from the average mass-produced bottle. In the past few years, the region has also seen a number of grand châteaux reimagined as luxury hotels. In the Loire, you can live like a king (or at least a marquis) in the evenings and tromp fields like a farmer during the days. The contrast is enlightening. Among those new properties is the spectacular Relais de Chambord. Built for the king’s hunting hounds in the 1700s, the original house didn’t have the benefit of modern upgrades, such as the rain showers, velvet-swathed headboards, or luxurious white linen sheets seen in today’s guest rooms. Nor could the hounds rent an electric bicycle to drive around the property. Odds are the dogs didn’t think much about the building’s history or their palatial digs. Then again, it’s easy to forget the fact that you’re sleeping in a former kennel (albeit an opulent one) when you can wake up and gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows at King Francis’s château—just a few hundred feet away. WHEN I DROVE into the unpaved courtyard at La Grange Tiphaine, Damien and Coralie Delecheneau’s vineyard and winery, about an hour away in the Montlouis appellation, I was greeted by an actual hound. Every Loire Valley winemaker has at least one dog, if not two or three. Typically they growl at you menacingly for about 10 seconds, then flop over in the dirt. This particular winery pup, Lou, didn’t even expend that much effort. It was pretty clear he’d rather have been off in the vineyards, chasing rabbits. Stewards of the shift to low-intervention wine, the Delecheneaus farm biodynamically, upholding all the baseline tenets of the ideology. One reason the Loire arguably became the centre of this evolution in France, as Damien Delecheneau explains, is that it’s not a wealthy region. “It’s just easier for a young winemaker to buy a vineyard here, compared with regions like Burgundy or Bordeaux.” Plus, he added, many of the early ambassadors of the natural-wine movement happened to be Loire-based. “The beautiful acidity we have in our wines helps, too, if you choose to work this way.” La Grange Tiphaine’s ramshackle character belies the precision of its wine making. “I’m from a scientific background,” he says, “but now I look to work more Vineyards in Sancerre.

92 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 Bottles from the 1961 vintage at Domaine Huet. was built in 1420; Joan of Arc stopped by to pick up horses during the Hundred Years’ War in her quest to drive the English from France. (Brexit did what martyrs could not, apparently.) More recently, co-owner Patricia Laigneau tricked out the grounds with a stunning rose garden planted with more than 450 different varieties. “A rose with no scent is like a person with no soul,” she said, and suggested walking through the garden in the early morning or early evening, when the flowers are at their most fragrant. Another equally beautiful 18th-century Neoclassical property is the Hôtel Château du Grand-Lucé, just outside Le Mans. It has grand formal gardens to wander, 17 rooms with original oak parquet floors to park your bags in, and Pratesi sheets on the beds to lounge upon. Should you wish to see the region’s châteaux from overhead, the concierge can help arrange a hot-air-balloon ride. BUT FOR ME, too much luxury gets cloying. I decided to French Revolution my urge to live like a king and reground myself by heading to Sancerre to meet my friend Pascaline Lepeltier, a Master Sommelier and Loire Valley native. As I drove east, the dramatic châteaux of the central Loire became fewer and farther between. I followed the Loire River as it meandered among rolling hills and forests. I knew I’d reached Sancerre when the flanks of the hills became blanketed with Sauvignon Blanc vines. That’s Sancerre’s signature grape. Though there is an actual town of Sancerre (charming; hilltop; medieval), the wine region itself comprises 14 small villages. I met up with Lepeltier for lunch at Momento, which opened last year in the tiny town of Bué. The owners are a talented young couple, Thomas Jacquet and Mariana Mateos. Jacquet, a sommelier, is originally from nearby Bannay; Mateos, the chef, is from Mexico. They met while working together at Racines, a wine-centric French bistro in New York City where Lepeltier is the head sommelier. From the small upstairs dining room we could see the rooftops of the town and the vineyards beyond as we enjoyed ravioli filled with earthy crottin de Chavignol goat-milk cheese. We’d been joined by two young Sancerrois winemakers, Matthieu Delaporte and Luc Prieur, whose families have been in the region for generations. Even though Jacquet’s wine list at Momento is extensive, Delaporte and Prieur came loaded with cuvées from their own wineries, and pretty soon we were a pretty lively party of four people and 15 or 16 bottles.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 9 3 The Fairy’s Way garden at the Château du Rivau.

9 4 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 Châteaux and Natural Wine in the Loire Valley cheese, wild herbs, lamb from local farms— while drawing in a few influences from Italy as well. Thomas Jacquet’s wine list is impressively extensive. Entrées `2,060–`4,570; fb.com/ momento.sancerre Wineries La Grange Tiphaine Damien and Coralie Delecheneau, the charming owners of La Grange Tiphaine, keep to a lowintervention philosophy for their Montlouis and Touraine wines. Book a visit in advance to taste their Côt Vieilles Vignes, a stunning Malbec made with grapes from centuryold vines. lagrange tiphaine.com Domaine Delaporte Delaporte, which makes some of Sancerre’s best wines, has a small tasting room in the tiny village of Chavignol. domainedelaporte.com Getting There From Paris, it’s a 2½-hour drive to Tours, in the heart of the Loire Valley, and two more hours to Sancerre. Stay Relais de Chambord The facade of this elegant 55-room hotel echoes the slate-roofed towers of the Château de Chambord, just a short walk away. A guided tour of the château is a highlight, but the Relais also offers a spa with sauna, hammam, and outdoor whirlpool as well as guided tours of the surrounding nature reserve. Doubles from `15,690; relais de chambord.com Hôtel Château du Grand-Lucé Though this gorgeous Neoclassical château, built between 1760 and 1764, occupies more than 4,180 square metres, there are only 17 (extremely luxurious) guest rooms. Each features original oak floors, archival-fabric wall coverings, and bathroom amenities from cult French beauty brand Buly 1803. Doubles from `52,675; chateau grand luce.com Château du Rivau Built during the 15th century, Rivau has undergone years of renovation, starting in the late 1990s. Walk through the fragrant rose gardens, and spot the white peacocks that live in the inner courtyard (kids may prefer the property’s many fairy-tale-themed gardens). Doubles from `20,260; chateaudurivau.com Eat Momento Chef Mariana Mateos’s menu makes the best of Sancerre’s abundant products— crottin de Chavignol Domaine Huet Book ahead to visit this legendary Vouvray property. Tastings cover the range of Huet wines, sparkling and still, dry to sweet, along with an older vintage. In-depth cellar tours can also be arranged. contact@domaine huet.com BAY OF BISCAY France Loire Valley Paris Chambord Sancerre-Chavignol Bué Amboise Vouvray ILLUSTRATION BY LOLITH T.K.

TRAVELANDLEISUREINDIA.IN 9 5 La Forêt Qui Court by Jérôme Basserode, part of Château du Rivau’s contemporary art collection. Later, I asked Delaporte how long his family had been making wine. Since the 17th century, he replied. “We were one of the first domaines in SancerreChavignol; where we’re located is where everything started. At that time, they were making wine, raising animals, making cheese.” My favourite of Domaine Delaporte’s wines, which we drank at lunch, is its Sancerre Les Monts Damnés—crystalline and powerful at once, it shows how complex Sauvignon Blanc can be in the right circumstances. “Monts Damnés is kind of a grand cru of Sancerre, even though technically there are no crus here,” Delaporte said. “It means ‘the damned mountains,’ because a hundred years ago you had to be absolutely damned to work that steep a slope. It’s 40° to 50°! But it’s worth it.” When his ancestors were picking grapes on the chalk inclines of Monts Damnés, did they know that the Sun King was building a stable for 1,200 horses only 112 kilometres away? Probably not. Distances were greater then. Did his grandfather, bottling wines in 1947—a hundred bottles of which Delaporte recently found, in perfect condition, under his grandparents’ house— know a Liberator bomber had crashed on the grounds of Chambord just a few years before? Quite possibly. Today, can I taste all those things when I open a bottle of his wine? Imaginatively, maybe. Good wine tells stories. The right bottle can even let you travel in time. As Delaporte said about those 1947 bottles, “They taste amazing; I thought of my greatgrandfather, making wine through both of the world wars.” Until I can return to the Loire, I can open a bottle of one of Delaporte’s wines and envision myself looking out over the rooftops of Bué into the late afternoon sun, laughing and talking with friends. Sarah Hwang pours one of Domaine Huet’s top sweet wines in the winery’s tasting room. Matthieu Delaporte in the Domaine Delaporte vineyard.

9 6 TRAVEL+LEISURE INDIA & SOUTH ASIA | JANUARY 2021 YOUR BEST SHOT THIS PICTURE REMINDS ME of life before the pandemic, when we were free to fl y. I had always thought Jodhpur would be a week-long backpacking trip—staying in hostels and visiting cafes. It turned out to be the opposite; I went with my family for just two days to visit a doctor. But the mightiness of the Mehrangarh Fort called out to us. Standing tall on a hill, it offers the most beautiful panoramic view of the Blue City. The fort has beautiful carvings and exhibits different architectural styles. There are also exquisite paintings, weapons, and palanquins on display. I can’t wait to spread my wings and travel again. ―SUKRITI CHOTANI ON HER PHOTOGRAPH, SHOT ON AN IPHONE 11 PRO IN FEBRUARY 2020 Sukriti Chotani was an entrant in our ongoing ‘Your Best Shot’ contest. Submit your best shots at [email protected], or hashtag #telltnlindia and tag @travelandleisureindia on Instagram, to stand a chance to get featured on this page.

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