Sinnenas Spa
A spa for the senses
Sinnenas Spa — the "spa of the senses" — lies in the heart of twelve nature reserves and brings them all indoors: scents, sounds, materials and ideas drawn from the landscape around the vineyard.
The whole houseÄstad Vingård
An organic vineyard in the beech forests of Halland — with a spa for the senses, the Michelin-starred Restaurant ÄNG, and new rooms that each have their own natural pool, jetty and sauna.
Ästad Vingård sits in the Åkulla beech forests near Tvååker, in the hinterland of Varberg on Sweden's west coast. It is one of the country's largest vineyards: organic vines grow here and the estate makes its own wine, with a focus on sparkling. But the vineyard is only the beginning. There is Sinnenas Spa, a spa built entirely around the senses and the surrounding nature reserves; Restaurang ÄNG, holding both a green and a regular Michelin star; and rooms, the newest of which each have their own natural pool, bathing jetty and sauna.
The Build
A farm in the beech woods of Halland, developed around a vineyard — where wine should not really grow.
The Rooms
Swedish, quiet, bright. The spa is in the forest instead of in the basement.
The Table
Own wine — in Sweden. The kitchen works with what the farm and the woods give.
The Cut
- No bought-in wine in the cellar
- No wine from outside their own slopes
"Which is why the wrong people rarely sit at the next table."
Five reasons that stay
- Rooms with a private natural pool, jetty and sauna — the morning plunge into cool water before the day begins.
- A Michelin-starred restaurant in a glass house on the meadow: ÄNG, with green and regular stars, interiors by Norm Architects.
- Sinnenas Spa, which brings in the scents, sounds and materials of twelve nature reserves — a 39 °C outdoor pool all year.
- Its own organic vineyard, one of Sweden's largest, focused on sparkling wine — from vine to glass on site.
- Halland itself: the Åkulla beech forests, lakes and walking trails, the sea at Varberg close by.
What makes the house
Restaurang ÄNG
A star in a glass house on the meadow
ÄNG — Swedish for "meadow" — stands as a glass solitaire alone in the field.
The whole house
The Vineyard & the Sparkling Wine
Organic vines in the beech forests
Ästad is one of Sweden's largest vineyards — and an unusual one, sitting far to the north of the wine world, in the Åkulla beech forests of Halland. The vines are farmed organically, with a focus on sparkling wine.
The whole house3 categories
Sjöparken
The newest rooms at the centre of the vineyard, designed by Norm Architects: minimalist, Nordic-Japanese, with a lounge area and large windows. Private natural pool outside the door, bathing jetty with an outdoor shower and a private sauna. Ages 13 and up.
Kvarnbäcken Premium
For spa lovers: an in-room sauna and a private spa area with a freestanding bathtub in natural stone. Dim the lights, slide into the tub and look out over the spa garden. Plus a seating area, a well-stocked minibar and a work desk.
Kvarnbäcken & Stenbacka
Modern Scandinavian rooms with dampened acoustics, lighting and sound controlled from a tablet. Each room has its own sauna (or steam sauna) to use whenever you like. The Stenbacka rooms sit a little quieter, about 50 metres from Sinnenas Spa and the Pengakullen vineyard.
Ästad Vingård lies near Tvååker in Halland, on Sweden's west coast, set among the Åkulla beech forests and their twelve nature reserves. The harbour town of Varberg, with its cold-bath house and rail line to Gothenburg and Malmö, is a short drive away; Gothenburg-Landvetter and Halmstad airports are each within about an hour. All around: beech woods, lakes and walking trails, the sea to the west — and, recently, a sister property right on the coast, Varbergs Kusthotell. A region made for slowing down, between forest, water and wine.
Ästad Vingård belongs to the Carlsson family and is run by Daniel Carlsson as CEO and co-owner. His ambition is to let everything speak of the same landscape — the organic wine, the spa drawn from the scents of the nature reserves, the cooking at ÄNG and Logen, the rooms by the natural pool. Much of it is made in-house: the vines, the sparkling wine, the spa's fragrances, even the way the new rooms are built. It is an attempt to bring a whole experience of wine, water, forest and table together in a single place in Halland.
The house, without words
No bought-in wine in the cellar.
The new Sjöparken rooms: 35 m², a private natural pool right outside, a bathing jetty, an outdoor shower and a private sauna — the morning plunge into cool water before breakfast.
Houses of similar mind
vigilius
Reachable only by cable car — a car-free refuge at 1,500 m, laid into the slope by Matteo Thun.
Tainaron Blue
An early-19th-century Maniot stone tower, restored over five years, near the wild southern tip of mainland Greece.
Meneghetti
A secluded wine estate and Relais & Châteaux retreat among the vineyards and olive groves of Istria.