Planet of the grapes

WHICH would it be? The bain a la vin rouge or the enveloppement Merlot? As I walk from my hotel room, with its bleached wood furniture, queen-sized bed and whisper-quiet air conditioning, out into the warm Bordeaux air, there is much to deliberate. If I was not about to plunge into a red wine bath or be wrapped in Merlot, then what about a Cabernet scrub? By the time I pass the small lake where two swans glided gracefully across the mirror-still surface, I have decided: a massage envivrant and a facial.

Although scientists have long been aware of polyphenol’s properties, the problem was finding a way to use the substance, which is where the team from Bordeaux University came in. Led by Professor Joseph Vercauteren, head of the laboratory of natural substances, they discovered how to extract and stablise the chemical so that it could be incorporated into skin care products.

Mathilde Thomas, who worked at Chanel, and her husband Betrand, a former executive with the L’Oreal cosmetics group, developed a range of cleansers, lotions, creams, conditioners and anti-wrinkle capsules called Caudalie - an obscure wine-tasting term for measuring a wine’s aftertaste in the mouth. The more caudalies a wine has, the better it is.

Six years ago, a group of scientists from Bordeaux University visiting the vineyard made the point that a pile of discarded grapeseeds was more valuable than the expensive wine being bottled. They were full of polyphenols, an anti-ageing substance 50 times more powerful than vitamin E and 25 times more than vitamin C, both of which had long been considered the most effective substances in fighting wrinkles.

On entering the Instituit de Vinotherapie, a grand wooden structure dappled by the morning sun and surrounded by vines, I am greeted by Deborah, who gives me a straw basket containing a baby- soft robe, a pair of Sensi sandals and a small plastic cap. There is no need for the swimsuit I had brought with me. This is France, after all, and Anglo-Saxon hang-ups can be safely left behind.

An aromatherpy candle, containing extracts of vineflower picked while covered in dew on a June morning, fills the air of the massage room. My first impression as I slip my robe? A morgue. Seriously, where else would you lie naked on a slab-like table in a room with drains in the floor and someone in a rubber gown moving purposefully around you? But the sensation of the massage is the exact opposite: my arms are moved into position while a plastic square protects my face and head from the water as it sprinkles down, mixed with grapeseed oil and essential oils by Deborah, and massaged into my skin. This is the massage envivrant. The water is special; pumped from 540 metres below the vineyard, rich in iron and fluorine. I begin to drift …

“The treatments combine the virtues of hot natural water drawn from 540 metres down with the benefits most recently discovered about the properties of the grape and vine. Fresh grape-seed extracts, grape-seed oil, wine yeast extracts, red vine, tannin, grape seed polyphenols, and extracts of the purest and most concentrated plants enrich this water.”

The products have a dramatic effect in reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Tests have shown that one of the Caudalie products, a rejuvinating skin cream called C80, neutralises 85 per cent of the free radicals, unstable molecules which destroy cells, within one hour of application.

“Generated by light, pollution, smoke and stress, free radicals are mainly responsible for ageing,” explains Mathilde. “By protecting the elastin and collagen fibres externally, the polyphenols are fighting against wrinkles. Internally, they strengthen the blood vessels, diminish blood pressure and minimise the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

VINOTHERAPY is the brainchild of Mathilde Thomas, the statuesque daughter of former ski champion Daniel Cathiard and his wife Florence, who own Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. One of the most repected labels in Bordeaux, the Smith comes from George Smith, a Scot who bought the estate in the 18th century and shipped its produce to England.

By last year, their business had reached an annual turnover of #20 million. The range is used by the French actress Isabelle Adjani, supermodel Carla Bruni and Princess Caroline of Monaco, among others. Donatella Versace is reported to have bought a Paris store’s complete stock of the Caudalie range during a visit.

Now, a short walk from the Chateau, two new enterprises have sprung up from the nutrient-rich earth: Les Sources de Caudalie, an exclusive hotel offering fine wines and food opened last May. The Instituit de Vinotherapie, dedicated to the grape’s by-products and their anti-oxident properties, opened this month.

Author: Anna Peakin