Pacific Northwesterners usually choose to hibernate in January, but wintering here can feel more fulfilling by seeking warmth and comfort as the light of longer days slowly returns. New Year’s resolutions made at the stroke of midnight typically involve things that require resolve and discipline. Wouldn’t it be nicer to commit to comfort and warmth through the remaining dark days?
Wine spas exist throughout the world, but the only spot solely dedicated to this vinotherapy in the United States is The Wine Spa in Portland, Oregon. So why shouldn’t a wellness getaway start here? Owner Kelly Lewis experienced the benefits of a wine bath while traveling to the Republic of Georgia and Armenia. After soaking in various types of wine tubs, she was stunned by the effect it had on her and hoped to find something similar at home. Eventually, she opened The Wine Spa – a perfect spot because of its proximity to the Willamette Valley where due to overproduction or labeling errors tons of wine is wasted each year. The Wine Spa, which made Time Magazine’s list of The World’s Greatest Places in 2025, provides a use for this excess wine through their current partner Terra Vina Winery.
Lewis’ wine spa features a party room for groups to meet and drink wine before heading to private rooms with a jetted hot tub. Water and a healing blend of epsom salts and magnesium are heated between 98 to 100 degrees. Before soaking, a carafe of red wine is poured into the tub. This relaxing mixture doesn’t stain the skin or swimsuit, but allows the minerals to coat the skin while it absorbs the resveratrol, flavonoids and polyphenols in the red wine. Moreover, a red wine mask is provided to give the face a luxurious soak.
After The Wine Spa, head east to the Lightwell Hotel in Hood River, Oregon. This newly restored hotel in the heart of town offers charming rooms, each lovingly decorated in a Pacific Northwest chic style with loads of exposed brick, fine woods and enchanting art. The recently opened subterranean spa features a large hot tub, a sauna and spa treatments. This is a good homebase for pampering as well as enjoying excellent food and drink.
You can also book quick escapes (2-3 hours) or full day experience through Lightwell Hotel’s Adventure Lodge where partner First Nature has an office dedicated to helping visitors find the right experience. For 20 years, First Nature has curated luxury travel experiences. At their basecamp office in the Lightwell Hotel they offer a variety of activities such as waterfall hikes, wellness resets like forest bathing, or rafting and tasting tours.
It’s a short drive across the Columbia River from the Lightwell Hotel to downtown White Salmon, Washington, where you’ll find wine bars, boutiques, restaurants and cafes. However, for a true wine and wellness experience start at Yoga Samadhi for a Yin Yang class with long held yin poses to heal the body and ease the nervous system. Or try a dynamic Vinyasa Flow class or a more relaxing Gentle Flow class. This lovely white-walled studio has stunning Gorge views.
After a yoga session, walk to a wine bar or tasting room. On a rainy winter day, I wandered over to Soča wine bar where I enjoyed a soothing bowl of French onion soup, along with a baguette from White Salmon Bakery served with a generous smearing of butter sprinkled with flaky grains of sea salt. Of course, it was accompanied by a glass of Monastero Suore Cistercensi Coenobium 2024 – a food-friendly crisp white with a subtle volcanic minerality that provided a nice accompaniment to the soothing soup. The white walls, sparkling lights and verdant plants created a nice respite from the rain as the soup and wine warmed me from the inside out. The walls of this elegant wine bar and bottle shop are filled with a well curated selection of bottles from around the world and just down the road – like Poberaj, Loop de Loop, and owner Bethany Kimmel’s Color Collector.
Le Doubblé Troubblé, a couple blocks down, is another delightful wine stop. This White Salmon-based winery is known for single-vineyard, single-varietal wines to showcase their unique personality. The result is joyful, fun wines served in their cozy tasting room that offers flights, glass pours of guest wines, and select beer as well as cheese and charcuterie.
It’s a short drive to a couple stellar wineries. The Washington side of the Columbia Gorge is filled with small, unique wineries that share a reverence for the land and a commitment to discovery. This area is filled with many microclimates and vintners are trying various grape varieties to test their viability in this evolving region. Loop de Loop and AniChe Cellars offer stunning views and unique carefully made wines that give visitors a true taste of this part of the Gorge. Loop de Loop is celebrating five years in their own winery by opening their tasting room this winter with a wood burning stove to keep it warm and cozy while enjoying views of the vineyard, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River. It’s best to call ahead to wineries to make reservations and check road conditions.
After some wine tasting, return to the Lightwell Hotel for a soak in their large hot tub, some time in the sauna and perhaps a massage. The hotel bar has a full bar as well as a short menu of snacks like oysters, crispy cauliflower with herb labneh, and tandoori chicken wrap. On my visit, the charming lobby bar was filled with local families meeting up and dressed in red and gold to celebrate the Christmas season. I enjoyed a vesper martini and beef and lamb burger with za’atar fries and had a pleasant chat with the couple next to me who were stopping in Hood River on the way to visit relatives in Salt Lake City for Christmas.
After dinner, I wandered to Hood River Common House, a cozy-casual wine bar that is a neighborhood gem. Here, I had a glass of Syncline Winery’s 2022 Subduction Red while relaxing on a cozy leather couch.
Start the final day of this wine and wellness weekend back on the Washington side of the river, with breakfast at White Salmon Bakery followed by relaxing at Carson Hot Springs. The mineral springs here have drawn visitors for over 100 years to bathe in its healing waters. A bath and wrap includes a soak in a personal tub filled with hot, unchlorinated mineral springs water followed by being wrapped in blankets to sweat and relax for 25 minutes.
Then, you are ready to head home relaxed and refreshed for whatever 2026 can throw at you.
