Château & Village Castigno

Château Castigno is, first, an organic producer of Saint-Chinian wines, set in the village of Assignan, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. Taken together, Château & Village Castigno is also an extraordinary hotel, one built on the “distributed” model — its rooms and common spaces are not concentrated in one structure, but spread throughout the village, in houses and buildings that are helpfully color-coded to set them apart from this living village’s remaining private dwellings.

The rooms, of course, vary considerably in size and in detailing, but all share a style that’s a lively and colorful mix of the contemporary and the historical. The freestanding Villa Rouge, at the top of the range, comes with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a garden with a private pool; at the other end of the scale, the cozy Vendangeur rooms are painted in grape tones and pack in a more than adequate degree of comfort.

Wine tours are on most guests’ agenda, beginning with Castigno’s spectacular bottle-shaped cellar building, which must be seen to be believed. There’s also a spa, which pairs well with a guided meditative walk or an introductory yoga class. Of particular note, too, are the hotel’s restaurants, spread throughout the village: the one-MICHELIN-Star Table Castigno, the Petite Table Bistro & Grill, and the straightforwardly named Thai de Castigno.