Terravina, New Forest, Hampshire

TerraVina is the latest venture of Gerard Basset, co-founder of Hotel du Vin, and his wife Nina. It is, say the Bassets, a hotel homage to the Napa Valley, offering the relaxed setting, simple, well cooked food and the gigantic wine list that you might expect to find in the Californian wine region. Like Hotel du Vin—which Basset sold in 2004—TerraVina aims to service the upper-middle of the market, offering an unstuffy atmosphere combined with all the creature comforts that its clientele of business people and weekenders could need, including espresso machines, surround sound speakers and flatscreen TVs. The largest room, Vin Doux Naturel, which is available at a pretty reasonable £210 per night, has a roll-top bath in the middle and a large private terrace. All the ground floor rooms have their own gardens.

But the biggest draw is the food and wine. There are over 300 different wines listed, including offerings from some of the more unsung regions, such as Canada, Uruguay and Greece. All are carefully picked by Gerard, who has twice been the runner-up in the World Sommelier Championships. It's in the dining room that the Californian influence is at its boldest, with an open kitchen at one end and a glass-fronted cellar displaying neatly stacked bottles of wine at the other. Laura Rhys, the sommelier, is on hand to help you wade through the huge list, and the whole approach, to both food and wine, is friendly and informed, without being intimidating.