WHY TAKE A WINE TASTING HOLIDAY
“Give me books, fruit, French wine and fine weather and a little music out of doors,” wrote a young poet, John Keats. His poem Ode to a Nightingale might just as easily be an Ode to “ a beaker of the warm south.”
Keats regarded wine as more than just a drink. It is the door to heightened perception, an artistic inspiration and the way to happiness.
And for curious travellers a region’s wine can be an expression of the culture and traditions of that region.
Most importantly of all, we get an immense amount of pleasure from drinking wine, especially if we take up the French invitation to enjoy with moderation.
If you want to take your appreciation of wine to another level, you may want to consider a wine tasting holiday, either where the wine will be the primary reason for the travel, or at the very least because you want to explore wine from a particular region, be that country, village or even single estate.
On this page, I will explore very briefly some of the wine tasting options in Europe. This does not mean that I do not rate wine from Chile, Argentina and California, South Africa, or Australia and New Zealand, and other fine wines from around the world. It is just that organising a long haul trip to taste wine is slightly more complicated (and as a travel consultant, I love complications!). Wine tasting in Europe from the UK can be a simple weekend, a week’s break, or a deep dive fortnight into wine.
And space on a webpage limits to what I can write about. So, for now, this page is limited to a few ideas on wine tasting holidays in Europe. The rest of the world, I will cover you in due course, I promise.
Why take a wine tasting holiday?
There really needs to be more in a wine tasting holiday than just tasting wine. You can taste wine at home, so why taste a Rioja in La Rioja, a Bordeaux in Bordeaux, or have a glass of Port in Porto?
You will get to understand more about the wine, and the land and the people that produce it, if you drink it in the place from which it originated. With that increase in knowledge and awareness comes an increase in enjoyment. Wine tasting involves immersing yourself more deeply into the traditions and culture of a region. It is why food and wine is such an important component of the “Slow Travel” movement.
The Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, said in her country’s successful application for their cuisine to berecognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage that
“Cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is so much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth.”
So too is a region’s wine. So let us take a sip of the culture, tradition, work and wealth of just a few of my favourite regions.
Portugal
When we think of Portugal, we of course think of Port, and the wines of the Douro Valley. The train ride from Porto into the Douro is spectacular, a cruise along the river is beautiful. The sight of vines creeping up the slopes of the river the perfect lead up to some wonderful wines.
But we should not neglect the still wines of Portugal and of course its other fortified wine, Madeira.
Spain
Spain of course has its own fortified wine, Sherry, a drink of sophistication and perhaps a little underrated. The most well known wine, certainly one of my favourites, is Rioja. Apart from the quality of the wine, the wine tasting experiences are very well organised.
Spain has great wines from Ribero del Duero and Priorat, to name but a few. Spanish wines from single estates are particularly worth trying, for example the wines from the Arizano winery, one of the first to claim the coveted Vino de Pago designation (single estate wine)
France
What can one say about France and French wine that has not already been said? Is Bordeaux and the City of Wine the pinnacle of wine tasting? Perhaps, certainly a trip that needs to be repeated many times. Some claim that Keats was referring to the wines of Provence (in the lines I open with). Burgundy has fine wines to pair with its extraordinary gastronomy.
And then there is Champagne, the drink of celebration. You might consider a visit to the Loisium Hotel and Spa for a champagne related wellness break
A traveller’s tale
The main house of the Casal de Santa Maria was built in 1720, and wine production started in the 19th Century. It stopped however in 1903 and the property gradually fell into disrepair.
The property was bought in the 1960s by Baron Bodo von Bruemmer as a retirement project and to begin something of a family legacy. His family had to flee from their home in one of the Russian Baltic provinces during the Revolution, and Bodo ended up as a banker in Switzerland.
On his 50th Birthday, he started to think about legacy and bought the Casal de Santa Maria in the hills around Sintra. He and his wife started breeding (very successfully) Arab horses, but at the end of the 1980s this venture came to an end following a disease affecting horses. And then in 1994, his wife Rosario died.
And then in 2006 at the young age of 96, Bodo decided that he would start to produce wine. 6 months later the first vines were planted. The vineyard now is the furthest west of any vineyard in mainland Europe… the Azores perhaps being the furthest west of all.
The baron died in November 2015 at the age of 105, but not before seeing his wines begin to win a slew of awards. The vineyard is available to visit, and for tastings.
And words of wisdom from the Baron: “It’s never too late to pursue your passion.”
Italy
Valpolicella, Barolo, the wines of the Collio, Chianti, Sangiovese, Orvieto, the wines of Puglia and Sicily in the South. It can be difficult to choose a region for a first wine tasting trip to Italy. But whichever region you choose, it will be accompanied by wonderful food or perhaps just a perfectly matched cheese with some olives.
Greece
Greece is one of Europe’s oldest wine producing countries and has a number of grape varieties that are unique to it. This makes Greece very interesting from a wine tourism point of view.
According to legend, when Ampelo, the lover of Dionysius died, a vine grew from his body. Dionysius squeezed the grapes and so wine was born.
Who are we to argue with legend? But come with me to Greece and let us find out for ourselves
Moldova
Moldova surprised the wine tasting world in 1878 when it took a gold medal at a Paris wine tasting event, the experts mistaking the Pucari for a new Bordeaux. Apart from a gap when the Soviets occupied Moldova, the wines have been winning medals and new fans every year.
Its wine tasting experiences rival any in the world, with its extraordinary cellars at Milesti Micii and Cricova. Its annual wine festival, or National Wine Day, is a must visit for any wine lover
A wine tasting holiday?
I plan and organise wine tasting holidays and events for solo travellers, couples and sometimes small groups. If you are interested in finding out a little more, why not give me a ring and I can discuss with you some of my wine tasting plans for the year.