Are you planning Vineyard and Winery or Food and Wine Tours in Europe? Find the best and the most unexpected Vineyard and Winery Tours at Food and Travel Guides.
From our collaboration with talented and inspiring Food Travel and Wine enthusiasts, we are happy to guide you to some of Europe's finest Vineyards and Wineries that will welcome you at their Wine Estate, guiding you through their vineyard and winery, offering Wine Tastings with an unbeatable experience. Learn about Wine on the spot where it's made!
Food Tourism, and especially Wine Tourism, has never been hotter, and planning a Wine Tour is the best way to start, so let us dive into a world of wine right away and the Best Wine Tours in Europe.
The Team at Food and Travel Guides
Table of Content: "Vineyard and Winery Tours in Europe"
1. Bolgheri Wine Tour in Tuscany, Italy by Intentional Travelers
2. ENOTarnowskie Winemaker Project in Tarnów, Poland by Tymrazem
3. Wine Travels in La Rioja Wine Region, Spain by Travel your Memories
4. Visits to three Vineyards and Wineries in Sweden by Sticks & Spoons Food Travel
5. Solomos Winery in Zakynthos, Greece by Travels with Eden Blog
6. Vineyards and Wineries in Ukraine by What Kate and Kris Did
7. Mikulov Wine Trail in the Czech Republic by Packing up the Pieces
9. The Lavaux Vineyards in Switzerland by The Yogi Wanderer
10. Santo Wine from Santorini in Greece by A Princess Traveling with Twins
11. Discovering Wine of the Douro Valley in Portugal by The Orange Backpack
12. The Alsace Wine Route in France by Wyld Family Travel
13. Visit The Cradle of Wine in Kakheti, Georgia by Wander-Lush
14. St Emilion Vineyards in Bordeaux, France by Guide Your Travel
15. Champagne of Veuve Cliquot in Reims, France by Salut from Paris
16. Saraceni Winery & Vineyard in Sant'Andrea in Percussina by Travel Connect Experience
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Bolgheri Wine Tour in Tuscany, Italy
by Michelle Chang from Intentional Travelers
The small town of Bolgheri brings together the very best of Italy - old-world village life, complete with the castle; warm climates and views of the Etruscan Coast; and bountiful landscapes, with wineries and olive groves in every direction.
With the salty sea air, enclosed by the rich rolling hills of Tuscany, and the introduction of French grapes to the area, the Etruscan Coast has wines like no other. The unique micro-climate of this coastal region has produced award-winning Bordeaux and "Super Tuscan" wines. The area is home to world-class wineries like Sassicaia and Ornellaia.
From the town of Bolgheri to the village of Castagneto, a road lined with cypress trees has been declared a national monument and continues through olive groves and fertile vineyards. This Wine and Olive Road is the perfect place to do a few tastings and admire the scenery.
Top sites for wine tasting include Castello di Bolgheri, Giovanni Chiappini, and Michele Satta. To dive even deeper into the top-quality ingredients and food heritage of Italy, stay at Casa Toscana and try a tour with the local host and cook, Chicca, of Tuscan Food Tours.
IntentionalTravelers.com inspires and equips everyday people to pursue life-changing experiences around the world. Author, Michelle, and her husband quit their traditional jobs in 2011 to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers. They have been location-independent digital nomads since 2014, running a freelance web services business while they explore new places. Michelle is the author of the book, An Intentional Travelers Guide to Unconventional Budget Accommodations.
ENOTarnowskie Winemaker Project in Tarnów, Poland
by Jakub Juszyński from Tymrazem
More and more vineyards have been established in Poland in recent years. They are not big, but they have their charm, and the wines they produce have a lot of character. One of the interesting projects that were created is ENOTarnowskie. It is a project that brings together winemakers from the vicinity of Tarnów - a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
When it comes to vineyards, it is worth saying that these are small objects. They are certainly places run with passion, and winemakers are people who entered this world for various reasons, but their love of wine connects them all. These are family businesses, focused on promoting winemaking and spending time pleasantly in the bosom of nature. Certainly, each of the winemakers I talked to has ambitious plans.
Among the vineyards that I recommend are, among others Dąbrówka, Manru or Bogumiła. Each of them has a different location and wine, but they taste delicious. The vineyards in this region produce white, red, and rosé wines.
The Dąbrówka Vineyard has an excellent and picturesque location. The grapevines growing on the edges of the valley make an amazing impression. The vineyard was established in 2010 and covers 3 hectares. The vineyard grows the varieties Regent, Rondo, Monarch, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Cantor and Cortis, Leon Millot, Solaris, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Johanniter, Hibernal, Jutrzenka, Muscat Otonel, Muscaris, and Seyval Blanc
This Manru vineyard is situated at an altitude of 340 meters above sea level. It owes its name to the opera by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The vineyard grows the varieties Rondo, Regent, Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, Salome, Solaris, Seyval Blanc, and Muskat.
The Vineyard Bogu Miła is often called the Zalipiańska Vineyard and it is located there. The vineyard grows the Regent, Roesler, Solaris, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Johanniter varieties.
ENOTarnowskie is not only wine! Traveling along the wine route, it is also worth visiting Tarnów - it is an extraordinary city with an interesting layout and lots of monuments.
If, on the other hand, this is not enough for you, the nearby Podkarpackie and Świętokrzyskie voivodeships also keep pace with wine production, and the vineyards located there will surely interest you.
More Vineyards o Explore from Krakow:
Jakub Juszyński from tymrazem.pl is a blogger, traveler, and marketer. Love to explore new places and try local products. Try to explore the world as much as possible!
Wine Travels in La Rioja Wine Region, Spain
by Cynthia & Alexander from Travel your Memories
La Rioja is the wine region in Spain where the best wine in Spain is made. When traveling in La Rioja you notice that there aren’t a lot of other tourists, therefore you get a local travel experience. Visiting the Rioja wine region means that you can visit the best vineyards and wineries in Spain. Depending on your preferences, you can choose from a wine tour or a bodega, which are wineries in Spain.
With a wine tour, you have a full-day program. First, you will visit the vineyards, see how the grapes go from the field to the factory and learn how the wine is produced. The great thing about the tour is that the guide will explain everything. Also, you are at a local farmer and therefore are able to enjoy the countryside of La Rioja!
The other option is to visit a winery, this is an accessible way where you can combine the tour with other activities that you can do in the La Rioja region. There are a couple of wineries in La Rioja, we visited Bodegas La Rioja Alta in the village of Haro.
This is an awesome wine tour where you first get an explanation about the process and at the end, you can try a couple of wines yourself. You can try Gran Reserva 890 – 2005 here, this is the best wine from the region according to the experts, and the 4th best wine in the world in 2019. This fact just shows how good this winery is, really recommended to visit. You can book a tour through their site.
If you are a wine lover, you also have the opportunity to visit a wine culture museum in Briones. This museum explains the history of the wine of La Rioja and its influence on society.
This article was written by Cynthia & Alexander, adventure travel bloggers from Travel your Memories. They travel the world to inspire people with busy lives to do the same. Via their travel blog their share all tips to help others to plan their next adventure.
Visits to three Vineyards and Wineries in Sweden
by Fredrik Goldhahn from Sticks & Spoons Food Travel
This fall, I made a number of visits to Vineyards and Wineries on the Swedish West Coast, and outside Jönköping at Lake Vättern. Wait a minute? Vineyards in Sweden?
Sweden as a Modern Wine Country is still very young but there are a lot of surprising things going on under the surface, and to say anything else than there's a huge Wine Boom in Sweden is an understatement, to say the least.
With visits to these three highly driven winemakers - all of them with very different aims and ambitions in their winemaking - you will get an insight into Swedish Wine; and it's a force to take into consideration in the future of winemaking, for sure.
Vista Kulle Vineyard outside Husqvarna, Sweden
Vista Kulle Vineyard, Husqvarna - The Dreamers and Explorers
Just outside Husqvarna on the hills high above Lake Vättern, you'll find one of Vista Kulle Vineyards plots, beautifully incorporated in the aromatic fields of Apples on the property of Vistakulle Apple Orchards.
When Anders and Veronica Åberg retired they bought the old Tourist Hotel on Vista Kulle back in 2006. They had found their own Paradise. A huge interest in wine made them take a trip to Toscana, and during the journey, a crazy idea was planted as a seed. The Chianti Mountains reminded them of their home. Could they make a Vineyard on Vista Kulle? Back home, as they looked over the fields, the dream that had started as a seed grew stronger.
The first 10 vines were planted in 2007 but the choice of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay didn't turn out well on the cold latitude of 57. The breakthrough came in 2010 with the varieties of Solaris and Rondo, which still mainly grow with small amounts of Cabernet Cortiz, Blau Frauburgunder, Leon Millot, and Phönix. The latter though is no hit according to the winemaker.
In 2012 they planted 500 vines of Solaris. In 2013 an additional 100 Solaris and 25 Rondo. In 2014 they broaden their growing ground to three with the one I visited at Vistakulle Apple Orchards.
Solaris is the most common Grape Varietal used in Sweden
Anders and Veronica make wine they like themselves, still learning and exploring. Of course, they love to distribute to local buyers at Systembolaget, but in the end, their aim has always been the dream of their own Vineyard. Today they have 1150 vines and make quite good white wine of Solaris and rosé wine of Rondo that have a better finish.
Sparkling Wine made with Solaris at Ästad Vineyard outside Varberg on the Swedish West Coast
Ästad Vineyard and Winery, Tvååker - The Driven and Ambitious
Outside the bigger city of Varberg, you'll find the much smaller Tvååker, and even farther away out in the countryside, you'll find Ästad Vineyards. From the beginning, a huge family farm but nowadays developed into a popular Food and Wine Destination and getaway; complete with a hotel, a SPA, and two restaurants which of one have been rewarded with a 1 Star in Guide Michelin, and of course; an organic Vineyard and Winery.
Take a tour with one of the Sommeliers in the Vineyard, with a stop in the Winery, and enjoy a wine tasting. Winemaker and Sommelier Claes Bartoldsson lead the work mentored by Swedish Winemaker Lars Torstensson and have an additional team in Vanessa who is a winemaker and Leonard who is an oenologist who both have experience working in Germany.
Ästad has two Vineyards; "Pengakullen" with 14 000 vines of Solaris at Ästad which has an Inland Climate and "Morup" about 20 minutes from Ästad at the sea, which has a Coastal Climate. On the latter Ästad also experiment on a smaller scale with the varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, besides the 14 000 plants of Solaris.
I had an opportunity to taste 2021 newly made, still wine directly from a steel tank resting for a second fermentation on the bottle, and it sure had some potential! This year Ästad had an overall record yield with over 30 tons of grapes on their two plots when there were difficulties in many, many vineyards in Europe struggling with frost, so maybe 2021 will be their best year so far.
Some of the interesting wines tested on Vejby Vineyard, with winemaker Appelin in the background
Vejby Vineyard and Winery on Bjäre Peninsula - The Innovative and Wine-Hipster
With a sign that says "Welcome to Sweden's Wine Country", it's easy to understand that here's a winemaker with a strong will, and a good sense of humor! And the Winemaker Jeppe Appelin is clearly a man that walks his own path.
About 16 years ago, Jeppe had a look to the west where Danish Winemakers had begun to be successful and the question on his mind was how would wine from the Bjäre Peninsula taste. After tasting a lot of Danish Wine, he decided to go for the varietal Regent. A red grape varietal in Solaris-dominated Sweden? Yes, and probably just because of the fact all other winemakers were going for and planting Solaris. He also found some interesting piwi varietals in Cabernet Colonje, Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Vineta och Pinotini.
Coming from being an Architect, Jeppe was forced to learn all about viticulture and winemaking from scratch. He had the location already, so it was all about figuring out the how-to. He planted 2000 vines in 2007 (because a report from the Netherlands had pointed out that 2000 vines were a perfect number if you wanted to work full-time but still run a vineyard). Today he has 3000, and Vejby is open for visitors all days of the week.
Because if you want to enjoy his wine you have to visit the vineyard and buy a Wine Tasting or buy his wine by the glass. He doesn't sell bottles of his wine as it's not allowed to sell wine (or any spirit) in any other place than in the state monopoly stores of "Systembolaget". He sees this as a "temporary" solution because, like many others in Sweden, Jeppe is hoping that it soon will be legal to sell the wine on the farm where it's made.
The result is that he has vintages from 2009 to 2020 in the wine cellar. Every year he's making a completely new wine, in a new style or with new techniques. Every wine has its own diary. It can be made to be stored in bottles, steel tanks, barrels, concrete eggs, or even clay amphoras!
Because this curious and adventurous way of winemaking made him build a Marani; a Georgian wine cellar with 19 Qvevri's, taking 10 months to be finished - all by himself (probably letting his architecture skills come in handy)! The inspiration came from his partner coming from a family with a tradition of winemaking in Iran, which has a lot in common with the Georgian style of making wine. He inaugurated the cellar with the Georgian Ambassador invited, with monk choirs and the lots! Jeppe likes to do things a little bit differently.
And this Biodynamic Wine-Hipster style has really paid off well too! Not only has he become famous for taking a different unbeaten path when it comes to Swedish Winemaking - but he also has gained some international reputation as well.
In 2019 he won a Bronze with the red wine "Vejby Regent Colonjes 2014" and this year he won another Bronze at IWSC in London for his Orange Wine "Gyllene Vejby" made in the Qveri with a cuvée of two vintages of 30 days and 420 days (!!!) macerated Solaris!
His enthusiasm is probably contagious as well. Jeppe told me that recently over 20 old and new winemakers had applied to plant vineyards on Bjäre Peninsula just in 2021! Maybe that hand-painted sign on that small road leading to his single vineyard isn't so far from the future truth after all?
Welcome to Sweden's Wine Country!
Jane and Fredrik Goldhahn are Food Travel Writers blogging on Sticks & Spoons Food Travel; two devoted Foodies and a Travel Couple from Sweden, who mostly travel for food. Recently joined by their daughter in their mission to Travel to every new Destination to Explore Food. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest too!
Solomos Winery in Zakynthos, Greece
by Sylvie from Travels with Eden Blog
Solomos Wines is a traditional family-run business built by Anastasios and Dionysios Solomos. The winery is located on the beautiful island of Zakynthos in the Ionian Islands group, off the west coast of the Greek Mainland. The winery is located at the base of a stunning castle that goes back to the Venetian era.
Visitors to the winery can taste the wine - some of the best in the world, and tour the wine cellar where thousands of bottles of wine are stored as they build flavor. There are over 17 wine varieties to try, and the owners are very generous with the tasting sizes. Some of the best wines to try include the Caretta, Lianoroggi, and the Melitis Medium Sweet Wine.
You can visit Solomus wines by hiring a car or booking a transfer, or you can book a guided tour. Most guided tours take in some of the other main sights of Zakynthos island. The food tours of Zakynthos come highly recommended, where you can visit the Zakynthos olive oil factory and visit the markets of Zakynthos Town and have a time of Solomos Wines.
Zakynthos is the perfect island to visit with stunning white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and delicious food served up in many traditional tavernas across the island. Go on a boat trip around the island, spot the local ‘Caretta Caretta’ turtles, or admire the blue caves surrounded by crystal clear water. Make sure you visit shipwreck beach, one of the most famous sights in Europe.
To reach Zakynthos, you can fly into Zakynthos Airport or board a ferry from Killini on the Mainland or from the next-door island of Kefalonia. In the high season, there are also some ferries from Italy.
Sylvie is a family travel blogger at Travels with Eden who tries to travel with her daughter as much as possible. She set up her blogs to help families plan the perfect trips away with the kids, from finding the ideal travel gear to discovering the best destinations.
Vineyards and Wineries in Ukraine
by Kate and Kris from What Kate and Kris Did
Ukraine isn't the first country you'd think of when talking about European vineyards, is it? However, wine-making in Ukraine goes back to the 4th Century when ancient Greeks recognized that the climate and soil conditions in the South of Ukraine near the Black Sea were favorable for growing grapes. During the Soviet Union, Ukraine was the biggest provider of wine for the region, with 250,000 hectares of vineyards.
Most vineyards now are in the regions of Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv, but there are others all over the country. Many of them run tours and tastings. We've done several during our time living in Ukraine.
Shabo Winery
If you find our brief story about the history of wine in Ukraine then you shouldn't miss Shabo. The Wine Culture Centre is an excellent museum about all the history from the beginning to the present day, along with lots of information about how local wine is made. It's modern and very well-designed. There are tours in English you can take, which end in a wine tasting. It is more expensive to have an English tour, so we just did the normal one. There are signs on the exhibits on the way around in English so you generally know what's happening.
Shabo winery is not far from Odesa, which is a beach and port city on the Black Sea. You can do a tour from there, or take a bus and do it yourself. It's one of many great things to do in Odesa.
Prince Trubetskoy Winery
Also worth visiting, but a little more off the tourist track is the Prince Trubetskoy winery. This is in Nova Khakovka in Kherson region, also in the south, and is apparently one of the oldest in the country.
A member of the Russian aristocracy (at the time, Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire), Prince Trubetskoy created vineyards and a winery on one of his estates on the banks of the Dneiper River. He also built a chateau in the French style on the land. Telling you the whole history now would spoil your visit, but after falling into ruin during the Soviet Union times, Prince Trubetskoy's great-grandson restored it in 2006 and began making wine there again.
Here there isn't only a tour of the vineyards and caves and wine tasting, but there are rooms in the chateau where you can stay. There's a swimming pool overlooking the river and a restaurant where you can enjoy their wines. It's a stunning place to stay.
If visiting wineries, or generally just drinking wine in Ukraine interests you, check out our blog. We have lived here for 7 years and explored lots of the country.
Kate and Kris are English language teachers currently living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine. Their blog is devoted to stories of places they have lived and worked, wildlife travels, and giving advice to people starting out teaching English. Have a look at What Kate and Kris Did and follow them on Instagram or Facebook for lots of photos of adventures around Ukraine.
Mikulov Wine Trail in the Czech Republic
by Megan from Packing up the Pieces
In the Czech Republic, most of the country’s wine is produced in the little-visited South Moravian Wine Region. Shockingly, this region produces over 95% of all Czech wine. This beautiful area lies close to the border of Austria. Believe it or not, Vienna is less than an hour away.
One of the best ways to tour this wine region is with a self-guided bike excursion of the Mikulov Bike Trail. The charming hilltop town of Mikulov is the perfect starting point for the trail. Not only can you rent a bike here, but wander the cobblestone streets, appreciate stunning vantage points like Goat Hill and Holy Hill, and visit the village’s very own Chateau. There are a few small wine producers here; however, it’s best to come around harvest season and on weekends to visit the actual cellars. Don’t fret, there are plenty of wine bars and restaurants in the town center that are pouring wine from nearby producers.
The Mikulov Wine Trail is a circular bicycle loop that is 82 kilometers long. The trail twists along past vineyards, chateaus, tasting rooms, and palaces, and through the Pálava Protected Landscape Area. If you don’t have a lot of time to explore the region, a one-day Mikulov Bike Tour will suffice.
Leave Mikulov and stop for a glass of wine in the village of Úlvay. Enjoy the outdoor garden patio at Villa Daniela. Continue into Valtice, where you will actually pass on by the border to Austria. This village has plenty of wine cellars and a chateau that offers samplings.
Pedal into Lednice, which has an incredible palace and the sprawling UNESCO-listed Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape. On the way back into Mikulov, stop in at the tiny hamlet of Sedlec, which has a few wineries to sip on local wines.
Biking the Mikulov wine trail is a fantastic way to explore the beautiful countryside of the Czech Republic all while sampling spectacular wines of the South Moravian region.
Megan from Packing up the Pieces has been traveling the world for over 10 years, sharing the most authentic and budget-friendly travel experiences. Find her hiking in the mountains on off-the-beaten trails, soaking in thermal waters, eating with locals, and seeking itineraries that help fuel local economies. Follow her on Instagram or Facebook.
Famous Wineries in the Republic of Moldova
by Raluca from Travel With A Spin
The Republic of Moldova is one of the most beaten path destinations in the world. However, it is high on the list of wine lovers as an important producer in Europe. The quantity and quality of the wines made in this country are not unknown to them. Winemaking is deeply ingrained in Moldova’s culture, history, and, of course, economy. Almost every household has a tiny vineyard and a few have also gained international fame. Two of them are real underground towns used to store and produce exquisite wine, Mileștii Mici and Cricova.
Mileștii Mici is the oldest storage for wine produced in Moldova and owns over 1.5 million bottles. This was recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest quality wine collection in the world. Cricova has the largest underground wine cellar in the world and also houses the only remaining bottle of “Easter Jerusalem” liquor – “Ian Beher”, harvested in 1902.
Both wineries share a similar history and natural conditions. The total length of the underground galleries of any of the complexes is hundred of kilometers long and can be visited with a guide. The streets of the ”wine towns” have strange names like Dyonisos, Cabernet, Sauvignon, or Lumiere. The galleries were initially part of stone mines, but due to their constant humidity and temperature, they started to be used for wine keeping around a century ago. Nowadays, international personalities keep their private wine collection at these wineries, because of the excellent conditions.
The wineries produce different types of white, red, rose, and even ice wines. But Cricova is also well known for its sparkling wines, produced using the champagne method. Tourists can learn about the production processes, including the champagne method, and, of course, taste the final products. Traditional dishes and music that accompany the glasses are also a plus.
Other wineries that are worth a visit are Purcari, Asconi, Brănești Caves, Castle Mimi, and Chateau-Vaterly.
Travel With A Spin is a blog for people that like to travel on their own and get to know as much as possible about the places and people they meet on the way. The mission is to provide you with the tools you need to get a ticket to a new place and have fun without breaking the bank. At the moment, most of the articles focus on Romania and Europe. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The Lavaux Vineyards in Switzerland
by Vanda from The Yogi Wanderer
Wine lovers visiting Switzerland can’t possibly miss the stunning Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, on the shore of Lake Geneva.
Classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2007, Switzerland’s largest contiguous winegrowing region is best explored by foot or on board the Lavaux tourist train.
Either way, visiting one of its many wine cellars or traditional restaurants and enjoying a glass of local Chasselas is a must-do!
If you’re a walker, then you’re up for a treat. This easy Swiss hike is as beautiful as it gets and offers many wine-tasting opportunities along the way. I recommend doing it in September and October for harvest and fall foliage season, but spring and summer are also very nice.
The trail starts at the picturesque wine-growing village of Saint-Saphorin and runs through the vines and a couple of small villages to Lutry.
From Saint-Saphorin, you can simply follow the yellow signs to Lutry or route 113. Soon, you’ll find yourself surrounded by beautiful vineyard terraces with views of Lake Geneva and the Alps as a backdrop – think breathtaking scenery everywhere you look!
The whole hike is 11 kilometers of mostly flat and paved path and takes around 4 hours to complete at a leisurely pace. You can also walk only half of the trail and end your hike in Cully, another charming wine-growing village where you can take the train or boat back.
Alternatively, you can hop on board the Lavaux Express tourist train, which runs from April to October and offers several routes and amazing views of the vineyards.
For those wanting to learn more about this wine-growing region, the Lavaux Vinorama, in Rivaz, offers a selection of more than 250 local wines you can enjoy, as well as wine-tasting tours.
Vanda is a journalist turned yoga teacher turned travel blogger. Combining her passions for writing, traveling, and yoga, The YogiWanderer is a travel website offering yoga-friendly travel advice for mindful travelers. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, and let her help you explore the world and your true self one mindful experience at a time!
Santo Wine from Santorini in Greece
by Clotilde from A Princess Traveling with Twins
Some tourists after a few days on the island wonder if Santorini is worth all the hype. Obviously, it may be a point of view influenced by personal experience, and although Santorini is a very touristic and expensive island, a victim of its own fame, it is undoubtedly also one of the most fascinating Greek islands.
If you arrive on the island with the right expectations and you choose one of the impressive accommodations on the edge of the caldera, you will have an exceptional and unforgettable holiday.
Do not however make Santorini your destination if you only want a beach holiday, there are other Greek islands where the sea is more accessible, come to Santorini for the poignant sunsets, the incredible views of the caldera, and to try some of its exceptional wines.
Few tourists, before arriving in Santorini, know that on the island there are about 20 vineyards and a production of excellent wines. Many vineyards offer the possibility of tours and wine tasting, one of the best options is offered by Santo Wine.
Santo wine is a cooperative made by different local producers, located in a fairly central and strategic position on the island, on the edge of the caldera, and not far from the picturesque and less touristic village of Pyrgos. You can visit Santo Wine just to try the different wines produced, but if you visit Santorini between March and November the best thing is to start with the winery tour and then stop for the wine tasting.
Santo Wine is the winery on the island that produces the largest variety of wines (including some types of bubbles!). During the tour, you will learn that more than 75% of the island's wine production is based on Assyriko grapes and that some plants are centuries-old thanks to the particular soil where they live (made of lava, pumice, and sand) which makes them very resistant to diseases.
You will discover the demanding manual work that takes place in keeping the vines very close to the ground model in a kind of circular basket, which helps to preserve humidity in the hot months, and finally, you will be able to appreciate the more mechanical part of the vinification carried out with modern machinery that guarantees the purity of the final product.
The tour lasts about an hour and afterward, you can relax on the magnificent terrace tasting the wines accompanied by local snacks while admiring the breathtaking view of the caldera! If you can, book a table for sunset time!
Clotilde is a mum of twins with a full-time job who, together with her husband, decided to start to help families that want to travel with kids but don't know where to start. On “A princess Traveling with Twins” you will find help to build adventurous itineraries for your trips from their personal examples, which you can simply copy, including all the details, costs, tips, and advice to make sure everything will run smoothly.
Discovering Wine of the Douro Valley in Portugal
by Maartje & Sebastiaan from The Orange Backpack
Whenever visiting Portugal, the Douro Valley will pop up when researching your trip right away. This stunning area along the Douro river east of the famous city of Port is one of the top destinations in the country. Why? Because the rolling hills along the river banks are filled with the best vineyards of Portugal, creating not just a stunning sight but also the famous port wine the country is known for.
The Douro river is long – it actually starts all the way in Spain and the river is definitely worth a mini road trip, starting all the way at the Spanish border and finishing in Porto as the sea – but there is one specific area that draws in the crowds. It's close to the town of Pinhao, which itself is not that interesting besides its beautiful train station, but it is right in the middle of the most stunning vineyards.
There are many vineyards along the Douro in this area – ‘Quinta’ in Portuguese, as you will soon learn from all the signs – and it’s hard to go wrong with any of them. We did a wine tour and tasting at Quinta da Pereira, a lovely family-run vineyard and winery where we stayed for a few nights with our camper van and baby girl for free.
The owner explained how they produce both the famous port wine and ‘normal’ wine and how each vineyard gets a port quota each year depending on the size of their vineyards and how the big brands buy many of those quotas to be able to produce port. It creates a fascinating insight into how the port business in Portugal actually works, along with a great tasting of the best this vineyard has to offer.
And if wine is not your thing – or you can’t drink it as you are breastfeeding your baby girl – you’ll be happy to learn that Quinta da Pereira and many other vineyards in the area also produce the most delicious olive oil and you’ll get to try it during a tasting as well.
Maartje & Sebastiaan – The Orange Backpack - decided to move their tenth date to Cambodia and have been the best travel buddies ever since. Their travel team just got a bit bigger, when their baby girl Linde was born in April 2021 and when they built their own travel van a few months later.
The Alsace Wine Route in France
by Bec Wyld from Wyld Family Travel
If you love a glass or two of wine then a trip along the Alsace wine route will have you sampling some of the best wines in the world.
This amazing area in Eastern France is world-renowned for producing some of the most delicious wines in the world and people flock to the region year-round to get a taste of it. From dry whites to robust reds there is something for everyone along the Alsace wine route.
For many, their wine journey in the Alsace starts in 2 of the larger towns of Strasbourg and Colmar but it is in the smaller towns like Eguisheim, Ribeauville, or Riquewihr where you will get the best experience. Their wine caves although smaller are more personal and you have the time to talk to the sellers so you get the very best from your tasting. The Ribeauville wine Co-op is the oldest wine cooperative in France and is a great venue for you to sample their wines. Dopff Moulin and Wolfburger are brands that have extended themselves into the international markets although their roots are still deeply embedded in the Alsace. Wolfburger is now also branching into liqueurs and flavors for beer which is great for people looking to extend their tastes.
If you want to venture out of the small towns and drive the route it will take you through what seems to be neverending fields of grapevines with vineyards you can drive in to sample their house wine. Visiting a vineyard in the Alsace is an amazing experience but most are shut during the winter months.
The Alsace Wine route also weaves its way through some of the most picturesque towns on the planet and makes the drive even more spectacular with unique and once-off smaller wineries combined with some big-name vineyards as well. If you want to sit and relax in any of the towns you will find nearly all of the restaurants have a preferred winery they use to pair with their Alsatian cuisine.
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Visit The Cradle of Wine in Kakheti, Georgia
By Emily from Wander-Lush
One for wine lovers who think they’ve tried it all, the Republic of Georgia offers a totally unique wine experience at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
Sometimes referred to as ‘the cradle of wine, Georgia has an 8000-plus-year-old history of viticulture and one of the world’s longest surviving winemaking traditions, which uses Qvevri clay amphora to ferment grapes underground. Skin-contact wines (where the skins, seeds, and stalks are left on for part or all of the process) are a specialty in Georgia and produce the country’s characteristic deep amber wines.
Vineyards can be found all over the country, with the Alazani River Valley in Eastern Georgia’s Kakheti being the most productive wine region. There are literally thousands of wineries one can visit here, ranging from tiny family cellars that produce a few thousand bottles a year, to commercial wineries, and even monasteries where the monks cork their own.
A wine-tasting experience in Georgia is a bit different than what you might be used to. Instead of sitting down at a white-clothed table for a formal tasting, it’s much more common to sample wines over a meal. Usually, the winemaker is present so you can ask questions and learn about the vineyard and his or her process.
Conversation and toasting are all part of the experience. It’s an intimate, social activity and a reflection of wine’s importance to Georgian culture. Most wineries also offer guests a tour of the grounds and a demonstration of the Qvevri fermentation process.
A great time to visit Georgia is during autumn when the annual Rtveli wine harvest takes place. If your timing is right, you can lend a hand to pick and crush the grapes before tasting the last season’s wines. This is often accompanied by music, dancing, and lots and lots of food.
Emily is the founder of Wander-Lush, a culture-focused travel blog and the internet’s most comprehensive resource for travel in Georgia. She is currently based in Kutaisi. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram for more.
St Emilion Vineyards in Bordeaux, France
by Victoria from Guide Your Travel
St Emilion is a beautiful little vineyard town located just outside of the city of Bordeaux. It’s the perfect day trip location and ideal if you’re seeing the area and are looking for a great vineyard tour to join. St Emilion is home to some of the best wines in the world including the notorious Grand Cru Classe wines.
There are hundreds of chateau and vineyards surrounding the little town and there are plenty of things to see and do. Saint-Emilion has incredible architecture and rich history dating back to 56 BC when the first winemaking grapes were cultivated in the area.
Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the two most common wines in the region although you’ll find pretty much every single type of wine. In St Emilion itself, you can go to different caves where wine is stored and most of them have tastings. While free tastings are rare most are still very affordable considering you’ll be trying some of the best wines in the world.
If you’re looking for a more in-depth tour of the local vineyards you should definitely buy tickets for the little tourist train. This costs less than 10€ and will take you all around the vineyards to different chateaux. You can choose between a tour with a tasting or another one that will just drive you around the vineyards to look at everything from the comfort of the little train.
There are audio guides in several languages on board so you can learn all about the incredible history of the area. If you do decide to pay for the tasting you’ll be taken to Chateau Rochebelle which is one of the most famous in the area. Tour their caves and learn all about the winemaking process in this beautiful place.
Victoria is a travel blogger and writer who loves to talk about bucket list destinations and how you can see them on a budget. Her blog Guide your Travel includes destination guides for Europe, Australia, and Asia and will help you start your own life as a digital nomad.
Champagne of Veuve Cliquot in Reims, France
by Lena from Salut from Paris
An inevitable destination for everyone who enjoys a glass of exquisite and delicate champagne is of course the Champagne region in the East of France.
While there are many sparkling wines out there, only wines produced in the Champagne region with locally sourced grapes are legally allowed to be called Champagne. Hence, it’s not surprising that a trip to the region offers you an unbelievable amount of champagne houses that are waiting for you to visit.
One house you shouldn’t miss though is the famous and prestigious Veuve Cliquot winery. Conveniently located in the regional capital Reims, the Veuve Cliquot Headquarters is easily accessible as a day trip from Paris but also as a stand-alone vacation to savor the beautiful Champagne region.
The wine cellars of Veuve Cliquot are just a short walk from the city center of Reims, and it is necessary to reserve your spot in advance. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and a jacket, it is a chill 11 °C in the cellars.
In the company of your host, you descend to the wine cellars. The tunnels in the chalky underground are in total more than 200 km long, but of course, shared between different Champagne Houses and you will explore only a bit of it. Your host not only enlightens you about the history of Champagne making but shares also interesting information about the lady of the house, the Veuve Cliquot (Veuve - widow). After the early passing of her husband, she fought to continue their business, a rare undertaking for a widowed woman in the 17th century!
After visiting different sections of the wine cellars, it’s time for the highlight of your wine cellar tour: the Champagne tasting!
Your host and champagne expert invites you to taste two different Champagnes of the House Veuve Cliquot. Thanks to their expertise you get to discover a whole range of nuances and tasty delicacies, which helps to appreciate these exquisite Champagnes even more.
If you are keen on more Champagne after your tasting, stop by the boutique. Apart from all sorts of merchandise and delicious champagne at appealing rates, the shop also has a Champagne tasting bar. For an additional fee, you can try different sorts and even the most exquisite vintages.
Salut from Paris provides a perfect combination of an essential travel guide with valuable local insider tips. No matter if it’s about finding the best hotel, getting around town, or discovering secret spots and little-known sights - Salut from Paris has the answers. It’s a source of knowledge that helps visitors to navigate Paris by providing itineraries of sights and around neighborhoods, but also indicates where it’s worth leaving the beaten path to see more from Paris than the usual guidebooks suggest. Also, check out Salut from Paris Facebook!
Saraceni Winery & Vineyard in Sant'Andrea in Percussina
Lisa from Travel Connect Experience
About 20 km south of Florence, in the heart of Chianti, there is a village of a handful of houses surrounded by vineyards. The landscape is enchanting and in the neighborhood, there are only a few souls. Travelers who pass through the village of Sant'Andrea in Percussina, even more than for the wine, do so to visit the house where Niccolo' Machiavelli, a political figure and philosopher who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries, lived.
The "Albergaccio", which is what Machiavelli called the house where he was forced to retire after the Medici had chased him away from Florence, is a hidden gem in Tuscany. It is here that one of the most studied political theorists in the world wrote his main work "The Prince", dividing his time between the rooms of the house and the inn.
Today the Albergaccio is a house museum whose rooms with original furniture can be visited with a guided tour. In the wine cellars of the house there are large barrels dating back to the 17th century. Machiavelli's house and its lands, cultivated with vineyards, are now owned by the Saraceni Family, which continues to produce white, red, and rosè wines as well as sparkling wines. Chianti, Brachetto, Moscato, Pinot, Chardonnay, Prosecco, are just some of the wines produced by Saraceni's wineries and they can be bought online as well.
Villa Machiavelli, which is the name of the contemporary estate, is also a restaurant where it is possible to taste typical Tuscan dishes in different ways:
-Classic Restaurant Menu
-Bistrot with taglieri (cutting boards filled with different types of cheese and cured meats) and burgers for the aperitivo time.
-Street food, for a quick and easy meal accompanied by the Saraceni wines.
One of the dishes on the menu, among the appetizers, is the "pappa al pomodoro", (tomato mush), which was often ordered by Niccolò Machiavelli to the cooks who worked in his kitchen, which can be visited through the tour of the house museum. At the villa are also hosted banquets for ceremonies and events.
In order to fully enjoy this place with more than 500 years of history, it is necessary to go there a couple of hours before the meal. In this way, you will have time to do the guided tour of the house museum and then sit down at the restaurant and taste the typical dishes of the region and the wines produced by the grapes of the vineyards which belonged to the author of "The Prince".
Lisa is an Italian with a passion for showing the beautiful region where she grew up to travelers from all over the world. She writes about off-the-beaten-path-destinations in Central Italy on her travel blog - Travel Connect Experience - and she is also a tour guide and teacher of the Italian language.
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