World’s 6 Best Places Where Every Wine Lover Should Visit
Wouldn’t you just love to travel around the world and spend all the time tasting different sorts of wine? Lucky for you, vacations that consist of wine tasting are certainly becoming a thing today. In the last couple of years, tourism that revolves around wine has been rapidly growing. In many wineries across the globe, you can find offers for vineyard and wine cellar tours, wine-tasting dinners and tasting rooms that give you wonderful scenic views. What is so great about these tours is that, next to tasting impeccable wine sorts, you also make the connection with the region where it comes from, which further expands the magnificence of your experience. So where do you go to get a taste of such tours?
1) Bordeaux, France
You are not a real wine enthusiast if you don’t visit Bordeaux in France. It is the most renowned region in the whole world when it comes to fine wine production. Bordeaux produces all sorts of wines, from the most prestigious and expensive wines out there to some of the more affordable but still extremely delicious ones. What makes Bordeaux stand out next to its wine production are its Gothic buildings and mansions where you can experience wine tasting in a unique setting. Some of these mansions and castles age more than 300 years. When it comes to the best chateaus for wine tasting, there are Graves, St. Emilion and Médoc.
2) Barcelona, Spain
What makes Barcelona’s wine-tasting market unique is that, in comparison to most other wineries around the world that require you to drive at least a few hours away from big cities to find them, the grandeur of the Catalonia wine country is available to you in a quite small region that you can easily travel around. Denominación de Origen, for example, is one of the wineries that is only 20 minutes farther from the city. There are other vineyards as well, some of them being considered the best in the world, and they are all located only about 90 minutes away from Barcelona.
3) Barossa Valley, Australia
You might be surprised to know that Australia has areas that have a great number of wineries. One of them is the amazing Barossa Valley. This is a region visited by people from all over the world and offers various experiences to its visitors. You can pick a wine-tasting room or a full dedicated guide tour. When it comes to the wines that it has to offer, the one that takes the lead is Shiraz, which stands out among all the world’s producers of this wine. Next, to Shiraz, you can get a taste of Mataro, Yalumba, Grenache, Henschke and Rockford. What’s great about Barossa Valley is that its experiences are open to you throughout the year.
4) Dalat, Vietnam
Vietnam is a one-of-a-kind place that offers some wonderful natural beauties, extremely friendly people, and a wine culture that is very rich and developed. Due to a great number of fruits that are locally grown in the area, the market consists of both grape and fruit wines. However, the most popular wine is most certainly the grape wine under the name Vang Dalat, which stands for Dalat red wine. It’s relatively affordable and has an impeccable taste. In order to truly get the best out of the Vietnamese wine culture, you should take up Vietnam wine tours, which have grown to be extremely popular. You will get to visit various old castles in the area, and an island called Phu Quoc, where you can sip some of the best fruit wines they have to offer.
5) Tuscany, Italy
If you are a fan of the famous red wine Chianti, then you have certainly heard of the Tuscany region in Italy. This region has all the necessary properties to make this wine one of a kind. The climate conditions are perfect, the soil is diverse, and the terrain just the kind that it requires. What makes Tuscany’s wine so exquisite is the Sangiovese grape, which is the base for many famous wines next to Chianti – Carmignano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. Furthermore, the region is also famous for the Super Tuscan wines.
Tuscany is an area renowned by what some people call the “old world” winemaking culture. This means that the winemakers still make the wine by crushing the grapes with their feet, and then store it into huge vaulted cellars. Some of these cellars are carved into the rock. When you take a trip to Tuscany, you can visit some of the many castles, mansions and vineyards in order to experience their magnificent wine tours.
6) Napa & Sonoma, California
When it comes to the United States, if you want to find an area that is the most popular for growing wine, then you are looking for the Napa Valley. With about 4 million visitors a year, this area has to offer some of the world’s best wines. The staggering number of wineries here is over 450, and all of them offer unique wine tasting tours. Some of the best wines you can taste here are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.
The Napa Valley also offer a great number of high-quality restaurants, hotels, spans, and various other activities that can make your experience of the area truly unique.
Final words
If you’re looking for some of the best wines in the world, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, then these are the places that you simply have to visit. Not only will you get the chance to taste exquisite wine, but you will also visit various places that the regions have to offer, and take up activities that are bound to make your trip worth remembering for a long time.
Do share your experiences if you’ve visited any of these places in the comments below? If not, which place would you love to visit?
About the Author
Ian Pearson is a passionate sports fan, nature and photography addict, always trying to keep up to date with tech innovations and development.
dannie
March 26, 2017I’ve always wanted to visit Bordeaux for a wine tour, but it never would have occurred to me to go to Vietnam for wine! Cool article.
View CommentStella the Travelerette
March 26, 2017I haven’t visited any of these places but I would love to go there! I suppose Bordeaux would be first on my list because of its historical importance. But I’d love to visit Napa too!
View CommentValerie CottageMakingMommy
March 26, 2017I’d love to go to all of these places. The hubs and I have talked about going to Cali to check out there wine scene. Is it great or no?
View Commenttravelwithtarah
March 26, 2017Ahh wine is one of my favorite things to drink! I’ve visited a few of these places and definitely agree about the great wine! Surprisingly, I’m from California but haven’t made it to Sonoma yet. Hoping to make it there sometime soon!
View CommentNina
March 26, 2017I am very happy to see that Spain has made it on the list at #2! The wine here is so cheap and amazing! I will keep this list for my travels.
View CommentMarlene Marques
March 26, 2017Hi, Ana! Loved your list and, as a wine lover, I would love to visit all these places. Also, as a Portuguese, with definitely add to your list Portugal, especially the Douro region. You just have to check it out 😉
View CommentAriane
March 26, 2017Tuscany is such a great place. Beautiful landscapes and delectable wines!!! You should come to Provence in France some time. There you have a lot of great vineyards … and you can visit the world famous vineyard Chateauneuf-du-Pape, you can also hike through their domain. 🙂
View CommentRosey Everyday
March 26, 2017All these places are on my bucket list. I def. want to go to Spain and Sonoma!
View Commentamanda0914
March 26, 2017I never would have thought the Vietnams would be on this list! I love it, I’m heading there this summer so will make sure to add this to my list. Wine, what a wonderful thing eh!
View Commentemmaeatsandexplores
March 25, 2017Wine is my passion and I’ve done plenty of wine courses to backup my knowledge. Lat year we did the Yarra and Hunter valleys in Australia and Tuscany too – this year it’s Bordeaux – I can’t wait! Napa Valley and Sonoma are next on the list!
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