Wine Travel Guides Blog
Wine Travel in Istria, Croatia
By Sue Style Plenty of people have found good reasons to travel in both Croatia and Slovenia – think unspoiled Adriatic coastlines, well-preserved Roman sites, medieval hilltop villages, rugged alpine scenery and wild mountain walks. Now there’s another reason to add to these: both offer terrific wine travel possibilities. Since Croatian and Slovenian wines seldom [...] 8/31/2010 5:11:02 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Visiting the Quieter Part of Burgundy
By Brett Jones I always enjoy visiting Chalon-sur-Saône, a bustling city in Southern Burgundy, with a calm centre that straddles the river, the Cathedral Square on one side and Rue de Strasbourg, a street replete with restaurants, on the other bank. We recently visited Burgundy during the Grands Jours de Bourgogne where wine tastings are [...] 8/17/2010 6:29:03 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
South Africa makes it easy for Wine Tourists
By Wink Lorch It’s nearly ten years since I’ve visited the Cape winelands of South Africa, but the images are still clear in my mind, for this part of the world is right up there on the list of most beautiful wine regions. What’s more, even ten years ago, it was clear that the South [...] 7/28/2010 3:43:06 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
World Wine Tour 2010 Travels in Asia
We are really grateful to our intrepid World Wine Tour 2010 friends Anja and Georges who have  supplied the following overview and photos about their wine travels in Asia earlier this year. They are travelling through the world of wine, collecting donations of the best bottles they encounter en route to sell next year at [...] 7/1/2010 10:42:46 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Wine Travels in the Barossa
By Sue Style Sipping a glass of Riesling in the famous Steingarten vineyard at 9 o’clock on a chilly April morning is a great way to beat jetlag – and a fine introduction to what the Barossa has to offer. Of course the bulk of visitors to this stunning area are Australians, most of them [...] 6/23/2010 10:32:19 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
A Good Time to Plan a Wine Tour in the Euro Zone
It’s high time to plan that wine tour, and also high time that we gave you an update on what’s happening on our main Wine Travel Guides website. With the Euro sliding against the US dollar and to an extent against the UK pound  as well as several other currencies, travel in France, Italy, Spain [...] 6/14/2010 11:24:11 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
My favourite French Wine Town – Arbois in the Jura
By Wink Lorch Some might suggest that it would be a close call to choose a favourite wine town in France. For me, in the past few years, it is Arbois in the Jura that has become the town that each time I visit appeals to me more. It would have been easy to choose Beaune [...] 5/17/2010 1:11:57 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Hurray for May – Cellar Doors open in France and Italy
The month of May is a great time for wine lovers to travel through the wine regions of France or anywhere in Europe for that matter, so if you can sneak in a quick trip, I’d make arrangements now. Apart from being a relatively calm time to travel with no major school holidays, the vineyards [...] 4/28/2010 7:11:41 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Driving Down the Road of Grand Cru Legends
By Wink LorchThere’s a road in France that always makes my heart beat a little faster, the first time I drove down it I was just 17, which is more years ago than I care to reveal. My friends with whom I was heading south from England on a European camping holiday, couldn’t understand my [...] 4/15/2010 10:57:37 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
A Cooperative Lunch in Hermitage
Words and Pictures by Brett JonesWe had enjoyed a busy morning tasting wines in the Northern Rhône, and before lunch we made our way to the edge of Tain l’Hermitage to taste and buy some reasonably-priced wines at the town’s wine cooperative. One of the biggest and best wine cooperatives in France, Cave Cooperative [...] 3/20/2010 7:38:59 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
A Cooperative Lunch in Hermitage
Words and Pictures by Brett JonesWe had enjoyed a busy morning tasting wines in the Northern Rhône, and before lunch we made our way to the edge of Tain l’Hermitage to taste and buy some reasonably-priced wines at the town’s wine cooperative. One of the biggest and best wine cooperatives in France, Cave Cooperative [...] 3/20/2010 6:38:59 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Where Wine History, Technology and Art Meet
Nearly every traditional wine region in Europe boasts its own wine museum, sometimes more than one. It makes sense when you think about it – generations of wine producers have practiced their craft for centuries, and over time much has changed in terms of the technology in both the vineyard and the winery, in the [...] 2/26/2010 7:58:14 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Where Wine History, Technology and Art Meet
Nearly every traditional wine region in Europe boasts its own wine museum, sometimes more than one. It makes sense when you think about it – generations of wine producers have practiced their craft for centuries, and over time much has changed in terms of the technology in both the vineyard and the winery, in the [...] 2/26/2010 6:58:14 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The first National Wine Tourism Awards from France
Last week the French minister of tourism presented the first ‘Prix National de l’Oenotourisme’ – wine tourism awards in four different categories and I’m delighted to say that all of them are already included in Wine Travel Guides! There were 260 entrants in all and I would love to get hold of that list. In [...] 2/1/2010 7:02:02 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The first National Wine Tourism Awards from France
Last week the French minister of tourism presented the first ‘Prix National de l’Oenotourisme’ – wine tourism awards in four different categories and I’m delighted to say that all of them are already included in Wine Travel Guides! There were 260 entrants in all and I would love to get hold of that list. In [...] 2/1/2010 6:02:02 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Books to inspire wine travelers
I want to share with you a couple of wine books I’ve read recently, which are not the usual wine reference books, as each involves travelling in wine country, but viewed from very different angles. Both are books you can dip into by sections or read cover to cover and are, arguably, more travel books [...] 1/19/2010 8:52:51 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Books to inspire wine travelers
I want to share with you a couple of wine books I’ve read recently, which are not the usual wine reference books, as each involves travelling in wine country, but viewed from very different angles. Both are books you can dip into by sections or read cover to cover and are, arguably, more travel books [...] 1/19/2010 7:52:51 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Wine Tasting Cellars – Should they charge?
For most people, the best part of any wine tour is visiting the cellars and tasting the wines, but the experience in Europe is often quite different from that of visiting New World wine regions. The main reason is that most European wineries are small family-owned estates many of whom lack proper facilities for receiving [...] 12/23/2009 8:14:19 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Wine Tasting Cellars – Should they charge?
For most people, the best part of any wine tour is visiting the cellars and tasting the wines, but the experience in Europe is often quite different from that of visiting New World wine regions. The main reason is that most European wineries are small family-owned estates many of whom lack proper facilities for receiving [...] 12/23/2009 7:14:19 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Somontano – wine, nature and culture at the foot of the Spanish Pyrenees
Wine tourism in Spain is considered by many to be a trip to La Rioja, and whilst it cannot be denied that this mighty wine region has a lot to offer, many of the smaller wine regions in Spain present unique and special experiences off the beaten track. Kathy Abell has lived in Northern Spain [...] 12/8/2009 11:54:40 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Somontano – wine, nature and culture at the foot of the Spanish Pyrenees
Wine tourism in Spain is considered by many to be a trip to La Rioja, and whilst it cannot be denied that this mighty wine region has a lot to offer, many of the smaller wine regions in Spain present unique and special experiences off the beaten track. Kathy Abell has lived in Northern Spain [...] 12/8/2009 10:54:40 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The great wine capital of Bordeaux
By Wink LorchThe name Bordeaux conjures up different things to the wine lover: a red or perhaps a white wine; a large and world famous wine region; and to those in the know, a great wine city. After years in the world of wine, I can’t help but know something about the wines, though I’m [...] 11/25/2009 1:04:09 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The great wine capital of Bordeaux
By Wink LorchThe name Bordeaux conjures up different things to the wine lover: a red or perhaps a white wine; a large and world famous wine region; and to those in the know, a great wine city. After years in the world of wine, I can’t help but know something about the wines, though I’m [...] 11/25/2009 12:04:09 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
News! All Wine Tour Content Now Free to View
We’ve made some major changes on the Wine Travel Guides website, which will benefit anyone planning a wine tour in France, Tuscany or Rioja and other regions we will add next year. All the contents of our 50 micro-region travel guides to wine regions can now be viewed free on the website.There’s no catch here, [...] 10/30/2009 11:46:22 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
News! All Wine Tour Content Now Free to View
We’ve made some major changes on the Wine Travel Guides website, which will benefit anyone planning a wine tour in France, Tuscany or Rioja and other regions we will add next year. All the contents of our 50 micro-region travel guides to wine regions can now be viewed free on the website.There’s no catch here, [...] 10/30/2009 10:46:22 AM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The French Giant Wakes up to Wine Tourism
By Wink LorchThe Languedoc-Roussillon, also referred to as ‘Le Midi’, has long been known in France as a giant wine producing region, source of a mass of everyday table wines. But in the past 25 years there’s been an important revolution in the region, which continues today in a more urgent manner as sales of [...] 10/12/2009 9:52:17 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
The French Giant Wakes up to Wine Tourism
By Wink LorchThe Languedoc-Roussillon, also referred to as ‘Le Midi’, has long been known in France as a giant wine producing region, source of a mass of everyday table wines. But in the past 25 years there’s been an important revolution in the region, which continues today in a more urgent manner as sales of [...] 10/12/2009 8:52:17 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
An unusual wine bar on the Canal du Midi
The French city of Toulouse lies between the wine regions of the south-west and those of the Languedoc-Roussillon and travellers to these wine regions may well start or end their journey in the city. Below, American Tom Fiorina, who lives close to the city and writes The Vine Route blog, shares a wine discovery that [...] 9/23/2009 9:47:33 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
An unusual wine bar on the Canal du Midi
The French city of Toulouse lies between the wine regions of the south-west and those of the Languedoc-Roussillon and travellers to these wine regions may well start or end their journey in the city. Below, American Tom Fiorina, who lives close to the city and writes The Vine Route blog, shares a wine discovery that [...] 9/23/2009 8:47:33 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Visiting vineyards by Vespa and speaking Slovenian
By Wink LorchEverything seemed yellow on our first wine tour in Collio in north-east Italy, right on the Slovenian border. The sun shone brightly, some of the wines were curiously yellow and the Vespa parked outside our delightful agritourismo in the vineyards was bright yellow too! Unfortunately we were not on a leisurely trip, [...] 9/10/2009 2:04:43 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
A wine tasting and a long lunch in the middle of France
By Wink LorchTesting out the insider expert advice on Wine Travel Guides is definitely one of the perks of my job. As a wine educator, I used to advise my students that by choosing top producers from lesser-known wine appellations, they would find better value than choosing a nobody from the well-known appellations. It’s no [...] 8/18/2009 9:16:49 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Discovering the wines and vineyards of Trentino
Words and Photos by Brett JonesMay is a lovely month to visit vineyards. The vines are burgeoning with life with fresh green foliage and the promise of this year’s harvest as the nascent grapes flower. A visit to Trentino in North East Italy is no exception: to the south of Alto Adige and to the [...] 7/20/2009 5:34:18 PM

Wine Travel Guides Blog
Getting up close and personal with Priorat
By Sue StyleBeady-eyed wine travellers can hardly have missed the meteoric rise of Priorat’s blockbusting, terroir-driven red wines, characterised by their intensity, complexity, longevity and eye-watering prices. But how many of you have travelled in the comarca or county of Priorat, about an hour southwest of Barcelona? It’s a stunning area, well worth a [...] 7/6/2009 4:06:53 PM