After two years of couch tourism, European journey is lastly again on the agenda this summer season. This, clearly, is nice information. And even permitting for a number of the winery-related actions that didn’t make it by means of the pandemic, wine lovers are nonetheless spoiled for alternative; all however essentially the most introverted wineries supply tastings – and sometimes excursions too.
Actually, the issue will not be what’s on supply – it’s what (and the way a lot) you may persuade your travelling companion(s) to participate in. In any case, unusual as it could appear, not everybody likes to spend sunny afternoons standing round in a barrel cellar.
This text picks out a dozen of the very best visits that supply a lot extra than simply wine, making certain everybody goes dwelling glad. Reserving prematurely is crucial usually.
France
Champagne Pommery, Champagne
Get your artwork on
Domaine Pommery’s big property is near the centre of the cathedral metropolis of Reims. At half-hour’ stroll from the practice station, it is a go to you might do on a day-trip from Paris (45 minutes by practice).
Numerous the grandes marques in Champagne have spectacular customer experiences (Taittinger simply down the highway is excellent, for example: taittinger.com). But it surely’s the non-wine components that make this one stand out – notably for these guests who’re much less into wine. In addition to the artwork nouveau/artwork deco Villa Demoiselle constructing, there are curated exhibitions of artworks from native and worldwide artists. These are on show all yr spherical (aside from changeover occasions), principally 30m beneath floor, the place Pommery’s well-known ‘crayères’ (previous chalk pits) type glorious galleries for contemplation. They will add a uniquely thought-provoking, amusing, poignant, and infrequently baffling aspect to your go to. Open day by day, 10am-5pm, tickets from €24.
Champagne Legrand-Latour, Champagne
Meet a fossil
Each wine lover is aware of that Champagne’s terroir is all about limestone. And at Champagne Legrand-Latour in Fleury-la-Rivière, simply northwest of Epernay, the staff are eager to indicate you what it’s all about. Of their Cave aux Coquillages (‘cellar of seashells’), they’ve put collectively a globally revered assortment of greater than 300 prehistoric shells – a few of them unnervingly massive – encased and preserved in limestone from 45 million years in the past, when France’s coolest wine area was a tropical seaside.
For these eager to know extra or to get extra concerned, there’s the whole lot from a half-hour introductory rationalization of fossil-hunting to half-day and full-day workshops the place you get to excavate your individual molluscs from the rock. Clearly, it’ll be enjoyable to see for those who can style the limestone terroir within the wines afterwards. Open day by day, with visits from €13; workshops from €50, accessible Monday to Friday, minimal variety of college students required.
Domaine du Lycée Viticole de Beaune, Burgundy
The winery path at Domaine du Lycée Viticole de Beaune in Burgundy.
Hike the côtes
The wine faculty in Beaune is a form of ‘be taught on the job’ vineyard, the place college students go to learn to be the following star grower or winemaker. ‘La Viti’, because it’s recognized regionally, is about half a kilometre from the centre of the city on the foot of Beaune’s premier cru vineyards. And the enjoyment of this go to is you could get out among the many vines, following a 10km way-marked path designed that can assist you uncover six of the ‘climats’ belonging to the property. Taking you up and down the slopes of the Côte de Beaune, the student-designed tour will not be a delicate stroll, however it’s a great way to work up an urge for food whereas participating with the subtleties of the area’s terroir. It’s dog-friendly too. Obtain the free map on-line.
Domaine Laroche, Chablis
Picnic within the vines
If mountaineering the vineyards is a bit strenuous, then Domaine Laroche might be extra your factor. It’s one thing of a one-stop store in Chablis, with a great restaurant, lodging and quite a few tasting choices, all situated in and across the medieval ‘Obédiencerie’ monastery – a part of a ninth-century abbey – within the centre of the city. There are many leisurely meals and lodging packages accessible, plus the extra entertaining choice of heading out into the vineyards on an e-bike. You’ll be supplied with a picnic and a map, which ought to permit you to discover the chalky pathways of the Chablis crus with out working up an excessive amount of of a sweat, and likewise offer you a little bit of downtime on the south-facing slopes. Most visits accessible yr spherical; biking excursions (together with wine tasting and Obédiencerie go to) from April to October, Monday to Saturday, 10.30am, €69.
Hameau Duboeuf, Beaujolais
College students go to the Hameau Duboeuf ‘wine theme park’ in Beaujolais. Credit score: Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty Photographs
Carry the youngsters
Youngsters, it’s secure to say, aren’t prone to be keen on most wine-themed visits, so choices for wine-loving dad and mom with little ’uns in tow are fairly restricted. However for those who’re in (or passing by means of) Beaujolais, Hameau Duboeuf ought to hold each events glad.
Billing itself as ‘Europe’s first wine theme park’, Hameau Duboeuf tries laborious to make wine – and wine tradition – digestible, not least in a 4D cinema the place you may ‘fly’ over the crus of Beaujolais.
The gardens, open from April to September, are a great place for a stroll or picnic (or aimless juvenile charging about), and youngsters who aren’t within the winemaking centre can journey pedal bikes or play loopy golf as an alternative. The 100 classic drinks advert posters from 1890 to 1950 are virtually definitely worth the admission price alone.
It’s simply off the principle A6 between Lyon and Mâcon, or an area practice to Romanèche-Thorins will drop you straight within the park. Park open many of the yr, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-6pm; tickets from €10 (kids €6).
Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Bordeaux
Meals and spa luxurious
This Pessac-Léognan property has gained a number of tourism awards down the years, so no shock to see it included right here. The prospect to be a winemaker for a few hours and fiddle round (supervised, after all) within the vineyard and cellar is perhaps aimed extra at wine geeks than these with a passing curiosity. However a tour specializing in the property’s biodynamic ethos might have wider attraction. You would possibly even see a horse ploughing in-between the vines.
The five-star Les Sources de Caudalie lodge has a two-star Michelin restaurant and a spa providing quite a lot of therapies, usually involving grape produce. Strive the crushed Cabernet scrub, for instance, and you’ll pattern the terroir in and out. Château excursions from €22; lodge from €335 per evening for a double room; tasting menu from €165; half-day spa rituals from €302; workshops POA.
Château L’Hospitalet, Narbonne
Jazz underneath the celebrities
The south of France doesn’t, on the entire, characteristic the glitzy vacationer sights of the wealthier wine areas. Nevertheless, former rugby participant Gérard Bertrand’s 1,000ha Languedoc property in La Clape is a powerful exception. There are many fascinating tour choices, of which the one-hour electrical scooter tour of the vineyards plus vineyard tour and tasting is essentially the most eye-catching. But when Jazz at Château L’Hospitalet you resolve to remain within the château then the much less wine-engaged can fortunately amuse themselves within the spa or the vineyard’s beachfront restaurant whilst you feed your internal geek.
That mentioned, the massive attraction right here, no doubt, is the annual jazz pageant. It’s six nights of outside consuming and consuming within the light heat of a Mediterranean July night, adopted by a live performance. There’s a special artist every evening, and over the previous 20 years it’s attracted some actually massive names. Open yr spherical, with excursions from €19; electrical scooter tour, Saturdays solely, €40.
Italy
Castello di Volpaia, Chianti Classico
The restored medieval hamlet of Volpaia in Chianti
Go to a medieval ‘borgo’
Simply to the north of the walled city of Radda in Chianti – nicely price a go to in itself – is the traditional borgo (hamlet) of Volpaia. As soon as deserted, it’s being painstakingly become a quirkily stunning meals and wine vacation spot. There’s a restaurant, a bakery, olive oil and naturally (this being Italy) artisanal ice cream. There’s additionally a vineyard, with its numerous manufacturing and ageing amenities scattered among the many previous basements, manor homes and former church buildings of the Twelfth-century village. So a tour right here is as a lot a wander by means of the previous as a viewing of vats and barrels – one thing that may attraction to foodies and historians alike. The property has additionally teamed up with biking firm Ciclismoplus to supply personalised one-day bike excursions of the world. Open yr spherical, with group excursions and tastings from €21; bike rent and bike excursions, POA.
Spain
Bodegas Muga, Rioja
Scorching-air ballooning at Bodegas Muga, Rioja
Up, up and away!
In Spain’s north, Bodegas Muga is one in all Rioja’s five-star producers, handily situated in Haro’s well-known Barrio de la Estación. With the likes of La Rioja Alta, López de Heredia and Roda all clustered across the station, it is a great spot for wine lovers to spend the day. However Muga has been one of many extra inventive in its choices, with the standout attraction being a night hot-air balloon journey over the vineyards.
The place the balloon goes clearly will depend on the wind, however it’s a powerful manner to soak up the topography, landmarks and wine villages of the area. Winery excursions on a Segway might be an alternate for anybody affected by vertigo. Guided excursions and tastings accessible Monday to Saturday, from €25; Segway excursions (together with picnic and vineyard go to), €100; balloon flights accessible at weekends and through holidays (climate dependent), €180pp (€900 for a personal flight).
Bodegas Monje, Tenerife
An underwater tasting expertise at Bodegas Monje
Underwater tasting… actually
Within the Canary Islands, Bodegas Monje does the whole lot it presumably can to make wine and meals fascinating – and for those who’re ever on this volcanic island it ought to be a must-visit.
Meals-wise, in addition to nice brunches and lunches, there are wine and tapas matching periods, whereas aspiring cooks (together with kids) can learn to make the well-known native ‘mojo’ sauces. Creatives can be taught to dye materials with pure supplies resembling flowers and grapes. Additionally on supply are helicopter excursions around the island, a night-time picnic and tasting, and (most bizarrely of all) an underwater wine tasting. You’ll want to have the ability to dive (clearly), however heading down into an underwater tasting room within the Atlantic to attempt the ‘sea-aged wines’ in situ is weirdly great. Open yr spherical, with excursions and tastings from €12; wine and tapas pairing periods from €19; underwater wine-tasting expertise, from €675; helicopter excursions from €945.
Portugal
Quinta do Vallado, Douro
Sail/canoe Port nation
The Douro is without doubt one of the most stunning components of the wine world, so even non-wine fanatics ought to be glad to spend a while right here. Quinta do Vallado’s bijou lodge, simply outdoors Regua, has a great restaurant, a pool and many actions that profit from the area’s pure magnificence. There are strolling trails, picnics and Jeep excursions within the vineyards. For this author, nevertheless, one of the best ways to seize the Douro is from the river, with the well-known whitewashed terraces stretching up the steep arid slopes on both facet of you. A Vallado-organised boat tour on the river seems enjoyable; the possibility to self-navigate on a canoe down the smaller Corgo river, even higher. Contact through the web site for extra particulars.
Germany
Kloster Eberbach, Rheingau
Kloster Eberbach by candlelight. Credit score: Dietmar Scherf / Ullstein Bild through Getty Photographs
Monks, Riesling and Large Sean
This can be a go to that may curiosity followers of German Riesling (ie, 99% of Decanter readers) and followers of Sean Connery (ie, 99% of individuals ever). Why? As a result of in addition to internet hosting numerous wine-related visits and actions (plus store), the 900-year-old abbey was additionally the setting for the movie of Umberto Eco’s e book The Identify of the Rose. The abbey presents these numerous components individually, however it’s extra enjoyable when it combines them. The prospect to walk the cloisters with a glass of wine accompanied by reside Gregorian chants or style and tour by candlelight make for a uniquely atmospheric expertise. Open yr spherical, with monastery excursions from €17.50; wine tastings and excursions from €34.50.
