The best thing about a wine tour is that you get to taste some of the finest “grape juice” in the world, straight from where it is made. You could be a novice in wine tasting or an oenophile, a wine tour can be stimulating and instructive besides being a joyous journey. Here are some of the best wine tours around the world.
India
Nashik has the highest grape productivity in the world. This grape growing town is close to Mumbai in the Western India. A company called Groove Temple Entertainment conducts a two day tour to some six wineries in the region. The Bespoke Nashik Wine Trail Experience takes you to some wineries with astounding sceneries of the rolling grape fields and the hills as a background. One of the wineries also holds a festival called Sula Fest in the month of January every year where wine, dance and food rule the roost. Wine makers from Australia, France and South Africa come and live in this Indian town for months for the grapes.
New Zealand
Villa Maria Estate is the largest privately owned company in Auckland, New Zealand. The trip to this historic winery is known as Maungakiekie / Villa Marie Estate Winemakers Picnic, which takes place between 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Previously known as the Cornwall Park owned by the late Sir John Logan Campbell, this estate was an ancient Maori Pa site for more than 500 years. The private guided tour actually takes you through the wine making process in the winery and you get to taste 8 award winning wines with some antipasto and breads. This winery and vineyard is located in the rim of an ancient volcano.
Thailand
Wine Tours Thailand conducts tours to wineries near Bangkok city. These are either one-day or two-day tours and include visits to the vineyards, wine restaurants, lunch with a glass of wine, visit to national parks, Buddha temples, night safari and elephant rides through the jungles and river.
Europe & North America
Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours are gentle and classic tours of major vineyards in Europe and other wine countries. Lynette Arblaster and Tim Clarke are passionate about wine and have been specializing in wine tours for the past 25 years. They have a few surprises planned for this year’s tour plus their usual Champagne weekends are on the cards. They have 18 wine countries on their 2011 list including some wine regions of the New World.
Their April Bordeaux Wine & City Weekend coincides with “En Primeur” trade tasting. Top London wine buyers and some famous wine journalists will taste for the first time vintage 2010 clarets, and you could be a part of this premium tour.
Their Great Chateaux & Winery visits ensure private wine tastings and invitations to some wine cellars and visits to chateaux including the famous Bordeaux chateau. All their tours are led by famous names in the wine industry – either wine writers or connoisseurs and friends of the wine makers. Arblaster & Clarke wine tours are truly a rich and heady experience.
The Napa Valley Wine Train is a tour through the wineries in Napa Valley. Their wine education dinners inform you about the pairing of food and wine – which wine goes best with which food. You get to learn about the history of the wine in hand, its characteristics, the individual flavor, where and how it is made.
Traveler’s Tip: You can buy the wines straight from the wineries without paying extra taxes; a unique facility among wineries all over the world.
Author: Elias Cortez is a freelance writer and the editor of Top Net Book Picks, a website which provides detailed reviews and information for net books. You can learn more about him and the best net book to own at his website.
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