Best Destinations For Wine Lovers In Europe

Wine has some great benefits to the body. Some people love taking a sip as they have their meal, while others like a glass of wine as they unwind. Either way, wine lovers always want to have a great bottle with them.

There’s a common saying that says ‘wine gets better with age.’ Therefore, you should consider how they age the wine if you genuinely want to enjoy your drink. Some regions in the world are best known for specializing in winemaking. In this case, wine lovers would enjoy visiting such areas. Europe is the leading continent when it comes to large and exotic vineyards.

Now, if you are a wine lover and you want to enjoy the winemaking first-hand, here are the best destinations to visit in Europe;

1. Bordeaux, France

Bordeaux is not only known for its soccer team, FC Girondins de Bordeaux, but also the breathtaking vineyards. The best part is that you can enjoy a tour of this city either by bike, boat or on foot. Whether you want to visit the vineyards during the day or at night, you can enjoy the wine tasting to the fullest. Saint-Emilion is the most popular place in Bordeaux for the incredible wine. But you can also learn about their heritage.

If you are driving, Saint Emilion is just an hour away from Bordeaux. This is a fantastic town that features around 5,500 hectares of vines. You can never go wrong with a trip to Saint Emilion.

2. Piedmont, Italy

If you happen to visit Italy and you want some excellent wine tasting experience, consider visiting Piedmont. This town is known for its famous red wines, including Barbaresco and Barolo. But it also has some amazingly rich white wines like Erbaluce, Arneis, and Corese. You won’t only enjoy the excellent wine offered at Piedmont, but the breathtaking landscape too.

Piedmonte also lets you learn more about all the famous Italian wines and enjoy their taste too. The best part of it is that you also get the chance to enjoy the fantastic Italian food in this region. Talk about one stone hitting two birds.

3. Alentejo, Portugal

Portugal is also a big player when it comes to extensive vineyards. Alentejo, specifically, is one of the top wine regions in Portugal. The wines in Alentejo are the pride of the region. There are a massive 22,000 hectares of vineyard with 250 produces of wine. So yes, this is where you go if you want to get drunk while tasting the wine.

What’s to love about these vineyards is that they have unique festivals that happen once in a year. For instance, Borba offers the Festa da Vinha e do Vinho (the festival of the vine and wine). This festival goes down every November, so you should have a good time if you will be in that area at that time.

If you are in Portugal for the December holidays, go down to Cabeção. They have the Vila de Frades in December. This is a festival that is dedicated to wine lovers, where they can taste the new wine from the producers. Furthermore, there is usually a competition that is held down at Vila de Frades. This is a pot-made wine competition that happens in the second week of December.

The pot-made wine is also made in two other towns; Vila Ruiva and Vila Alva. The ancient Romans made the pot-made wine.

4. La Rioja, Spain

Spain cannot fail to appear among the countries known for making amazing wine. La Rioja is a community that is found at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. It is home to over 500 wineries, so you can be sure of enjoying a lot of wine when there. Furthermore, the region is known explicitly for its winemaking.

Here, you can get the chance to enjoy wine from family-owned vineyards to the mega industrial wineries that produce millions of wine bottle annually. One of the famous wines grown in La Rioja is Tempranillo, which is a wine with a neutral profile. It is also blended with other wine varieties like Mazuelo and Grenache. Plus, it is aged for long periods in oak.

The best part about La Rioja is that you can quickly get around the area. The countryside is a fantastic place to visit if you want to get out of the city life for a moment. If you think enjoying the vineyard landscape is breathtaking, wait till it reaches autumn. In this season, the leaves will turn vibrant red and yellow shades. This will make the vineyards look like they are on fire.

5. Champagne, France

Champagne is naturally a wine town; the name tells it all. The name Champagne was named after the region due to its elegance in wine ageing from the early 1900s. If you are visiting France, make sure you extend your journey to the land of the perfect wine, Champagne.

You can book some of the best hotels either in Paris, Epernay or Reims. All these cities can quickly get you to Champagne. There are over 34,000 hectares of vineyards in this city, and it is known for the beautiful rolling hillsides that are filled with vineyards. You will enjoy both the view and the wine tasting when you visit this town.

6. Eger, Hungary

Not too many people know that Hungary is also among the best winemaking countries in the world. Eger, for example, is home of The Valley of the Beautiful Lady, which is the most famous wine route in Hungary. If you want to experience wine tasting without too many people visiting the area, consider going to Eger in Hungary. You will experience around 2000 unique wine cellars that are in the Rhyolite tuff caves. If you are the kind of person that loves seeing the vintage look, this place would please you.

For you to have a perfect wine tasting trip, here are some tips to help you. Don’t forget to be wise when planning your trips and try to stick to your budget all along your trip.