Wine tasting travel guide

The number of opportunities you’ll have for tasting can depend on whether you opt for a small group tour or a tailormade itinerary. On a Tuscany small group trip, for instance, you might have three tasting sessions included in a week, with one at a wine school and one at a vineyard. But if you are taking a tailormade trip, such as to Croatia or a South Africa self-drive tour, then you can essentially visit as many vineyards and wineries as you want, and build in extra days if you feel you’d like to explore a region in more detail. Expect to stay in locally owned guesthouses and hotels often situated in the heart of a wine region, or close by.

Wine tasting lends itself perfectly to lots of other activities of course, given that many vineyards tend to be located in extraordinarily attractive landscapes. Walking and tasting sessions are popular in Croatia and Portugal, while in Burgundy self-guided cycling between vineyards is dreamy, and importantly requires little serious exertion. You might also have fun pairing wines with local cuisine in Tuscany, Georgia, Croatia or South Africa, and this type of itinerary will frequently feature cookery lessons, too – in Tuscany you can even learn how to forage your own truffles.

Now, of course, if you know a little about wine already it’s going to help you narrow down the types you’d like to try on your vacation in the hope of finding something that really meets your tastes. But by no means do you need to be a connoisseur. In fact, even if the limit of your knowledge is recognising which are whites and which are reds you can still find wine tasting vacations a fascinating and informative experience. That’s because as well as learning how to taste, perhaps guided by professional sommeliers, you will also frequently tour vineyards, and wineries, as well as the cellars, finding out about every different stage of the process. Who knows, you may be inspired to try some DIY wine-making when you get home – it’s easier than you might think.

There’s no reason why you can’t combine wine tasting with a family vacation either. Stay in a gorgeous rustic farmhouse in Tuscany for instance, where kids will love off-roading, learning how to make pizza and ravioli, and going out at night to listen for wolves. Walking and wine vacations in Croatia are also great for older kids.

Many people prefer to travel during the harvest season when the atmosphere in busy wine regions gets very lively. In Northern Hemisphere countries that falls between August and October, with September the peak month. The reverse is true in the Southern Hemisphere of course, so for the harvest in South Africa you should aim for between February and April, with things getting into full swing in March. If planning a wine vacation around Dubrovnik in Croatia, then consider skipping the summer months when the city becomes ridiculously overcrowded. In May the weather is usually lovely and warm and you’ll be ahead of the intense peak season. Georgia is lovely in June, with warm weather in the Kakheti region. Popular destinations get quite busy with domestic and foreign tourists during the summer, but go a little earlier and it’s far more peaceful. The roads of popular wine destinations such as Tuscany and Burgundy get very busy during late July and August, so vacations that feature wine tasting and cycling here are recommended in spring and autumn, when the scenery is at its finest and the roads quieter. December and January are months to avoid in the Northern Hemisphere wine regions of course, generally cold and wet weather stripping the joy out of seeing landscapes that are at their best in the sunshine. Consider South Africa instead, which basks in the summer between November and February. In fact, South Africa is worth thinking about as early as October, when Cape Town temperatures can reach 21°C and you will often see whales breaching off the coast around Hermanus.