If there’s anything that I’ve taken from learning about wines so far it’s that grapes only grow in beautiful places. With this in mind, I want to make it my mission to travel to as many of these places as I can in my lifetime. Think late summertime brunches at a cafe in the middle of a bustling market town in the Provence, or bike rides around the hills of Mosel Valley in the spring time…not forgetting shopping sprees and wine bar hopping in the city of Bordeaux! I think I’d better get saving now…
So here’s my wish list of the first five wine regions I want to visit.
- Bordeaux
Okay, so I’ve been here before, in fact it’s the only wine region I have visited and I know there’s so much out there to see so why would I make this number one? Well, despite the vast amount of opportunities for winery tours, I’m in love with the city and I do want to live here one day. One day in the very distant future however, because living on a shoestring budget is no option here!
2. Burgundy
So this one would be a longer holiday and a road trip because I would want to get around the different sub-regions including, Chablis, Beajoulais, Beaune etc… I’ve been told so many times now that I have to go there to just see it with my own eyes because it’s so complex and beautiful so I think I might just do that!
3. Champagne
Here I’m thinking another road trip, definitely in the summertime where I’ll pop in and out of Champagne houses in my stripey long sleeved shirt with baguette and bubbly breaks at lunchtime!
4. Cognac
I know this would not technically be wine tourism anymore, more alcohol in general tourism (although, to be fair, brandy is also made from grapes!) . Cognac is the birthplace of brandy and somewhere that is on my list since the trip I took with friends to Mareseille. We didn’t have enough time on our trip to explore outside of Marseille but the leaflets for Cognac and Cassis were everywhere and I’ve been dying to go since!
5. Rioja
So I’m really no horse enthusiast but a horseback ride through the vine covered hills of Rioja is something i’m very enthusiastic about doing! Again, this is one for the summertime because in between vineyard tours I want to take looong tapas breaks with bottomless glasses of Rioja in the Mediterranean sunshine!
I have plenty more destinations on the agenda stored in my own personal brain cloud, maturing for the next list, so on my quest to complete the first five…who’s gonna join me?! 😀
Head in a Glass 