A few wine lovers in my friend circle have booked a trip to Italy to experience everything that makes wine what it is. I suggested a few of the wine experiences mentioned below to them but they had already made some non-refundable payments. So, I decided to write this article to tell you (my loyal readers) about these less heard of but fantastic wine activities that you need to make part of your itineraries.
1. Vineyard Bike Tours
Don’t you see yourself biking through vineyards, old farmhouses and medieval villages when taking a wine-specific vacation? There are bike tours you can book in the country you are visiting which let you take a bike tour across vineyards, attend wine-tastings and lunch at wineries, and go mountain biking with a tour guide by your side. All you have to do is ask the local wineries about it. Lovely, isn’t it?
2. Winery Helicopter Tours
Did you know it was possible to fly to vineyards and be back in your hotel room before evening? If you are one of those who like to drink wine in the comfort of an Italian restaurant, you should opt for the hour-long winery helicopter tours. A quick Google search will reveal the tour packages available in the country of your choice. Get fancy this time?
3. Batalla del Vino
Also known as Haro Wine Festival, this summer wine festival is hosted in the town of Haro in Spain. Batalla del Vino means Battle of Wine, and is hosted on June 29 every year. The festival starts at 9 am with people carrying red wine in any container they can find. Attendees play by throwing wine on everyone until their white clothes turn purple. That’s an interesting way to taste wine.
4. Cité du Vin
Cité du Vin is a wine museum and theme park in Bordeaux, France. Spread across a space of 150,000 sq. ft., over 800 million euros were spent on its construction. The place hosts wine exhibitions, shows, movie projections and academic seminars; it’s heaven for a wine connoisseur. You can taste wines from the 800 varieties available here and can experience the life of a sailing wine merchant through a virtual boat ride.
5. Beaujolais Nouveau Baths
If you are travelling to Japan anytime soon (or later), you need to soak yourself in the red wine pools at Yunessun spa resort in Hakone. Considered as beauty baths, the spa pours 9 litres of the popular Beaujolais Nouveau wine in its pool thrice a day. Make sure you don’t have any tattoos on your uncovered body parts because the spa policies restrict visibly tattooed people from entering the pool.
These are definitely interesting ways to experience wine. Personally, I would attend Batalla del Vino if I were offered an all-sponsored trip. Out of the five experiences mentioned above, which one sounds the most fascinating to you? Tell us in the comments below.
