OD & DRINK WINE TOURISM DESTINATIONS


ABOVE: Napa Valley, California LEFT: Cape Winelands, South Africa


a little with an overnight stay. South Africa’s Cape Winelands are an ideal option for doing just that, with a handful of boutique hotels scattered among its many vineyards. “The country sells well for


wine tourism for lots of reasons,” says John Parker, South Africa product manager for Premier Holidays. “A wide variety of wine estates, from the modern to the traditional, can be discovered here, and it also offers excellent value for money.” For another authentic wine


experience in the region, Gold Medal suggests staying at Leeu Estate’s boutique hotel, Le Quartier Francais, in Franschhoek. Guests can visit the estate’s wine studio and family-run vineyard for an immersive, educational wine tasting experience with the pros, or enjoy a bottle over a gourmet dinner, and it’s all easily accessible from Cape Town. If it’s more Old World wines


that get your clients going though, suggest Italy. Veneto, Piedmont and Lombardy are all worthy contenders, but it’s


Tuscany that remains the go-to for agro-tourism, according to Laura Mason, product manager for Citalia. Among the operator’s best-selling properties here is the 38-room country hotel Borgo Tre Rose, set in a medieval building on a wine estate in Montepulciano, among the scenic Val di Chiana hills. “They produce their own wine and guests can do tastings and have tours of the vineyards,” she says. Down in Sicily, the operator has added two vineyard-based properties for 2018 in response to growing interest: Relais Santa Anastasia, a medieval abbey near Cefalu; and Capofaro, where guests get the chance to work on the vineyard (from pruning to harvesting) on the vine-covered island of Salina. It’s not the only place visitors can get involved with the harvest. Over in Portugal, the Six Senses Douro Valley, converted from a former 19th-century manor house, offers the chance for guests to try out planting, stomping and blending while learning how Douro wine is produced. There’s also a


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