Australia's Top 10 Wine Tours

AUSTRALIA'S Top 10 wine tours, based on booking data from the past four seasons has been unveiled by TripAdvisor. The data, which dates back to 2015, has underlined some key trends in Australia’s contemporary wine-scene, including: Victoria is the country’s most popular state for a wine tour, with three entries in the Top 10.

But South Australia is home to Australia’s #1 most booked wine tour overall Queensland has emerged onto the wine-tour map for the first time, with the Mount Tamborine Wine and Winery Tour now amongst the top 10 booked tours in the country New South Wales.  Western Australia and Tasmania are also represented With over 140,000 bookable tours and activities around the world on TripAdvisor Experiences, it’s a one-stop destination for planning all of your travel activities. From traditional sightseeing to food and wine tours, day trips, and local experiences, travellers can find it all on TripAdvisor Experiences. 

Top 10 Australian bookable winery tours for 2018: 

1.   Small-Group Barossa Valley Food and Wine Tour, South Australia 

2.   Mount Tamborine Wine and Winery Tour from Brisbane or the Gold Coast,          Queensland

3.   Swan Valley River Cruise and Wine Tasting Day Trip from Perth, Western 

      Australia 

4.   Moorilla Estate Winery Tour Including Wine Tasting, Lunch and Mona 

      Admission, Tasmania 

5.   Gourmet Vineyard Lunch and Yarra Valley Winery Tour from Melbourne, 

      Victoria 

6.   Small-Group Hunter Valley Wine and Cheese Tasting Tour from Sydney, 

      New South Wales 

7.   Barossa Valley Wineries Tour with Tastings from Adelaide, South Australia 

8.   Yarra Valley Wineries and Puffing Billy Steam Train Tour from Melbourne, 

      Victoria 

9.   Hunter Valley Gatherer’s Full-Day Food and Wine Tour, New South Wales 

10. Experience Yarra Valley: Beer, Cider, Wine and Food from Melbourne, 

      Victoria 

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Wine Country open for business

AS the threat from wildfires subsides, California’s #WineCountry communities now face the daunting task of healing.  Tourism is the Wine Country’s lifeblood. Many residents and businesses, even those not directly impacted by the fires, lost weeks of work as fires forced evacuations and road closures. Visiting now will help these communities recover.

“We can all help: Now is the time to visit Wine Country,” said Visit #California President & CEO Caroline Beteta.. “If you’re already planning a trip, don’t cancel — Wine Country residents need your business now more than ever.”

Consider a trip this fall, when the weather is beautiful, vines show autumn colors and there’s plenty to see, taste and experience.  The region has more than 1,200 wineries, and fewer than 10 were heavily damaged. Most tasting rooms have reopened. And vintners expect the 2017 vintage to be excellent — 90 percent of this year’s grapes were harvested before the fires struck.

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New journeys on the Napa Valley Wine Train

THE Napa Valley Wine Train recently launched new experiences, including the expansion of its inaugural and most successful tour to date, Quattro Vino, as well as new Twilight Private Tours that allows guests to enjoy an evening train journey and an exclusive dining experience. 

The Quattro Vino now includes four new tours—Legacy, Estate, Collective and a fourth tour to be announced soon—that offer an exciting culinary and wine adventure featuring stops at three of Napa Valley’s most renowned wineries aboard beautifully renovated 1915 Pullman railcars. 

The Twilight Private Tours launched July 22 and includes gourmet appetizers and wine tastings onboard, dessert and coffee upon return, and transportation to an exclusive evening dining experience at Raymond Vineyards or Grgich Hills Estate.

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Make your way to Madeira

THE #Madeira wine festival celebrates one of the most famous products from Madeira Island, Portugal taking place from August 27 until September 10.

The Wine Harvest Festival is always the perfect excuse to visit Madeira. In Funchal, the light, sound and music shows are the high points of the celebrations that take place at other points on the island.

Head to the Estreito de Câmara de Lobos parish, 12 km from Funchal and take part in one of the oldest local traditions of the live wine harvest, whether picking grapes or following the grape harvester groups.

festasdovinhomadeira.visitmadeira.pt

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Wine tasting in the Czech Republic

IF you're looking for some wine experiences, come to Brno in the Czech Republic  on November 11 to take part in the traditional St. Martin’s Day Dégustation. 

The Moravian capital of Brno is the second largest city in the #CzechRepublic and gateway to the fertile vineyards of South Moravia. St. Martin’s wine is the Czech equivalent of French Beaujolais, the first wine of the new year, fresh, young and fruity, aged for just a few weeks and recommended for consumption before Easter by winemakers.

This event is the largest tasting of St.Martin’s wines and is preceded by a wine blessing in Sts. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral at Petrov, and a follow-up parade with St. Martin at the forefront, leading through the town centre as far as náměstí Svobody (Freedom Square). The official opening of the first bottle will take place at 11 am. Up to 100 types of St. Martin’s wine can be found here for tasting and it is possible to buy whole bottles from the attending wine-makers.

For the price of admission you will get a glass, wine sample catalogue and several tasting coins. And while treating your taste buds, you can indulge in listening to cymbal music.

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Picture Credit:marcoderksen 49503154222@N01/29059640056 Brno, Tjechië 2016 via photopin.com

All aboard the wine train

FRANCE'S latest cultural attraction, the international wine museum – La Cité du Vin – opens in June in #Bordeaux. 

The museum is a 10-storey swirl of glass and steel on the banks of the River Garonne. Visitors can take a self-guided tour, exploring a series of themed spaces to discover the story of wine worldwide through the ages. The tour culminates with a glass of wine in the top-floor belvedere, providing a 360° view of the city and surrounding vineyards.

It isn't the only new structure on Bordeaux's landscape. The city will host matches –including the Wales-Slovakia match on June 11 – in the upcoming Euro 2016 championships at the newly-opened Stade de Bordeaux.

Visitors can book to travel by train from any UK station to the French city in a single transaction on the rail-booking platform Loco2 (https://loco2.com). Travelling from London to Bordeaux by train costs from £63 one-way in standard class and takes approximately seven hours by Eurostar and TGV. In mid-2017, the journey time will decrease by 80 minutes when the LGV Sud-Ouest high-speed line between Tours and Bordeaux is completed.

The new branch of the French high-speed rail network could also allow non-stop travel from London to the popular wine region. Eurostar, which operates international trains from St Pancras, says it is looking to add Bordeaux to its direct destinations beyond Paris.

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To Tuscany launches Chianti Classics trail

VILLA-BOOKING website To #Tuscany has created a free trail to mark the 300th anniversary of the delineation of the Chianti wine-growing area by Cosimo III de Medici. 

To Tuscany's '10 Chianti Classics' is a selection of new and recommended activities and experiences to help guests make the most of their holiday during this anniversary year … from wine-tastings to star-gazing and open-air concerts to ice-cream-making demonstrations.

A highlight of the trail is the chance to follow in the tyre tracks of the professional cyclists competing in the 2016 Giro d'Italia. Italy's premier cycling race will include a special time trial through the Chianti vineyards on May 15. 

There's also the chance to taste some of the best wines produced in the region and tour a world-class collection of art at Castello di Ama, where visitors can combine tastings of renowned vintages and see works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor.

www.to-tuscany.com/10-chianti-classics 

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