Plenty of people have found good reasons to travel in both Croatia and Slovenia – think unspoiled Adriatic coastlines, well-preserved Roman sites, medieval hilltop villages, rugged alpine scenery and wild mountain walks. Now there’s another reason to add to these: both offer terrific wine travel possibilities. Since Croatian and Slovenian wines seldom stray far beyond their own borders, if you live in Europe, it’s a good idea is to drive down there so you can bring home your vinous discoveries.

Courtesy of Wines of Croatia

We started our wine tour with Istria in Croatia. In a few weeks, we’ll post another covering our discoveries in Slovenia’s Primorska (‘coastal’) region just to the north. Distances are small and the roads good. The best times to visit, says Ingrid Badurina, masterminder of Zagreb’s excellent Wine Gourmet Festival, are spring (for gentle warmth and wild asparagus) or autumn (ditto, plus truffles).

Not far from Rovinj, a deliciously atmospheric port painted in faded pastel shades that evokes a pre-1960s Portofino, is winegrower Ivica Matosevic, near Kruncici (pronounced ‘crunchy-chi’, with a Yorkshire accent). A young winemaker – his first harvest was in 2006 – Matosevic is fascinated by Malvasia, Istria’s principal grape. His PhD from Udine University just across in Italy studied the influence of terroir on this distinctive local variety. Most Istrian Malvasia is designed for early bottling and prompt, joyous quaffing; Matosevic has other ideas too. True to tradition he makes a single varietal Malvasia to be drunk in its infancy, but he also blends it with Sauvignon and Chardonnay or ages it several months in small acacia barrels. Intuitively it’s an association that makes perfect sense: get your nose into a glass of Malvasia and you’ll be knocked back by wafts of acacia blossom.

Over a seafood feast at Restaurant Viking on the Limsky Kanal, a long fjord-like inlet famed for its oyster beds, Matosevic reminded us of Istria’s frequently shifting borders and the diverse influences that have shaped it over centuries. “My grandfather was born in Austria”, he explained, “and my father in Italy. I was born in Yugoslavia and my son in Croatia – and all that without ever moving!”

Autumnal vineyards near Motovun © Goran Šebelić, istria-gourmet.com

Further north is Motovun, a medieval hilltop village whose fountains and town gates are graced with elegantly sculpted bas-reliefs of Venetian lions – Venice ruled Istria and parts of Slovenia for the best part of two centuries from 1205. A good place to stay here would be the family-owned Hotel Kastel. Situated on the cool, quiet town square it has its own pool, spa, restaurant and 33 delightful rooms, some of them looking out onto the ramparts and the famed truffle oak forests below. To sample the fresh tubers, shaved over gnocchi or fuzi (typically Istrian bow-shaped pasta), you’ll need to come in October or November when the hotel runs special truffle days.

Continuing in a northerly direction, the San Rocco, a 12-room (+ 2-suite) boutique hotel in Brtonigla, would make another excellent base. Its simple stone farmhouse core has been sympathetically converted and extended over the years and it has all the elements required for a few days’ R&R: indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, spa, olive oil or truffle massages on the lawn, and some deft, stylish cooking from chef Zoran Kobanov, who privileges local ingredients like shellfish, truffles, pork and game. Ask sommelier-owner Tullio Fernetich about a private tasting of local wines in their beautifully appointed tasting room.

Close to San Rocco near Momjan is Marino Markezic’s 20-hectare Kabola vineyard. Over plates of locally cured prsut (prosciutto) and truffle-infused hard cheese, we sampled a classic grapey Malvasia. Then we moved to a firmer, barrique-aged riserva and graduated finally to a deep golden one which had spent half a year on the skins in amphorae (the amphora vogue has trickled down from Italy’s Collio region via Slovenia to Istria), another year in large Slavonian barrels and a final eight months in bottle.

Though Malvasia is Istria’s pride and joy, Markezic is also devoted to Teran (according to the Oxford companion a sub-variety of Refosk/Refosco), the tough local red variety which he likens – with disarming candour – to the Istrian male: “There’s not much good about him – but people love him anyway!” On the evidence of Markezic’s Teran, this awkward, apparently unlovable, highly acidic variety does seem to respond – presumably like the Istrian male – to a firm hand (in the vineyards) and plenty of TLC (in the cellar).

© Cliff Rames, Wines of Croatia

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Our final stop in Istria was at Gianfranco Kozlovic’s 25-hectare estate, with distant views of the ruined castle of Momjan. Kozlovic has refreshingly simple views on wine: “I want to produce wines of varietal character, pleasing, with long-lasting flavour – but not a whole philosophy lesson. Wine shouldn’t burden you with expectations.” The star of Kozlovic’s cellar is Santa Lucia, a beautifully structured, fruit-filled Malvasia from a recently acquired but old-established vineyard where some 50 year-old vines survive.

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Places to Stay and Eat in Istria

Hotel Kastel
Trg Andrea Antico 7, 52424 Motovun, Croatia
Tel: + 385 52 681 607, info@hotel-kastel-motovun.hr

Hotel San Rocco
Via Media 2, 52474 Brtonigla, Croatia
Tel. +385 52 725 000, info@san-rocco.hr

Restaurant Viking
Limski Kanal 1, 52488 Sv. Lovrec, Croatia
Tel. +385 52 448 119, viking@pu.t-com.hr

Wine Producers to visit in Istria

Matosevic
Kruncici 2, 52448 Sv. Lovrec, Croatia
Tel. +385 52 448 558, vina@matosevic.com

Kabola
Kanedolo 90, 52460 Momjan, Croatia
Tel.: +385 52 779 208, mmarkezic@inet.hr

Koslovic
Vale 78, 52460 Momjan, Croatia
Tel. +385 52 779 177, kozlovic@pu.htnet.hr

For more information on Croatian wines, follow Wines of Croatia on Facebook.

I always enjoy visiting Chalon-sur-Saône, a bustling city in Southern Burgundy, with a calm centre that straddles the river, the Cathedral Square on one side and Rue de Strasbourg, a street replete with restaurants, on the other bank.

We recently visited Burgundy during the Grands Jours de Bourgogne where wine tastings are organised in different regions of the area. After the giddy heights of the major appellations it was refreshing to reach this gentler area, the Côte Chalonnaise, where the vineyards are interspersed with fields of cows, chickens and other animals in La Bresse.

There is a good choice of restaurants and bars. Near the cathedral is the Rotisserie St-Vincent offering a classic, local menu.

For simpler fare you can try 120 Vins wine bar (say it in French: Cent Vingt pronounced Son Vin…).

You choose from a blackboard wine list, which not only specialises in the wines of the Côte Chalonnaise but other parts of France. When we were there we stayed local, choosing a Givry Clos des Vignes Rondes, Domaine François Lumpp 2008. It went well with a plate of local ham and cheese which was a pleasant respite after all our serious meals of the previous days!

The Rue de Strasbourg, on the other side of the river, is lined with restaurants from quite grand to simple.

We have enjoyed lunch a couple of times at Le Bistrot were the owner cooks and his wife looks after the restaurant. Small, very informal with short, but perfectly formed menus. In the summer you can eat outside on the car-free street.

In the centre of town you can indulge yourself in chocolate heaven at Allex Pâtissier-Chocolatier, whose window displays entice you to buy even if you are full up after a good meal!

The next day we travelled to the wine village of Rully where we were intrigued by the number of large, indeed very large houses in this village. Appararently in the late 19th century with the arrival of the railways, a branch line was built from Chalon, and a number of wealthy burghers built country houses in Rully, to enjoy its mild climate.

We ‘discovered’ a new restaurant in the heart of the wine town of Rully, La Grange.

Here in the converted stables of the Château Saint Michel, chef Ludovic Briday, who was at the famous Lameloise restaurant in Chagny just to the north, offers a choice of menus as well as à la carte. The wine list, as one would expect in the heart of wine country, is focussed on good local wines with a few by the glass, selected to complement the food.

Although La Grange is bang opposite Domaine Anne and Jean-François Delorme we decided to visit Domaine Brelière as I had just met the ebullient owners, Jean-Claude and Anna, at the regional tasting a couple of days earlier.

They own seven hectares of vines producing a selection of wines organically, including Crémant de Bourgogne as well as Premiers Crus, all of which can be tried in their charming small tasting room.

We enjoyed this visit to the Côte Chalonnaise, appreciating the softer, calmer aspect of one of the classic wine regions of France, and Wink used our visit as the basis to update and refresh our Wine Travel Guide to this area.

Stellenbosch Wine Festival picnic and tasting ©Stellenbosch Wine Routes

It’s nearly ten years since I’ve visited the Cape winelands of South Africa, but the images are still clear in my mind, for this part of the world is right up there on the list of most beautiful wine regions. What’s more, even ten years ago, it was clear that the South African wine industry was getting wine tourism right.

Back then, touring around in the surroundings of the dramatic mountains, combined with the distinctive Cape Dutch architecture, I could see old wineries re-building, architect-designed wineries emerging, winery restaurants appearing; Cape Town had well-stocked wine shops that offered shipping back home; and most importantly of all, the wine producers were generous with both their time and their ever-improving wines, wanting the world to learn about and experience the best they had to offer. Since then, wine tourism has gone from strength to strength.

As we saw from the recent football World Cup, South Africa is well geared up for tourism, and the country’s main vineyard areas are all in easy reach (20 minutes to two hours) of Cape Town, which is a keen member of Great Wine Capitals.

One of the most amazing ‘complaints’ I read about the World Cup was that some visitors were disappointed by cool and rainy weather, having not taken into account that this was winter and South Africa is not equatorial! The very fact that the Cape in particular has cooling winds coming in from the Indian and Atlantic oceans is a key to why they produce some excellent wines. Combine this with a wide range of suitable vine-growing soils, micro-climates influenced by the surrounding mountains and an expertise in matching grape variety with terroir that has developed greatly in the past 20 years, and the potential is huge.

South Africa has had designated wine routes for many years, and by far the largest in terms of winery membership is Stellenbosch, which is also the oldest, dating back to 1971. Stellenbosch is the name, not just of a well-known University town, one of the earliest towns to have been settled in South Africa, but also of the country’s best known wine region. Today for tourism purposes, Stellenbosch is divided up into five wine routes, sensibly not by appellation, but by routes that are logical for wine tourists to follow. (Something dear to my heart, as we’ve taken that brave step with the way we divide many of the French wine regions on Wine Travel Guides).

Pincushion Protea ©Erica Moodie/WOSA

Over 140 wineries are part of the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes programme, gaining both in public relations terms and in cellar door sales. The programme also helps encourage visitors to indulge in other attractions wineries offer, such as restaurants, specialist non-wine products (e.g. cheese or olive oil) or complementary activities (e.g. bird watching, fly-fishing). Nearly all the wineries charge a small amount for tastings, reimbursed on purchase and they will organise shipping overseas. Gardens alongside the vineyards are gaining in popularity to support the wine industry’s laudable initiative to set aside more areas as non-planting land for vineyards, encouraging South Africa’s natural biodiversity. In this area known as the Cape Floral Kingdom, the emphasis is on planting only native species and encouraging the re-introduction of local fauna and flora.

The best time of year to visit the South African winelands is between November and May, with spring (November) and Autumn (April/May) being not only the cheapest time to travel but also the most interesting times to see the vineyards and wineries too. If, however, you do like the idea of wine touring during the Northern Hemisphere’s main summer holiday period of July/August, don’t worry, the wineries keep their doors wide open, and what’s more Stellenbosch holds a huge, annual 4-day festival normally towards the end of July. In 2010, it was brought forward to early July to coincide with the World Cup and to attract international tourists. Instead of being held in the town, it became a travelling festival, with shuttle buses taking visitors between 60 wineries. Next year this great wine event will once again be held in one venue in the town from 28 – 31 July 2011.

As with all travel, advance planning can make all the difference and there are excellent resources available to research your trip both on-line and in print. Do check out Wines of South Africa’s very informative website, and also the Stellenbosch Wine Routes own website, which is very comprehensive and easy to navigate. Thanks are due to these last organisation for the photos on this post.

When I travelled a decade ago in South Africa, I was always armed with the latest annual edition of John Platter South African Wine Guide, although the book has always been notoriously difficult to find until you’re out there. It remains an excellent guide to wines and wineries and has some decent wine touring information too.

More detailed information for wine tourists travelling all over the Cape wine regions can be found in The Essential Guide to South African Wines 2^nd edition by Elmari Swart and Izak Smit, published in 2009. Attractively laid out, the heart of the book divides the wine regions into ‘Pockets’ according to their terroir, again another way of splitting up regions in a logical way for visitors, not necessarily by appellation. Wineries include most of the well known names, although the publication sought sponsorship from these to help with costs. A few pointers to local restaurants and accommodation are included. There are clear maps and in an innovative move, GPS information can be downloaded to your SatNav from the publisher’s website. The book includes useful and well-written introductory background chapters about the history, climate, geology, grapes and wine styles, plus some good basics on wine tasting and what to expect when wine touring in South Africa.

At least if you plan your wine tour in the beautiful wine country of South Africa next year, you are more likely to hear the sound of exotic bird song than of vuvuzelas.

Asia, perhaps the most interesting up and coming market for just about every industry, is also moving fast with wines, as both consumer and producer. And although it’s one continent, the four countries we visited – China, Vietnam, Thailand and India – diverted in their ways of attracting wine tourists. Differences abounded, but overall we found three words that linked together all the wineries we visited. All three words happen to start with the letter ‘E’.

China – Big distances and big potential

For us, on our ‘World Wine Tour 2010,’ China turned out to be not too difficult for arranging appointments with wineries, but if we were just tourists passing through the area, we imagine it might be quite a different story. So, making an appointment in advance is advised! Of the three wineries we visited, only one had a cellar door facility; one was quite a trek to reach and is only for the highly devoted; and the third was a bulk producer, more interesting for our project than for its charm. Some wineries would provide private functions, but weren’t set up yet for public visits, as known in the more established wine worlds.

The Museum at Dragon Seal Winery

Our top pick for wine tourism was Dragon Seal Winery, the oldest in China and the one which had a great cellar door in the center of Beijing. This ease of access meant you could jump into any taxi to take you there, and after sitting through half an hour of bustling capital city traffic you were ready to try their wines and could also explore a rewarding museum of Chinese winemaking. Dragon Seal was the dream of a French missionary as long ago as 1910, and now offers a tasting of its noble grape varietal productions made in French style. Overall, Dragon Seal seemed to us to be the best bet for any wine tourist heading to the Far East. What’s more, we heard from its managing director that the company was planning to move  the winery and cellar door facility from Beijing city to the site of the vineyards, which happen to be right at the foot of the Great Wall of China. Sounds like it couldn’t get more tourist friendly!

For a more authentic taste of China, we recommend a visit to Grace Vineyards. Located in central Shanxi province this winery has chosen a great location to build its beautiful French chateau-style winery. The wines were the best we tried in China, and the people working there were wonderful. The only draw back may be that you only reach this blissful place from Beijing after 4 hours of train to get to the Shanxi province, and then another several hours of car ride to reach the vineyards. Luckily, they offer limited accommodation on site, though it might require some advanced planning to arrange.

Anja and Georges at Beco Dalat

Vietnam – Challenges in Dalat

Vietnam was the second country in Asia we visited as we continued our mission to find those exotic wines. The wines we found easily, but to find the wineries was a bit more complicated! Over the entire country, in every restaurant and hotel you will be able to buy the biggest Vietnamese wine brand: Vang Dalat. Unfortunately getting an appointment to visit them was impossible as no one we contacted through email or on the phone spoke English. We even managed to actually arrive at the winery via taxi, but the result was similar: guards in front of a security gate shaking their heads …

Our Vietnamese wine quest did not go unfulfilled however, as we managed to find another significant producer called Beco Dalat. Perhaps not surprisingly, Beco Dalat is in the same region of Vietnam as Vang Dalat, namely Dalat. This province is a place of anomalies; pine trees rather than palms, and fruits and vegetables of all types rather than rice. The region and city are seen as the ‘France of Vietnam’, with rolling hills and houses built by French aristocrats from the colonial days. During our visit to Beco Dalat, we had a tour through the winery, all well equipped and getting ready to harvest.  The traditional grape varieties were just imported a few years ago and so production today is mainly of plum juice blended with table grape juice (which are often boiled prior to fermentation to improve quality). The winery had a great outside terrace where you could enjoy different wines, and with Dalat becoming a tourist destination in its own right, wine tourism is not far behind!

Thailand – Wine Tourism Surprises

PB Valley Winery in Thailand

Thailand, the country of smiles, had the most wonderful surprises for us, both in terms of quality and hospitality. Just three hours from Bangkok, you can find the beautiful Khao Yai National Park where tigers may be spotted, and great wineries can provide you shelter! Not too many tourists have discovered this amazing holiday spot (beaches seem to be the primary attraction in Thailand). Our first visit brought us to the Village Farm Winery (about one hour away from the park), whose name doesn’t disappoint. Not only located between farms of all kinds (mushrooms etc), Village Farm has a farm-like setting itself. With wooden cottages and vineyard cats and dogs running around, you’ll feel like you’re completely immersed in the farm lifestyle. There is also an onsite restaurant offering simple and delicious locally grown foods that go well in accompanying the wines. Sited even closer to the Khao Yai National park (just behind the hills) we found PB Valley Winery, another winery also geared towards tourism with onsite chalets and a bar-and-grill restaurant of German inspiration. Jump on a bike and you can take a break near their lake while sipping on your great Thai wine!

Sula sparkling wine

India – Exploring the Nashik wine region

Our last Asia-Wine-Discovery stop was in India, a vibrant and colorful country with many different faces. The major wine growing region of the country is situated in Nashik, just three hours by train away from Mumbai. Nashik is also a city with holy river water, and walking through the market in town can offer you countless hours to lose yourself and your thoughts. For those seeking to visit wineries, there are already over 40 spread over the region, with more to come thanks to the Maharashtra government’s initiative of creating a ‘wine park’ with winery equipment available to lease for grape growers.

As everywhere, not all these wineries can be seen as equal, but a great place to start (and perhaps the best at catering for a wine tourist’s visit) is at Sula Winery. This winery offers amazing hospitality with facilities far above the norm in the Nashik region: extensive wine tastings available; a balcony view overlooking the Nashik Lake, and two onsite restaurants plus accommodation. Most wineries in Nashik make wine from a large variety of grapes, some reds being made through public demand. But, it is whites such as Chenin Blanc that are more suited to the climate, which lends itself more easily to this grape, which is used to create a delicious sparkling wine!

So what were the three ‘E’s? It is fair to say that each country is at best ‘Emerging’ both as a wine market and a wine producer, and much work still needs to be done for a winery to succeed in sales to its own countrymen. This has resulted in quite a similar approach in each of the four countries focused on Education. Wineries want their fellow countrymen to drink local wine, and need to convince them of their quality first (if not just to drink wine in the first place). This offers outsiders a great opportunity to jump in and learn as well, taking advantage of the refreshing ‘Enthusiasm’ taking place in these new latitudes. Emerging, Educational, and Enthusiastic are perhaps the best words to describe the Asian wine regions, just beginning to flourish. Now may very well be the best chance to catch these giants in their infancy and the experience of a visit will be unforgettable!

You can read more about these wineries and the ongoing travels of Anja and Georges on the World Wine Tour 2010 blog. Wine Travel Guides will be supporting World Wine Tour 2010 in helping Anja and Georges plan the itineraries for their wine tour in Europe at the end of this year.

Tasting Barossa Riesling in situ © Sue Style

Sipping a glass of Riesling in the famous Steingarten vineyard at 9 o’clock on a chilly April morning is a great way to beat jetlag – and a fine introduction to what the Barossa has to offer. Of course the bulk of visitors to this stunning area are Australians, most of them weekenders from Adelaide which is only about an hour distant. But South Australia’s energetic tourist body (our hosts for a few days at the recent bi-annual Tasting Australia festival) are keen to promote the area with visitors from farther afield. It’s a bit of a stretch to do a weekend in the Barossa from Europe, but if you’re in Australia and anywhere within reach, the famous valley is a must.

Getting around this beautiful region is simple, but you do need a car – one solution is to hire one in Adelaide, plan your own trip and set off in a northerly direction from the city. Another is to enlist the services of Barossa Taste Sensations based in Angaston. Owner Jonathan Milne does custom-built tours featuring some lesser-known ‘boutique’ wineries. Best of all he provides a driver.

Courtesy of Barossa Grape & Wine Association

The Barossa – a term which embraces the neighbouring Eden Valley – does wine travel supremely well. Almost all wineries offer cellar door sales and there’s something for every taste, from the large, relatively anonymous places like Jacob’s Creek Visitor Centre (though scorn JC at your peril – Steingarten is just one of their many fine vineyards) or Peter Lehmann Wines to the more intimate experience of wineries like the family-owned Hutton Vale or Rusden where an appointment to visit is preferred.

There’s a distinctly European feel to the area – not surprising, given its strongly German heritage which dates back to the early 1800s when the first German settlers arrived here, fleeing religious persecution in Silesia. A line-up of some celebrated Barossa wine names – Lehmann, Franz, Henschke, Tscharke – tells a story. And coming from Alsace, I felt quite at home on the food front, with the main streets of Barossa’s small towns lined with butcher’s shops majoring in Würst and cake shops selling mile-high Küchen.

Courtesy of Barossa Grape & Wine Association

We stayed in the large and otherwise undistinguished Novotel Barossa Valley, whose great merit is its position in the heart of the valley – Lyndoch is one way, Tanunda the other. Here you’re poised to visit Bethany, one of the oldest established wineries in the valley settled by the Schrapel family in 1852, or Seppeltsfield, whose award-winning cottages would be a great place to stay. Top of the range, accommodation-wise, is The Louise, created by Jim and Helen Carreker, a well-travelled, well-heeled American couple who fell in love with the Barossa, bought the place in 2005 and created a superb vineyard retreat (and member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World). There are just 15 suites, each with long views out across the adjoining vineyards, and total peace and privacy. In the in-house restaurant, Appellation, chef Mark McNamara does Mod Oz food while his sommelier son Matt finds the right match for each dish in the Wine Flight Tasting Menu.

When travelling in a wine area, it’s always worth checking out the best places to eat with the local winegrowers. My table neighbour at one of the many superb Tasting Australia events was David Franz (www.david-franz.com), one of the Young Guns of the Barossa, whose fine, aromatic Riesling (a mere 11.8%) and a funky, explosively fruity SCGM blend (Shiraz, Cabernet, Grenache, Mataro) gave huge pleasure. His recommendations included the much-lauded 1918 in Tanunda for Mod Oz/fusion, the 40s Café (great pizza) or the Vintners Bar & Grill (chargrilled meat and fish, local produce, great wine list), both in Angaston.

©Sue Style

If you’re in the region on a Saturday, don’t miss the Barossa Farmer’s Market held on the outskirts of Angaston, a great place to stock up on picnic preserves, local cheeses, home-made chocolates and some drop-dead gorgeous cupcakes, like miniature wedding cakes, and almost too beautiful to eat.

Final thought for the day on Barossa wines: reds – principally Shiraz of course – are what spring to mind in connection with the famous valley and there are some thundering examples (though I confess that sparkling Shiraz is an Aussie taste I’ve yet to acquire). But don’t neglect the region’s whites. ‘’In the late 1960s with the red wine boom”, says Rick (‘don’t take me for Grant-ed’) Burge of Burge Family Winemakers, “we killed off our white wines. Now we’re getting our second wind with Rieslings, Chardonnays – hopefully even Semillon.”

For me, coming from Alsace, the nervy, minerally Eden Valley Rieslings (such as Steingarten or Poonawatta) were an especial pleasure and made me feel quite homesick.

Vines in the famous pebbles of Châteauneuf du Pape ©Mick Rock/Cephas

Our biggest news is the recent launch of tailor-made wine tour itineraries aimed at those who are time poor and in need of an extra helping hand with planning a few days or more in the wine regions. The itineraries are based on the information in our on-line travel guides, but are truly tailor-made after we’ve emailed and/or called you to discuss what help you need to make the most of your wine tour. We provide an Excel spreadsheet including distances, timings and map links along with a Word document highlighting how best to secure appointments and get the most out of each day.

Patrimonio in Northern Corsica ©Mick Rock/Cephas

Corsica to complete our French Wine Region coverage
Our 50 on-line travel guides are soon to become 52. We already boast that our guides cover all the major French wine regions, but one region has not yet been included… and that’s off-shore, namely Corsica. I’m really excited to share with you that Tom Fiorina of The Vine Route, who has been visiting the island for many years, is currently writing two guides to address this gap and they should be live sometime next month – personally I can’t wait to visit Corsica as their wines are improving dramatically, in keeping with the dramatic landscape.

Media Recognition for Wine Travel Guides
Back in April, we were selected by the UK’s Daily Mail as Website of the Week; we were also mentioned in an article on best new travel technology in the UK Telegraph’s Travel section and appeared in several regional papers, notably by wine writer Liz Sagues in the Ham & High covering North-West London. Importantly, we’ve received some lovely comments from users of our guides and the new tailor-made itinerary service too.

Kaysersberg in Alsace ©Mick Rock/Cephas

Keeping the on-line information accurate
The huge advantage of on-line guides is the ability to keep information up-to-date relatively simply, though I confess it’s time-consuming with 50 guides equating to over 1,500 recommendations (wineries to visit, places to stay, eat and shop plus attractions) and 400,000 words when you add in the general wine and tourism information. If you spot any errors in our guides, please do let us know.

The good news is that two-thirds of our micro-region guides have been updated in the past 6 months and we try to update each guide thoroughly every 12 – 16 months. The ‘last updated’ date you see on each of our guides relates to the last time we did a thorough update adding several new or replacement recommendations. By the way, at least one well-known guide book series I know that’s available to access on-line is an exact replica of the books, so no more up-to-date than the printed guide books are.

The town of St-Emilion ©Mick Rock/Cephas

Other Interesting Travel Planning Resources
Earlier this year NileGuide licensed some of our content as part of their travel planning resources they are building to help you plan your travels worldwide. Do take a look at their website: they have a tool to create your own travel guides which could be useful to link up your wine tours with the other destinations on your holiday itinerary.

Recently I became a Tripbod, one of a team of over 100 local experts who advise travellers through calls and emails on their forthcoming trips. Sometimes, an on-line travel guide or a guide book is simply not enough; on the other hand, our itinerary planning service may be too in depth for you. If you simply want some help with a few ideas of where to visit in the world of wine, especially France, or even some help in my part-time home area in the French Alps, then take a look at Tripbod. Direct access to a person with the inside track can be invaluable.

Sunset near Cahors ©Mick Rock/Cephas

Following us on Facebook, Twitter and here on the Blog
Our Facebook Page is gaining a great following which encourages me to update it with interesting links and thoughts. Currently we are highlighting the Facebook pages of wineries listed in our guides in order to give them some support – it’s interesting how some of the most traditional European wineries are responding to the social media opportunity. On Twitter, I tweet about all things wine and travel, with plenty of links to interesting articles in these two related worlds. The next few posts we have planned for the Wine Travel Guides blog are from beyond the scope of our Guides …. out of Europe for once! I look forward to hearing your comments and thank you so much for following.

All the pictures in this post were taken by one of the world’s great wine landscape photographers, Mick Rock, who owns Cephas picture library, one of the major sources for high quality photos of wine, food and travel.

Some might suggest that it would be a close call to choose a favourite wine town in France. For me, in the past few years, it is Arbois in the Jura that has become the town that each time I visit appeals to me more. It would have been easy to choose Beaune instead – a quintessential wine town if ever there was one – but Beaune has become a little too busy and touristy to be my favourite today.

Arbois from a nearby viewpoint ©Wink Lorch

In eastern France, bordering Switzerland, Lons-le-Saunier is the departmental capital of Jura, but it is Arbois that is very much the heart of the wine region (even if its soul might be lodged further south in the hilltop village of Château-Chalon). Childhood home to Pasteur, the scientist so dear to wine lovers and somewhere he returned to regularly for holidays, Arbois is equally home to a growing band of fine wine producers and becoming a great place for wine and food lovers to visit.

The surrounding villages and vineyards are delightful to explore and this is where you’ll find the wineries, but it’s well worth spending some time actually in the charming town of Arbois. In the ten years that I’ve visited on a regular basis, the choice of accommodation, restaurants, and the food and wine shops has really widened.

You can happily while away an hour or two gazing at the window displays of local foods and wine, whilst wandering up and down the streets that branch off from the main square. Careful you don’t trip over the metal cellar entrances along the pavements – some of them hide 100s of barrels of Vin Jaune slowly maturing for its requisite minimum six years before bottling.

As a specialist writer on the wines of the Jura for some years, it is hard for me to name a favourite producer, but there are several larger, decent producers with shops actually in the town. A trend-setter in his time, the late Henri Maire whose company still continues has a prominent shop where you can taste some old Vins Jaunes. Others with a more interesting range include Jacques Tissot, Domaine Rolet, Domaine de la Pinte and André et Mireille Tissot, the latter with a more modern, brighter shop. If you want to find a source for smaller, up-and-coming producers there’s no better shop than Les Jardins de St-Vincent owned by sommelier Stéphane Planche who moonlights from his other job as chief sommelier for the two star Michelin Restaurant Jean Paul Jeunet.

If the very expensive, but fine Jean-Paul Jeunet restaurant is beyond you, another good choice in  town is the quite innovative La Balance with several food and wine matching menus and even a vegetarian option (rare in this most traditional area of France). Or for a filling lunchtime snack, venture into La Cave du Comté, the cheese shop and delicatessen just off the square at the back of which you’ll find a few tables for the café named Les Quatre Heures du Crémier.

And, nearly next door, you can’t fail to notice a chocolate and cake shop to die for, with a few tables outside for a snack or coffee. The Hirsinger chocolate shop is simply top class – owner and chocolatier Edouard Hirsinger even makes chocolates to match with the local wine specialities of Vin Jaune and Vin de Paille, as well as some made with the local marc (grape spirit).

Bistrot de la Tournelle on the Cuisance ©Brett Jones

In the early evening, walk along the banks of the sleepy river Cuisance which winds itself through the town under old bridges flowing down pretty weirs along the way. When a glass of wine calls, head to the Bistrot de la Tournelle owned by wine producers Pascal and Evelyne Clairet, who also have a wine tasting room and shop. You can sit by the river with a glass of their wine and a plate of charcuterie before heading off to dinner. But, don’t overdo it as you’ll need to save yourself for the substantial cuisine in this part of France.

On our recent visit we tried out what turned out to be a really enjoyable, decently priced new restaurant and hotel that recently opened in a town house that dates back to 1835, very close to the middle of Arbois. Called Les Caudalies, it was named by its sommelier owner, Philippe Troussard (his own name an amusing, but real mixture of the two Jura red grapes Trousseau and Poulsard) for the odd French wine measure for the number of seconds the taste of a wine lasts after swallowing (or spitting). The welcome was lovely and the hotel has five comfortable rooms in the main building, with a further four slightly smaller rooms in the next door annexe closer to the road. Some rooms have a view up to the vineyards including the distinctive Tour du Curon owned by Stéphane Tissot. There’s a lovely garden too.

Les Caudalies hotel and restaurant ©Brett Jones

Needless to say in the Caudalies restaurant, the wine takes pride of place (early on in our dinner all eyes in the restaurant turned to a table next to us who chose a 1947 Côtes du Jura red from Bourdy that had to be carefully served). The wine list is very good, not only from the Jura (with a good selection at all price levels) but from elsewhere too with a total of 500 listings.  The food was tasty, well presented, with a local feel, designed to show off the wine choice.

After some discussion with Philippe, we chose a traditional oxidative Savagnin to go right through the meal with a range of dishes and it worked a treat. It was a 2005 from a producer I don’t list on the guides, but who I do have a soft spot for – Lucien Aviet, also known as Bacchus. So, why don’t I include him on the guides? Well I restrict myself and all my contributors to 12 producers in each micro-region guide: this producer is ultra-traditional with a lovely old cellar but with quite traditional wines – I’m not convinced that a newcomer to the region would understand him or his wines much unless guided …. Choices have to be made!

I’ll be updating the Jura travel guides after another visit later this summer and will add in the excellent Caudalies hotel and restaurant then if not before. In the meantime, all eight of our Bordeaux guides and the six Languedoc-Roussillon guides are fully updated with lots of great new recommendations.

YOUR TURN: Have you got a favourite wine town in France? If so, please tell us where and why in the comments below. Thanks!

I seem to spend much time warning people to make appointments before visiting wine producers in Europe, especially in France, where tasting rooms and open cellar doors are the exception rather than the rule in most regions. It can be especially difficult to find wineries open for tastings at weekends, almost impossible on Sundays. But, in recent years, there has been a move, once or twice a year, to designate a weekend where a group of wine producers in a particular region keep their cellar doors open.

Much different to a wine fair, wine festival, ‘salon des vins’ or ‘fête du vin’, the open cellar doors events, called in French either Caves Ouvertes or Portes Ouvertes,  mean you can actually drive around the different cellars (yes, someone needs to be a designated driver, either not drinking or rigorously spitting) visiting as many cellars as you want to taste their wines and possibly buy. Usually there are lots of other events attached such as cellar tours, meals or picnics, jazz bands or walks in the vineyards.

In France, the various regions, micro-regions or even single appellations, choose to hold these open door events on different weekends, so throughout May you will find open doors somewhere. Unfortunately, they are often publicized fairly last minute, possibly even changing the weekend each year and there is no one diary source for wine events in France – several on-line and off-line publications do have some sort of ‘agenda du vin’ but not one of them is anywhere near comprehensive that I know of. I thought of including a diary of wine events on Wine Travel Guides, but with so many wine organisations and regions even taking just France, it would be a full time job for someone to put it together. Anyone want to sponsor that idea?

May is a particularly important month for those wine regions who produce wines for consumption in their first few years of life, lesser every-day wines, you might call them. Many of these wines are bottled in March or April, so May is the first time they are released for sale. Another reason to hold tasting events in May is that there are several public holidays – this year the 1^st, 8^th (both Saturdays this year) plus the 13^th and the 24^th May are all holidays, so France sometimes seems like it is on a short holiday all month.

Here is a non-comprehensive list of a few of the most interesting open cellar events in May, with links to more information where possible, though most of this is in French – these are real local affairs aimed at French wine consumers, but they are happy to see any wine lovers. I’ve included a couple in French-speaking Switzerland too, which both look excellent.

1^st/2^nd May: Savoie – ‘Fête de la Vigne & du Vin’ Savoie Vignerons Indépendents hold a caves ouverts on both days. Includes five producers in Chignin, nine in Jongieux, six between Frèterive and Cruet in La Combe de Savoie and one in Apremont. Several are featured on the Savoie wine travel guide Around Chambéry.

1^st/2^nd May: Savigny (Burgundy) – 15 producers on the Route des Grands Crus in the village of Savigny.

8^th May: Calce (Roussillon) – ‘Les Caves se rebiffent’.  All the vignerons in this village in the Côtes du Roussillon open their doors.

8^th/9^th May: Côtes de Bourg (Bordeaux) - 100 châteaux with cellar doors open and lots of other events. Brochure download.

13^th/16^th May: Gaillac (South-West) – ‘Les Tables en Fête de Gaillac’ More than just open cellars, the local restaurants are involved and there are loads of activities surrounding wine and food. Around 30 local producers particpate, in this lesser-known wine area just west of the famous town of Albi. Brochure download.

15^th May: Pouilly (Loire) – Association des Portes Ouvertes groups many producers in Pouilly-sur-Loire. A few details available from the Pouilly growers’ syndicate.

21^st/22^nd: Vaud (Switzerland) – No less than 300 producers are opening their doors in the spectacular vineyards between Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) and Lac de Neuchatel.

23rd/24^th May: Alsace – Picnic Chez le Vigneron – not exactly Caves Ouvertes but similar. A great event where the doors are open for tasting and you bring your own picnic to eat at tables provided. Music and other activities often accompany.

29^th May: Geneva (Switzerland) – The canton of Geneva produces some excellent wines and everyone speaks English! Public transport from the city and free shuttle between the wine villages.

Of course, there are many more in June too and later in the year!

Poster from 2009 Cantine Aperte

Called Cantine Aperte in Italy all the wine regions of Italy conveniently hold their open cellars events on the same weekend, this year it’s the 30^th May with some regions also holding events on the 29^th May. Lots of producers participate in every region of Italy. Plenty goes on with not only the open cellars, but meals and events surrounding. If you have a chance to be in a vineyard area in Italy at the end of May, don’t miss it! Sadly, I’ve found no full lists of local links, but this expat blog does a good job. There is also a Cantine Aperte Facebook page but it’s only in Italian!

If you know of any specific links to Open Cellar Doors events in France, Italy or elsewhere in Europe during May 2010 please do add them in the comments.

We include major annual wine fairs and festivals under the title ‘Events’ in each travel guide on our website, however, as the Open Cellars dates seem to be fairly fluid, they are not all included.

NEW ON WINE TRAVEL GUIDES: We are now offering tailor-made wine tour itineraries for France to assist those with less time available for planning or who want an extra helping hand. Take a look at the new page on the website or read our latest press release.

Domaine d'Ardhuy, Côte de Nuits

There’s a road in France that always makes my heart beat a little faster, the first time I drove down it I was just 17, which is more years ago than I care to reveal. My friends with whom I was heading south from England on a European camping holiday, couldn’t understand my excitement. Look, I pointed – Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Vougeot, Nuits-St-Georges … I simply couldn’t believe all those amazing wine names were flashing by us so quickly, one after another.

I knew the names, because my big sister ran a conference centre, and used to bring home wines to sample, often Burgundies, usually from one of the big négociants that exported to the UK. I’d tasted Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-St-Georges several times, and already acquired a taste for them, which I confess I’ve never lost! Recently, not only did I drive down that road again, but by pure chance shortly on our return, I was invited to dinner and served a sublime 1999 Mazis Chambertin. As a wine professional I don’t admit to favourite wines, but it’s true a little of my heart always belongs to red Burgundy and the road through the vineyards looks beautiful to me whatever the season.

Real wine touring isn’t just about appointments to taste wines at the producers interspersed with restaurant meals and shopping, it’s about breathing in the air and the scenery around – if you like, call it absorbing the terroir, in the broadest sense of that difficult word. Terroir, much talked about on other blogs and articles, to me encompasses the feeling of a place, not just its soil, climate and location. Do schedule in time on your next wine tour to take a walk or a drive through the vineyards or better still, both.

View from the Route des Grands Crus © Brett Jones

Back to Burgundy and more specifically, the Côte de Nuits which is the part of the Côte d’Or (the so-called Golden Slope) that runs from just south of Dijon to Beaune. First-time wine lovers to Burgundy tend to make a beeline to Beaune, and a fine city it is too, but recently I drove north from there to rediscover the wine villages and towns that are home to some of the greatest Pinot Noir wines. As you head north on the main D774 (formerly the famous N74), you will see the best vineyards on the warm south-east facing slopes, on your left. The more interesting and officially sign-posted Route des Grands Crus takes the smaller roads through the villages just up the hill.

Quite a busy thoroughfare, the town of Nuits Saint Georges is home to several of the large Burgundy merchants and you can taste at the Moillard shop for example, which is on the main road. Visit at quieter times and you will receive a good introduction here to the difference between the complicated Burgundy quality levels of Village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru. There’s a pleasant shopping street in Nuits too with several wine shops, and I was particularly taken with a food shop called Fruirouge with tasty farm-produced jams, syrups and ideal gifts for foodies.

From Nuits, drive north through the vineyards and make a first stop to play homage to the Grands Crus vineyards above the village of Vosne-Romanée. In particular you can seek out the walled vineyard of Romanée-Conti, producing the most expensive Burgundy of all. Then drive on a little further to take a look at the quite spectacular Château du Clos de Vougeot surrounded by vineyards. If you decide to go in and visit, try to imagine the courtyard and buildings filled with the Chevaliers du Tastevins, dressed up in their red robes – quite a scene.

Sculpture, Gevrey-Chambertin © Brett Jones

Gevrey-Chambertin (originally named Gevrey, but then, like many other Burgundy towns and villages,it added on the name of its most famous vineyard) is a quiet town with an old part up the hill. You’ll catch sight of views through to the vineyards and as you drive up through the middle there is a really interesting modern metal sculpture in the form of four gates, honouring the traditional winegrowing crafts. It was installed in the year 2000 to celebrate the village hosting the winter wine festival of St-Vincent held in a different village each year. Gevrey has a couple of wine producers you can visit in the town and an excellent restaurant with wine shop next door named Chez Guy. I ate the most superb traditional Burgundy dish there of melt-in-the-mouth beef cheek, braised in local red wine of course.

Driving back down to Beaune, south of Nuits-St-Georges we visited a wine estate with a fine house at the end of tree-lined drive just off the main road. Domaine d’Ardhuy is home to the wine of Clos de Langres, a ‘Monopole’ meaning the domaine owns the vineyard outright. A vineyard named ‘clos’ has a wall around it and here the other side of the wall is where the Côte de Beaune begins. Domaine d’Ardhuy produce a range of red and white Burgundies of good quality at all levels but the Clos de Langres is a simple appellation Côte de Nuits Villages, that tastes as good as most Premiers Crus. You can visit the shop at any time, visit the old cellar and pay a small fee to taste.

The Route des Grands Crus meanders all the way through both the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune. If you love Burgundy, it’s well worth a pilgrimage to travel this road, it will remain in your mind whenever you taste the wines back home.

We had enjoyed a busy morning tasting wines in the Northern Rhône, and before lunch we made our way to the edge of Tain l’Hermitage to taste and buy some reasonably-priced wines at the town’s wine cooperative. One of the biggest and best wine cooperatives in France, Cave Cooperative de Tain l’Hermitage accounts for 70% of the total Crozes-Hermitage produced and 30% of Hermitage. They also produce a range of other wines from the northern Rhône with several cuvées for each appellation, some only available in situ. Their tasting room and shop is open every day with a short break for lunch, and we could choose from a nicely presented selection of good wines which included some older vintages.

Recently the Cooperative has opened a visitor centre for groups, Fief de Gambert, on their Gambert de Loche estate on the vineyard-clad hill of Hermitage and only a short way out of town. And in the building there is a fine little restaurant, Umia, run by an enterprising young couple, Rika and Frédéric Bau.

It was winter and although there was only us and one other table, we were charmingly looked after by the young waiter who enjoyed telling us about his season in the Lake District in northern England, having first described the menu to us.

We were tempted by the main set menu, Secrets de Goût, four courses for €38 or €58 with three glasses of wine from the Cave de Tain l’Hermitage. However with a busy afternoon in prospect we decided to have the lighter menu, Umia Express – two courses, a café gourmand and a glass of wine for €23.50.

The first course was an attractively dressed salad with walnut cream and chiffonade of ham which was well accompanied by a white Crozes-Hermitage made with Marsanne and Roussanne. Next, the red Saint Joseph with its peppery Syrah notes was fine and dandy with the confit of duck on creamed potato and fennel, cooked in orange juice.

Then came the surprise. The coffee came with more than a Valrhona chocolate! As well as a little chocolate mousse, there was a little pouding and a couple of pieces of marinaded pineapple, much more than we expected with our espresso.

When we had paid our reasonable bill we were invited to visit the kitchen – the spotless kitchen -  where we met Rika Bau who proudly showed off her wood oven, manufactured locally.

Umia is heartily endorsed by Paul Bocuse and is very much part of the local vinous community, with a wall encouraging the local vignerons to add their comments and secrets. It is a great place to pause for a meal, be it the full monty or the speedy express menu, and is deservedly recommended by Rhône specialist writer John Wheeldon on Wine Travel Guides.