Starting at the Top of the Burgundy Map – Chablis

This region is famous for its Chardonnay. Yet remember that there’s Chablis and then there’s Chablis. The very best has ‘Grand Cru’ status, and will require you to remortgage your house. The lowest quality can be picked up in any supermarket. It’ll have trace amounts of green fruit flavours, while it may have been crudely oaked with batons rather than an actual barrel. It certainly won’t have the minerality of the Grand Cru Chablis. The best examples are complex with good acidity too. They’ll also have lemon flavours, and you won’t detect the green fruit of the poorer examples.

Next Stop – Côte de Nuits

Burgundy’s best wines are made here. To see what we mean, take a peek at the selection that we stock, which includes Domaine de la Romanée Conti. The 2001 bottle will set you back a whopping €14,900. It also has 93 points from international wine critic Robert Parker, and an intense perfume of rose blossom. In general, the area produces the most full bodied wines with the best capacity for ageing in Burgundy.

Buy now.

Drop by Côte de Beaune

Here, the reds are lighter bodied. Yet it’s the white wines which are really something to write home about, and they may just be the very best in the world. The whites are made from Chardonnay. Restricted production, and optimum growing conditions mean the Grand Cru wines are very strongly flavoured. Oaking gives the wine more toasty notes than are found in Chablis too. The wines can become even more complex and full bodied by stirring the lees. Just sell the family jewels before visiting.

Take Lunch at Côte Chalonnaise

The wines may not be as high quality as those at the last two stops. Yet they are fairly close in character, and have much smaller price tags. If you’re looking for a bargain, this is the stop for you. However the wine will age faster, so you won’t be able to brag about owning them for long. The village of Mercurey is where quality peaks, if you’re looking for the very best.

Move on to Mâconnais

You’ll notice that the weather feels a touch warmer here. The landscape starts to resemble the South of France, and wine production competes with dairy farming, as the soil is good for either. If you can, try to visit the village ‘Chardonnay’ which is where the grape gets its name from. For the most part, the area produces so-so table wine. Yet there are many good examples of whites with appley or lemon and limey flavours, as well as good acidity with a slightly above medium body. Occasionally, malolactic fermentation gives the wine some creaminess. Yet if you’re looking for the good stuff, look out for the few sites with a cult following. Mâcon Villages AC or any of the named Mâcon Village ACs produce fantastic Chardonnays, and Lugny is particular gem.

End the Day with a Glass of Beaujolais

That’s good advice at any time. Yet at the bottom of Burgundy, you’ll find the famous Beaujolais region, with its juicy, fruity, young red wines. If you like summer fruit flavours but hate bitter tannins, this is your kind of region. Gamay grapes are carbonically macerated to produce a very smooth, fruity wine. Beaujolais Villages is where you’ll find the bottles with the greatest ageing potential, and to see what we’re talking about try Marcel Lapierre Morgon. Expect raspberry, cherry and even bubblegum flavours.

Buy now.

More Wine to Consider:

If you’re after food choices for Burgundy wine, read ‘Chickens Should Be Afraid of Dry White Burgundy Wine’. It has some really novel suggestions too.

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Anyone thinking of making a trip to Bordeaux anytime soon: Visiting Château Lynch-Bages is an absolute must, and in this guide, we’ll tell you why!

3 reasons you must visit Château Lynch-Bages

Any serious wine lover won’t need an excuse, but there are plenty of good reasons to make visiting Château Lynch-Bages a top priority next time you’re anywhere near it! We could go on at length, but we’ve boiled it down to three absolutely essential reasons.

1. Château Lynch-Bages is one of Bordeaux’s finest wines.

   Let’s not beat around the bush: People visit wineries to taste wine, first and foremost. A wine like Château Lynch-Bages may be relatively affordable when compared to the likes of Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Margaux, but it’s still gonna cost you a few hundred euros, at least. This is not an everyday wine – for most of us, at least! Making a trip to the château is a great opportunity to taste the wine without too much expense.

2. Château Lynch-Bages has a Michelin-star restaurant on site.

   Did that get your attention? Foodies and gastronomic geeks will certainly want to make a reservation at Château Cordeillan-Bages, one of Bordeaux’s finest restaurants. This is the height of Bordelaise cuisine, served in highly memorable surroundings. Each table is unique and adorned with artwork from famous artists. The wine list, perhaps not surprisingly, is superb: The cellar is stocked with around 1,500 different wines, including some of the best red wine in the world. Oh yeah, it’s also a four-star hotel, so there’s that, too!

3. Château Lynch-Bages has its own living, breathing village!

   So, let’s picture this: You visit the château, you dine at the restaurant and you stay overnight at the hotel. Sounds good. However, Pauillac is about an hour’s drive outside of Bordeaux – on a good day. There’s only so much you can see in Chateau Lynch-Bages’ cellar, right? Well, no. The château itself is located within its own dedicated village, Bages. Visit the Bages village and you’ll find life is bustling. Buy wine at the local cave, or grab a slightly less formal lunch at the brasserie, Café Lavinal. Yes, they’ve got two restaurants at Château Lynch-Bages! Otherwise, take a stroll at this classic Médocaine village, and enjoy all it has to offer.

What if you can’t visit Château Lynch-Bages?

OK, so let’s say that visiting Bordeaux is not an option. One way to recreate the magic of Château Lynch-Bages is, well, by drinking a bottle of the stuff!

• Château Lynch-Bages 2010 is a 96-point blockbuster wine.

  Pick up a bottle of Lynch-Bages 2010, and you can enjoy the magic of this legendary Pauillac property from the comfort of your own home. Its colour is deep, dense and concentrated. On the nose it has profound fruit aromas with underlying spice, and on the palate it is full-bodied and tannic, yet highly refined. This is a bucket list wine, certainly, and it deserves to be paired with a bucket list food. Recreate the Bordeaux experience with some traditional Médocaine food: Pair this with slow-roasted Pauillac lamb, and savour every second of it!

Buy Château Lynch-Bages 2010!

Want to understand wines like Château Lynch-Bages a little better? Check out our guide for understanding Bordeaux wine labels!

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Why you should visit Aranda de Duero

First and foremost, this is wine country. Any serious wine lover will know that the top wines of Ribera del Duero can hang with the best of Bordeaux, Burgundy and California. The region is home to iconic producers that need no introduction, Vega Sicilia and Pingus chief among them. These places are legendary, and the wines cost a small fortune. That doesn’t mean that Aranda de Duero is just for millionaires, though. Far from it. Visit Aranda de Duero and you can see that for yourself!

5 things to do in Aranda de Duero (that won’t cost a fortune!)

Take a trip to Aranda de Duero, and you’ll find yourself with no shortage of things to do. Assuming that your budget has some sort of limit, let’s focus on five things you can do that won’t require taking out a second mortgage on your home!

1. Visit Ribera del Duero wineries. This one is a no-brainer. Aranda de Duero is the beating heart of the Ribera del Duero wine region, and there are world class vineyards just waiting to be explored all around. The official Ribera del Duero DO is responsible for the wines of the region, and is a good place to start when looking for wineries to visit. Keep in mind that you may need to book in advance, some wineries may not be open to the public, and that seasonality can be a factor: Arrive in the height of harvest and you may not be welcomed with open arms! Here, planning ahead is vital!
2. Visit the city’s underground cellars. The wine cellars or bodegas that lie underneath Aranda de Duero are truly a spectacle to behold. Calling to mind the underground caves of Saint Emilion or Champagne, this is a wine lover’s delight. Even better, you don’t need to leave the city in order to get there.
3. Churches, churches and more churches! If religious architecture is your thing, Aranda de Duero is the place to be. You’ll find some beautiful and historic cathedrals here and the most impressive among them are Santa María la Real and San Juan.
4. Festival time. Aranda de Duero is home to the annual festival of la Virgen de las Viñas, our lady of the vines. This is a week-long celebration held in September, and the festivities are not to be missed.
5. Must-see museums. Take a break from wine tasting and experience some of Aranda de Duero’s speciality museums – the pottery museum and the train museum are well worth a visit!

Have you ever visited Aranda de Duero? How was your experience? Share your tips in the comments below!

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Martin Codax Albariño is a Postcard from Galicia in a Glass

At the moment, we’ve got two really great wines from the winery. Both of them use 100% Albariño grapes, which create light wines with a peachy flavour. The wine can be a tad acidic. But that’s a good thing – you now have an excuse to eat lots of gorgeous oily/fatty foods that will match it perfectly like pâté, or fried seabass. These bottles are:

• Martín Códax. In 2017, this wine scored 88 Peñín points. To get such a score from the internationally acclaimed wine critic, it has to be seriously good wine, and the tasting notes are particularly impressive. Expect the peachy flavours characteristic of the grape. Yet also it has lovely lemony notes, as well as an inviting nose of mimosa, apple, jasmine, orange and grapefruit. That’s one heck of a glassful. Try to get a young example of the wine which will still have a slight spritz, which is excellent for seafood.

• Marieta. They’ve produced this bottle with a groovy label, which could be quite fun to look at on a dinner table. Yet when you’re done staring at it, you might well want to drink it. Again, Peñín scored it highly – giving it 87 points. But it’s about a third cheaper than the other bottle – not a bad table wine to have for everyday drinking.

Plan the Perfect Vineyard Tour

Handily, the winery has a list of its opening times. That’s quite important as you don’t want to travel half way across Europe only to turn up on a day when the place is closed. Visiting at different times of year will have its benefits:

• Spring is when the days lengthen out again and there’s more time for tastings or tours. As it’s before the season’s peak, the place won’t be so crowded

• Summer in Spain is of course divine. Galicia is a slightly more temperate area of the country too which makes it ideal for holidaymakers who don’t like excessive heat. If you do, the rest of Spain is just a short drive away. Also June is when vines come into flower, and have you ever seen field after field of vines in bloom? It’s truly beautiful.

• Autumn is when grapes are harvested in Europe. Specifically, Martin Códax does this in September, and you can see below for a really good wine tour to take at this time.

• Winter is when the hotels should be at their cheapest. What’s more, Rias Baixas is a cosy 10? at its coldest – which makes it a great location for a Christmas break.

What’s on Offer

• The Martín Códax Tour. On this tour, they’ll explain how they make Albariño, which you also get to taste.

• Martín Códax Lías Tour. This is double the length of the previous tour, and you can taste their Lías wine too.

• Martín Códax ‘Troubadour Tour’. Not only do you get to taste three wines, but the tour makes reference to Martín Códax, the medieval poet after whom the winery is named. Very cultural.

• Martín Códax Selección Tour. There’s four wines to taste here.

• Torre Quintáns Tour. Not only do you get to try three of their best wines, but the winery tour opens out into their vineyards as well.

• Martín Códax Premium. There’s more wine to try on this tour, and you’ll visit their more prestigious parcel of land, Pe Redondo.

• Special Wine Tourism Packs. This is a more in depth option. You’ll even learn how to shellfish, as well as get a real sense for how the Atlantic coast affects these wines. It’s delivered on a cruising boat as well!

Tastings

What’s more there, there are three special tastings to try out:

• “Blessed by the Aging”. Here, you’ll appreciate how oaking affects Albariño;

• “Forever Young”. These wines typify what’s best about Rias Baixas – very drinkable, fresh, fruity wine;

• “Alma Atlántica”. In this session, you’ll get more of an appreciation for how the area’s climate and soil creates a terrific terroir.

Join in the Harvest

You can even take part in harvesting the grapes! Of course, this can only take place in September, but in a way, that makes the experience more special. Think of it as a fun way to end the summer, while you learn about wine.

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A Typical Valencia Wine:

The region produces lots of gluggable, chuggable table wine. You’ll pour it out, and enjoy it with standard paella, or simply on its own as you gaze at the sea from your hotel window. It’s uncomplicated, get-what-you-pay-for wine.

However, the region’s quality has been rising in recent years. Instead of obscure local varieties, the area is making red wines from Tempranillo, and increasingly white wines use Macebo.

Some Rare Gems:

What’s more, the region is producing a few great bottles. You just need to know what to look for – so keep an eye out for Moscatel de Valencia. It’s a renowned sweet wine, and occasionally fortified like a sherry. Some growers are also experimenting with international varieties too. Using solid, noble grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay will help the region to move towards higher status, and Maduresa is an lip-smacking example of this style. It has excellent fruit flavours, with strong, jammy ripe notes thanks to the beating Mediterranean sun.

Also look out for the sub-area of Utiel-Requena. It’s leading the charge of quality Valencia winemakers, which means you should look for it on bottle labels.

What to Do When You Get Here:

Once you’ve located the wine bar nearest to your hotel, you may start thinking about other things to do in Valencia. Don’t worry – there should be opportunities to drink at these tourist hotspots too. Yet you may want to include some of these activities in with your trip to wine country:

• Hit the Beach! There are no fewer than five beaches around Valencia. The main one, La Malvarrosa, is also pleasingly spacious, which will make it easy to find a nice spot for a picnic of red Valencia wine and paella. Here’s some other fantastic wine and food pairings for picnics.

• Visit a Vineyard. There are plenty to choose from, and this wine tour company is even WSET certified. That means you won’t just be visiting some nice wine producers. You’ll also be learning something, and it’s much easier to understand a wine when you’ve stood on the soil in which it’s grown while experiencing the weather that made it. And what weather – with highs of 29°C.

• Check Out Valencia’s Central Market. It’s often said that what grows together goes together, and this is your chance to stock up on the food that were made to match the local wine. Of course, at home your local delicatessen will charge the Earth to try this stuff. Here, you can pick up prize chorizo that would be a great match for a glass of Valencia red.

• Try the Nightlife. Of course, you will have seen footage of young twenty-somethings getting completely wasted on cheap booze in Spain. Valencia is not that kind of place. Yet there is something for you if you want to venture out at night, and ‘Elite Cocktail Bar’ is the sort of sophisticated place to visit with some very yummy drinks.

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Three regions: Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Baja

Rioja is located in Spain’s Upper Ebro region, and is itself split into three subregions. Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja each have their own distinctive characteristics and unique charms. As a wine tourist, the choice of where to go is entirely up to you. For us, Rioja Alta is unmissable, but its neighbouring regions are also very charming and worth a visit.

• Rioja Alta is located west of the city of Logroño and is home to two of Rioja’s top bodegas: CVNE and Muga.

• Rioja Alavesa is also west of Logroño, and is known for its vineyards high in the Cantabrian Mountains. At up to 800 metres high, these vineyards are the region’s highest point. Wines here tend to be Rioja’s lightest.

• Rioja Baja is east of Logroño, and specialises in the Garnacha Tinta – or red Grenache – grape.

Visiting Rioja Alta

The Rioja Alta region welcomes tourists all year round, with accommodation within the region and the nearby city of Logroño. As with any wine region, the life cycle of the vineyard is seasonal. Visit during winter and you will expect to see mainly bare vineyards. If you want to see more life, consider visiting during the summer and close to harvest time.

3 things to do and see in Rioja Alta

1. Visit wineries

This one’s a no-brainer. This is right in the heart of perhaps Spain’s greatest wine region, why on earth would you not take advantage and visit some of the best wineries and vineyards? There are plenty of great wineries to visit in Haro and other parts of the Rioja Alta zone. Some of our favourites include Muga, La Rioja Alta, CVNE, Ibaiondo and Florentino de Lecanda. Each winery is unique and will have its own distinctive story and visitor experience. It is always wise to book visits in advance in order to avoid disappointment.

2. Eat like a local

Haro is the heart of the Rioja Alta region, and is a gastronomic delight. There are a number of seriously amazing restaurants that you simply can’t miss if you’re in the area and are passionate about food and wine. We recommend trying a top restaurant like Los Caballeros, Casa Toni or La Vieja Bodega. You won’t be disappointed! Alternatively, take a stroll down one of the Rioja Alta gastronomic routes and delight at what you find!

3. See the sights

Rioja Alta – and Rioja generally – is known best for its wine. However, the region is full of historical heritage just waiting to be explored. Visit Haro as a tourist and delight at all manner of churches, palaces, museums and public spaces! Vamos!

Have you ever been to Rioja Alta or the Rioja region? Can you recommend any must-visit wineries, can’t-miss restaurants or tourist attractions? Tell us about your experience!

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Some top European destinations include Rioja, Champagne and Bordeaux. Further afield, there are must-see regions like Napa Valley in California and Marlborough, New Zealand. You could literally spend your entire life travelling the world’s wine regions and still not see them all.

If that sounds tempting, you’re in luck: In this guide, we’ll give you everything you need to organise your very own wine tour, anywhere in the world!

Deciding where to go

First things first: Where would you like to visit? This is entirely up to you, and will depend on your own preferences, budget and geographical location. Ask yourself a few questions and things will become clear quickly enough!

Where do you want to go?

This one might seem obvious, but it’s important. Visit the wine region that makes your favourite wines, and avoid places whose wines you don’t like.

Advocates of Albariño should probably be looking at Rias Baixas, while champions of Chenin Blanc should head for South Africa or the Loire Valley. That sort of thing.

Of course, there’s not much sense in visiting Jerez de la Frontera or Porto if you can’t stand fortified wines!

What’s your budget?

It’s important to be realistic here. Some wine tours will cost more than others, dramatically so in some cases. Part of this will come down to expenses like travel and accomodation, but there’s more to it as well.

Some regions are more expensive than others.

• Want to visit high-end California wineries? Bring your cheque book. Many tasting rooms charge for admission, often substantial amounts. You’ll probably have your fees waived or discounted if you buy some wine, but that’s another expense, too.
• Champagne is relatively expensive to visit, especially if you opt for some of the more prestigious houses or tour options. Lunch in the vineyard or blending your own Champagne sounds pretty good, but be prepared to hand over hundreds or even thousands or euros for the privilege!
• By comparison, you might find that visiting small family properties in Burgundy or elsewhere will considerably cheaper, if not free to visit. Of course, the wines tend to cost a small fortune, so there’s that…

If money is no object, fine. Plan all the winemaker dinners, overnight château stays and helicopter rides that you like. These things don’t come cheap though, so be warned! It pays to do your homework and look at different options before deciding on a place to go.

Where do you live?

Location matters. If you live in the north west of Spain and like fine red wines, consider somewhere like Rioja or even Bordeaux. If you’re in the UK and like sparkling wines, there are plenty of vineyards in England, though you could certainly make the short trip to Champagne, too. If you live on continental Europe, many excellent wine regions are easily accessible by car, train or plane. Do a bit of research and see where you’d like to go first.

How to book a wine tour

Broadly speaking, you have two options here:

• Book your tour through a licensed wine tour operator.

  The benefits here include the experience and expertise that these companies have, the relationships they have with top wineries and the fact that they will take care of most of the tricky parts for you, leaving you to enjoy yourself. The primary downside is that this can be something of an expensive option.

• Make all the arrangements yourself.

  Book flights, rent cars and accommodation and everything else, and more importantly: Book your own winery visits. On the plus side, you are your own boss and the schedule is up to you. If you’re flexible about travel dates and have an eye for a bargain, this can be a much cheaper option. On the other hand, booking winery visits is not always the easiest thing for a member of the public to do. Some regions are better than others for this, though even within regions there will be some variation.

What you need to know

Every region is different, but there are a few rules of thumb that will be useful no matter where you go.

• Book winery visits in advance, where possible.

  This will guarantee that you will actually be let inside, and often will give you more choice when it comes to different packages available. Certain packages may require advanced planning or preparation, and simply won’t be possible if you just show up on the day. Some top wineries have very long waiting lists, too, so keep that in mind. 

• Do your research.

  Look up individual regions, wine tour operators and wineries on Google or TripAdvisor. Learn from others’ mistakes!

• Mind your language.

  Wine tourism is global. If you’re visiting a foreign country and don’t speak the local language, do a little planning in advance. Most Bordeaux châteaux will have some English speakers on hand, smaller Burgundy domaines may not. Knowing some basic phrases certainly won’t hurt, though in some cases it may be necessary to hire an interpreter or bilingual tour guide to join you.

• Drink responsibly.

  Wine tasting is fun, for sure, though a full day of tasting measures can add up. Wineries provide spittoons, don’t be afraid to use them!

• Make suitable transport arrangements to and between wineries.

  Most wine regions are in rural areas, which may be poorly served – if at all – by public transport. You may need to rent a car or hire a driver of some sort. Keep in mind that you may want to buy wine from individual wineries, so be sure you have somewhere to transport it too. Remember to never drink and drive.

• Be realistic in your expectations

  Some regions and producers love to welcome tourists, some less so and some not at all. Don’t be disheartened, the wine world is big and most people in it are very welcoming. And just to save you the trip: No, Domaine de la Romanée Conti probably won’t let you in!

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