The Christmas and New Year celebrations are over and our wine cellar is looking quite empty! Many of our customers also sent us photographs over the holiday season of them opening their last bottle of wine or champagne from one the wine tastings they did with us on a tour last year. As many of you will already know, if we travel through a wine region during a tour, we will always arrange a visit to a vineyard to try the local wines, visit the wine cellar and, if possible, will spend the night there in our motorhomes, so that we can enjoy the visit without having to worry about driving afterwards. We are already looking forward to being able to replenish our stocks during the tours this year.
Our first chance to do a wine-tasting this year will be during our new “Exciting Eastern Germany” tour. We will have a wine tasting with a guided tour of the wine cellar at a vineyard just south-west of Leipzig in the Saale-Unstrut wine region, which is famous for its white wines like Müller Thurgau, Pinot Blanc and Bacchus. This area is also the centre of Eastern Germany’s sparkling wine production.
The Loire Valley is one of the great wine regions of France and during our “Leisurely Loire Valley” tour in May there are countless opportunities to try the different wines. We will take part in a wine-tasting workshop and learn more about the many different types of wine. During our new “Spectacular Spanish Northern Coast” tour, we will have a guided tour of a wine cellar in the Rioja wine region and enjoy a wine tasting with typical local appetizers in a traditional Spanish wine cellar in Haro, the capital of the Rioja.
If you enjoy white wine, then our “Majestic Rhine & Moselle Rivers” tour is perfect for you. Almost every day we travel through wine growing areas along the Rhine and Moselle rivers, giving you plenty of opportunity to try (and buy) the great wines. During the Rhine in Flames weekend in Rüdesheim, the whole town celebrates with live music and wine in the market square, where you can try the local wines directly from the producer. We will also stay one night at a vineyard close to the historic city of Trier on the Moselle, where we will have a wine-tasting and guided tour of the wine cellar, followed by a 3-course dinner.
Many people think that the Black Forest is only famous for cuckoo clocks and its gateau, but great wine is produced there too. During our “Breathtaking Black Forest” tour we will have a wine and schnapps tasting in the beautiful Ortenau wine region. The wine is so good, that one of our customers, who booked this tour in 2017, returned via Germany after the end of our “Impressive Italian Lakes & Cities” tour last year to stock up again at the vineyard.
On our “Impressive Italian Lakes & Cities” tour we will stay one night at a vineyard in the Franciacorta wine region, an area famous for its sparkling wine, but which also has some excellent white and red wines. We will visit the wine cellar, try the wines and typical Italian snacks and then enjoy a 3-course meal.
We do not have a wine tasting during our “Amazing Alpine Roads” tour, as it is a region that typically makes beer. The local beers can be tried at countless places during the tour and also when we have the typical Bavarian meal in the Benedictine brewery on lake Tegernsee.
We wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful 2019 and as always safe travels!
Audrey & Michael