“Wine tourism is not for everyone, only for those who know a lot about wine, for those who have money, or for wineries with accommodation…” No, no, no Today I will undo the Myths about Wine tourism
I discovered wine tourism 8 years ago and I was fascinated as I could in such a perfect way combine my two great passions: wines and travel!
Since I started wine travelling I have learned a lot and every visit is always a handful of knowledge.
That is why I created “Entre Vinhas” blog and social media. With the mission of demystifying, explaining, disseminating the wine travel as a type of tourism for everyone, without exception! However, over the years I still realize that this concept of “wine tourism” is still misunderstood to many people and by the wine producers themselves…
Therefore, to clarify once and for all the doubts that are out there, I gathered 7 myths about the wine tourism to soon undo them!
“Wine tourism is a Winery with accommodation”
Wine tourism is an activity, an experience and not a physical space. No matter the size or structure of a winery, it is always possible to do wine tourism. If there is accommodation, a restaurant, wine bar and everything else, great! It will be a longer and more complete experience. If there is none of that but instead there is an organized team, with the time and open arms to host you, that’s all you need to have an unforgettable visit.
“You need to know a lot about wine to do a wine trip”
On the contrary! I strongly defend the idea that wine tourism is the best way to learn about wine! Of course, having some previous knowledge help maybe to select the regions or wineries that you want to visit but if you know nothing about wine, what better to learn than tasting it, inside a winery, next to the barrels, hosted by the winemaker and looking at the vineyard?
“I don’t drink wine so I don’t do wine trips”
Even if you don’t drink wine or simply do not like, you can perfectly still do wine tourism. Because although wine tourism is clearly a wine driven tourism, the wine culture is much more than just the drink! It’s the landscape, the gastronomy, the people, it’s the rural life… and that, anyone can enjoy, whether with a glass in the hand or not!
“Wine tourism is expensive”
Doing wine tourism can be as simple as spending an afternoon visiting a winery in your region (ok, it has the cost of gasoline and a tasting that can cost around 10€ per person). But it can also be spending a weekend on a farm and sleeping and eating in that place and that makes the trip a lot more expensive, but it’s all about choices and organization. In fact, in this article I give some tips on how to balance the budget while wine travelling.
“I’m not a wine tourist, I just went to visit a winery”
I confess that I also do not like to label people, much less when it comes to tourism, an activity that we do for pleasure, without thinking too much. But it is true that those who wine travel, even just for an afternoon, an weekend or a whole week are, indeed, wine tourists. “But is it so important to give a name to what I am or do?” of course not! It is only important to realize that everyone can do wine tourism and when reading “wine tourist” it also refers to you 😉
“All wineries are open for wine tourism”
No, not all cellars have the structure or conditions to open the doors to visitors. Again it’s a matter of choice. In many wineries, the priority is to produce a wine of excellence because that is the main goal. Wine tourism is an important complement to the wine business and more and more wineries are getting aware of it, although, it is not mandatory and there is no problem at all if a winery has not yet taken that step.
“It takes many days for a wine trip”
As it does not take much money, it does not take much time for wine tourism. Like I said before, it might just take an afternoon. It all depends on the number of wineries you want to visit and the distance these cellars are from your home. Again, I suggest reading the article “How to Organize a Wine Trip in 8 Steps”, with many useful tips!
So now I just made it a lot simpler, what is your excuse for not wine travel?
