Best wine-tasting travel destinations in Summer

Summer is the time of wines!:)

And we don’t talk about drinking wine:)

Though yeah.. a glass of frosty white wine in a hot summer evening watching a breath taking sunset at Santorini.. or a  bottle of chilled rose in a sunny afternoon sitting with friends at the Seine river in Paris..  or some parkilng bubbles of German prosecco hiding in some fairytale medieval castle in Rhine valley… or sipping cool wine in Sicilian winegrowing farm being pleasantly tired after full day of agricultural tourism .. In any place, Wine is definitely winederful in Summer:)

Well, Summer is a wine time because.. Because it’s so beautiful to do hiking through vineyards:) And we love hiking, don’t we?:)

But hiking apart, some events make vineyards a fabulous travel destination!

• Start June with sailing from city of Beatles (Manchester) to Bordeaux, obviously,  for the Bordeaux wine festival . If you are late, don’t worry there will be another great reason to visit Bordeaux vineyards – the reknown Medoc marathon beginning of September. It’s the longest (officially!) and the maddest marathon in the world, when every other mile or so you”ll be given wines, oysters and various delicious but faaat food:)
• After the Bordeax festival go south to Spanish town of Haro and Fight the red wines  battle at La Batalla de vino roja festival:) Be sure to be in Spain end of June!:)

• Now, when you are all red & winey,  start moving towards North of France. Spend some time in Burgundy: All summer long they hold a music wine festival – Musical des Grands Crus de Bourgogne.  Also check some medieval festivals  happening all summer across all the region:) There are plenty other events & celebrations in Burgundy happening all the time.. Vineyards definitely make life merrier!:)
• Continue going North of France up to Alsace region. July is time to relax and enjoy a full month of wine celebrations along the famous Alsace wine route

• By August slowly reach Reims region (just a few hours drive from Alsace). You probably know the Reims county by another name – Champagne! Welcome! During the 1st weekend of August there are 220 km of vineyards, winegrowing villages & houses, sparkling cellars and caves waiting for you at the Champagne Route  during the (Aube) Champagne en Fete festival! Other days you are welcome, too:)
• There are many more wines to taste and festivals to enjoy in France. Whatever you want!:) Take a look at visitfrenchwine.com to develop your wine taste in a celebration mode:) You know other useful sources on French wine events? Let us know!

• From France let’s cross the border and move to Germany. Let’s head to Koblenz – the merge of Rhine and Mosel rivers:) Here is a great place to start a big German journey – Unesco Rhine valley, fairytale Mosel valley, Black Forest trip.. most importantly here you can start German wine travel:) This regions is bursting with fabulous hiking routes through breathtaking vineyards! All summer (and honestly, it looks like in reality it’s all year long) Germans are celebrating! Small and big wine festivals, sometimes and often combined with medieval, music and fireworks festivals, happen practically every day in one place or another, from tiny villages to regional capitals. Look, for example, how busy is the coast of Rhine river All festivals are fun:) But some are for special attention:)
• 1st week of August you can enjoy a boat ride combined with red wines and accompanied with fireworks show. It’s called Rhine river lights.  You can get on the boat along many stops at Rhine river:)
• Mid August take a bottle of Rhine riesling wine and stay near Koblenz to admire the Europe biggest parade of ships and gorgeous fireworks show. Be a part of the Rhine in Flames festival
• 3rd week of August check the Rheingau  festival  in Wiesbaden. This is where you learn German wine specialties: Riesling & Sekt!
• From Wiesbaden move to Meinz – visit the Big My Wine Mainz market which is open during couple of weeks end of August - beginning September .

• Continue your journey by merging the German Wine Road. So that by Mid September you have reached Bad Durkheim and now you are ready to celebrate the 600+ yrs anniversary for the Wurstmarkt – the biggest wine festival in the world!
• Just for you to know, the German wine road is stunning! It’s one of the oldest and most scenic drives in Germany.  The Wine road begins in Bockenheim at the House of the German Wine Route, and ends in around 53 miles in the south at Schweigen-Rechtenbach on the border with France. Highlights of this route: Rhodt under Rietburg –  The 300-year old Traminer vineyard. It is the oldest vineyard in Europe and still in use today.  Castle Burg Hornberg – the 2nd oldest wine estate in the world. Take a cable car to Rietburg castle at Edenkoben, you’ll have panoramic views over the wine region.. Keep in mind – they say that the last Sunday of August the Wine road is closed for cars, so that this will be a grand open air wine festival. Check your travel plans:)
• One more "by the way": 2 hours away from the main German Wine road there is a very nice town Stuttgart.  It’s your city if you love Mercedes-Benz:) And it’s the place where you can try 500 local (!) wines collected for 2 weeks (the 1st half of September starting end August) all at one place – The Stuttgart Wine village!

Now, having finished the German wine route, it’s your choice how to continue your travel:

• Colorful Black forest trip down to Munich to celebrate Octoberfest (Mid September - Beginning October ) or
• Italian Autumn Wine festivals. e.g. Bardolino wine festival at lake Garda end of September, slowly moving to harvesting wine festivals in France..

Cheers! In Vino veritas, in travels – life!