For me, the most important thing is to know the place where the wine I drink is born. Knowing the soils of the vineyard, its orientation, its climate, the nature that surrounds it. Touch the earth, the stones, smell them…
There are certain vineyards that are a must and that every wine lover should visit, for example: Romanée Conti, in Burgundy; La Chapelle (Hermitage) and the vineyards of the Côte Rotie, in the Rhône; the Coulée de Serrant, on the Loire; the Rocche de l’Anunziata, in Piedmont; Calmont and Wehlener Sonnenhur, on the Moselle; La Roza, in Atauta; L’Ermita and La Tena, in Priorat; generically, the vineyards and chateaux of Bordeaux; and also the impossible vineyards of the Ribera Sacra. These are the options that, in particular, I consider important, although of course they are not the only ones, in addition to the fact that there are also many others depending on the preferences of each one.
One of the things that I highly recommend is to enjoy, on site, a bottle from the vineyard that is visited. There is nothing like drinking the wine in its place of origin and enjoying it. Also, many of them are perfect places for a picnic. There is no doubt that in the framework where it all began, things taste much better!
Speaking of food, restaurants are another section that we should not leave out when we travel to a wine-producing area. In many of them we will find wine lists from the area that are impossible to find outside of there and that is something that we should not let go of. Neither is the food typical of the place, which will surely pair wonderfully with its infinite wines. If we book better, but outside of the holiday season, it is very likely that with short notice we will not have reservation problems.
Wine and gastronomy always go hand in hand and can be enjoyed in multiple settings. This is another of the great pleasures that traveling to the wine regions offers us and which, of course, becomes one more incentive to visit the small grape that is our planet Earth.