It Can Always Be #WineTime, Even In The Most Obscure Places
I’m always a believer in immersing yourself into the culture of a place you are visiting, and when that culture involves wine, then I’m having a good time.
Wine travel can be anywhere relaxing with a wine bar. It doesn’t have to include a vineyard or a wine tasting tour, tho I like those, as well. To me, it’s more about the destination that has me drinking wine over, say beers, which is my standard drink.
I’m fortunate to have some pretty good wine destinations within an hour’s drive of me here in Southern California: Four hours from L.A., to Central California and Paso Robles, about seven (that’s door-to-door folks!) to Carmel and Monterey and a little longer to Napa Valley and Sonoma County.
And if I want a quicker getaway, it’s only about two hours to the Temecula Valley to the east or Santa Barbara to the north.
So I have several good local choices when it comes to wine travel. But there are several other places, too, that are not within such easy reach.
I have long wanted to travel on one of those European river cruises through the waterways in France or perhaps pull up to a dock in, say, Vienna. Would that be cool or what!?
Before I really began to appreciate wine, I happened to be in upstate New York. At Watkins Glen Raceway specifically, which is an area called the Finger Lakes. One of the wineries invited us motorsports PR people to its winery one afternoon after our day’s duties were completed.
We were shocked there was a winery there but since the outing involved alcohol, we gladly accepted their offer. Turns out it was beautiful and peaceful – a nice respite from the loudness of the race cars – and right by a lake. I enjoyed it so much I bought an “Uncork New York” t-shirt to remember the memories.
It also showed me that there could be a wine destination right under your nose and you may not even know it. So now I’m always on the lookout for places to drink wine when I travel.
So let the wining begin – cheers!
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