Do you know what wine tourism is?

We all like to travel and see new places, but in recent years there has been a growing interest in new forms of tourism. We no longer want the typical trip in which we visit the city and go to sleep in the hotel. Now we are looking for experiences, learning, experiencing the destination from the inside, getting to know its people and its gastronomy. That's why you've probably heard of wine tourism, but do you really know what this type of tourism, which is so fashionable, consists of?

We explain it all below.

What is wine tourism?

Wine tourism, also known as oenological tourism or wine tourism, consists of travelling to a wine-growing area to get to know the world of wine from the inside: wineries, vineyards, winemaking, history...

In these trips, the main interest or attraction is wine, although this usually goes hand in hand with gastronomy, culture and love for the natural surroundings.

It can be said that wine tourism arises from the perfect combination of four elements: rural tourism, culture, gastronomy and, above all, wine.

Wine tourism offer in Spain

Wine tourism in Spain is the perfect way to get to know the country through wine. Every year ACEVIN (Spanish Association of Wine Cities) together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, publish the guide of the Wine Routes. Here we can find all the information about the 23 certified Wine Routes we have in our country.

The 23 routes are as follows:

1. Alicante Wine Route
2. Bierzo Wine Route Oenotourism
3. Bullas Wine Route
4. La Garnacha Wine Route - Campo de Borja
5. Campo de Cariñena Wine Route
6. Lleida Wine Route - Costers del Segre
7. D.O. Empordá Wine Route
8. Jumilla Wine Route
9. Sherry and Brandy del Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Route
10. Montilla - Moriles Wine Route
11. Navarre Wine Route
12. Enoturisme Penedès Wine Route
13. Rías Baixas Wine Route
14. Ribera del Duero Wine Route
15. Ribera del Guadiana Wine Route
16. Rioja Alavesa Wine Route
17. Rioja Alta Wine Route
18. Wine Cellars and Wines of the Serranía de Ronda Route
19. Rueda Wine Route
20. Somontano Wine Route
21. Aiaraldea Txakoli Route
22. Utiel - Requena Wine Route
23. Yecla Wine Route

Wines with D.O. Calificada Rioja can be tasted on two certified Wine Routes, the Rioja Alavesa Wine Route and the Rioja Alta Wine Route.

Rioja Alavesa Wine Route

This route, located in the south of the province of Álava, is made up of 15 municipalities and is delimited by the Sierra de Cantabria and the banks of the Ebro river.

Here you can enjoy the wine and the very old wineries that are combined with the most avant-garde architectural proposals, as well as visiting the medieval villas, wine cellars or the wine interpretation centre.

Rioja Alta Wine Route

This route is located in the natural environment that combines the Ebro valley with the mouths and lower courses of the rivers Tirón, Najerilla and Oja. You can visit hundred-year-old wineries, interpretation centres, museums, churches, monasteries, hermitages, castles... you can eat in prestigious restaurants, try the best wine tastings and stay in the best rural hotels in the region. And if you like hiking routes, there are no less than 15 routes in the Rioja Alta.

Map of the Wine Routes in Spain, Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. To browse this map, click here.

The best time for wine tourism

Any time of the year is a good time for wine tourism, the wineries adapt to the different seasons to offer the best of each one and not to miss any opportunity that seasonality offers.

However, the most beautiful time for many is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, between August and October, when the grape harvest begins and you can watch or even take part in the grape picking process.

Wine tourism activities

Wine tourism is not only about visiting wineries as many might imagine. Within wine tourism there are many complementary activities that make wine tourism a complete cultural experience.

There are many wineries that programme activities such as tastings and samplings, workshops and informative courses, horse riding routes or even offer the possibility of enjoying art and culture, as is the case of the Museum of Wine Culture at Vivanco.

Vivanco, the preferred destination for wine tourists

The Museum Vivanco is the ideal place for anyone who loves wine and wants to broaden their oenological knowledge.

Through its many exhibitions, you can learn about the relationship that man has had with wine throughout history and the important civilising role it has played for mankind. The museum houses an important collection of ethnographic objects, utensils that were once used to make wine.

Vivanco has 9,000 square metres distributed between the winery, the museum with six rooms (five with permanent exhibitions and one for temporary exhibitions), a beautiful garden, the garden of Bacchus, a restaurant and a large vineyard with more than 220 varieties of vines from all over the world.

In addition to visiting the exhibitions and broadening your knowledge of wine culture, at Vivanco you can, of course, visit the wineries and learn all about wine and its production in the courses and tastings.

And if you come with children, don't worry, they will also be able to enjoy the wine tourism in the workshops children's workshops that are programmed throughout the year.

Are you ready for an unforgettable experience?

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